How I Eat Lactose Free

As I have mentioned before when I wrote about my diet, I stay away from heavy lactose foods. Most people with Crohn’s are lactose intolerant. Actually, I think a lot of people are in general to some degree.

When I was first diagnosed, I thought to myself, OMG, no more cereal, ice cream or cheese ever again?? But that is not true! There are ways around this to eat yummy dairy foods without lactose or getting an upset tummy. However, it all depends on the person too. Some tolerate more lactose than others.

Dairy foods that I CAN eat include:

Frozen yogurt

Eggs

Lactose free milk (Great Value at Walmart is the best!)

Most hard cheeses like swiss, sharp cheddar, mozzarella, goat cheese etc

I do fine with grated cheese on my tacos

And Dairy foods that I do NOT tolerate include:

Regular milk

Ice cream

Velveeta

Any kind of queso or liquid cheese like at Mexican restaurants- this is the worst!

Mac and cheese

Cheesy pastas at Italian restaurants

Cheesy garlic bread-this upset me terribly because of the cheese and butter smothered all over the bread!

Probably cheesecake, but I have not tried this in a long time.

The two “substitutes” I was most excited about to discover were frozen yogurt since I cannot eat ice cream and Great Value Lactose Free Milk. Love them!

Seriously, the lactose free milk tastes no different than regular milk. I think it tastes even better and it lasts longer than regular milk! We buy reduced fat or 2 percent. J Yum. I can eat cereal all I want. Of course it depends on the cereal, because certain cereals upset my tummy too. Corn Flakes and Cheerios are pretty safe for a Crohn’s tummy.

Recently, I bought this carton of frozen yogurt at Wal-Mart. It is really yummy and tastes juts like vanilla ice cream. This brand has different flavors of frozen yogurt too!

Health food grocery stores usually have lactose free ice cream that I have tried. Its okay, it just doesn’t taste all that great. But it is better than nothing! 

 Oh! And I also found these frozen yogurt fudge bars at Wal-Mart too! My husband even loved these. They taste just as good as regular fudge bars!

Please let me know if you know of any other great lactose free foods! I'm always looking for something new to try, because who doesn't love dairy? :) 

Great Article to Read and Update on my Health

Below is a link to a great article on how to talk to people who are living with a chronic illness. What to say and what not to say etc. Everyone should read this, because I can guarantee everyone knows someone who is chronically ill or you will talk to someone living with a chronic illness at some point in your life! Just by learning how to talk to them in a way that encourages them and shows that you care will bless their day.

I sent this to my family members and posted it on Facebook. Please feel free to pass this article along to others as well :)

Talking to Someone with a Chronic Illness

Enjoy! 

Hope everyone is having a great weekend! I did my second round of Cimzia shots yesterday, and my husband sat with me to learn and watch for the first time. He was very encouraging to me and helped remind me to breathe as I was slowly pushing the medicine in from the injection. My abdomen was pretty sore last night, but now I feel fine!

Oh and here is an update on my oral thrush: The Nystatin did not work at all! I went to a normal doctor and not the dentist. The doctor said that stuff only works on people with a normal immune system, which this is not me. ha. I have a very lowered immune system and am taking steroids, so I needed something strong! So, now I am on a 7-day treatment of Difflucan. I just took pill number 5, and it is starting to look better. It is not completely cleared up yet though. I sure hope it clears up soon. 

I was a little worried about how I would feel yesterday with the injection and I tapered down to 5 mg of Prednisone. Woo Hoo! I did pretty good. We were able to make it to my sweet friend's backyard wedding, and we slow danced under the stars. It was a beautiful evening in Oklahoma City last night-just perfect. By the time we left, I felt a migraine coming on and my injection sites were very sore. All in all, it was a splendid evening :) 

Here is my handsome husband and I at the wedding downtown OKC last night :) 

Words Can Heal

I have always had a thing with words. Words can mean everything. Words can hurt. Words can heal. They 

can make your day or ruin your day. People remember things you say.

Song lyrics especially have always had a way of speaking to me. I cannot love a song until I have read the lyrics. It’s funny, because my husband tells me he feels like the melody and music is the most important part of a song to him. He loves the melody, and I love the words. Maybe someday we will write a song together.

The Lyrics to “Your Hands” by JJ Heller is one of my favorites. It really speaks to so many areas of my life-

especially my struggle with Crohn’s disease or other hard times I go through.

