IBD Anyone? How Do You treat it?

669 Views 14 Replies 5 Participants Last post by Panserbjorne, Apr 9, 2006

genifer

Discussion Starter · Apr 6, 2006

I havent been diagnosed with colitis but I have had similar symptoms for years now. I had a sigmoidoscopy (a camera somewhere you dont want to know) and was told that I have mild inflammation in the lower end of my bowel. Bleeding, other gross things... generally feeling unwell. All kinds of symptoms. I was actually told 'Its only a bit of inflammation, nothing to worry about'. Not impressed. I had the sigmoid. in Feb. Today I finally get a letter from the consultant saying that some treatment might be beneficial and I should pick up a perscription from my gp. Its all like, just take some medication and lets see if that helps you a bit.... And I dont like it. I was wondering if anyone used natural or homeopathic methods of dealing with stuff like this. Also it always helps talking to people who have gone thru it. So any advice. Ive been looking up homeopaths in our area but no joy yet.

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supercrunch

· #2 · Apr 6, 2006

what was the prescription for?

Asacol or colazal are great and generally side effect free...and they might do wonders for you. I was on Asacol through both pregnancies and nursed both my kids on it.

I have severe ulcerative colitis. I was diagnosed 10 years ago at the age of 17. Right now, nothing is working for me. I am on colazal, steroids, immunosuppressants and steroid enemas and I am STILL bleeding a lot and running to the bathroom upwards of 10x per day. Eating outside of my house is generally out of the question, and I am basically living off carbohydrates and plain proteins because I can't really tolerate fruits/veggies and dairy. It is not much fun at all and the medical bills are just eating us alive.

My next treatment option is Remicade (which is a biological agent that has to be introvenously infused) and if that doesn't cut it...my colon will have to come out (~insert sad smiley here~)

I guess my point is that as much as you'd like to avoid meds...maybe getting it under control before it spreads or becomes worse is a good idea.

On the homeopathic side...some people with mild inflammation have had luck with home-made vitamin E enemas, great probiotics like VSL #3, and maybe coconut oil or other things that generally help with inflammation. There is also a book about the SCD (specific carbohydrate diet) called "Breaking the Vicious cycle" that some have had luck with.

Unfortunatly, my disease is a bit beyond what could be helped with homeopathic methods a this time, but with mild inflammation you might have better luck than I.

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JaneS

· #3 · Apr 6, 2006

http://www.breakingtheviciouscycle.i...th_a_child.htm
http://www.breakingtheviciouscycle.i.../beginners.htm
http://www.breakingtheviciouscycle.i...ntro_diet2.htm

You might want to get a CSDA stool test from Great Smokies.

Digestive enzymes.
Cod liver oil.

See other treatments in Healing the Gut Tribe Cheat Sheet.

hypnohobbit

· #4 · Apr 7, 2006

You can benefit greatly by seeing a homeopathic practitioner.

Quote:

I was wondering if anyone used natural or homeopathic methods of dealing with stuff like this.

It wouldn't be appropriate for one to suggest taking a certain homeopathic based on the single fact that their is irritation in the bowel, though it would be nice to know someone who had success with a remedy. To be truly effective your whole case should be taken, from head to toe. It is a holistic medicine that treats your whole being and not just your bowel. I can help you find a practitioner if you need. In an intake you may talk about dreams, fears, childhood, traumas or accidents, headaches, your bowel, your vision, hearing, whether or not you like a window open or the fan on, really anything. It all helps to lead to a remedy that best matches who you are. Each individual may experience IBD differently and that is why it is important to see a practitioner on this. It is defined as a chronic issue (over 6 months) versus an acute condition. Acutes can be taken care of from home but a professional can cure 'chronic' ailments with a constitutional remedy.

I'd love to answer any questions you have about homeopathy!

-Cherie

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Panserbjorne

· #5 · Apr 7, 2006

Homeopathy will work if you have a good practitioner, but it may take quite awhile. I control mine with diet. I used homeopathy for years with no success (for the IBD- I love homeopathy!) it really took me changing my diet to allow the remedy to work to it's fullest potential.

The way homeopathy looks at the disease, is that it shouldn't be there in the first place. That's great, and I agree, but if you use it without taking away the triggers then the remedy is working super hard to override them. Make sense?

