<p>Specific Carbohydrate Diet White diet is extremely dated and a very bad idea.</p>
<p>What you need are foods that have a lot of calories. When I first got sick, they had me eating milkshakes. Neeedless to say, I got a lot sicker. Try the french toast for breakfast. Use gluten free bread if you want. A bagel and cream cheese may work (I don’t tolerate fluid milk, but cream cheese is fine), an english muffin with a scrambled egg and meatless sausage (you can make them up, freeze and reheat). No reason not to eat a sandwich for lunch, although I wouldn’t eat lettuce on it (I don’t eat any lettuce–makes me sick). Homemade chicken nuggets are great (dip chicken in eggs mixed with a little mustard, salt, pepper, oregano, then bread crumbs, bake on a rack over a cookie sheet at 350).<br>
Try baked fried chicken–cold chicken pieces, dip in plain yogurt, dip in bread crumbs, spray with PAM or olive oil, bake at 350 until done. My family eats it hot or cold, so it might work for lunch as well.<br>
Pork chops might work…most pork is very lean these days, and it’s a different taste/texture. Serve with rice/baked squash/baked potato. You want every bite to have as many calories as possible.
Don’t forget turkey as an alternative to chicken. A roasted turkey leg can be fun to eat.<br>
Chicken tortilla soup if tomatoes aren’t a problem. (Bake the tortilla strips in the oven, don’t fry them–just spray with PAM or olive oil, salt and bake the strips).
Turkey meatloaf with mashed potatoes and gravy.
Baked sweet potato chips (I bought them at Costco).</p>
<p>Does he drink soda? For me, more than one a day is a problem. Caffine can be an issue as well, so that’s another area to think about. </p>
<p>By the way, almost nothing is off limits “forever”. That can be overwhelming, so it might be helpful to frame things as “for now”. Once things are under control, he can likely have favorite items on occassion. Not all at once, day after day, but on occassion.</p>
<p>MY s1 was diagnosed when he was only 13. It was more upsetting for me tha it was for him. I have ibs and hoped my kids wouldn’t get ibs. So i was very surprised when he was diagnosed with UC. Luckily he is calm and positive, unlike me. He went away to college and roomed with a HS friend who had crohns. He never told anyone about his illnes till he was in college and now it is not a secret. He did have flare ups while away but he dealt with them. He takes asacol and when needed he uses enemas. HE is now 23 and getting his masters in May. He has a girlfriend and is doing well. Since I am the worrier in the family, I was the one who needed therapy. I went to local crohns and colitis meeting and found a therapist whose son went away to college and had crohns. it was a big help talking to someone who really knew what I was feeling. At school he lived in a suite (he and his friend got doctor notes) and it was better just sharing 2 bathrooms with 6 guys (suite was very nice not too many have 2 bathrooms) MY son eats most foods except popcorn (only thing his GI said not to have) and not too much fiber. he once had bran cereal and that was a big mistake. The diet is not the same for everyone so its hard at first to get an exact diet. Good luck to you and your son.</p>
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<p>FWIW, DD with Crohn’s gets very ill from even a little cream cheese. We don’t know why, but it’s a problem food for her so maybe test it. Also, re the white diet, I wasn’t suggesting it long-term, just know it helped calm down my system in the middle of a crisis. It’s not a long-term healthy diet.</p>
<p>There is a huge difference between UC and Crohn’s. While I definately agree that small “testing” amounts of different foods are the way to go, the OP needs to understand those differences. Right now, avoid anything iffy until his system calms down. It’s frustrating to have to experiment, but that really is the answer.</p>
<p>You might talk to your son’s Dr about a fiber…low fat/higher fiber was a big plus for me (not for Crohn’s for UC). And an old fashioned hot water bottle, not a heating pad, can be a huge comfort some days. Something about the combination of weight and heat.</p>
<p>Well, you could look at it this way: It is mangagable and you know what it is. The not knowing why you are sick is the worst feeling ever.</p>
<p>I must say I am surprised to hear UC can come on so fast; why did they not think it was food poisoning from the chicken nuggets or perhaps an undercooked frozen pizza?</p>
<p>Re/ hard cheeses; lactose intolerant ppl can often tolerate parmegiano regiano (sp?) because it is made from sheep’s milk and not cow’s milk. Sheep milk is easier to digest than cow’s milk for me. Goat’s milk is in between - easier than cow’s milk but more difficult (gas, pain) than sheep’s milk. Some ppl claim aged cheese is easier to digest; this is not true for me. Every person is different; you have to do the work of eliminating then bringing in little bits of foods to see what hurts and what sits well.</p>
