A Regimen for Remission
This log tracks my regimen of attitude, exercise, stress management, and SCD foods. Since I started this regimen in 1997, I've been able to keep my Crohn's in a drug-free remission.

Monkey-see,
monkey-don't
Even though I may have experimented beyond the SCD from time to time, one must remember that everyone is different. Follow the intro diet for 3-5 days, and stick with the SCD until you are completely symptom free for at least one year before experimenting.

Be sure to read:
Intro to Flog
Read Me
Archives
Laura's IBS log
SCD Web Library

Permalinks:
The linked timestamps are your permanent links to individual log entries.

Get the book:
Ready to get your shit together? Got the intestinal fortitude? Yearning for a nirvana of peristalsis? Buy Breaking The Vicious Cycle! Written by Elaine Gottschall B.A., M.Sc., the book includes guidelines for dietary relief and sustainable remission of Crohns, Ulcerative Colitis, and other IBDs.

Feel free to contact me if you still have questions.

Dinner: steamed organic spinach, steamed organic broccoli, a very small portion of (SCD-illegal, so don't do this at home) organic wild rice, and some chicken in a very spicy vindaloo sauce. Afterwards, our usual walk around the neighborhood. A lovely afternoon/evening: it has been drizzling on and off for two hours. The little toads are out, the wind is cold.. it will be awesome sleeping weather this evening!
mhs@19:52

Ken A. maintains a web page listing certain statistics on members of the alt.support.crohns-colitis newsgroup. Laura and I looked through the page, and she pointed out the following: the people listed there mostly fall into two groups. The first group are people who were diagnosed in their teens. The second group are people who were diagnosed much later in life. Laura's question to the latter group: Did your symptoms kick in later in life, or did you become aware of and decide to take action upon symptoms that had been bothering you since an earlier age?
mhs@15:18

After a nice morning jog on a slightly overcast morning, breakfast: dccc with honey, an apple, a banana, some pecans, Havarti cheese, dried figs.

Dinner, yesterday: chichen soup, grilled eggplant, and the escabeche chicken. The soup was awesome, the eggplant was bitter, the escabeche chicken was tasty but not really worth all the effort.
mhs@09:22

Saturday, September 29, 2001

Cooking, Round 2: Escabeche Oriental, from A Cook's Tour Of Mexico.
mhs@15:32

A good start, optimistic news from Europe:
The management of irritable bowel syndrome: a European, primary and secondary care collaboration

Eur J Gastroenterol Hepatol 2001 August;13(8):933-939

Objective: To develop recommendations for the diagnosis and management of irritable bowel syndrome for European doctors delivering primary care. These recommendations can be adapted by local medical groups according to their language, custom and health-care systems.

Methods: Twenty-one general practitioners and gastroenterologists from Europe attended a workshop planned by a steering committee. After a state-of-the-art symposium, four working groups considered the following aspects of irritable bowel syndrome management: what to tell the patient, diagnosis, non-medical treatment and psychosocial management. Current and future drug management was reviewed by the steering committee. The resulting recommendations were considered at two plenary sessions during the meeting, and by circulation of the material during development of the manuscript.

Results: The process permitted a unique dialogue between general practitioners and gastroenterologists, in which it was necessary to reconcile the specialists’ emphasis on thoroughness with the practical, epidemiological and economic realities of primary care. Despite this dichotomy, consensus was achieved.

Conclusions: European general practitioners and gastroenterologists have produced recommendations that emphasize education of the patient, a positive symptom-based diagnosis, diet and lifestyle advice, psychological support and a critical analysis of current specific psychological and pharmacological treatments.
mhs@13:38

Lunch: tossed salad, leftover turkey burgers. The entire house smells of wonderful chicken soup!
mhs@13:32

Breakfast: Fun in the kitchen! I'm making a pot of chicken soup, complete with free range chicken, onions, carrots, parsley, celery, and a little salt and pepper. The whole house smells delicious! I can't wait.... Meanwhile, grazing away on cheese, nuts, an apple, a banana....

Dinner, yesterday: grilled chicken sausages from Wild Oats, tossed salad, a glass of cream sherry.
mhs@09:03

Friday, September 28, 2001

Lunch: tossed salad, leftover grilled salmon.

