Had a colonoscopy today...what the doctor said.

motown13
motown13 Posts: 688 Member
He asked if I felt ok, and I said I do, but my bowel movements are different now that I am doing a LCHF WOE. The first thing he did was scowl at me. He asked me how many carbs I have on a daily basis. I said 20 to 30 a day... another scowl.

He told me that I need more grains in my diet - ancient grains, specifically. I told him that that was not going to happen. Then he asked me how much fruit I eat. I said maybe a strawberry a week, maybe 2. Again with the scowl.

I told him that I eat lots of green veggies and cauliflower. His reply was "you still need some fruit".

I then reminded him that I have diabetes. He told me that he knew that, and then he said.......

I am not your PCP, but if I was, I would tell you that you need 100 grams of carbohydrates a day.... even with being diabetic.

So, in a way, I guess he did tell me that.

Replies

  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
    Sigh. Where is an eye rolling emoticon when you need one.

    How did the procedure go? All good i hope.
  • motown13
    motown13 Posts: 688 Member
    nvmomketo wrote: »
    Sigh. Where is an eye rolling emoticon when you need one.

    How did the procedure go? All good i hope.

    4 pollups. He thinks all are benign, but sent to a lab.
  • Jan93L
    Jan93L Posts: 178 Member
    I'm scheduled to have one on Fri. Day after tomorrow. I'm concerned about getting through the liquid diet tomorrow in a low carb manner because I have T2 D . I don't want my BG to go too low. I plan on having bone broth with extra bouillon cube added for sodium. Made some regular jello with 2 extra packets of gelatin added. I did get some white grape juice but don't know yet if I will drink any. Gonna be interesting. Had one about 10 years ago and they found nothing. Hope it goes the same way this time. No cream in my coffe is going to be really difficult!
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    First, a disclaimer: as most know, I don't really consider myself low carb per se. (I don't count, I don't eat high fat on purpose etc.).

    That said, I changed my WOE about 14 years ago to slow carb. My bowels, which had always been crappy (no pun intended) improved a bit... But about 10 years ago, I thought, what the hell, let's get tested. I get stomach cramping. Lots of constipation etc. when I eat something like pizza, even whole wheat.

    We did all the tests. I blew in balloons, drank weird stuff, had a colonoscopy.... Nothing.

    GI doc told me to UP my carbs, UP my gains etc. I said I had enough fiber. Told him things had flowed better since I switched to slow carb which was lower in grains yaddyyaddah. He sent me home to UP my grains and log. And eat prunes. At one point I was up around 70 grams with things like bran cereal etc. constipated as HELL. I said I was going to cut grains way way way back, and only get carbs from vegetables and berries. I get 30-40 grams. Voila. Less stuck.

    Ultimately. He agreed with me that starches, in general, turn into a cement plug. For me.

    I get my fiber from tons of vegetables.

    Good luck finding what works for you.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    Jan93L wrote: »
    I'm scheduled to have one on Fri. Day after tomorrow. I'm concerned about getting through the liquid diet tomorrow in a low carb manner because I have T2 D . I don't want my BG to go too low. I plan on having bone broth with extra bouillon cube added for sodium. Made some regular jello with 2 extra packets of gelatin added. I did get some white grape juice but don't know yet if I will drink any. Gonna be interesting. Had one about 10 years ago and they found nothing. Hope it goes the same way this time. No cream in my coffe is going to be really difficult!

    Can you do coffee? I wasn't allowed coffee.

    While I don't generally advocate for sugar free lemonade type powders, they were a life saver during prep, especially when drinking the stuff. It was great in the stuff.
  • motown13
    motown13 Posts: 688 Member
    Jan93L wrote: »
    I'm scheduled to have one on Fri. Day after tomorrow. I'm concerned about getting through the liquid diet tomorrow in a low carb manner because I have T2 D . I don't want my BG to go too low. I plan on having bone broth with extra bouillon cube added for sodium. Made some regular jello with 2 extra packets of gelatin added. I did get some white grape juice but don't know yet if I will drink any. Gonna be interesting. Had one about 10 years ago and they found nothing. Hope it goes the same way this time. No cream in my coffe is going to be really difficult!

    Can you do coffee? I wasn't allowed coffee.

