My symptoms got dramatically worse almost immediately after beginning the elimination diet. Upon drinking a shake, I felt alot of pain in my large intestine. I thought it was maybe gas, so I performed colonic massge, but there was no gas. It has now gotten to the point where anytime I try to ingest anything (even water), my abdomen begins to cramp and it is very painful. I was not experiencing anything like this before I tried the elimination diet. My colon is sore to the touch and I am assuming it is much more inflammed that it was before. I have dropped about five pounds this week-I had the extra to lose, but I am very concerned and very weak.
I am wondering if I should just try the 'stop intestinal bleeding diet', continue with the supplements I am taking and begin the wild oregano protocol/probiotic supplementation instead of the elimination diet. I have been struggling with intestinal bleeding since january. In that time I have not been passing formed stool and with each bm I have bleeding and multiple times throughout the day I only pass blood (not alot, but blood nonetheless).
I would love to hear if anyone has had similar experiences or if anyone might know why I am experiencing so much pain/spasms when I try to ingest anything. I would appreciate any insight you can give me.
Thanks, Michelle

Hi Michelle,

I would love to help you, but I need more details:

My first concern is whether you are in an emergency situation, or not: Is your abdomen currently hard to the touch and do you have any fever? Are you passing any stool, today or yesterday? - these are all signs of obstruction and possible rupture in the colon.

If your abdomen is hard to the touch and you are not passing any stool or gas, and you have a fever - then you need to get to the doctor IMMEDIATELY.

Depending on your fluid intake, you may also be dehydrated, which is also a serious, life-threatening condition. At the very least, you may need to have saline administered through an IV and wait to see how your colon responds. A barium should reveal any blockage and may even help flush it, so you can avoid surgery.

Remember, just because you check in to a hospital, doesn't mean you have to submit to a colonoscopy and steroids, etc. You can just get an IV to get you out of immediate danger, and then take a few days to check in with your intuition and decide on the best course of action for yourself - make sure you take your LTYG book with you, so you can make informed decisions.

I also need to know:

1. What exactly have you been ingesting since you started the elemental diet? I need a detailed list of everything - and how much.

2. Are you on any drugs and have you taken any in the last 3 months?

3. What were you eating before beginning the Diet?

4. What can you ingest/drink today? When is the last time you had anything other than water? And how much water have you been drinking per day?

take care,
Jini

Thank you for the prompt reply. I do not have a fever and I have been passing liquid stool. My abdomen is not hard, but it is sore to touch. Whenever I ingest anything I get an almost immediate cramping pain that goes from just below my ribcage down to my hip bones (just between them). It feels like my entire gut is protesting! I had nothing like this before I began with the diet. I was diagnosed with ulcerative proctitis initially, as the ulceration was only visible in my lower rectum, but the biopsies showed inflammation much further up in my colon and my dr concluded that it was uc. This was in march of this year and I have never taken any medication for it.
Before the diet I was eating a very bland array of foods as many foods seemed to cause problems (increased bleeding, diarrhea, etc.). So, I mainly ate small amounts of chicken and turkey, pasta, bread, oatmeal, banana muffins, soba noodle bowls (soba noodles, broth, zucchini, squash, carrots, bok choy), steamed veggies, potatoes, sweet potatoes, rice, yogurt, applesauce, and water. I was taking aloe vera juice 3/4 cup/day, l-glutamine 500 mg/day, vitamin e 400 iu/day, udos 9 capsules/day.
So far, each day I have had 2-3 shakes/day with about 1/4 tsp of udos, coq10/pycnogenol (both 30mg) alternating, emergen-c, 3/4 c aloe vera juice/day, 1/2 c juice (filtered apple/pear), 1c chicken broth (homemade) and 3-4 glasses of water and I have tried to eat some jello. Some days I have only been able to take in less water/broth. I don't take in anything but water after 4-5pm and it may take 2hrs to get in a glass of water as I have to take breaks from drinking to try and breath my way through the pain and the same is true for anything I have been trying to eat/drink. I usually wake up at 3or 3:30 and 5:30 every am having painful spasms and I usually don't eat anything before 9:30 in the am as I am usually still having pain. So far today, I have had a glass of water as it is only 10 am (it has taken me almost an hour to get through half the glass whilst writing this e-mail!) I absolutely know that I cannot proceed like this. My feeling is that since the shakes are the only new thing I have introduced they are the most likely problem, but I don't understand why I am having so much pain. Thank you for your time and your help with this~Michelle

Hi Michelle,

Thanks for all the details and here are my thoughts:

All elemental food products cause some degree of discomfort - especially in the first week as the system adjusts to this new food source. And depending on the person, they can experience a lot of spasming and therefore pain, or hardly any at all.