The drugs never worked for me. After ten years I threw in the towel and just got relief last year when I did the diet change. I know that homeopathy has accelerated my healing, but I'd choose this way over any other.

I also used some supplements-JaneS gave you some good links.

hypnohobbit

· #6 · Apr 7, 2006

Quote:

if you use it without taking away the triggers then the remedy is working super hard to override them.

Well said! Great advice, I have never dealt with IBD but you would definitely need to cut out triggers for the best and quickest results. After a good time without the stressors, maybe the gut would be healed and would allow for a reintroduction of the stressors as with allergies.

Panserbjorne

· #7 · Apr 7, 2006

That's my hope, and my doc's as well. We aren't meant to have these imbalances. Once corrected (in theory) all of the "bad" foods should be okay again.

genifer

Discussion Starter · #8 · Apr 8, 2006

Quote:

if you use it without taking away the triggers then the remedy is working super hard to override them.

Quote:

Once corrected (in theory) all of the "bad" foods should be okay again

.

Thats the interesting thing. I know and understand this but why dont mainstream dr's see it that way. I know why, they have loyalties to pharmaceutical companies..... ANYway.

I know Im going to go in there and she'll just write out a script and barely speak to me and that should do it. Im hoping to talk to her about seeing a homeopath. Im living in the UK and the NHS sometimes pays for homeopathic treatment but Im NOT holding my breath. I know sugar seems to be a trigger. Too much dairy is too. I can have a bit of it in my tea but not a bowl of cereal with it.

Thank you all for your input. You have really helped me out. I checked out the links and the healing the gut tribe, I find sifting thru it all overwhelming sometimes especially when the kids neeeed their mum!

Thanks so much.

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JaneS

· #9 · Apr 8, 2006

The Cheat Sheet is now stickied at the top of the forum so you don't need to wade thru all our posts if you don't want to.

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JaneS

· #10 · Apr 8, 2006

This is my favorite article on IBD
http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/171

Quote:

Curiously, the role of diet therapy for IBD is minimized by the gastroenterology establishment. One authoritative text, after devoting 20 pages to minute details of IBD diagnosis and drug and surgical treatments, notes tersely: "In mild to moderate ulcerative colitis, there is no need to impose general dietary restrictions."

This might sound, at the very least, counterintuitive to an informed layperson, who would question the dissociation between what a person eats and the condition of the selfsame alimentary canal through which food passes. The situation is analogous to that of a hydraulic engineer who makes no allowance for pipe corrosion susceptibility based on the acidity or chemical characteristics of the fluid the pipe conducts.

Ignoring diet in IBD also flies in the face of much evidence linking poor diets, especially those high in sugar and starches like bread and potatoes, to ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease incidence. Historical documents date back to Greek and Roman times with references to detoxifying protocols that prompted remission in intestinal diseases.

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JaneS

· #11 · Apr 8, 2006

Another one on Dr. Hoffman's site:
http://www.drhoffman.com/page.cfm/170

Quote:

Why should inflammatory bowel diseases be on the upswing? There are many theories but conventional medicine has not yet satisfactorily answered the question. Many gastroenterologists choose not to believe it, but dietary factors clearly play a role. For example, Swedish researchers have found that people who eat at fast food restaurants regularly and who eat too much sugar may increase their risk of Crohn's disease. Researchers from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm interviewed 152 people with Crohn's disease, 145 with ulcerative colitis and 305 healthy people about their eating habits in the five previous years. Those who ate fast food at least two times a week were 3.4 times more likely to develop Crohn's disease and 3.9 times more likely to develop ulcerative colitis, according to a recent issue of the Journal of Epidemiology. Fast foods in the Swedish study consisted of hamburger or hot dogs with mustard and catchup plus fresh fries or cream potatoes and soft drinks. It was also noted that those who ate more than 55 grams of sugar per day were 2.6 times more likely to develop Crohn's disease. Not surprisingly, an American expert in gastroenterology attempted to refute this study. He contended that IBD sufferers probably started eating the high sugar/high calorie foods in an effort to gain weight and chose foods low in fiber to reduce their diarrhea.

