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Anyone ever come across food hypersensitivity being the cause of some UC symptoms?

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Posted 2/24/2017 1:40 PM (GMT -5)
Study from 2009

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19124116

BACKGROUND & AIMS:
Rectal bleeding and lymphonodular hyperplasia (LNH) in children can be caused by food hypersensitivity (FH). Our aim was to verify whether similar clinical and endoscopy presentations in adults can be due to FH.
METHODS:
Consecutive adult patients with rectal bleeding were enrolled. All underwent routine assays, colonoscopy, and histology study.
RESULTS:
Ten of 64 (15%) patients showed LNH as the unique sign at colonoscopy. An oligoantigenic diet resolved the rectal bleeding in 9 patients, and the reintroduction of several foods caused symptom reappearance. Double-blind placebo-controlled challenges with cow's milk and wheat protein confirmed the FH; symptoms reappeared 1-96 hours after the challenge. None of the patients were positive for IgE-mediated assays. In patients with LNH and FH, histology of the ileum and colon mucosa showed a higher number of lymphoid follicles and intraepithelial and lamina propria eosinophils compared with the other patients with rectal bleeding.
CONCLUSIONS:
Recurrent rectal bleeding can be caused by FH in adult patients. Endoscopic evidence of LNH characterizes these cases.

Post Edited (brucen36) : 2/24/2017 2:42:26 PM (GMT-7)

Posted 2/24/2017 7:22 PM (GMT -5)
I have FH, no doubt in my mind or gut. Bleeding stopped after going gluten-free years ago. But that was the tip of the food hypersensitivity iceberg. In the early days of my diet modification the "bad food" list was very, very long. Now it's just "long".

Fiber is one of my biggest problems and craving. I thought I could have popcorn and Raisin Bran but that was my taste buds talking me into something my butt paid the bill for. Multiple BM's the next day, yes they were works of art due to the fiber but too many of them, basically eliminating everything because my gut HATES fiber.

No bleeding for years since going gluten-free and grain-free for years (not counting the fall-off-the-popcorn-Raisin Bran-wagon). Test were negative for wheat or dairy allergens 15 years ago.

No complaining since I can eat Thai food and at other restaurants with no problems and have good meals every day. Just can't eat foods many people take for granted (donuts, chocolate, chips, pasta, lots more).

Maybe some doctor will tell me about a pill I can take to lower my FH. That would be a fine day.
Posted 2/24/2017 9:49 PM (GMT -5)
I haven't gotten tested for food sensitivity yet, but I suspect that I would have some.

I only got results after keeping a grain free diet (SCD). The meds were not enough on their own. I've been grain free for about 15 years and had 12 years of remission.
Posted 2/24/2017 11:15 PM (GMT -5)
I think it is important to distinguish primary from UC-induced food sensitivity.

UC can cause transient food sensitivities by disturbing helpful gut microbes.

Some people have hyper-reactions (its called allergic) to certain foods. Some people have both.

But by definition, symptoms caused by hyper-food-sensitivity are not UC symptoms. Maybe UC-Like or maybe symptoms that could be mistook for UC symptoms - but they are food sensitivity symptoms.

It is always good to pay attention to diet and symptoms - especially for UC'ers who are flaring.
Posted 2/25/2017 6:50 AM (GMT -5)
I agree with DBwithUC.
Posted 2/25/2017 7:27 AM (GMT -5)
DBwithUC said: But by definition, symptoms caused by hyper-food-sensitivity are not UC symptoms. Maybe UC-Like or maybe symptoms that could be mistook for UC symptoms - but they are food sensitivity symptoms.

It can be impossible to identify symptom causes but I have to try to identify them so my life and gut can be calm. Before UC I had no food sensitivities or allergies at all.

After UC I have multiple food issues. I asked my GI (working long term in field but not a researcher) if he thought it was IBS causing my food problems. He said it's my UC in his opinion.

Does it matter what we call it? It happened after UC and is my major life-changing symptom.
It's like the "guns don't kill people, people do" debate. UC caused my food hypersensitivity and is a major issue for me. Not calling it part of my UC is false.

edit to add: After thinking more I want to say that the attitude of "it's not UC" about significant symptoms related-to-UC is a big problem in treatment. I have encountered GI's who, if it's not showing on the biopsy or scope, don't think it's a problem. That is where traditional medicine is failing some of us because these symptoms ARE part of our UC and cause significant functional problems in our life. Just because GI's don't have solutions (yet) for these functional problems should not mean they dismiss people who are suffering because "its not UC".
It is UC.