The other thing that may be happening is that you are intolerant to some ingredient in Absorb Plus. If this is the case, then your pain/spasming will not begin to lessen after a week or so, and may even become worse. In this case, the only thing you can do is stop using the product.

Another factor that may be at work here is that you may have a Candida overgrowth - and it is being spurred on by the maltodextrin and fructose in Absorb Plus. In this case, then the best course of action is to immediately begin Jini's Wild Oregano Oil Protocol (at full dose - 10 drops, 5x/day). The Wild Oregano combined with the probiotics at night should get the Candida in check fairly quickly. I would think you'd see a reduction in spasming/pain within 3-4 days.

If you're asking for my opinion, I would start immediately on the wild oregano protocol and give it 4 days before making a decision whether to abandon the Diet or not.

Another thing I would do immediately is begin EFT on both your current physical symptoms and emotional things at this time. See Ch. 6 of LTYG for a complete description of EFT and the website again is:
http://www.emofree.com

If you want to see how others have found EFT effective, do a search on the topic in the Main Discussion Forum here.

Well, let me know what you decide, and how things go.....

all the best,
Jini

Hi Jini~thanks again for the quick reply. I cannot tell you how much it means to me to have some guidence along this journey. I have just one more thing to run by you: I have also been diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome (I am not on any medications for it) and one of the underlying issues of this is insulin resistance. From what I understand that means I don't have as many receptor sites to process insulin and glucose as people normally do. I am wondering if I am overwhelming my system by drinking the shakes. If this is the case, do you have any suggestions for how to proceed? At this point I have added some food to my diet (zucchini, almond flour muffins, veggie pasta). It is quite painful to eat these as well and I just feel like I can't process anything! I ate a very small amount of lightly cooked carrot to use as a tracker food and it's transit time was about 6-7 hrs. How is this possible?!
I have done the candida test/saliva test and I do have an excess of candida in my system, so I will begin the wild oregano oil/probiotics just as soon as I can get them. I wanted to begin them earlier, but my bleeding is actually worse now that it was before, and I wasn't sure if I should begin at this time. Thanks again for your time and your patience. ~Michelle

Hi Michelle,

Regarding your insulin question....I'm not sure, I know that diabetics can have a hard time with the shakes because the uptake to the bloodstream is so rapid....this would be something you'd have to check with your doctor. And get his/her advice on the benefits of Elemental Diet (i.e. bowel rest, muscosal healing) vs. the drawbacks (spasming/pain, rapid uptake, etc.)

Also, why don't you check into the use of natural progesterone cream to treat your polycystic ovarian syndrome?

Yes, that transit time is possible and even faster actually. This is what happens in inflammation/ulcerated states and digestion and absorption are greatly reduced.

The only other option I know of - other than the elemental diet - is a diet prescribed by a renowned Ayurvedic doctor in London:

Consume Daily:
- 2 quarts of yoghurt made from raw milk (ferment for 24 hours to eliminate any lactose)
- 6 black bananas

The easiest way to consume this would be to whip them on LOW speed in the blender into shakes and drink it.

This diet would probably work because it would repopulate the gut with good bacteria and enzymes and black bananas are pre-digested - so another complete, perfect food with minimal digestion required. The only way it would not work is if you're allergic to milk proteins.

all the best,
Jini

Thanks again for all the geat info. In doing a bit more research about wild oregano oil, I discovered that it is and emmenagogue among many other things and I have primary amenorrhea and only have about 1-2 periods/year and after taking only two capsules of wild oregano oil, I have started my period! I have also been doing a number of other things more psychologically oriented to try and heal both my hormonal troubles as well as uc and I am wondering if the wild oregano oil could have worked that fast? any thoughts/experience you have with this would be appreciated. Thanks~Michelle