I wanted to share these lyrics. J

Your Hands

I have unanswered prayers

I have trouble I wish wasn’t there

And I have asked a thousand ways

That you would take my pain away

You would take my pain away

I am trying to understand

How to walk this weary land

Make straight the paths that crooked lie

Oh Lord before these feet of mine

Oh Lord before these feet of mine

When my world is shaking, Heaven stands

When my heart is breaking

I never leave your hands

When you walked upon the earth

You healed the broken, lost and hurt

I know you hate to see me cry

One day you will set all things right

Yeah, one day you will set all things right

When my world is shaking, Heaven stands

When my heart is breaking

I never leave your hands

Your hands that shaped the world

Are holding me

They hold me still

Your hands that shaped the world

Are holding me

They hold me still

When my world is shaking, heaven stands

When my hear tis breaking

I never leave you

When my world is shaking, heaven stands

When my heart is breaking

I never leave you

I never leave your hands

When my world is shaking, when life is hard, when my stomach is hurting me, when life seems unfair, heaven stands. Jesus is standing by my side. He is strong, and he never leaves me.

Happy Friday J

My Diet in a Nutshell

When I was first diagnosed with Crohn’s, I asked my doctor what foods to stay away from. He said there is no particular diet with Crohn’s and you need to find what it best for you. He did however say to stay away from food with lactose. That’s not a lot of direction! It took me a few months and meeting with a wonderful nutritionist to figure out how to eat with my new disease.

Also when I was first diagnosed, I was super inflamed so my diet had to be super strict. It was difficult for my husband and I at the time to adjust, because we were so used to going out to eat a lot and cooking whatever we wanted. Going out to eat became a different experience for me, and we had to change the way we cooked together for my diet. It took some adjusting to, but we did it! Isaac was such a good sport and always has been. He always tells me my meals are great-even if I have to cook the blandest thing ever!

Like last night, I baked Tilapia in the oven with some dry seasoning, steamed squash and zucchini plain, and warmed up a loaf of plain French bread. He said it was a great light meal! Thanks babe. And both of our tummies felt good afterwards. J

It is true that lactose really upsets my stomach. And it is true that there is no particular diet. There is one for me, but it may not be the right diet for someone else with Crohn’s disease. Overall, it is best to eat healthy and to find what your particular “trigger” foods are. By that I mean particular foods or ingredients that can make my symptoms worse or upset my stomach.

To find out, it is all trial and error. Not fun. I met with a nutritionist a year ago who helped me out a lot. She advised me to not eat a bunch of food all at once that might upset my stomach. Try food one at a time, that way you will know which food is the “trigger food.” Some I already knew and I didn’t need to try to find out. Like lactose, spicy foods and caffeine I cut out of my diet immediately.

My trigger foods are:

·         Lactose

·         Spicy foods

·         Fatty meat like ground beef

·         Oils and lots of butter

·         Whole wheat/whole grains

·         Alcohol and beer

·         Coffee

·         Pop

·         Popcorn

·         Most marinades

·         Ranch dressing

·         Raw vegetables

·         Apples with the skin

·         Spaghetti

·         Salad

I also have figured out what my “safe foods” are. These are foods that I know for sure will not upset my 

stomach. During a flare, I know I can stick to these and be okay.

·        

• ·         White breads/crackers
  ·         Turkey, chicken and fish
  ·         Dry seasonings on meat when cooking
  ·         Using Pam when cooking to substitute for oil
  ·         Graham crackers
  ·         Mushy vegetables
  ·         Most fruit without the skin-pears, peaches, grapes, cantelope, melons, bananas
  ·         Homemade pizza with light red sauce, mozzarella cheese and chicken
  ·         Canned vegetables like green beans and peas (because they are soft and I can digest them easily)
  ·         Smoothies with no lactose!
  ·         Pretzels
  ·         Creamy peanut butter
  ·         Apple sauce
  ·         White rice
  ·         Soy sauce
  ·         Edemame
  ·         Honey mustard

This list does not mean this is my only diet for ever. This is just the diet I stick to when my intestines are all inflamed. When I am feeling better and when I can get to remission, I will still eat very healthy, but I will introduce some more foods into my diet and be more daring on good days-even with some of those trigger foods. J I know, it’s very complicated to explain to people.

When I am feeling good, I do not hesitate to eat a cookie J (or two!)

When people ask me what I can eat, it is so much easier for them to tell me what they are having for dinner, and I will say whether or not I can eat it. It all depends on how I am feeling, where I am at, what is being served and how the meal was prepared.

When I am not feeling good, it is very hard to find something at a restaurant I can eat. But when I am feeling better, I can usually find something to eat at a restaurant. When all else fails, I just get a plain white break sandwich!