<p>Listen to your gastroenterologist. I assume your son is on a 5-ASA agent. When kids go off to college, they tend to get noncompliant. Consider meds such as Lialda or Apriso since they are once a day- usually 4 tabs in AM. Consider getting a GI in your son’s college town, in case he has a UC flare.</p>
<p>Thank you all for your feedback it is very helpful. I am going to try to go down the list and respond:</p>
<p>Hugcheck: It is kind of odd that it came on so fast. Our GI doc thought he must have been having some problem for a while and didn’t tell us. Son denys it. About 2 weeks prior to the big episode he had a little bit of the runs and this was fixed with Pepto Bismol. Then after the nuggets he had a really bad night then in the morning took the Pepto and then had the Pizza. After that he just didn’t get better, got worse and started bleeding. After home remedies didn’t work we went to our family doctor who did stool cultures that came out negative and then did more cultures for more unusual things and again these were negative. He also had Cipro for a week, and while on that for whatever reason the bleeding stopped but did come back. At that point possibly motivated by a hysterical mom the Family doc sent us to the GI doc who basically gave him a week to get better. That weekend S ate something that made him feel aweful again, he’s not even sure what, maybe shrimp maybe garlic. After the weekend my son couldn’t wait to set up the test. As you can see from his choices before he got sick he’s a kid who would eat anything and almost never had a problem. I was surprised when he had those episodes two weeks apart that was very unusual but I shrugged it off at the time.</p>
<p>Icedragon: You are so right about this. Even learning that this was a chronic problem was better than not knowing and watching and worrying from day to day particularly as weight loss became apparent.</p>
<p>Mom2M: Thank you for all of the food suggestions. I’m looking forward to giving them a try. We are doing just what you said about being ultra cautious. My S told me today that he thought he was well enough to try going back to bringing his turkey sandwiches to school. I told him we should give that a try over the weekend while at home rather than when in school. I think he is feeling better because he asked me to buy hot pockets today. I told him no way!</p>
<p>Mim6: About the white diet , it wasn’t by design but I noticed that was exactly what son was eating, he went to a friend’s house and I told them just that, don’t give him anything with color. He does well with chicken, potatoes, rice, toast, bananas, chicken soup etc. Reddoor, I was thinking that this is exactly opposite of what I hear when looking for good nutrition but we gravitated to this out of despiration in a effort keep everything calm.</p>
<p>Greatskater: You touched on something that is a concern. My S is about to start college in the fall in engineering. He (an I) expect this to be a demanding program. I wonder how a kid does this without stress. This does worry me. I really wish we had a local support group but so far I haven’t found one. And yes I’m not sure if it would be more for him or for me.</p>
<p>Nrdsb4: I’ll report about the book when I receive it.</p>
<p>mets1962: Good advise. We are now deciding between two schools and it occurred to me this weekend that the medical support was a component to consider with each. I hadn’t thought of that before. Very good point about the meds. My S is now on meds 3 times per day. I was hoping that once things settled down there would be an alternative with less frequency. Thanks for the heads up.</p>
<p>Here’s a question for all of you. As I said we are being very cautious now. But my S asked me today. What if I do eat something that is bad. Will this who thing start all over again? I am wondering the same thing. If you have a food that doesn’t work does it just make you feel bad for a little bit or does it cause a full blown episode. I’m asking because it didn’t seem that it took all that much to bring this on but of course my S wasn’t medicated at the time.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Indeed :)</p>
<p>Well, i would assume that something he ate that was bad would cause something (a flare up perhaps?). It could run the gambit really. If, say, he were to eat something bad, i’d bet right now, he’d have a bad one. Where as, should his system get stable further on down the line and he ate something he shouldn’t have, it might not be as bad.</p>