WebDemo sales are up! :-)
mhs@13:41

Breakfast: a delicious, organic Arizona gala apple, dry curd with mezquite honey.
mhs@06:19

Thursday, September 27, 2001

Dinner: grilled salmon (half with butter and pepper, the other half with black bean and garlic sauce), tossed salad.

Lunch: tossed salad, leftover turkey burgers, a banana, nuts and raisins.
mhs@20:12

Breakfast: an apple, some dccc with honey, Havarti cheese, pecans.
mhs@06:15

Wednesday, September 26, 2001

Dinner: tossed salad with a mustard vinaigrette, grilled turkey burgers, havarti cheese.

Lunch: chicken cacciatore, fruit, cheese.
mhs@19:51

Breakfast: an apple, a banana, and a carrot-walnut muffin. Good morning, Kay! ;-)
mhs@06:12

Tuesday, September 25, 2001

Dinner, before and after yoga: a melange of things from the refrigerator: cheese, sliced veggies with organic peanut butter, fruit juice, raisins, pecans.
mhs@21:01

Lunch: Laura's delicious homemade chicken soup, havarti cheese, carrot-walnut muffin.
mhs@13:36

Breakfast: an apple, a banana. I'll be taking some homemade chicken soup to work for lunch..it works wonders in so many ways!
mhs@06:34

My wife Laura and I are working on a book about our experiences with IBS and IBD (respectively). As part of the research for our upcoming book, (working title: A Tale Of Two Tummies) I am interested in hearing specifically how stress affects others with IBD and IBS, and what people do about it. I’ll share a few short paragraphs of personal experience here before posing my questions to this group. I’m hoping by sharing our experiences we can help each other grow, learn, and heal. Your responses will not be used without your permission. :-)

In my own case, I have enjoyed remission in my Crohn’s disease for quite awhile (5 years this coming January). I attribute my success to a reduction in stress, a change in diet, a positive attitude, and a supportive environment of family, friends, and general surroundings (this is in a stark contrast to the hectic life I followed when I lived on the East Coast six-plus years ago).

Recently, I have been aware of some increased symptoms in my CD. As much as a month ago I noticed a little tightening in the area of the ileum. I did not experience any pain, but from time to time I was aware of the transit of digested material in that area. More recently I have awoken in the middle of the night with cramping in that same area, and further along (in what is probably the transverse colon). While I don’t have any blood or increased diarrhea at this time, I am aware that personal and world events of the past few months and weeks, combined with my reaction to these events, plays a role in my increased symptoms.

My solution will be to first, recognize that things have changed. For me, awareness and recognition are the foundation from which I can regain my health. Secondly, I will re-assess my personal outlook and attitude, and find ways to ensure it is positive (especially relating to my intestinal health), as negativity breeds and festers (both inside and outside). Thirdly, I have already modified my diet to remove foods I find to be irritating. This includes not eating known irritants which only satisfy short-term eating whims and other no-no foods eaten among my new co-workers, which I have done on more than one occasion in the past few weeks. Finally, I am finding ways to reduce stress by talking about my feelings so that the negativity can go away, and making sure I get lots of exercise and a few minutes of yoga each day (I find that even a few sun salutations can free my mind quite nicely!). That is basically my ‘recipe’.

Again, I’m interested in hearing from each of you! Without getting into the details, I’m interested in your answers to the following questions:

Have recent events affected your intestinal health in any way? If so, how? What steps are you taking to deal with the situation?

If recent events have not affected your intestinal health, why do you think so? What would you be doing differently if they had affected you?