Post Edited (imagardener2) : 2/25/2017 6:00:59 AM (GMT-7)

Posted 2/25/2017 8:08 AM (GMT -5)

the OP's research said...
CONCLUSIONS:
Recurrent rectal bleeding can be caused by FH (food hypersensitivity) in adult patients. Endoscopic evidence of LNH (lymphonodular hyperplasia) characterizes these cases.

Some foods such as wheat, rice, spelt, and soy, contain large amounts of antinutrients such as phytates and lectins that can damage your digestive lining to cause inflammation. This can be aggravated by dysbiosis, an imbalance between beneficial and harmful species of bacteria in your gut.

Once your protective intestinal lining is shredded the bad guy bacteria (MAP?) can invade to cause 'leaky gut' which activates your immune system. The consensus among medical researchers is slowly moving away from UC as an autoimmune disease to a disease caused by bad bacteria. Which is probably why antibiotics have snuffed out my flares and jump-started me into remission more than once.
Posted 2/25/2017 9:09 AM (GMT -5)
Never had food allergies while growing up (minus mcdonalds frequently causing diarrhea), but I did experience IBS symptoms throughout middle-high school as my diet became poorer (excessive junk food, sugar binging, coffee, dairy, bread, overeating etc). My understanding is that the inflammation was my immune system responding to foreign substances (bacteria/toxins) resulting in acute IBS symptoms. Would that not be considered a food allergy?
10 years down the road my diet has not changed and combined with other factors my symptoms became chronic, hence IBD.
My belief is that conventional treatments fail us due to our lack of investigating 'Cause' rather than 'Effect'. I mean, is it not possible that prolonged and aggravated food sensitivities ultimately cause chronic inflammation/UC?

Post Edited (Natof9) : 2/25/2017 7:13:55 AM (GMT-7)

Posted 2/25/2017 12:20 PM (GMT -5)
Some of you are playing with semantics. There really is no difference between UC symptoms and UC-like symptoms. The former is not saying you have UC, but that you have symptoms in common with UC. For eg. if you get bleeding from eating a certain food THAT is also a symptom of UC. You can also call it a UC-like symptom if you want. This is particular relevant given that the primary cause of UC is not yet known and moreover that it may have multiple etiologies.
Posted 2/25/2017 2:26 PM (GMT -5)
Clarity is not semantics.
The vast majority of people with food sensitivities do not go on to develop IBD. And, it seems that many people who do get IBD get food sensitivities after their diagnosis - after their gastrointestinal tract becomes damaged.

People with healthy diets can still get IBD.
There are many people with unhealthy diets who do not get IBD, which is still a relatively rare illness.

Whether food sensitivities cause an actual flare up for people with UC is contentious. Certainly it causes a worsening of a variety of symptoms, often to the point of great suffering.
Posted 2/25/2017 4:47 PM (GMT -5)
It's not contentious with me. I have never gotten a flare unless I eat foods that are problematic for me. When I stop eating those foods, flare goes away. Done this over 20 times. It's real. I never get so-called random flares.
Posted 2/25/2017 6:00 PM (GMT -5)
That's great, for you. I guess all you have to do is avoid what you find to be your problem foods and you will always be well. A simple solution.
Unfortunately, that is not the case for many others.
Posted 2/25/2017 8:38 PM (GMT -5)
Except it's not really great. Lots of side effects from avoiding those foods. Side effects are better than the UC symptoms, but still makes life very difficult. That's why I always wonder if I ever really have UC. Doctor's say I do, but what do they know.
Posted 2/25/2017 9:06 PM (GMT -5)
that sucks - what kinds of side effects do you get from AVOIDING foods ? guess i didn't know that was even a possibility unless you are not getting certain nutrients or maybe calories -


and at least in some minds, the only REAL UC is one that can be treated with drugs - the kind that can be treated w/o is fake UC -
Posted 2/25/2017 10:09 PM (GMT -5)
Basically I can only eat stuff on SCD, but as I said in my case any 'illegal' foods are the direct CAUSE of my UC symptoms. And they go away after getting back on SCD. Off SCD I get the all the typical UC symptoms, diarrhea, mucus, urgency, blood, etc, etc. Horrible.

On SCD, all of that goes away but I get very fatigued, muscle cramps that prevent me from exercising, and constant dehydration to the point where drinking water simply does not quench the dryness and it makes me pee again and again. The strange thing is, as soon as I eat an illegal starch the peeing and dehydration seem to go away. And of course I can almost never go out since everything must be homemade, it's no life.

What doesn't make sense to me is that the SCD legal starches like those found in beans and lentils are fundamentally not so different from that found in rice or say potatoes. Yet the latter eventually leads to bleeding. What the hell?