    While I don't generally advocate for sugar free lemonade type powders, they were a life saver during prep, especially when drinking the stuff. It was great in the stuff.

    Coffee was ok until midnight last night, but no cream.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    edited March 2016
    motown13 wrote: »
    Jan93L wrote: »
    I'm scheduled to have one on Fri. Day after tomorrow. I'm concerned about getting through the liquid diet tomorrow in a low carb manner because I have T2 D . I don't want my BG to go too low. I plan on having bone broth with extra bouillon cube added for sodium. Made some regular jello with 2 extra packets of gelatin added. I did get some white grape juice but don't know yet if I will drink any. Gonna be interesting. Had one about 10 years ago and they found nothing. Hope it goes the same way this time. No cream in my coffe is going to be really difficult!

    Can you do coffee? I wasn't allowed coffee.

    While I don't generally advocate for sugar free lemonade type powders, they were a life saver during prep, especially when drinking the stuff. It was great in the stuff.

    Coffee was ok until midnight last night, but no cream.

    That surprises me. Well, hope all goes well with your fiber/carb debate.
  • KarlynKeto
    KarlynKeto Posts: 323 Member
    I think he was pushing the need for fiber, which we can get on Keto. My husband got a similar lecture on fiber for eating a SAD diet. i often get 20+ grams of fiber per day, so I know it can be done. But I keep my net carbs around 35-45 so not super low. It works for me. I eat salad daily and often do a veggie protein shake (vega one), then a veggie with dinner. Not every day, but most. Good luck!
  • Tanukiko
    Tanukiko Posts: 186 Member
    Eat fruit? That was his advice? Sheesh
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    KarlynKeto wrote: »
    I think he was pushing the need for fiber, which we can get on Keto. My husband got a similar lecture on fiber for eating a SAD diet. i often get 20+ grams of fiber per day, so I know it can be done. But I keep my net carbs around 35-45 so not super low. It works for me. I eat salad daily and often do a veggie protein shake (vega one), then a veggie with dinner. Not every day, but most. Good luck!

    I think he was too, unfortunately, many docs equate fiber with grains, rather than vegetables.
  • FIT_Goat
    FIT_Goat Posts: 4,224 Member
    I wonder what they would say about my fiber levels. LOL
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    FIT_Goat wrote: »
    I wonder what they would say about my fiber levels. LOL

    where's that hair raising emoticon.
    :open_mouth::smiley:
  • Dragonwolf
    Dragonwolf Posts: 5,600 Member
    FIT_Goat wrote: »
    I wonder what they would say about my fiber levels. LOL

    He'd have a heart attack. ;)
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    Motown did the doctor say you were full of shite or impacted or anything?

    Then again, you would have been thoroughly enptied prior to the procedure, right?
  • motown13
    motown13 Posts: 688 Member
    Clean as a whistle. 64 ounces of Gatorade mixed with 238g of Miralax, and 2 Dulcolax pills will do that. Plus I probably drank 24 ounces of unsweetened tea.
  • motown13
    motown13 Posts: 688 Member
    motown13 wrote: »
    Clean as a whistle. 64 ounces of Gatorade mixed with 238g of Miralax, and 2 Dulcolax pills will do that. Plus I probably drank 24 ounces of unsweetened tea.

    All told, I went 42 hours without anything to eat. And, while I was hungry, my blood glucose was pretty stable. I was afraid it would go too low. I checked 3x and it was 91, 129, 119.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    motown13 wrote: »
    Clean as a whistle. 64 ounces of Gatorade mixed with 238g of Miralax, and 2 Dulcolax pills will do that. Plus I probably drank 24 ounces of unsweetened tea.

    I wasn't allowed to have either tea or coffee. lucky! :wink:
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    motown13 wrote: »
    Clean as a whistle. 64 ounces of Gatorade mixed with 238g of Miralax, and 2 Dulcolax pills will do that. Plus I probably drank 24 ounces of unsweetened tea.