Post replies here, or email me directly via: mike @ glassbird dot com.
mhs@06:33

Monday, September 24, 2001

Dinner: tossed salad, leftover guacamole and grilled chicken.
mhs@20:23

Lunch: Ah, the perfect way to feel better--some of Laura's home made chicken soup! Mmmmmmm!
mhs@12:43

Breakfast: an apple, some dry curd with honey. I ate too much last night, or too late...it was a tough night for sleeping as my lower gut was quite bloated.
mhs@06:04

Sunday, September 23, 2001

Dinner, with Lucy Ann and Geoffrey: Laura's guacamole with crudite, herbal peppermint iced tea, grilled chicken breasts Moroccan style, grilled eggplant, string beans with garlic. Dessert: carrot-walnut muffins, organic strawberries and cantaloupe.
mhs@21:12

Lunch: tossed salad, leftover grilled eggplant and swordfish (from dinner last night).
mhs@12:53

Breakfast: an apple, a banana, some pecans, havarti cheese...I'll be grazing all day!
mhs@07:51

mhs@07:43

Saturday, September 22, 2001

Lunch: tossed salad, leftover salmon, leftover string beans.
mhs@14:39

A powerful set of photographs from around the world of post-Trade Center / Pentagon emotions.
mhs@08:39

Breakfast: fruit, dccc with mezquite honey, nuts.

Dinner yesterday, @ Feast: very nice grilled fennel with golden raisins, lemon, and kalamata olives; a wonderful beef stew with Cuban coffee gravy, vegetables, dates, and capers; a completely SCD-illegal dessert of rum-soaked figs in a flourless chocolate torte.
mhs@08:23

Friday, September 21, 2001

Lunch: leftover salmon, sauteed string beans, broccoli.

Breakfast: an apple, a banana, some pecans.
mhs@15:17

Thursday, September 20, 2001

Dinner: grilled salmon with butter and pepper, steamed organic artichokes and butter, oven roasted organic beets with sauteed beet tops. Dessert: "almond candy", a delicacy from Elaine's book.
mhs@21:06

Lunch: avocado and cheddar cheeseburger, tossed salad @ Dizzy G's.

Breakfast: fruit.
mhs@15:42

Wednesday, September 19, 2001

Dinner: sauteed organic string beans with garlic, steamed organic broccoli, lentils, and sauteed onions with red peppers.

Lunch: tossed salad, leftover Szechuan chicken with lentils.
mhs@20:17

Breakfast: fruit, nuts.

Dinner, yesterday: leftover Chinese food, spiced lentils, fruit, cheese.

Lunch @ Cafe Poca Cosa: Laura and I went here to belatedly celebrate her birthday. I feasted upon carne asada cooked in a spicy and tangy sauce with apples, scallions, and garlic, and a tossed salad. We split a very SCD-illegal Mexican chocolate and cinnamon mousse with fresh whipped cream. I drank lots of water in the hope that it wouldn't bother me. Remember, newbies: don't do as I do, do as Elaine says! :-)
mhs@06:09

Tuesday, September 18, 2001

Breakfast: fruit, banana-walnut bread.

Check out the SharedVoice petition.
mhs@06:09

Monday, September 17, 2001

Dinner: leftover Chinese food, grilled zucchini, lentils with coriander, cumin, and cayenne, sauteed onions and red peppers. Delicious!!

Lunch @ Cafe Poca Cosa: Plato Cafe Poca Cosa..a salad, some grilled steak strips, chicken in a green chile sauce, and beef with cheese.
mhs@20:44

Breakfast: an apple, a banana, some banana-walnut bread.

Dinner, yesterday: a melange of Chinese foods (chicken with peanuts, eggplant with garlic, spicy chicken with bamboo).
mhs@05:59

Sunday, September 16, 2001

Lunch: tossed salad, leftover turkey burgers with monterrey jack cheese. Dessert: banana-walnut bread.

More on the Trade Center attack: "Brother, if you don't mind...".
mhs@12:49

Breakfast: fruit, nuts, and some banana-walnut bread from Elaine's book.
mhs@07:49

Saturday, September 15, 2001

Dinner: TJ's eggplant bisque, steamed broccoli, leftover turkey burgers, tossed salad.
mhs@18:29

Reminder:
Attend the Conference On Intestinal Health Through Diet! Click here for details...>
mhs@15:33

A recent post to the SCD listserve and the Healing Crow Intestinal Health group excerpt reads, "Yesterday somebody on the German scd-list made an interesting remark:
Perhaps striking back is like fighting bad bacteria with prednisone. We have to "starve" the reasons for war and terrorism."
mhs@15:27

Regarding the Trade Center / terrorist activities of last week, I can only hope that the world leadership will find a way to control terrorism without resorting to retaliatory bloodshed, hatred, and violence. After all, I assume last week's actions were motivated by something (real or perceived) which we had done to them in the past. Tit for tat, on a very major scale. I really do not think it does any good to vow to "smoke them out of their holes" when we don't understand why this happened in the first place. Killing simply begets more killing. A lot more dialog please, a lot more understanding, a lot more forgiveness, please, folks!