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<p>Very true. I have found the IBD community to be a very supportive one. As a parent, what I find difficult is how easily I can be taken back to the beginning emotionally when something crops up. DD saw her doctor today and needs an endoscopy because of heartburn that could indicate something more serious. I found myself going right back to that place of worry.</p>
<p>^ hopefully its just regular indigestion / heartburn and not GERD or something more serious.</p>
<p>Endoscopys aren’t bad at all. To be honest, i prefer them over some of the other tests i’ve done. That being said the meds they use to knock you out make the room spin really bad.</p>
<p>^^</p>
<p>She had one in college and it is a lot easier than some of the other tests. This time we’re in the same city and I get to take her home and pamper her. I think the doctor’s concern is possible damage from the Crohn’s. </p>
<p>Spectrum, is it possible that even though the symptoms came on suddenly, that changes were happening in his colon before he was aware? Maybe that’s why the foods triggered him so suddenly. Once he’s more stable, he might not feel great if he eats a problem food, but it might not set off weight loss and a full-blown flare.</p>
<p>Well thats good 
Hopefully it showes everything is normal.</p>
<p>When i had mine done, the nurse came in to put my IV in me and couldn’t find a vein, so she popped back out of the room and grabbed an ultrasound machine. She then proceeded to tell me my issues with blood drawings were because my veins were too deep and gave me and my mom an on site showing of where the veins in my arms were located. I also got this heat pack tingy to hold on too when she was trying to get it. I was allowed to play with it up till i was knocked out. Next thing i know i’m back in the room i started in and i was allowed to go home. Luckily this happened over the summer so i didn’t miss any classes. But it did help show that my throat was damaged from my GERD so i was able to get on treatment for it (which i am no longer on because i became intolerent to the meds, but i feel almost normal now without them sooo :)). I now control it via diet and the occasional tums.</p>
<p>I do not, however, like getting blood drawn. I swear doctors are vampires…</p>
<p>Truly, i do not know where we would be without doctors.</p>
<p>Spectrum, I do reccomend finding a good doctor that is willing to do what ever it takes. My current GP is while the last one i had wrote all my issues off as stress and panic attacks (even though i had evidence otherwise). Then i went to my new GP and she was able to get all the referrals in within the next day (!!!) and she helped find that my gallbladder was dying/dead. If anything, i’m glad i got sick because now i have a really good doctor.</p>
<p>Pm’ed you.</p>
<p>When I had my initial flare up, doc told me to eat easily digestable food. Suggested a diet like the white diet mentioned above. At the time, I read a book about eating right for a bad gut and it said alot of the same things the docs said. Right now, your son should not eat known triggers like corn and cabbage or nuts. Fruit skins are a problem for some. I suggest cooked fruit or applesauce for now. Initially, caffeine was a problem also. I am years out from my diagnosis and while I never eat cabbage, I do sometimes sneak some sweet corn. I now have problems when I eat a large amount of chocolate, nuts or drink too much wine. I had to learn by trial and error which is what everyone does. I take pills daily but the disease does not affect my life very much at all. Good luck.</p>
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<p>I’m curious as to your gender. When my daughter was sick, before the dx, one GI told her she was a typical Ivy-League perfectionist young woman and told her to do some yoga. I later learned that a lot of young women with real GI diseases get their dx delayed by being told they need to relax and manage stress better.</p>
<p>My doctor told me to eat easily digestible food as well. Unfortunately, he was wrong. White bread, potatoes and rice are not good choices for inflammatory bowel disease. They also have no nutritional benefit for someone whose nutrition is compromised.</p>
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<p>Yes, you don’t have to do a colon prep! :)</p>
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<p>Can you explain why you think he’s wrong? If those foods help in a crisis when the goal is to calm things down without starving, why is that a bad choice? When my kids were little everyone I knew relied on the BRAT diet when their kids had stomach bugs – banana, rice, applesauce and toast with the goal being to provide some sustenance while calming things down. It seems the goal is similar during an IBD flare. No one would suggest this as a long-term diet, but a short-term diet to calm things down is different.</p>