new to forum - need dietary advice for ulcerative proctitis

I'm a newbie - just diagnosed with ulcerative proctitis last week. I am still feeling sorry for myself, but I realize it will be much more beneficial to start owning this disease and moving forward.

I am learning that certain foods are no longer my friends, ie popcorn at a movie this afternoon. Bad idea. Also, my favourite thing in the entire world - coffee - seems to now be my enemy. Totally sucks.  I am not a big dairy consumer, but I haven't found it to aggravate my symptoms.

Can others give me some ideas for foods to avoid and foods that work?

Thanks so much! Any advice would be REALLY appreciated.

Please search this forum using "diet". You will have a lot of reading.

thanks I will check out the diet threads. the low fibre and avoidance of veggies is hard for me as I am a vegetarian. I am trying to be careful, but whenever I get down (which I am right now), I want to load up on junk food. the coffee avoidance is a killer for me. Hopefully once I get my symptoms under control, I can go back to that glorious drink.

Feelingdown,

Welcome to the forum.

Sorry you have to be a part of this terrible club.

Don't be too hard on yourself.

It takes time to get used to having this terrible disease and knowing you'll have to live with it for the rest of your life is a big adjustment.

I know that when I found out I had UC, I was pretty pissed... and went through the 5 stages of grief... it took awhile to finally come to terms with it all.

But I can tell you that knowledge is the best form of empowerment, and will enable you to have UC, rather than UC having you!

You are asking the right questions, good for you!

Diet for most of us, is a factor.

Many of us cannot tolerate dairy or gluten, but you may be different.

Start a food journal and see where it lands you.

What about supplements?

Are you on any?

Are you open to finding out about these? If so, there are things IMO that you can control, which will have a direct impact on your disease, the symptoms you experience and their severity.

I was able to control my UC into remission through various supplements, probiotics, diet modification, and LDN , low dose naltrexone.

For more info on the protocol which has put me into remission, please go to this link: https://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=38&m=1666318 , and look at the 11th post.

I hope you feel better and let us know how we can help you.

I did not drink coffee for six weeks last year, but I have one eight ounce cup each morning now. It makes no difference with my symptoms. If anything, it helps me finish with the restroom for the day before I leave for work. Only stop if you know for sure it bothers you, especially if going without makes you miserable.

I follow paleo/SCD and it has helped a lot. I had been a vegan for almost 5 years before that but I was so ill. I feel much better eating animal products again and my nutritional numbers have really improved. I've gained a lot of weight and actually have normal coloring now (was totally zombie-ish before).

my staples are meat (all kinds), coconut oil/EVOO, kefir, bananas, berries, pineapple, cooked zucchini/mushrooms, turmeric, avocado, gelatin, lemons/oranges, ginger, honey, sea salt, garlic. come to think of it- I rarely eat anything that isn't these foods haha

high fiber is definitely a bad thing for me. I peal all of my veggies/fruits and cook the crap out of the veggies. no raw vegetables EVER. I've cut back a lot on nuts/seeds due to their fiber content but when I was eating them, it was only in butter form. I have started to add spinach to my smoothies again but I can't eat it any other way- no salads or sautéed. has to be blended.

what is the issue with high fibre? I thought it made you regular and so it was a good thing? is it bc of gas and bloating?

I guess the answer to that is yes. Normally UC'rs tend to have more gas and bloating than the average person and fiber can make it worse. One day I ate a high fiber brownie and oh my god, I must have had major gas 20 times that night. Normally with UC we don't have to worry about being regular. Most of us are "regular" 5 - 10 time per day. It doesn't get any more regular than that.

feeling down said...
btw Jax, what is the SCD diet?

SCD stands for Specific Carbohydrate Diet made famous by Elaine Gottschall who put her daughter with UC on it right before she was going to have surgery and her daughter's UC went into remission.

Check out www.breakingtheviciouscycle.info/ for more information or do a search for SCD on this forum or on Google. I tried it but lost too much weight on it and had to quit.

I went through the "stages of grief" too when I found out and I still get angry sometimes. But it has actually brought me and my wife closer together, so I guess there was one good thing from this terrible disease.

thanks Jax for the book link. I will definitely look into that.