I hate the use of blanket statements, but let me propose this one as a possible exception: hatemongers are scum.
mhs@15:00

Lunch: tossed salad, grilled chicken burgers, avocado.
mhs@14:54

Check out CoWorking.com/Technography.com's review of the product I am now selling (WebDemo)!
mhs@08:38

So much for sleeping, I've been up for an hour reading through my Inbox (haven't even made it to my SCD messages yet!). Breakfast: fruit, cheese, nuts, raisins before our Saturday morning yoga class.

Dinner, yesterday: tossed salad, leftovers.

Lunch: chicken taco with lots of lettuce (from Tostadez).
mhs@07:24

Friday, September 14, 2001

Breakfast: fruit. Very... tired... I feel like sleeping all weekend...
mhs@06:15

Thursday, September 13, 2001

Dinner: tossed salad with a mustard vinaigrette, leftover grilled salmon and cornish hens, steamed squash, and steamed broccoli.
mhs@20:05

Lunch: leftover salad and salmon; cheese, banana.
mhs@13:43

Breakfast: fruit.

Yesterday... Dinner: steamed artichokes and butter; tossed salad with a mustard vinaigrette; grilled wild salmon with a choice of black bean sauce or a walnut-cilantro pesto; grilled cornish hens. A small feast to celebrate Laura's birthday!
Lunch: a not-very SCD legal burrito (satisfying, but with gaseous repurcussions later in the evening).
mhs@06:10

Wednesday, September 12, 2001

Breakfast: fruit, nuts.

Yesterday's bad dream hasn't left me, but an hour's worth of yoga class last night did a decent job freeing my mind for an hour.

Blogger has some links to online disaster relief donations via Amazon and Paypal.
mhs@05:48

Tuesday, September 11, 2001

I am still completely stunned. I really feel like writing about this.

I worked on One World Trade Center, 104th Floor, for 9 months.
I worked on Two WTC, 23rd Floor, for 2.5 years, maybe more.
I walked beneath both every day for a total 7 years....
I still have friends in the WTC, but more in the WFC (which appears to be OK).
I had many, many customers in the WTC.
My cousin's husband in 7 WTC just checked in..thank God he is fine.
I was there for the bombing in the early 90's.
I was there for the Tribeca Blackout in July or Aug of 1992 or so...when people had to walk down from wherever they were because the elevators wouldn't go back up once they got to the ground floor.

Laura and I listened to NPR all the way to work this morning. It was just amazing. When they said the WTC "collapsed" I just couldn't imagine it...110 floors of stuff...gone??? Imagine 110 floors of desks, papers, pens, computers, faxes, copiers, cubicles, artwork, etc., etc., etc....and all of the people who didn't make it out in time.

The whole country is stunned. Lots of people are running around or in the chat rooms shouting blanket-statement racial epithets, "kill them all", etc. Sickos.

My company closed its offices today at 8:20, we all went home. All the better; I was uneasy being in Tucson's tallest building (23 floors) after all I had just heard on the news. We had a typical solid-blue sky today...but there were no airplanes to be seen. Amazing. Weird.

I forget the guy's name, but NPR was interviewing the American who got the Nobel for poetry or something. He was talking about poetry that is written at a time like this. He also spoke about the "poetry" of the new Manhattan skyline. It made me wonder: will they rebuild the twin towers? what does it say if they don't? will they build a park where those buildings once stood, as a memorial? Someone else pointed out how "fragile and alone" the Empire State looks without the twin towers to support its strength.