Oh yeah and about the drugs, I did not need drugs for over 10 years, SCD was enough. I do take some drugs just for safety (mesalmine), but I don't need to really, so I do have some sort of 'fake' UC I believe. But what the hell is it?

p.s. I was part of an FMT trial done in a hospital - didn't work for me. It made things a little more stable on the days I got it, but I think it was because I was maintaining SCD while doing it. As soon as I ate a bad starch, bad things began happening.

Post Edited (brucen36) : 2/25/2017 8:18:24 PM (GMT-7)

Posted 2/25/2017 10:39 PM (GMT -5)
wow - that really sucks ! so eating just one non-scd food will send you into a tailspin ? and how soon does that happen ?

when was the last time you had any comprehensive blood work done ?
Posted 2/25/2017 11:08 PM (GMT -5)
Well if I eat the non-SCD food again and again then yes the flare will happen. The time it takes can vary, but usually anywhere from a few days to a couple of weeks. Here's the really weird thing, let's say I eat a bowl of rice on Day 1. I may feel some uneasiness in the stomach immediately but nothing serious yet. Then if I continue to eat rice each day eventually a flare comes on. But, let's say I only eat rice on Day1 and Day2, then switch back to SCD for the remaining week, the ramification of eating that rice are still felt a week later, maybe not a full blown flare since I only ate it for 2 days, but maybe some mucus and urgency. For those of you who know a bit about science, it's almost like a pulse-chase experiment. Something in the illegal starches sets off a cascade that takes time to manifest, but manifest it will sooner or later.

I had comprehensive blood work done during the FMT trial (about a month ago). But here's the thing, to get into the FMT trial I had to purposely make myself sick and inflamed to get into it. So I ate a lot of illegals and sure enough doctor found inflammation. Then in waiting for the FMT I went on strictest of strict SCD to get back into "remission" to give the FMT a better chance I thought.
Posted 2/25/2017 11:56 PM (GMT -5)
do you have a signature ?

when did you start the SCD ?

and so nothing out of whack blood wise ?
Posted 2/26/2017 12:08 AM (GMT -5)
Yes I do have a signature, but sometimes it appears and sometimes it goes away. Not sure why.

Blood work before nothing out of whack, except for the usual low RBC and hemoglobin which I'm sure contributes to the fatigue. Iron pills did not rectify it. I haven't got the latest blood work sent back yet from the FMT study.

I started SCD in 2006. I've cheated on it again and again well over 20 times, so this is how I know food is the cause of UC symptoms. It just baffles me how everything she said in her book is legal works for me, and the illegals don't. And I've googled the internet up the wazzoo to figure out what the hell is the difference in the starch between rice, potato, corn, bread, etc and the starch in beans, legumes, squash, lentils, etc. How one set works and doesn't is the key to the mystery of my condition in my opinion. I'm not saying there couldn't be a bacterial imbalance that contributes, but how those bacteria are able to pick and choose starches just doesn't make sense.
Posted 2/26/2017 12:33 AM (GMT -5)
siggy = if you use the "Quick Reply" option, your sig shows up automatically - if you use the "Post Reply " option, you have to check the "Include signature" box -


just a thought - maybe try not cheating - what's the longest you've gone being very strict ? by my math, you have cheated approx. every 6 months ????- not sure that's long enough for you gut to heal properly -

if my recollection is correct, there are different types of anemia - how long were you on iron supps and what type ?

so when you are strict SCD, what is your diet like ?
Posted 2/26/2017 1:47 AM (GMT -5)
Hi Bruce,
That is a very tricky situation you are in. I hope things improve over time...
Nobody wants to take medication! It is unnatural and repulsive to most. However, needs dictate. We try everything to avoid great suffering.

It does need to be said that exacerbation of symptoms(or flare up of symptoms) is not necessarily the same as a UC flare.
The study you presented indicates that FH can cause bleeding and LNH, in the absence of IBD.

For me (and we are all unique) a flare up is something different from exacerbation of symptoms. Any amount of fiber wrecks my poor damaged guts, but a flare for me also involves nausea, vomiting, fever, racing heart, on top of the usual erratic symptoms of bleeding, multiple toilet trips etc.

Some people manage symptoms well with diet. Even so, they can experience a flare which does not settle with their usual routine. In that case they might have to take other measures beyond diet.
Others need every med and diet restriction on earth, and even surgery.

The inflammatory cascade is complex, and varies greatly for each person.
Good luck.
Posted 2/26/2017 4:57 PM (GMT -5)

soynomore said...
siggy = if you use the "Quick Reply" option, your sig shows up automatically - if you use the "Post Reply " option, you have to check the "Include signature" box -


just a thought - maybe try not cheating - what's the longest you've gone being very strict ? by my math, you have cheated approx. every 6 months ????- not sure that's long enough for you gut to heal properly -

if my recollection is correct, there are different types of anemia - how long were you on iron supps and what type ?

so when you are strict SCD, what is your diet like ?

