Diabetes and Colitis

[susieq67]

Afternoon all 🙂

Back again and looking for more advice please ! Up until last autumn I had been able to manage my type 2 diabetes through diet and exercise alone, but after suffering a heart attack (followed by a quadruple heart bypass) in September last year my blood sugars went all to pot so my GP started me on Metformin at the beginning of this year.

However, I've now been diagnosed with Colitis/Crohns and am having difficulty trying to decide what I can and can't eat Certain foods that I've relied on to help control my diabetes now are on the no-no list for Colitis ! and foods that are deemed helpful to control Colitis are definitely on the no-no list for diabetes - if I cut the 'forbidden' foods for both conditions there will be very little left that I can eat safely

Diabetes I control with a diet very low in carbohydrates and sugars but with plenty of fresh (non-starchy) veggies and proteins (meat, fish, eggs, cheese, nuts etc) and limited fruits - but for Colitis I should be cutting out veggies like broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower (all of which I eat most days !) and eating more soluble fibre like white bread, rice and pasta (all of which I don't eat 'cos they spike my sugars 😱). I've also noted that salads seem to cause me trouble with the colitis but, of course, are OK with my diabetes (especially on the weight management side).

Is anyone else trying to cope with both diabetes and colitis and how are you managing both conditions ????

 

[Northerner]

Hi susieq, sorry to hear about this additional problem you are having to deal with Might it be a good idea to ask to see a dietician? They might be able to help, but I've also heard of dieticians who can't really cope with more than one condition, so you would need to be lucky. Hopefully, one of the members will be along to offer some suggestions soon.

 

[khskel]

Hi Susueq I've got UC and as the gastroenterologist said to me you've got two conditions which don't sit happily together. I have found that unless I'm having a flare up of my UC I can eat a fairly diabetes friendly diet. I have salad most days but only a smallish portion and burgen bread daily which is probably OK as it contains linseed and soya flour which are both a source of soluble fibre and lowish carb. Oats are a good source of soluble fibre too. Do you take any meds for your UC? I'm on the anti inflammatory pentasa.

 

[khskel]

Might it be a good idea to ask to see a dietician? They might be able to help, but I've also heard of dieticians who can't really cope with more than one condition, so you would need to be lucky. Hopefully, one of the members will be along to offer some suggestions soon.

I've seen two dietitians, one at the diabetes clinic and one at the IBD clinic. Absolutely no help in suggesting a compromise diet. Neither appeared to have any knowledge outside their own area.

 

[susieq67]

Thanks Khskel - that's helpful. My UC is only recently diagnosed and so far the only meds I've had is a single course of Asacol (suppositories ) which calmed things down, but only two weeks after finishing the course the UC symptoms are back ! I've an appointment with my GP on Monday and I expect that he will be prescribing a further course and from what I've read I suspect I will be on them for some time !

 

[khskel]

That's another brand of mesalazine same as pentasa. It seems to be doing the trick for me at the moment.

 

[tejbat6]

UC since 1967 , asacol (mesalazine)x 3 tabs x 2 daily.steroid use, Predfoam (prednisolone rectal use) as required, just finished a weeks course
Stopped following medical advice years ago, eat what and when I want but avoid spicy food. Doesn't seem to make any difference, cabbage and the like do increase gas though, tried charcoal tablets some years ago..yuk
D since 1995 , when put on oral steroids by new consultant after moving house. Have since found that these can/will bring on temporary ??? D
as happened to Sir Steve Redgrave I believe, think like me he is now full blown D. It certainly doesn't help
On Insulin since 2005 . As with UC, stopped listening to eating advice years ago,( see post somewhere about dietician telling me to even stuff myself with cream cakes, a Test resulis post I think) use common sense with regard to balance of food intake/insulin use. As I think we all do
Steroids throw my BS levels up and all over the place but settle down soon after stopping use
As with both these conditions its a case of sifting through everything you can find and finding what suits you

 

[Foodie]

Afternoon all 🙂

Back again and looking for more advice please ! Up until last autumn I had been able to manage my type 2 diabetes through diet and exercise alone, but after suffering a heart attack (followed by a quadruple heart bypass) in September last year my blood sugars went all to pot so my GP started me on Metformin at the beginning of this year.

However, I've now been diagnosed with Colitis/Crohns and am having difficulty trying to decide what I can and can't eat Certain foods that I've relied on to help control my diabetes now are on the no-no list for Colitis ! and foods that are deemed helpful to control Colitis are definitely on the no-no list for diabetes - if I cut the 'forbidden' foods for both conditions there will be very little left that I can eat safely

Diabetes I control with a diet very low in carbohydrates and sugars but with plenty of fresh (non-starchy) veggies and proteins (meat, fish, eggs, cheese, nuts etc) and limited fruits - but for Colitis I should be cutting out veggies like broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower (all of which I eat most days !) and eating more soluble fibre like white bread, rice and pasta (all of which I don't eat 'cos they spike my sugars 😱). I've also noted that salads seem to cause me trouble with the colitis but, of course, are OK with my diabetes (especially on the weight management side).

Is anyone else trying to cope with both diabetes and colitis and how are you managing both conditions ????

I have just been diagnosed with colitis as well as diabetes type 2 ... I agree that the information on diet is very confusing and both diets contradict. I’m waiting to see a dietician hopefully for more clarity and food lists to offer variety and meal plans. In the meantime my diet is pretty poor and consists of a lot of meals with eggs served in different ways !! Good luck

 

[mikeyB]

Me too. I just take regular Asacol tablets to keep things under control. Haven’t had a flare up for about four years, but I still can’t tolerate a high fibre diet. Still, it’s easy to eat healthy food without.

 

[mikeyB]

Incidentally, when I figured out my flare ups coincided in time with me giving up smoking my pipe, and also kicking off in the first manifestation , I’m still vaping to get the nicotine. It’s a well known phenomenon with Ulcerative Colitis, though treatment of non smokers with nicotine patches does nothing to help UC.

It’s one of the inexplicable curiosities of medicine.