Hello
I am puzzled about what seems to not work for me, and how I should proceed from here. Comments would be most welcome!
For the past 8 months I have had increasing frequent diarrhea. In order to alleviate this, I first quite drinking coffee (I probably was accustomed to too much), then quit drinking milk, then dairy products, and finally quit gluton containing products on September 1. The last diarrhea type episode was three days after eliminating gluton products from my diet. I suspect the frequent diarrhea lead to an AF. This was first diagnosed on May 22. I had been having increasing pain, for about two months prior to this day. My family doctor prescribed a 0.2% nitroglycerine ointment and recommended Metamucil tablets. Subsequent symptoms were erratic, but with periodic severe episodes. On July 31 I had a colonoscopy, that showed everything was fine except for an AF. I felt rather good on the day of the colonoscopy, although I had been quite poor prior the examination. The poor condition resumed some time after the colonoscopy was completed. (I don’t recall how long.)
By Aug 14, I could no longer drive, and went to see a clinic doctor. She prescribed a 2% Diltiazem cream in Versabase, and confirmed the AF diagnosis. At this point I was spending most of the day lying down. At the time I was still attempting to go to work, but generally could not manage a full day, and missed some days completely. August 16 was the last day I managed to get to work even for a few hours. Since then, although there has been considerable fluctuation in the level of pain, it has been getting progressively worse (up until five days ago).
Although BM’s were painful, (at times excruciatingly painful), the pain immediately after was often not too bad. Sever pain would start 2 to 5 hours after a BM, and typically last for 4 to 8 hours. Other times were varying degrees of highly uncomfortable to moderate pain. (I have not noted this pain pattern in reading others accounts.) Also, passing gas for me was never painful (different from what others are reporting). Passing gas would often offer a second or two of slight pain relief.
I met with a CRS on Sept 22. He confirmed the CF diagnosis, and prescribed a high fibre diet (25 to 30 grams /day) plus a heaping teaspoon of Metamucil twice a day (rather than the tablets), along with lots of water. I had been taking five Metamucil capsules per day since the condition was first diagnosed. I followed this diet a precisely as I could, keeping very careful track of all food, adding up the fibre content, while also eliminating dairy, caffeine and gluten. BM’s were massive, with about two per day. Pain increased. By September 26, I could not tolerate the pain. Most of my time was spent soaking in a warm bath, or trying to find a spot to lie down where I could tolerate the pain. The pain was excruciating, and nearly continuous. I could not get the energy to eat on Sept 26. In the early afternoon I took four Dulcolax tablets, and an hour later drank 2 Ѕ litres of “Kleen Prep”, used to flush the system prior to a colonoscopy. Once BM’s started from the Kleen Prep, I started to feel better. A few hours later the pain had subsided to the point I could sleep. This was four days ago, and I have continued to improve every day. I am, however, concerned about diet and eating. I drank only water on the day of the Kleen Preap and the day after. The third day I had a tablespoon of brown beans, two tablespoons potatoes, and two tablespoons of cooked carrots with some prune and apricot juice. The next day I increased the food quantity and added yogurt, and a small portion of cantaloupe and banana, while continuing with lots of water and some prune and apricot juice. Today I had a very small BM, completely painfree!!!! with something close to toothpaste consistency. Life is great again (at least for the time being).
This diet that I have been on for the past five days is about as far away as possible from the CRS recommendations, and is counter to the advice of nearly everyone on this site. I would very much appreciate comments. Has anyone else had difficulty with the high fibre diet? Does anyone have recommendations on how I should proceed from here to get back to a “normal” life?
Thanks in advance for any advice or comments.
Regards,
Ken