Your tips on how to live with Lymphocytic Colitis/Collagenous Colitis
I have been fighting Lymphocytic Cholitis for a long time and it is getting worse. I really need some advise on how to live with this.
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Try it, I read the same things. It just might work for you. That’s the only way to find out.
Best probiotics are via prescription, Visabone. Pure, high dose and need your doctor to advise on quantity, no OTC is worth taking,waste of $$$$$
I have taken this script, for many years, on and off. At the beginning I’d take a round of it, and symptoms would go away a year , before increasing symptoms. If I’m off the script now ,5 to 9 stools a day😕 any suggestions, get concerned about , side affects, Rheumatoid arthritis.
This is my life. Had a nissen fundoplication and hiatal hernia repair in December got c-diff from the hospital. Had 3 good weeks. Non stop diarrhea for over 7 months. In the meantime was diagnosed with Lupus (had a blood clot in 2016 was trying to get off blood thinners because Arthritis was so bad and I couldn’t take anything due to being on thinners). Finally had colonoscopy revealed lymphocytic colitis. I feel like I should have just kept eating tums my whole life and took my chances getting cancer instead of having the nissen. I’m sure having lupus and not being diagnosed till 47 didn’t help but that surgery feels like the start of all things bad in my life. I am forever changed and not for the better. Getting a hysterectomy in September. Who knows if that is connected to all the madness. Thank you for sharing your story.
So sorry to hear, keep us posted and much good luck!!
Vitamin C maybe calms my lymphocytic colitis. Thoughts?
I was recently diagnosed with lymphocytic colitis after months of diarrhea, discomfort and weight loss. I am immunocompromised with ypogammaglobulinemia “Specific Antibody Deficiency” , recurrent Esophageal Candidiasis, as well as a host of other medical challenges.
I was recently put on Budesonide / Entocort and am having a bad reaction to it. Initially, it caused much worse diarrhea with a weight loss of 7 lbs over 3 weeks. My blood pressure and pulse spiked - my cardiologist has had to quadruple my losartan to try to keep it down. In addition, I now have a yeast infection.
I'd really like to better understand what other possible treatments and life style changes there are for lymphocytic colitis.
Thanks.
I have been diagnosed with collagenous colitis for over a decade. Among other GI concerns I have, this one seems to cause the most reoccurring problems. With the help of Mayo dietician's, I have had help with the FODMAP diet, I am slowly reintegrating some FODMAP triggers. Fiber really sets the colitis off, but am able to tolerate small amounts now. I am not lactose intolerant tolerant but have a glucose malabsorption. For years a GI doc elsewhere didn’t check the breath tests, so I just assumed I had a problem with lactose and all along it was mainly fructose. That’s where the fodmap diet and the Monash app has helped. I can have aged cheese and small amounts of good probiotic dairy like kefir or Greek yogurt, but avoid milk and soft cheeses.
Spoonful is an app that can scan groceries and help as well. A referral from Mayo GI to a pelvic floor physical therapist who did visceral therapy was really helpful. She also recognized early on that my gallbladder didn’t seem to empty well and she was right! Scans soon revealed I needed my gallbladder removed. Her suggestion of effleurage during painful bouts and using a tens unit has been wonderful. I used to need a heating pad constantly, not so much anymore.
I too had reactions to budesonide and it seemed to make things worse. My GI doc had me do a 6 week Pepto trial. That seems to help and I also understand that multiple daily doses of loperamide can help. ( I can’t take a lot of that either).
I am using Fodzyme enzymes ( expensive, but a life saver) for dining out or those foods I’d like to have once in awhile). Stress causes flares.
I have accepted the fact that sometimes there is no rhyme nor reason as to what caused a flare and that it may be some of my other GI maladies. Treatment has seemed like hit and miss. But with the knowledge about food, what meds don’t work etc, I seem to be on a decent maintenance phase with less pain. Hope this helps. Good luck!
I am also on Budesonide and am worried about side effects can you tell me about your experience on it thank you
I've been on Budesonide non-stop since I was diagnosed with Collagenous Colitis in October, 2023. I have had no discernable side effects and have so far managed to taper down to 3 mg a day. I have a follow-up with my GI in March and will likely try to get down to 3 mg every other day. The side effect I was most concerned about was loss of bone density since I already have Osteopenia. I've been taking supplemental calcium (1500 mg daily) and actually saw my bone density improve on my April, 2024 Dexa scan. Keep in mind that we are all different and react to meds in very different ways. Best bet is to discuss your concerns with your GI doc and monitor for side effects.