I’m about 3 weeks into this flare. Had a great talk with my primary care doctor where we discussed my long term health goals and I shared with her my research on treating Crohn’s with diet. She is incredibly supportive and promptly ordered a bunch of tests to assess my micronutrient levels and try to unwind my thyroid situation.
Unsurprisingly, I am deficient in a number of key nutrients for thyroid function, as well as B12 and iron anemic. I have picked up a few over the counter supplements: sublingual vegan B12, Omega-3 from flax, in addition to the Vitamin D and iron I was already taking. I am waiting to speak with a nutritionist and functional medicine doctor in June to get deep into supplementation.
I am attempting to end this flare with partial enteral nutrition (read: complete meal replacement drink) and a plant based whole food diet. For the first 6 weeks I am getting half of my daily calories from complete nutrition drinks (vegan options from Kate Farms and Orgain), and the rest of my diet is following the Crohn’s Disease Exclusion Diet.
- Green banana (resistant starch)
- Cooked and cooled potato (resistant starch)
- Apple (soluble fiber)
- Various other easy to digest fruits and veg: carrot, cucumber, herbs, spinach, berries, avocados
That is not a complete list of the foods allowed on the diet, but what I am most frequently eating day to day.
So how is it going? How do I feel?
I feel like I’m sick with a crohn’s flare!
Fatigue, loose stool between 4-7 on the Bristol Scale, malaise, weird smelling gas and stool, brain fog, the usual. Interesting to note that I cut out coffee, sugar, and refined grains at the beginning of the flare then had a week of terrible brain fog and fatigue. Those symptoms have abated and I feel that has been a major improvement.
Studies suggest EEN, as well as CDED and CD-TREAT diets, can induce remission in as little as 3-6 weeks. These dietary interventions have no negative side effects, unlike steroids. These treatments also induce mucosal healing, which steroids do not.
Complete nutrition is expensive, costing me about $500 for 6 weeks of drinks (990 calories a day for me). A reminder that one infusion of Remicade costs at least $30,000 or more, depending on hospital charges. And complete nutrition from Kate Farms and Orgain specifically eliminates the most common allergins, so unlike Remicade, it does not trigger an anaphylactoid reaction. No intravenous benadryl or steroids needed to tolerate this medicine.
I have completed 2 weeks of this 6 week treatment. I hope to report positive results in another month.
The following link will take you to my research on dietary interventions for crohn’s disease.
Eating Vegan with Crohn's Disease 