<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

This is very interesting, I hope to find out more about it from my Doctor.
Thank you all so much for the help.

Here are the really great responses:


But I've been taking Gastrocrom for several years, to treat chronic
Eosinophilic Gastroenteritis, an autoimmune disease involving multiple food
allergies, that may or may not be related to long-standing unrecognized
celiac disease. My doctor says I have gluten intolerance, but he won't say I
have celiac disease; when he found the EG on my biopsies, he wouldn't even
do the next tests that could have said yes or no to CD, because he had ONE
diagnosis that he thought explained everything, and it was even rarer than
he thought CD was. I know from bitter experience that I can't eat gluten, so
that's that story. I won't suffer another gluten challenge; the last one
nearly hospitalized me.

The Gastrocrom has the same active ingredient that is in some inhaled
medications for asthmatics. It reduces inflammatory reaction, as I
understand it. It's a tasteless liquid in plastic ampules (tubes) that you
dissolve in lukewarm water, that I drink two times a day. The number of
ampules determines the dosage. There are few side effects. I sure don't have
any, but check them out if you are considering this medication. I find it a
godsend, no kidding, and when my GI doctor reduced my dose, my symptoms got
worse in less than a week. Right now I am at twice my original dose, but
still not near the maximum dose; the alternative would be Prednisone, which
has side effects the size of the Alps, some life-threatening.


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There are two things you can do to help yourself:

(1) Buy the book, "Breaking the Vicious Cycle" by Elaine Gottshall &
start the introductory diet.  Everything you eat for the first few weeks
must be cooked until very soft.  Chicken soup with soft cooked
vegetables.  Peel & core apples, pears, ripe bananas, etc.  & cook till
soft.  No raw fruits or veggies until your gut settles down a bit.
Remember, no sugar, buy everything fresh & cook it soft. This will be
very mild on your gut & give it a chance to heal.  Mine are already
better & I've only been on the diet for about 5 weeks & I've made
mistakes here & there along the way.  Order the book from Amazon.com.
It's about $18.  Worth every penny.

Warning:  This diet is originally disigned to stop diarrhea dead in its
tracks which it does wonderfully.  If you are prone to constipation, all
those soft cooked veggies may cause more constipation, but just use Milk
of Magnesia every now & then as needed.  When your gut settles down a bit
& add back in salads & crispy cooked veggies & fruits, your bowels will
move more regularly.

There is a SCDiet support list, but I can't recommend them.  It's a very
poorly run list, very chatty & a big waste of time.  Besides, that they
are really cult-like & fanatical.  They kicked me out for asking a
question about rice.

(2) Get your doctor to order this for you:

cromolyn sodium   400 mg  PO  QID X 30 days, refills X 2

It's cheapest if it's compounded by a Clark's compounding pharmacy here
in Washington state.  It comes in a powder form.  You mix 1/2 teaspoon
(which contains 1600 mg) with a little hot water then dilute it with
enough cold water to equal a quart.  Then you drink a cup four times a
day 20 minutes before each meal.  All the instructions will come with
your order.  It's totally easy & pleasant to use, just like drinking
plain water.  It's tasteless & orderless.  It's lumpy when you put it in
cold water, but melts readily in hot water.

Not all compounding pharmacies make it.  Your doctor should order it
from:

Clark's Pharmacy
15615 Bel-Red Road
Bellevue, WA. 98008

(425)881-0222

It will cost about $100 for a month.  Most insurance companies should pay
for it if you submit a claim.  Clark's doesn't bill insurance companies
so you must make some kind of payment arrangement with them such as a
Visa.  The you  must submit a claim to your insurance company.

My naturopath says most people turn around in about 6 weeks.  He is
recommending a three month course.  He's hoping to complete my allergy
testing within that time frame.

It's a ligitimate drug, just rarely used.  It's not often used for GI
disease.  It's usually inhaled or sprayed into the nostrils to prevent
allergy & asthma attacks.  Most doctors know very little about it, but if
they look it up in their PDR, it's all right there!  It's a harmless drug
that is not absorbed into the blood stream.  It will give you a nasty
taste in your mouth for the first few days you use it, but that will soon
pass.

Part of a comprehensive treatment is food allergy testing or an
elimination diet.  The symptoms will return after you stop the GastroCrom
if you don't eliminate the troublesome food(s).  In fact, when I finally
got the results of my allergy testing & cut out all the troublesome
foods, I got 100 times better.  I highly recommend allergy testing.

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GastroCrom is a prescription med that must be ordered by a medical
doctor.