I hope this helps explain my diet in a nutshell to a lot of people.

The most important thing is that for most Crohn’s patients, diet will not cure the disease nor will food alone control it. It will just help. There is no cure yet. For me, keeping a very health diet and taking my drugs is what helps control my disease.

I plan to write more blog posts on diet and nutrition! This is just the beginning! 

Stupid Steroids Gave Me Thrush

I have thrush. It’s kinda icky.

What is thrush you might be thinking?

“Thrush is a yeast infection that causes white patches in the mouth and on the tongue. Thrush is most common in babies and older adults, but it can occur at any age (www.webmd.com).”

Thrush in Adults can be caused by certain medications, like steroids. I have been taking Prednisone for my Crohn’s inflammation recently. This is one of the many unpleasant results of taking Prednisone. Bleh.

What does thrush look like in my mouth? Well, I’m not going to show any photos. That’s just too much. You can Google photos if you want. Basically, it looks like white patches all over the inside of my mouth and tongue. It looks like cottage cheese. If you try to wipe them away or gnaw them off, it hurts and can bleed.

I went to the dentist yesterday, and he confirmed that I have it. It’s pretty easy to diagnose. I knew I had it when I read in a Crohn’s book that since people with Crohn’s have a low immune system and when you take steroids, it can easily cause thrush.

It’s really not that big of a deal. It’s just gross looking and bothersome. The dentist prescribed me an antifungal medicine called Nystatin. It is a minty liquid that I swish around in my mouth like Listerine for a couple minutes then spit it out. I do this 5 times a day. The doctor said that it might take a while to get rid of it since I am still on the steroids for a few more weeks. He said this fungus is a pesky thing to get rid of.

I have now tapered down to 10 mg of Prednisone. I will go down to 5 mg once I take my second round of Cimzia shots. Then from there my GI doctor will tell me what’s next. I guess it depend son how I am doing.

On the up side, I feel like the Prednisone is finally kicking in this week and my Crohn’s symptoms have been for the most part under control. It has been nice to have some relief from all the diahhrea, bleeding, nausea and pain. J

However, the Prednisone gives me some annoying symptoms to deal with. This week, it has been dull achy headaches, extreme fatigue, puffiness in the face and abdomen, thrush, achy joints-especially in my back, and shakiness in my hands.

My husband says I’ll feel better if I do some kind of light exercise. I know I need to try; it’ll be good for me. But I just don’t feel like it. I feel tired and lazy. Ha. Maybe tomorrow I’ll get out and take Izzy for a walk.

At least I was able to make it to work every day this week and get through the 8-hour days! That is a plus. J I feel like things are going to get better soon. I just gotta be patient. Things could always be worse!

I’m so glad it is a Friday, and it is rainy and cool here in Oklahoma. It’s a perfect evening to relax on the couch with the cutest pooch ever!

Tea for the Tummy

There are all kinds of teas-black, white, herbal, caffeinated, non-caffeinated, green and many more. Teas also serve many different purposes from weight loss to relaxation from a long day.

There are also teas that are soothing for the tummy. When I feel bloated, crampy or just need to relax, I warm up some water in the microwave and drink either Celstial Seasonings peppermint or chamomile tea.

 

Another favorite of mine is honey vanilla chamomile. It has a little more flavor!

Peppermint and chamomile teas are classified as herbal teas, which are very good for you!

“Herbal teas made with peppermint and chamomile may aid in relieving gas pain, flatulence due to Crohn's disease as well as improving the overall health of your digestive system. The menthol found in peppermint tea soothes the muscles in the digestive tract by producing antispasmodic effects. In addition, peppermint tea may help to calm a nervous stomach and relieve stomach pain. Chamomile is commonly used for its antispasmodic and anti-inflammatory properties. These properties help with digestion and alleviating flatulence (www.livestrong.com)”

Before I was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, I was a coffee drinker. I love the smell and taste of coffee-especially with creamer and Splenda. I do miss it sometimes. And I have to admit, every now and then on a “good Crohn’s day” I will have half a cup just to satisfy my craving.

My husband and I received a beautiful coffee maker as a wedding gift. It makes me sad that I can’t use it for myself more, but I am happy getting to make coffee for him or guests just so I can have the aroma of coffee throughout our apartment. J

Overtime, I have come to crave tea just as much. And it has been a better substitute, because it makes me feel better and it is good for you!

I always add some Splenda to give it more flavor, and sometimes I add a little bit of lactose free milk to make it a little creamy. Yum!

The other day I was at Whole Foods grocery store and saw a probiotic tea. That could be a good one too. I will have to check into that!