I really feel like writing about this. I think I should put it in my web log, except that it is somehow sick to be writing about this. Writing about a place I spent almost 10 years of my life working, making friends, helping customers, eating, and even where I went to relax on weekends, etc. I feel like writing about the many thousands of people that came up from the subways and the Path Train in the AM, and how one had to cross their "flow" like one might kayak across a fast-flowing river, by aiming oneself "upstream" of one's actual intended destination because the unrelenting human flow just pulled one along with it. I remember the smell of sulphur that the trains from Hoboken brought with them (along with all the passengers). I remember my daily commute with 40,000+ other people working in those 7 buildings, that most of us got there between 8AM and 9AM, and left around 5PM. Peak commuting time was just amazing. And the whole scenario about how to get to the 104th floor of One WTC one took an express elevator to the 86th floor, transfered to another express, which then stopped at floors 100 and higher. The first elevator was very fast and one could really feel it in the stomach if one had eaten a big meal! I remember that there used to be a farmer's market with organics on the open plaza between the WTC and the Millennium Hotel on Wednesday mornings...I remember learning about the amazing architectural design they used to make such tall buildings without sacrificing floor space (basically, the vertical lines formed an exoskeleton). I remember how the water in the toilets on 104 moved just a little, ever so slightly, on really really windy days. It was eerie to learn that the buildings could "sway" a few feet in any direction.

Anyway, that is what I am thinking about. Not to mention what the future brings as a result of this catastrophe. Maybe I'll blog it all after all.
mhs@17:16

I am stunned. I worked there (NYC) for 9 years.

I pray for my friends and their friends, and everyone who was anywhere near the locations of today's tragic events.
mhs@10:45

Breakfast: an apple, a banana, a carrot-walnut muffin. And someone just flew a plane into my old workplace (the World Trade Center).
mhs@06:18

Monday, September 10, 2001

Dinner: steamed summer squash, leftover peacock kale and chicken sausages.
mhs@19:47

Lunch: leftover grilled sausages, spinach, and broccoli; tossed salad.
mhs@13:52

Breakfast: fruit and a carrot-walnut muffin.
mhs@06:01

Sunday, September 09, 2001

Dinner: grilled chicken sausages from Wild Oats, steamed organic spinach, steamed organic broccoli.

This IBS article just showed up in my Inbox. It points out some interesting research on elimination diets which supports the use of the SCD for IBS.
mhs@19:44

Lunch: tossed salad with a mustard vinaigrette dressing, leftover chicken.
mhs@14:35

Breakfast: SCD yogurt, an apple, and a carrot-walnut muffin.

Dinner, yesterday: delicious leftovers from the previous night, cantaloupe for dessert.
mhs@07:20

Saturday, September 08, 2001

How was *your* week?

As I come down from that wonderful, relaxing, full-body 'hum' that often follows my morning yoga class, I sit here staring into the glowing pixels of my monitor, catching up on SCD email messages from the past, very eventful week.

For a 3-day work week, this one was pretty darned tiring! First, Monday was a relaxing, end-of-summer day. I had accepted a new job (after 4 months of unemployment) but had not received my official start date. So I felt pretty good, relaxed.

Tuesday involved dropping my wife off at work/school and I got home around noon to find a message on my answering machine from my new employer asking, "Uh, what time are you coming in today?". (Note to myself: not the right way to start a new job!) I called and explained that there had been a failure to communicate; nobody had actually given me a 'start date', and agreed to start Wednesday at 8:00AM.

Wednesday was fun; met 30 or so new co-workers, filled out the usual paperwork, got inundated with new policies, got some training on the product I'll be selling, etc. Thursday was more of the same, but a longer day because the sales and marketing group was going out for dinner together (I stayed SCD-legal). Friday involved getting my feet wet on the phone with some prospective customers and conducting a 'demo' for my new manager. What makes all of this a bit more interesting is that my wife got a call on Thursday from a different organization I had contacted in June and had interviewed with two weeks ago...they want a half-day interview with me next week!

So that was my week; exciting, a little stressful, and definitely one-of-a-kind. From where I sit today, next week promises to be equally interesting! My health is holding strong, and oddly enough, my body odor is, too. Yes, something is askew, and I've picked up a bit of BO over the last few weeks. It started in one armpit, and has spread to the other. I'm fairly certain that the excitement, anticipation, anxiety, and stress of recent weeks has decided to manifest itself somewhere other than my colon...

