Ate myself out of remission

Hello All--

It's been a while. Up until recently, my disease(s) have remained in remission. My only complaint was the enormous weight gain, that I believe is caused by stelara. I've tried a number of diets, exercise and even a weight loss drug and didn't lose a pound. I even have a moon face....Anyway I digress.

I've suffered an expected but horrible bereavement. My financial circumstances have also drastically changed and I'm now food insecure etc. Thankfully my meds remain covered, but overall I'm in a bit of a pickle. I've found myself binge eating, looking for sweets especially since the beginning of this month. If I buy high protein chips on sale (because I'm still trying to lose weight), I'll eat the entire bag in one sitting. I'm practically inhaling the stuff without thinking. This is new for me. I'm still sticking to GF but pushing the limits of eating too much "trigger" foods. I'm eating my emotions and have become very sedentary. I know it's all a result of bereavement. I'm also eating a lot of canned soup and tv dinners.....just simply not up to cooking. Even if money wasn't the issue, I believe I'd still be pulling out a can of soup...Not really eating meat either but will have eggs.

As a result, my bowel isn't good and I haven't been able to get back on track. My stool is very foul smelling, sort of yellowish and not formed. I know I ate a lot of greasy food on Sunday- so that's likely the cause. I don't really have urgency- going 2-3 times a day but it's not formed and still stinky. This am I woke with left side pain. I should note that I've also been trying different collagens/protein powders in effort to lose weight - so that may also contribute.

Probiotics have never been helpful, but I took a drug store brand today.

Colonoscopy in 2 weeks.

My fecal cal in late Nov was absolutely perfect.

I did miss 2 ivig treatments in Nov/Dec but maintained stelara x 6weeks.

Aside from trying to reverse course on binge eating - which I've done since Monday; is there anything else I can do to get back to remission - or am I doomed after 6ish years of bliss?

I don't see myself returning to quality food - I'm not eating fast food or anything, just tv dinners, cereal, GF pasta

I will restart turmeric suppositories this evening - which always helped with fistulas, but I haven't tried it for poop issues.

Thanks all

Hi UBT...I'm sad for your loss and that you're going through a horrible and life altering grieving process. It's numbing to the psyche. Regarding food insecurity, would you use a food bank to help ease some of that financial distress?
It's good you're not having to be concerned about costs for your medications.
I hope your c-scope goes well and that you'll get back onto the IVIG soon after. Would you consider asking for an antidepressant to take the edge off a bit?
Huge hugs,
q

I am so sorry you are struggling right now. I have also dealt with restriction and binge eating. The only way out for me was to relinquish any rules I had about what was healthy and just eat whatever I wanted for a time. I did gain about 30 lbs doing this but then leveled out. There is a book called “The Eff It Diet” but replace it with the actual swear word if you search for it. Definitely look at the reviews for it. It was an incredible book. It honestly helped me so much with binge eating. The hardest part of food for me was being so restrictive and only eating what my body could actually handle and then being so deprived with that and eating everything (then feeling terrible). It is so hard having a digestive disease and a normal relationship with food. My GI said eating disorders among his patients are so common so that is why they now offer a free dietician and free therapist (none of this is billed to insurance).

I am so sorry for your loss!

Depression is so hard to break out from. You don’t feel like doing anything but sit and the longer you sit the worse you feel. The best way to break out of inaction is by doing the opposite. Action. Mainly exercise. I’m not saying it’s easy. It’s the hardest thing in the world. But I just started forcing myself to go out for s walk. Maybe everyday try to do just one positive thing. Then next week two things a day.

It’s not easy. But you have to just force yourself until one day it’s coming easier.

Please vent here. We do understand

Hi Everyone,
Thanks for the messages. It's definitely not about bulk cooking lol. A little hard to do when food insecure. But my bad - the question was about getting control of my bowel again.

I was doing much better using the turmeric suppositories - but then I stopped simply out of laziness. Then a friend dropped off soup and GF crackers - a brand I've never tried before with chia seeds and guess what??? instead of eating 5 crackers I ate the bag! So now I'm back where I started. I really need to get the bowel under control asap. So back to chicken/rice and turmeric suppositories. I suspect my colonoscopy in 2 weeks will yield a much different result than the last time. Biggest fear is the inflammation will trigger the fistulas/abscess again......

Clo- if you ever want to try them & it's appropriate. LMK- I can send directly from the manufacturer.

Bacon - thanks, I'll look it up! I know it's a primal drive - being so deprived for most of my life and now it's very hard to maintain any reasonable restrictiveness. Instead of eating 2 slices of low carb cauliflower pizza, I'll eat half. Then the other half the next day which sets my bowel. The difference this time is I'm not bouncing back. I would say I'm not in remission anymore.

Post Edited (U B Tough) : 1/30/2025 9:15:37 AM (GMT-5)