If you know of any other good teas for the tummy, let me know! 

Crohnie Quote of the Day

I follow another Crohn blogger, and I found this quote on his page that I thought just says it all! I thought I would share:

Crohnie Quote of the Day

Don't ask me "what can you eat?"
Tell me what you are planning to have for dinner and I will tell you if I can eat it or not.

It's just easier that way

~www.crohns-leavingtheseatdown.blogspot.com

I Started Cimzia Today

Today, I started my first dose of Cimzia for my Crohn's disease. Cimzia is an injection that comes in a prefilled syringe. My eyes got wide when I saw the needle that I have to poke into my fat, but it really wasn't that bad. The needle is probably half and inch long.

Cimzia is a Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF) blocker. This is the type of drug that it is. The Crohn's drugs I have been taking for the past year (Pentasa and Endocort) are pills called anti-inflammatory drugs.

Cimzia is supposed to lessen the symptoms of Crohn's disease in adults who have not been helped enough by usual treatments (www.cimzia.com). This drug is also used to treat rheumatoid arthritis.

This is the box the two syringes came in. 

Above is the syringe. Once I am ready to inject, I take the white circular tab off and that is where the needle is. Not that scary looking!

To start Cimzia, a nurse who works for the company came to my apartment today to teach me all about the drug and how to inject myself. Injecting myself is a new thing for me! Eeek!

My nurse was so nice and helped me through the process. I practiced on a blob of fake skin with a needle just to see what is it like injecting. Then, I injected myself in the side of the belly for the first time. I had to pick a spot on my lower belly that was about an inch away from my belly button. I pinched the skin and real quick poked the syringe into my skin. Then, I slowly pushed down on top of the syringe injecting the medicine into my fat. It took about a minute. The medicine stung a little going into the injection site and it continued to sting a little for a couple of minutes afterwards. Not too bad!

Since I was nervous while injecting myself the first time, I forgot to breath. After the needle was out of my stomach, I got really light headed and almost passed out. I tend to hold my breath when I am tense and nervous. After I few minutes of laying down on the couch, I felt better and decided to go for the second injection! I felt more confident this time. :)

For weeks 0, 2 and 4, I have to inject myself with two Cimzia syringes. This is called the starter pack, and it gets the medicine into my system. On week 6, I only inject myself with one syringe every two weeks.

The only down side to this drug is that it lowers my immune system, which means I am now more susceptible to upper respiratory infections and UTIs (ugh!).  I just have to stay away from sick people and wash my hands a lot more! It will be totally worth it if it helps my Crohn's symptoms.

It may take up to 3 months for me to see any results and tell if the drug is working properly. I will keep you all updated these next few months on my progress!

In the meantime, I am still taking a low dosage of Prednisone (the steroid) for the next month, and I am still on my other anti-inflammatory drugs until I finish the starter kit. Then in about 4-6 weeks, I will start weening off these drugs if everything is going ok. That is good news!

If you ever start a drug like this, I would suggest having someone with you so help you listen to the nurse and learn how to inject it as well. Unfortunately, my husband could not be here with me today, because he had to work. But my mom came and sat with me while the nurse taught me everything I need to know. It was very nice to have the support and a second set of listening ears. :)

Me? High Cholesterol?

This week, I found out that I have pretty high cholesterol for someone being so young and having such low body fat. My general practitioner was shocked.

Here are my numbers she pointed out:

• My LDL-C ("bad" cholesterol) was 130, which is a high risk range. It needs to be around 100
• My NON-HDL-C ("good" cholesterol) was 149, which is intermediate risk range. This needs to be below 130. 
• Triglycerides (fat) was 109, which is good. It needs to be under 150. 

If my "bad" cholesterol builds up in my arteries over time, I have a higher risk of developing heart disease later in life. That is no good. I need to keep my "bad" cholesterol down and my "good" cholesterol up. How do I do that? 

After going over my diet, we figured out that it is mostly genetic. I eat very healthy since I have Crohn’s disease- no fatty food, chicken, fish, no red meat, no beef, no pork and I even take an Omega 3 (fish oil) supplement.

So, how do you lower your cholesterol when it is out of your control? I can’t help my genetics!

Well, my doctor wants me to start taking four Omega 3 supplements each day instead of one! I didn't know I wasn't taking enough. That’s a lot of fishiness going into my body. Omega 3 is good for your heart. Also, I found out that Omega 3 is an anti inflammatory and may help fight my Crohn's inflammation. 

