A flare in month three and untangling the cause

What I did not expect was how much better I felt once somebody acknowledged that the combination was complicated. The acknowledgement itself helped.

I keep a note of what my normal actually is, written down when I am well, because from inside a bad fortnight I cannot remember.

The most useful question I asked was what would make them want to stop, so that I knew what I was watching for rather than watching for everything.

I asked for a slower schedule specifically because of my history and it was granted without argument. I had expected to have to make a case.

Nothing to add except that I am glad this thread exists.

My team's approach was to change one thing at a time and wait, which was frustrating and correct.

I had my existing condition reviewed before starting rather than after, and my gastro team were much more involved than I expected them to be.

Marking that I am here, in case that counts for anything today.

The thing I had to accept was that some of my questions genuinely do not have answers yet, because the studies did not include people like me.

What I found was that my baseline was so unusual that comparisons to other people's experiences told me almost nothing. My own notes were the only useful data.

The overlap in symptoms is the genuine difficulty. Two things producing similar sensations and no obvious way to tell them apart from inside.

I want to say clearly that nothing in this circle replaces the specialist who knows your history. We are company, not a second opinion.

My gut was already complicated before any of this and the general advice mostly did not apply to me. Bringing it to somebody who knew my history was the only thing that worked.

What helped was keeping a log that recorded both, separately, so that my two teams were not each hearing a summary of everything.