    Strange.. So he was just giving you the usual cookie cutter advice.
  • PleasantDisarray
    PleasantDisarray Posts: 22 Member
    I'm in my last year of medical school, and from both a patient and doctor side of things I'll just proffer my personal opinion, which is:
    - research has never grappled with the individual well when it comes to something with *so* many confounding factors, like studies into diet
    - big research trials into dietary guidelines are often not as unbiased as they seem
    - the only real treatments for bowel habit issues are a) pseudo-science or b) brutal to your gut. (I recently had a doctor tell me to eat dried fruit for constipation because "it has lots of potassium", when if she'd thought back to her medical school training she'd realise that's absolute bull because potassium doesn't even play an important role in bowel water balance or motility.)

    You live your body day-to-day and will know what works best for your health, glucose stability and bowel. Go right ahead and do it. :smile:
  • Jan93L
    Jan93L Posts: 178 Member
    Black coffee is not so bad. The rules this time seem more relaxed than 10 years ago.
  • carlsoda
    carlsoda Posts: 3,430 Member
    Stupid doctor. I have mine in July (low waiting list where I live) but I'll be quiet about my diet and my health. Honestly it's none of their business anyhow...right!!??!!
  • kimbo8435
    kimbo8435 Posts: 129 Member
    edited March 2016
    @PleasantDisarray Thanks for this perspective! I forget sometimes when speaking with docs that they have to recommend what works for the general population- not me specifically. Not to mention, the EMR requires you all to ensure you've done your required patient education so you can check in all those boxes on the computer! ;)
  • Lillith32
    Lillith32 Posts: 483 Member
    There is a book out there called "The Fiber Menace" by Dr. Konstantin Monastyrsky. Just in case you want to really give your doc something to think about.
  • motown13
    motown13 Posts: 688 Member
    motown13 wrote: »
    Clean as a whistle. 64 ounces of Gatorade mixed with 238g of Miralax, and 2 Dulcolax pills will do that. Plus I probably drank 24 ounces of unsweetened tea.

    I wasn't allowed to have either tea or coffee. lucky! :wink:


    Well, I was told no cream, and no purple or red Gatorade, if that makes you feel better. ;)

  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    motown13 wrote: »
    motown13 wrote: »
    Clean as a whistle. 64 ounces of Gatorade mixed with 238g of Miralax, and 2 Dulcolax pills will do that. Plus I probably drank 24 ounces of unsweetened tea.

    I wasn't allowed to have either tea or coffee. lucky! :wink:


    Well, I was told no cream, and no purple or red Gatorade, if that makes you feel better. ;)

    I was told no solids and nothing with any color. for two days
  • KarlynKeto
    KarlynKeto Posts: 323 Member
    edited March 2016
    Lillith32 wrote: »
    There is a book out there called "The Fiber Menace" by Dr. Konstantin Monastyrsky. Just in case you want to really give your doc something to think about.

    thanks for posting that. I have heard this argument mentioned before, and I guess there may be a legit argument against grain-based fibers. There is so much research that grains cause problems for so many people, I will keep an open mind, but dang... it does seems odd advice. I may read that book, just to get the reasoning behind it. After everything I have learned this last year on nutrition, I know that not everything I learned 40 years ago about nutrition still holds true. But no book will convince me to give up fresh veggies. Not gonna happen. :wink:
  • motown13
    motown13 Posts: 688 Member
    Nope. When my heirloom tomatoes ripen, I sill have a few slices a day.
  • CMYKRGB
    CMYKRGB Posts: 213 Member
    A long time ago, when I was doing South Beach, the proctologist told me after a coloscopy that the diet was bad for my colon and I needed to eat a lot of bran. So I did and gained about 25 pounds. What an idiot.
  • Lillith32
    Lillith32 Posts: 483 Member
    KarlynKeto wrote: »
    . After everything I have learned this last year on nutrition, I know that not everything I learned 40 years ago about nutrition still holds true. But no book will convince me to give up fresh veggies. Not gonna happen. :wink:

    I heard an interview with Dr. Monastyrsky on the Ben Greenfield podcast. Interesting stuff. I actually buy his argument - our digestive tract is closer to the ones of carnivores than herbivores. However, the Doc makes it a point that the amounts of fiber he finds to be dangerous are kind of hard to consume if you eat just vegetables, and his book is geared for people with digestive tract problems, not the general population. After listening to him I didn't decide to give up my veggies, but I did decide to be more sparing with psyllium husks, konjac noodles, etc, and not bother with out-of-the-bottle probiotics.