Starting a food diary

Hello everyone, I've been reading several threads on here and apparently starting a food diary to keep track of what foods you can tolerate is the only way to really find out what works for you. I'm wanting to do this, but I am currently taking 30mg of Prednisone a day, along with asacol and the remicade infusions. Should I wait until I am at a lower dosage of Prednisone to start this diary?

Another thing, how long does it usually take for you to know if something you ate negatively effected you? A day, a couple of hours after you eat? I'm a little confused on this.

Also, how do you know you're in remission? Less frequent visits to the John? More solid BM's? What exactly do I look for?

ok #1 using the CDAI calculator to determine your "remission" status. The calculator is here: http://www.ibdjohn.com/cdai/

#2 I log my BMs, their characteristic, any symptoms, what I ate, if I was stressed and any medication EVERY DAY. This will help determine what can cause you to have symptoms when you're feeling ok and what causes you to feel worse when flaring. This way you have a record of what correlates to diet and symptoms.

#3 Knowing if it effects you, it could take up to 24 hours. You will probably see the changes in how you feel according to your diet if you are vigilant and do it everyday.

(I may give you an example of my diary if I can pull it off in a forum!)

Thanks for the quick reply! What is that first row in your chart? Does that read "How many bowel movements?" If so, then you're doing better than I am. I usually go on average 4 times a day, usually more, rarely less.

That CDAI calculator will be a nice tool to gauge my progress. I don't understand a few of the questions it's asking though, which could be why I got a score of 35 on my first shot at it. Apparently, I'm doing very well! HA!

Ya that top line is how many BMs. And it may seem like I am doing better than you but I have the opposite set of the common CD symptoms. I have constipation, obstructions, and weight gain. So I try to drink coffee everyday because it makes me have a BM. It may seem better but trust me the other side of the diarrhea and weight loss isn't fun either.

Oh, sorry to hear that.

About the Prednisone, do you think I should wait until my GI doc weens me off a little more before I start my diary because it might mask the true results or does it really not matter?

I think it is a good idea to start as soon as possible. For many reasons one of which is to get you into the habit of filling it out everyday not to mention it will help you to know what medications are working and at what doses. As for the CDAI I will try to explain them.. here we go:

1 - Number of soft or liquid BMs in a week, so according to my example diary: 3

2 - Pain Scale average which is all those numbers on my pain scale divided by 7: 1 (0+0+0+2+3+1+2 / 7 = 1.14)

3 - Well being can be if your stressed and your general health, I don't record it daily. I would say this is a 2, because for the whole week I either felt nauseated or was in pain: 2

4 - Is pretty self explanatory, check all the other related disorders you have whether you think they are related to CD or not.

5 - Whether or not you have to take anti-diarrheal medication (not CD related meds like Asacol or steroids)

6 - Is whether you have a mass in your belly... your doctor should alert you if he does feel something or if there is a possibility. If you have had obstructions before and have felt the mass you can do this one yourself.

7 - I skip this question because I don't get my CBC on a weekly basis But if you do and have your hemocrit # available to you.. by all means use it.

8 - Is your standard weight, mine is 98lbs but my actual weight is: 125lbs

My CDAI is -2.6
But unfortunately this calculator doesn't really apply to me because I am on the opposite scale. My presentation of the disease is not common at all so I am not surprised a standardized calculator doesn't work on me. My diary is for me and my GP and GI. And would recommend it even if you don't use the CDAI.

Awesome, thanks!

I'm an 84.9... but I don't know my hematocrit... only my hemoglobin.

The CDAI works best if you find your baseline, an acceptable way of being... it really helps to see if you are progressing or regressing.

No its not a diet diary... it's just a plain old food diary. They want to know what foods they can eat with CD and wanted to know whether or not they could keep a food diary while on pred or if they should wait.

*If it says diet I won't eat it. I'd give up sex for the rest of my life if it means I give up no foods *

i keep a food diary..im hopeless though i keep forgetting to fill it in
x

I got 246. I'm not sure mine is accurate, because I don't know the hematocrit, and my weight change I left at 1 and 1 because I don't fit the "normal" profile of a sedentary person. Thus, it added zero to this when I know I've lost great amounts of weight, gained it, lost it, etc...at my worst during the winter as I fluctuated. Most of my 246 # was from 85 loose stools a week.

I weight lift heavily when in remission and I also have bouts of cutting where I trim fat, so depending on when a flare starts (this flare started August 17 2007) I may lose a ton of weight in muscle, or a lot of water, etc...I dont' have a "standard" weight as a baseline to go off; provided I'm healthy all year, I fluctuate in the year by as much as 20-30 lbs just from my regimen.

I'm on 12!!!!!! But maybe it's because I'm currently on 35 mg Prednisone along with Penatsa and imuran.............. Hope it stays like this while I'm weanning off the Pred......