I think the longest I've gone without cheating is a little over a year. I was on iron supplements for over a month and all it did was turn the stool into a very black colour but it did not normalize my Hb levels.

On strict SCD let's say after a flare or what I did once I qualified for the FMT study is the following:
Breakfast: 3 scrambled eggs, grape juice, avocado
Lunch: beef patties, green beans, grape juice
Dinner: baked plain chicken wings, green beans, grape juice

This is repeated each day, no variation.

Once baseline is established then my typical SCD menu is:
Breakfast: 3 scrambled eggs, cooked onions, mushrooms, havarti cheese, avocado, grape juice.

Lunch: baked navy beans with beef and bacon OR chicken salad (cooked breast, grapes, cheese, bacon with no sugar) OR tuna salad, grape juice

Dinner: baked navy beans with beef and bacon OR chicken salad OR chicken wings and green beans OR salmon salad (canned salmon, walnuts, apple, homemade mayonnaise, celery), grape juice

This is repeated week after week and I can be stable on this forever.

This seems like a fairly healthy diet? And it appears like I get plenty of carbs, but there is something inherently different about these carbs, that continues to cause my side effects.
Posted 2/26/2017 5:04 PM (GMT -5)

ambling said...
Hi Bruce,
That is a very tricky situation you are in. I hope things improve over time...
Nobody wants to take medication! It is unnatural and repulsive to most. However, needs dictate. We try everything to avoid great suffering.

It does need to be said that exacerbation of symptoms(or flare up of symptoms) is not necessarily the same as a UC flare.
The study you presented indicates that FH can cause bleeding and LNH, in the absence of IBD.

For me (and we are all unique) a flare up is something different from exacerbation of symptoms. Any amount of fiber wrecks my poor damaged guts, but a flare for me also involves nausea, vomiting, fever, racing heart, on top of the usual erratic symptoms of bleeding, multiple toilet trips etc.

Some people manage symptoms well with diet. Even so, they can experience a flare which does not settle with their usual routine. In that case they might have to take other measures beyond diet.
Others need every med and diet restriction on earth, and even surgery.

The inflammatory cascade is complex, and varies greatly for each person.
Good luck.

I agree, it's not the same thing as a UC flare. I don't get the kinds of flares you get and I almost never get the severe pain people describe here. I only get mucus, diarrhea, blood and urgency. And if I continue to eat starches despite the symptoms I have to be continually on the toilet and I become massively dehydrated. So it sure seems like I have UC, and in these situations, I do respond to mesalamine. But I truly wonder if I have authentic UC since I get none of this unless I cheat on the diet. I've been to multiple doctors and they cannot figure it out.
Posted 2/26/2017 6:04 PM (GMT -5)
so no fruits or vegetables really ? i see avocado and celery and grape juice, but that's about it - guess i need to advance my knowledge of SCD - i knew fruit was a no-no, but didn't realize veggies were - maybe that's why i never tried scd - might as well shoot me if i can't have my big salad !

what are you taking for vitamins and supplements to address the low rbc ?
Posted 2/26/2017 7:35 PM (GMT -5)

soynomore said...
so no fruits or vegetables really ? i see avocado and celery and grape juice, but that's about it - guess i need to advance my knowledge of SCD - i knew fruit was a no-no, but didn't realize veggies were - maybe that's why i never tried scd - might as well shoot me if i can't have my big salad !

what are you taking for vitamins and supplements to address the low rbc ?

SCD allows pretty much all fruits and veggies. It's more of a stage diet though. If want to do it 100% you have to gradually introduce things in stages. Most newbies miss the whole stage thing and therefore don't get good results. You should start with the intro diet (homemade chicken soup is a staple) and then gradually introduce foods according to suggested stages and monitor reactions.

When in remission, I eat good amt of raw fruit and veggies no problem. I can also eat dried fruit and nuts but these are considered advanced on SCD. Soaked legumes, nuts, peanuts etc are advanced foods on SCD. The navy beans that bruce is referring to you wouldn't try until you had a solid remission (maybe 3 months or so after being on SCD and feeling good), and you would prepare them according to SCD instructions (soaked overnight).

Bruce, you are "missing" the homemade SCD chicken soup and homemade SCD yogurt (24 hours). The chicken soup with carrots is the biggest part of the intro diet. When I'm flaring, it's essential.

Post Edited (Jane974) : 2/26/2017 5:41:37 PM (GMT-7)

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