Thankfully, you can get Omega 3 for fairly cheap. I bought this bottle for about 10 dollars at Walgreens, and it comes with 100 soft gels. That will only last me about a month. Ha. 

She also prescribed Welchol to take once a day. Welchol is a powder substance that you mix into your drink once a day. It is an FDA approved medicine that lowers “bad cholesterol” in adults with high cholesterol or type 2 diabetes as long as you are dieting and exercising.

Here is Welchol’s web site: www.welchol.com

The only concern I have with Welchol is not good for people who get intestinal blockages easily. (Constipation)  With Crohn’s, I usually have way too much Diarrhea (especially during a flare), but I seem to get stopped up easily as well. It is always one or the other.

Tomorrow, I see my GI specialist for a check up, so I will check with her first and see what she says about this powdery substance.

Another thing I need to do more of to lower my “bad cholesterol” is exercise!

To be honest, I have never been a fan of working out. If I do work out, I like to take walks and look at scenery.

Since I have been in a flare, I have been way too tired to work out. It takes everything out of me just to make it through a day at work.

But I do need to get in the habit of at least walking a few times a week or doing my Wii Fit that my sweet husband bought me last year. When I have been feeling better, I like to walk for 30 minutes during my lunch hour at my company’s gym. (yes, we have a fitness center at work. We are spoiled.) It is a nice break during the day.

I need some fun ideas for working out. Way to take my mind off the fact that I am exercising. Feel free to tell me what you do to exercise! Here are some I thought of:

• ·         Walking my dog
• ·         Yoga moves with watching a movie
• ·         Stretching while watching TV or listening to music
• ·         Always take stairs over elevator
• ·         Wii Fit
• ·         Take a walk around a neighborhood I wish I lived in
• ·         Dance! 

College Football and the Start of Cimzia

Labor Day weekend marks the start of college football!

This is my husband and I at the first Oklahoma State Football game where we destroyed Savannah State. As you can see, we got tickets to the VIP suites, thanks to my company Chesapeake Energy. This was the best way to watch football-air conditioning, free food, comfy seats, and....easy access to the most beautiful restrooms!

I should have taken a photo of these VIP restrooms. There was never a line, the doors were a beautiful solid dark wood, there were soft thick paper towels to wipe your hands on, and hair care supplies! For a girl with a digestive disease, everywhere I go-especially big events like football games- I always think about the restrooms.

Where are they located? Will there be a line? How nice are they? Can I get to them easily?

Thankfully, I did not have to use this restroom that much. I did pretty well on Saturday with my symptoms. This was such a relief, because when I am in a flare it can be a little nerve wracking to spend a whole day tailgating and attending a game. I never know what my stomach is going to do-it has a mind of it's own. I knew it would be a long hot day (over 100 degrees!) in Stillwater, Okla., so I drank plenty of water and planned to eat chicken-no burgers or hot dogs! Healthy eating is key when managing a digestive disease-especially during a flare.

It might seem like it would suck not getting to gorge myself with greasy college football food and beer for a whole Saturday. But, honestly it is worth it to spend a day with my husband watching my Alma mater feeling good.

Unfortunately, because of the intense heat during the day it triggered a terrible terrible migraine by the end of the day. On our drive home to the city, I had Isaac's t-shirt over my face to block out car lights. We got home, and I immediately took a Lortab. I slept like a baby that night. I think we both did. Going to a football game can wear anyone out!

Isaac and I talked about if we would ever get season tickets. And, we decided we would not. We both enjoy the comfort of our own couch, air conditioning and flat screen TV too much. Going to football games are super fun, but they can be such a huge event! They are most fun when we are actually playing a good team. :)

On another note- I got my Cimzia Starter Pack in the mail Friday.

The Cimzia Starter Pack comes with six syringes. I am supposed to inject myself with two shots every two weeks for the first six weeks. Then I am supposed to order more syringes, and from there I inject myself with only one shot every two weeks.

I could not start my injections this weekend, because I have to take a TB test before starting Cimzia. So on Tuesday, I will take my TB test at my general practitioner's office and return on Thursday for them to check if the test is positive or negative. Hopefully, negative. After Thursday, I call my Cimzia case nurse Deborah and she will come to my apartment to teach me how to inject my new drug.

Deborah sounds nice on the phone. She says injecting yourself is no big deal, and she has taught 6-year-old kids how to inject themselves.

Starting a new drug like this is a very long process. I have high hopes this is the drug for me. I hope it will bring me to remission!

My doctor says it could take up to three months to really notice any results. It sure does take awhile to get into my system. I'm curious how long it took for other Cimzia patients to notice results? And did it lead you to remission?