Another interesting theory is that the increase in IBD that has taken place in the last 50 years parallels the increasing use of antibiotics in human and veterinary medicine. Antibiotics can promote the proliferation of toxic bacteria and can make them more invasive. The epidemic-like spread of Crohn's disease over roughly the last 50 years started with the introduction of antibiotics and developed in parallel with an increase in antibiotic consumption. A pair of German scientists hypothesized that Crohn's disease is an infectious disease caused by a mutated form of normal bacterial flora which became a super germ under constant selection pressure from antibiotics. They note that treatment with antibiotics for other diseases can encourage the development of Crohn's disease in susceptible individuals. An interesting correlation has been found between measles exposure early in life and the likelihood of Crohn's disease. In a British study, the frequency of Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis and other stomach problems was evaluated in 3,545 who had received live measles vaccines. The relative risk of developing Crohn's disease in the vaccinated group was threefold and the development of ulcerative colitis was two-and-a-half fold. This study suggests an association between measles vaccination and inflammatory bowel disease.

In addition to dietary changes which people in the West have undergone in the past half century, new unnatural products have been introduced into our gastrointestinal tracts. These include fluoridated and chlorinated water, the residue of dental fillings containing mercury, many common antacids containing aluminum, and other potentially hazardous materials. A lively debate has taken place in recent years in medical journals over the potential role of toothpaste in contributing to inflammatory bowel disease. Researchers state that they have found pigments in the intestinal mucosa containing aluminum, silicon, and titanium through electron microscopy and x-ray analytical techniques. In other studies, they have found not only toothpaste residues but traces of other materials used in dental work. They have suggested that further research be done on the role of toothpaste, food additives, and synthetic food ingredients as possible causative agents in inflammatory bowel disease.

Lots more treatments detailed in both articles.

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genifer

Discussion Starter · #12 · Apr 9, 2006

Ok. That all makes alot of sense. Really. The last major flare up for me was at christmas, the whole month running up to christmas. This was the first year I did anything special with my own family. I spent from November to days after christmas baking and tasting all my cookies, TONS of sugar. Before that was my ds bday party, nov. and I baked all the goods for that. I have always, to my utter SHAME!!!! eaten too much sugar. Choc, cookies. I eat pretty healthily but when I binge! look out!! This latest flare up came after af when I binged on boxes of girlscout cookies my mom sent me from the states. I had to throw a box out in the end so I didnt eat anymore! Im baaaad! Yep,I know I need to change this part of my lifestyle. And I want to. However, thinking about it makes me

. I know that is a sign of addiction. That is how alcoholics behave when you tell them they have to quit alcohol. Maybe I need therapy! jk. Well not really. I cannot believe what we put into our bodies! Reading thru that second article has made so much sense!

And this...

Quote:

The most common early symptoms of ulcerative colitis are constipation with passage of blood or mucus in the stools. The patient may have the urge to defecate with only a scanty bowel movement. Several months or years may pass before diarrhea develops with abdominal pain. The patient may then develop severe fatigue, weight loss, loss of appetite, fever and occasionally painful joints.

Thats me!! tmi. sorry. this is the place to discuss it tho. If I cant even discuss it with my dr!!!

I had a read thru most of both of those articles and I am almost speechless. Theres alot to think about. Thank you very much.

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genifer

Discussion Starter · #13 · Apr 9, 2006

Ok. laughing now bc I submitted and then reread what I posted and it is way to much info. But thats what its been like, then pouring blood with diarreah and severe stomach cramps. the dr said it was hemmroids (the blood), and ibs (the cramps).

: When I was about 19/20 I noticed that when I ate something it sometimes felt like my stomach had a massive stone in it,not crampy but solid. and there was the diarreah. I was daft, well I actually went to the dr about the diarreah and she told me to eat some rice and bananas. As for dr.'s- to me they never really seemed to care that much so I have actually avoided them, they were more hassle than they were worth. Thats why I waited a month when I was pouring with blood to go to see one! I have become completely dissillusioned and dont trust them AT ALL. Imnot even sure I can afford a homeopath. Not even sure if we can afford that book!

...jk hehe. ok gonna go and do something Im neglecting while sitting here! ttfn

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JaneS

· #14 · Apr 9, 2006

Not tmi to me! There's almost enough info on the BTVC site to do the diet w/o the book.. but it's also in many libraries or inter-lib loan system.

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Panserbjorne

· #15 · Apr 9, 2006

Oh man! You should see some of the info we've shared on this board related to bowel habits! You're in good company.

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