Blood in stool and Microscopic Colitis

I have read that collagenous collitis often is found in adults. A lot of younger people have collagenous gastritis which my teenager has. Nutrition protocol has been the only thing to help. It cause low mineral absorption and anemia.

Hi Wendy. I have never heard of Collagenous gastritis. Is this where there is an extra band of collagen somewhere other than the large colon? (In CC there is a thicker collagen band in the colon. ) In 17 years I have never found a diet that cures; only some improvements with light eating, and limited roughage. I have remissions where everything is normal and I can eat anything. And even sometimes where the collagen band has disappeared, only to return. Sometimes, the flare up is so aggressive that I have 15 to 20 bouts of diarrhea in the course of the day. Sometimes a flare up lasts for months. The steroid drugs they offer scare me. Once, the Pepto Bismuth routine sometimes used as a treatment worked for a nice long time before the condition returned. After that routine, while I still would experience serious flare ups, I had more frequent periods of remission at least. I get so tired of dealing with this. I just had a fe al test and there was occult blood in the samples, so I am now scheduled for a colonoscopy. I am thinking that it is likely a result of the CC of course, but then it’s always a worry; you know, everyone worries about the big C right away, I suspect some of us are just responding to the criminal adulteration of all of our food ( hormones and growth hormones and antibiotics in meats, not to mention stress hormones from poor tortured factory farmed animals, and all that spraying of our vegetables and fruits, and GMOs, and on and on; yeah; go Capitalism! ) what a world we’ve made. No wonder some of us can’t even eat or digest anymore. Hope your daughter does ok.

Collagen band in the stomach. We went all over the country visiting specialists. My son couldn't gain weight and was exhausted all of the time. We are now doing the GAPS diet protocol. Only thing that has helped. Very slow improvement. Like you mentioned, no preservatives, no additives. Not an easy protocol but I'm a believer.

I’ll have to look that diet up. I was on the SCD diet for a very long time, but it didn’t help that much; and that was a very limited diet ( no gluten, but also no grains of any kind, no dairy, and lots of other ‘nos’ too. Very limited.)
I wish your son all the best. It is a very difficult thing indeed to not be able to eat without pain and problems.

I am also following the SCD diet for suspected SIBO but one of the suspected diagnoses that has not been ruled out for me is collagenous or microscopic colitis, which will have to be done through colonoscopy if my symptoms don’t improve through antibiotics and diet. I have gas, bloating, pain and loose stools more often than diarrhea. Have also lost 20 pounds and I am finally working with a nutritionist. Only reason the GI doctor has not rushed to do a colonoscopy is that I am 63 and have had two normal colonoscopies and the last one two years ago. I am following reduced and specific carb diet which has helped with pain gas and bloating. Only been on diet for a month but I think it helps. Very careful with what I eat and how to introduce new foods. Takes a long time and many tests plus trial and error to arrive at correct diagnosis. But I think SCD diet is worth a try for about three months to see if it works. I also have occult blood in stool. No visible blood.

My nutritionist also put me on supplemental elemental shakes to boost calorie intake. It is the stuff young children take for GI problems EleCare. Body absorbs it in twenty minutes of taking it and there are no side effects. They also give your bowel a rest on days I have flares or diarrhea.

Wendy I am curious if besides the diet your son has taken any meds for CC that help and have you tried the elemental shakes for weight gain?

To gutheslth. To diagnose Collagenous , or the other types of ‘Microscopic Colitis, they have to take several biopsies during the colonoscopy. I think lots of people miss this diagnosis because biopsies are not taken. Yes, the SCD diet did help improve things somewhat, but I still had diarrhea, though somewhat reduced in the number of times a day. It was the bloating and gas that was helped most, and the sense of never completely being finished with a ‘bowel movement’. I do believe gluten is not the culprit for me. The problem I think for me on the SCD diet was that there was a lot of roughage, and a lot of seeds and nuts etc. I am just now considering a ‘low residue ‘ diet as a possibility for getting symptoms under control.
I think that occult blood can be from the effects of diarrhea itself: that alone should be enough to irritate the lining of the rectum and colon and produce occult blood I would think.
My most problematic time is about 5 hours after eating dinner ( a bigger meal than the rest of the day). That’s about the time I think the digestive process reaches the large colon.
What is most uncomfortable is the large volume of diarrhea ( = pressure in the colon) as a result of the collagen band interfering with water absorption from the colon. Sometimes I am amazed at the amount. Really. Where else can you talk about these things except a place like this. You know being able to say these ‘forbidden’ things is a great help to people suffering with something that you can’t usually discuss with others ( not exactly a welcome topic). Here at least: discuss away.

Thank you. Your reply is very informative. Were you put on any meds that helped for CC?

GAPS is second generation SCD. We work with a GAPS practitioner to customize for specific issues. That makes a world of difference. Not cheap to work with practitioner but worth it.