Diabetes and Colitis

Myself being Type1 for 50+ years and 20 with ulcerative colitis. Is to keep your glucose under control. Hope she is using a CGM/Dexcom similar device. Keeping your glucose below 200 all the time , ever after eating.. The foods are common sense, avoid heavy carbs or eat them in moderation- Cereals and breads. You need carbs to function if your insulin is at the proper levels for control, glucose fluctuations are moderate. I am under tight control w/o a pump, my A1C has been below 6.0 for many years. With 2-3 shots a day. Most in the AM using different Insulins having different time “peaks”. Must see an Endocrinologist. Most GPs have no clue on best diabetes control. Pumps are good but require a CGM. My Endocrinologist is type 1 himself.
UC for some can be an irritation issue with some foods. IC is bleeding and The first med for UC is Colazal (balsalazide disodium). It may take weeks for the UC symptoms to subside but it works and no side effects after 20 yrs. And not affecting the immune system like biologics do. I eat most anything, spicy food doesn’t affect me. If diabetes is under control, proper eating become common sense do’s and dont’s. FIND a good GI doc too.

@ venture

thank you so much for taking the time to respond and so thoughtfully. i believe my sister's colitis is not UC, but whatever it's considered she's on biologics, and the course of treatment so far is working. she met with her gastroenterologist recently who was pleased with the progress. i was wondering more what foods were safe enough to at least try with the colitis.

her concern is getting a balanced diet and gaining back the weight (and body mass) that she's lost over the last couple of months. maybe it's a bit of trial and error, that ultimately lands on a less restrictive diet, and of course trying to keep things aligned with her Type 1 diabetes. part of the colitis treatment, which will continue for another couple of weeks, is that she's on steroids, which will be tapered. that alone makes her glucose levels higher than what is ideal. it's a bit of a trade-off right now.

Do a search… Colitis comes up as ulcerative colitis. Simply it’s ulcers(sores) that bleed in the colon. They say it’s an autoimmune thing. FYI, Type 1 diabetes is also in most cases. Having multiple autoimmune diagnosis’s is not uncommon…
Eating with both afflictions requires avoiding spicy foods, heavily processed foods and excess carbs.

@mizzdeb48 there are many kinds of colitis, which simply means an inflammation of the colon, and while treatment of Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn's Disease can be similar, it is not necessarily the same for collagenous colitis, lymphocytic colitis, and other types.

For colitis, it's pretty individual, different people tolerate different foods, and sometimes a person's "safe" foods change over time.

I would suggest she talk with a nutritionist; can her GI make a referral?

As found in definitions, “Colitis is an inflammation of the colon lining.” …. Causes and treatments vary. With Inflammation

@susanf8 thank you for your much appreciated thoughts. it was always my understanding that her particular colitis diagnosis (which was not termed ulcerative) was a fallout from her months of cancer treatment (immunotherapy and chemo). my sister has a dietician she's working with and a GI team that is on top of this. i fully realize that this is not a "one size fits all" situation, and i think this will be a bit of trial and error for her with what foods agree with her or don't, and knowing that in and of itself, that piece can change over time as her inflammation simmers down.

@mizzdeb48 colitis can also result from chemo, so that makes sense. I'm not at all familiar with that, so it's interesting it's treated with biologics.

I have CD, and my brother and sister have UC. Another brother was just diagnosed with Type 1a Diabetes. But we mostly all eat the same food (except the brother with UC, who hates vegetable and always has).

My sister can't eat spinach and for a long time, eggs. Now, suddenly, eggs are fine. Other foods seem to be fine for her too. I eat pretty much everything, but I had a colectomy 40 years ago, and my CD is well controlled by Humira.

I'm glad to hear your sister is working with a dietician. Trying new foods in small amounts, and and seeing how you do, is often some of the advice. I hesitate to offer suggestions, because I'm not very familiar with what is appropriate for diabetics.

What is the dietician recommending?

I have found we are all different on what works well in or digestion and gutt tolerances. Dietician tells you what is safe. Remember we are all different and trying different foods following safe for diabetes control is key. I eat everything low or no sugar added. And only eating high carbs(heavy breads , pasta, pancakes,etc.)when doing significant physical activity. She may need to experiment. My gutt med allows me to not discriminate my foods much. Once Colitis is controlled that can happen.. AVOID POPCORN!

@susanf8 at this point, it's a challenge even for the dietician, largely because my sister has been on steroids for the extreme colitis inflammation (she was hospitalized 22 days for this, until they got it under control), and the steroids are known to make the glucose numbers whacky. until she's off the steroids in another couple of weeks and they are out of her bloodstream, it's going to be hard to tell what is affecting what in terms of her diet. from your sister's experience, it seems logically to try certain foods to see how they affect her. if no issues, great. if otherwise, then stay away from them and maybe try again at a future time. that seems like a reasonable way to approach it. even with both the colitis and diabetes, one person's experience is no doubt different from someone else's. everyone's make up is different, so i totally get why you wouldn't make suggestions. when i started this post, i was looking in very general terms for support from others dealing with both of these conditions.

thank you again for your supportive words and for sharing! hugs to you!

@mizzdeb48 I was in the hospital for 30 days on very high doses of steroids prior to my colectomy. I came out of the hospital weighing about 83 lbs and had lost a lot of my muscle mass. If I try and remember what I was eating when I came out, it was a lot of starches, and bland lean protein, like chicken breast. I was also trying to get calories in so I also ate ice cream, cookies, and other things that were calorie dense, but not necessarily that nutritious. It took about 6 months to wean off the steroids and 2 years to recover completely.

I didn't have the benefit of a dietitian, or nutritionist, but I was given the guidance of trying small amounts of food, and chewing well. If they didn't agree with me, I would wait a little bit before trying again.

Your sister has gone through a lot, and I think if she feels like a food sounds delicious and appealing she should go ahead and try some. I know the diabetes adds a complication, and of course I would never recommend that she go against what the dietitian says.

For me, sometimes Cream of Wheat cereal made with milk and slathered with butter was appealing when nothing else was. It wasn't, perhaps, the most balanced of meals, but it got calories in me and felt good in my stomach . And honestly it also sounds good right now... It's a real comfort food for me.

What are some foods that appeal to your sister now?