Healthymom_5 wrote: »

Dear LunaKate,

My son has Crohn's, diagnosed two years ago, and as itchotog said, it can be a tough diagnosis (ulcerative colitis being a more common diagnosis of the two forms of IBD, Crohn's and ulcerative colitis). If it is in fact IBD and not IBS (although sometimes if one has IBD there are some resulting IBS issues) managing by diet alone is not as successful and I would say, even rare. Think of it this way - with IBS you are better if you find what makes your symptoms better, ie what to eat. With IBD, you are dealing with a serious disease state and this is not managed symptomatically only.
We do dietary measures, with the guidance of a well-trained integrative physician (think "real" physician who is also trained in alternative approaches, ie, Andrew Weil) as well as "traditional" approaches ie, drugs, surgery, etc. After a long and very difficult road he is now well-managed and once again thriving, but I will say it was drugs, and eventually surgery (only when necessary) that did it for my son - the purpose of my sons diet is to reduce overall inflammation, and healthily gain weight, as well as avoid possible autoimmune-stimulating foods that might worsen things.

Gluten/wheat is often the number one culprit, as is often dairy. Some cannot handle much fat at all, so if you are on a higher fat percent and lower carb, he might not tolerate that as well. It depends on the person. So I might say, at this point, cook a healthy carb with meals for him to eat, while you are low carb. You are on track too with cutting out sugar and fried foods. My son does rice very well, limited, careful veggies, fish, dark meat chicken, coconut milk (I mix his own weight gain snakes using it).

Since you don't yet have a diagnosis, I strongly suggest you push for this as your first goal while finding foods that bring comfort in the meantime. NOT to scare you, but if it is in fact IBD (Crohn's or ulcerative colitis) the sooner the treated, the better, or you could be asking for a terrible time of it. It is really not something to ignore or that will go away. A colonoscopy with biopsy is the only real way to diagnose. Then you will know what you are dealing with.

Hope this helps!

JocelyneRage wrote: »

Healthymom_5 wrote: »

Dear LunaKate,

My son has Crohn's, diagnosed two years ago, and as itchotog said, it can be a tough diagnosis (ulcerative colitis being a more common diagnosis of the two forms of IBD, Crohn's and ulcerative colitis). If it is in fact IBD and not IBS (although sometimes if one has IBD there are some resulting IBS issues) managing by diet alone is not as successful and I would say, even rare. Think of it this way - with IBS you are better if you find what makes your symptoms better, ie what to eat. With IBD, you are dealing with a serious disease state and this is not managed symptomatically only.
We do dietary measures, with the guidance of a well-trained integrative physician (think "real" physician who is also trained in alternative approaches, ie, Andrew Weil) as well as "traditional" approaches ie, drugs, surgery, etc. After a long and very difficult road he is now well-managed and once again thriving, but I will say it was drugs, and eventually surgery (only when necessary) that did it for my son - the purpose of my sons diet is to reduce overall inflammation, and healthily gain weight, as well as avoid possible autoimmune-stimulating foods that might worsen things.

Gluten/wheat is often the number one culprit, as is often dairy. Some cannot handle much fat at all, so if you are on a higher fat percent and lower carb, he might not tolerate that as well. It depends on the person. So I might say, at this point, cook a healthy carb with meals for him to eat, while you are low carb. You are on track too with cutting out sugar and fried foods. My son does rice very well, limited, careful veggies, fish, dark meat chicken, coconut milk (I mix his own weight gain snakes using it).

Since you don't yet have a diagnosis, I strongly suggest you push for this as your first goal while finding foods that bring comfort in the meantime. NOT to scare you, but if it is in fact IBD (Crohn's or ulcerative colitis) the sooner the treated, the better, or you could be asking for a terrible time of it. It is really not something to ignore or that will go away. A colonoscopy with biopsy is the only real way to diagnose. Then you will know what you are dealing with.

Hope this helps!

Thank you so much for posting this. I've been diagnosed with Crohns 3 years now, and since then, whatever hurls me into a flare up seems to change with the seasons. I've been soy free for 2 years and felt great for a decent amount of time, but I've been stuck in a flare up I can't shake off all winter (along with the never ending sniffles and carious other infections). I'm currently on a strict soy free diet and a temporary (potentially permanent) dairy free diet. But you've inspired me to see a proper nutritionist. I had no idea wheat and grains could be such a nuisance.

LunaKate wrote: »

Can eating low carb be bad for people that have some sort of IBS/IBD?

My husband started having IBS like issues about a year ago. They have run lots of tests, he had a little improvement going gluten free but barely, and to date they are still not sure what it is. Possibly Crohns. He is having a flare and since Im the one that cooks and I just started low carb a little over a week ago I fear I might have caused the flare somehow. He still eats carbs and we are still eating the same kinds of foods. Acidic foods and greasy foods, like deep fried things, are really bad for him but we avoid them anyways.