Enough of me. How was *your* week?
mhs@18:10

Breakfast: fruit, nuts, SCD yogurt.

Dinner, yesterday: "Mike's Quick & Easy Almond Chicken", served with sauteed onions, peppers, and a mustard-wine sauce; sauteed Peacock Kale. You'll have to attend the Conference On Intestinal Health Through Diet to get this recipe (or wait for the book Laura and I are writing)! :-)
mhs@08:05

Friday, September 07, 2001

Lunch: salad of tomato, cucumber, and mixed greens with shrimp.
mhs@12:57

Breakfast: SCD yogurt, an apple.

Dinner, yesterday @ PF Chang's, that trendy Chinese place. The food was better this time than the 2 previous times (once here, once in Denver). Anyway, our large group dined family style, sharing everything.

Lunch: leftover turkey burgers, tossed salad.
mhs@06:34

Thursday, September 06, 2001

Breakfast: fruit, SCD yogurt.

I just got my very own copy of Design for Community: The Art of Connecting Real People in Virtual Places. This nice addition to my collection of collaboration and online community books mentions Blogger web logs, and "people talking about what they had for lunch"! Hmmm.... a reference to Flog/Nirvana of Peristalsis? :-)
mhs@06:04

Wednesday, September 05, 2001

Dinner: tossed salad, sauteed spinach with garlic, grilled spiced turkey burgers.

Lunch: Tuna salad.
mhs@20:28

Tuesday, September 04, 2001

Dinner: a light salad, some leftover jerk chicken before acuyoga class.
mhs@20:44

Lunch: leftover doggie-bag from dinner last night (grilled salmon, chicken fingers), tossed salad.

Breakfast: fruit, SCD yogurt.

Dinner, yesterday @ Keaton's: chicken fingers, tossed salad, grilled salmon.
mhs@13:18

Monday, September 03, 2001

Breakfast: fruit, SCD yogurt, an egg.

Dinner, yesterday: a bunch of friends came over to celebrate the end of summer, the long weekend, and more. The feast included: veggies and baba ganouj, Maria's delicious guacamole (and chips, for those that can eat them), a wonderful salad of greens, radiccio, apples, and Stilton from Mike and Leslie, a bean and cheese dip from Scott and Pamela, grilled jerk chicken, grilled salmon with butter and pepper, gazpacho, tortilla española, fresh fruit.... Dessert: dried figs soaked in strawberry juice, stuffed with an almond, and served with a puree of SCD yogurt and the leftover juice from the fig-soaking process.
mhs@08:31

Sunday, September 02, 2001

Lunch: leftover tossed salad, curried chicken salad, and the last of the veggies in black bean sauce.
mhs@15:52

Breakfast: fruit, SCD yogurt.
mhs@07:43

Saturday, September 01, 2001

Dinner: tossed salad, sauteed spinach with garlic, leftover veggies in a black bean sauce, leftover halibut.

Lunch: leftover chicken and veggies in a black bean sauce, sauteed Swiss chard with garlic.
mhs@19:40

It is our great pleasure to announce the dates and locations for the SCD gathering in Tucson! The “Conference on Intestinal Health Through Diet” will be held in Tucson, Arizona, January 4th – 6th, 2002. Come start the new year with the right food (and on the right foot)!!

Elaine Gottschall will be our keynote speaker, and we are also expecting Lucy Rosset as one of our SCD Panelists. We have also heard from several other out-of-towners who are hoping to meet their SCD friends face-to-face, share recipes and experiences, make new friends, and much, much more!

We expect to attract many people from Arizona, as well as quite a few out-of-towners from the SCD Listserve who are looking for a warm, sunny, healthy, mid-winter vacation! Group rates are available at two hotels.

For more information and to register for this special event, visit:
http://www.scdiet.org/conf2002

Looking forward to seeing you in January,
Mike Simons, Laura Tanzer, and Sheila Shea
mhs@10:13

Breakfast (grazing all morning): a banana, dried figs, Havarti cheese, SCD yogurt, an apple, pecans, some leftover chicken and veggies in black bean sauce...
mhs@09:01

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