Need Advice Ulcerative Colitis diagnosis

[campbellscoop]

Afterthought... (First of all... please apologize for this "epistle" of a post... it ended up being perhaps the first chapter of a book I need to write. ) Please don't frown... it's my first post ever on SS... and I'm excited about maybe finding some answers to some of the questions I have about my future in general... okay... please grab a cup of coffee or a glass of ice tea if you're a southerner, like me. (Maybe a snack too

I just discovered "SS.com" in a roundabout way through BackyardChickens.com. I am very happy to find it. I'm also glad that "SS" has this topic. It may be an "answer to prayer"... I hope it's a God Send!

I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis a little over a year ago. It is an incurable inflammatory bowel disease, with associations to celiac, ibs, crohn's disease, etc. Does anyone have UC here? or know anyone who has it? If so, please reply to my post, or ask them if they might be willing to offer advice on their experience or knowledge of natural remedies or aids to dealing with UC.

I am TIRED of taking all the medication and still having flare-ups. I take 9 pills/day, and they do not stop the symptoms. The standard medicine/gastroenterology community basically rejects food-relation to the disease, and all the doctors I have seen do not "officially" give advice on what foods to avoid. My "Dr. Google" links have pointed towards avoiding gluten, and I've purchased a book called "Breaking the Vicious Cycle"... which speaks more to celiac than UC. I've tried to go gluten-free, but have yet to last more than a week. My allergy test done a few months ago did not show a gluten allergy, nor dairy allergy... but I have not had a food sensitivity test done. I would really like to know more about how to get one done... who through, and if insurance covers it.

I don't want to end up with colon cancer... which with symptoms like mine, it might be in my future. And having a colostomy is something that the GE physicians like to recommend for patients who have frequent flare-ups. I think I'm beginning to fall into that category.

Please put me on your prayer list if you're a praying person!

I seem to need all I can get right now (my hubby was diagnosed with leukemia in March. We quickly returned home to NC to be near family and good medical facilities, and I find myself in the precarious position of trying to help make ends meet, while wanting to stay home to spend more time with "Mr. C."

I'm not employed full-time and with my business and marketing skills, I would truly like to use what God has given me for talents & experience to become SELF SUFFICIENT. After spending most of the last 12 years as 2nd-career missionaries to Russia, finding myself back in the states living in a very small rural community with the closest major city about an hour away... I would love to find choices which would allow me to work at home, using my computer skills and creativity, the Internet, or whatever God would give me to bring in more income. Because of the lack of available jobs nearby... I've been working as a substitute teacher in the county school system, but it doesn't provide steady work or measurable steady funds. Any ideas you might have would also be welcomed.

FYI... we live on a little over an acre... have one beautiful rooster named "Buddy"... and just adopted 3 little chicks on Saturday (River, Sunny & Barley). I looked a little at some posts about chicken manure, compost, etc. and I've been wondering if maybe we could look at starting a little worm farm! Buddy loves them!! and I enjoy helping him find bugs & such. My hubby wants to do some fishing during these last days/months/years? of his remaining life... and raising worms (maybe crickets too) would help us accomplish a couple of our desires/needs. I also noticed posts about kefir! I was excited, because the first time I heard the word "kefir"... was there. It seemed to me to be the Russian equivalent of our buttermilk. I learned to make "tvorog"... which is homemade cottage cheese... probably what we would call dry-curd. So... I'm definitely interested in learning all I can about making the "American version of kefir!! Especially if its health benefits would be good for my digestive disease.

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Sorry guys... Enough already!!!!!!

 

[freemotion]

Sorry you are going through all that....my only suggestion to you is to again go through the gluten elimination diet and be very strict. You MUST. Even if your diagnosis is UC you can also have food sensitivities that irritate your digestive tract. Most of what America eats irritates the digestive tract! I suffer myself, but have thus far refused to get a diagnosis....But I have spent some time with a great naturopathic doctor who helped me clean up my diet and that has helped tremendously. Not completely, but there is a huge difference.

It is still a journey, I am still working on having a cleaner diet, but we have made significant progress and my family is much healthier. The wonderful thing about a clean diet is that it is all self sufficient! It means growing as much as we can ourselves and doing all our cooking from scratch. It also means doing some preserving of food. I highly recommend the recipe and instructional book, Nourishing Traditions, along with as much research as possible on www.westonapricefoundation.org, especially on digestive issues, even ones you don't have, like celiacs. Anything you can do to sooth and heal your digestive tract will be useful. The first thing that comes to mind, along with trying gluten free, is good, traditional bone broths, especially if you can get your hands on pasture-raised (clean) bones to make it with. Store bought will do if you can't. We still do a combination of both.

 

[Wifezilla]

Most of what America eats irritates the digestive tract!

BIG TIME! The big culprits are wheat, corn and soy followed by vegetable oils like canola, corn, etc... anything high in omega 6 fatty acids.

Like freemotion said, look in to Nourishing Traditions and the Weston Price Foundation. So many of our modern illnesses and diseases ARE diet related. Dr. Price along with other doctors documented how a society went from healthy (other than communicable diseases like small pox, etc..) to sick (with chronic diseases like celiac, heart disease, diabetes, etc...) as soon as "western food" was introduced to the population.

Found this site...see if it is helpful...
http://robbwolf.com/2009/02/03/ulcerative-colitis/

 

[FarmerChick]

I found this on E-HOW

_________________________________

Top 5 To Try
Remedies for Ulcerative Colitis
What to Eat for Ulcerative Colitis
Diet Information for Ulcerative Colitis
Diet Alternatives for Colitis
Diets for Ulcerative Colitis

By T.M. Samuels,
Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a form of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) along with Crohn's disease. According to "100 Q&A About Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis," there are around 1 million people with IBD, with UC being the most common form. Diet is very important to lessen the symptoms of UC, keeping the immune system strong, and to keep vital nutrients in the body while keeping the bad carbohydrates out.


.The Specific Carbohydrate Diet
The specific carbohydrate diet is one of the guideline diets for sufferers of UC. This diet is free of sucrose, lactose and grains. Therefore it should be less irritating for those with inflammatory bowel disease while promoting better nutrition. The specific carbohydrate diet only permits certain types of carbs into the body. There has been a raised prevalence of lactose intolerance in the IBD patients, therefore milk and milk products can make symptoms worse.


Foods to Avoid With Ulcerative Colitis

There is a strict list of nonpermitted foods in the UC specific carbohydrate diet. These foods that are not to be consumed are canned fruits and vegetables (canned fruit in its own juice is OK), flour, milk, milk solids, cereal grains, yams, chickpeas, yams, potatoes, bean sprouts, soybeans, fava beans, seaweed, mung beans, breaded fish, canned fish, processed meats, processed cheese, smoked meat, canned meat, buttermilk, acidophilus milk, commercial yogurt, commercial sour cream, beer, instant tea, instant coffee, soy milk, coffee substitutes, cornstarch, arrowroot, carob, bouillon, chocolate, instant soup bases, refined sugar products, agar agar products, carrageenan products, pectin products, ketchup, molasses, ice cream, corn syrup, maple syrup, legume flour, baking powder, seeds, and medication made from sugar.

Foods to Eat With Ulcerative Colitis

There are a few things that are left to eat. These items are supposed to be easier to digest and break down without forming an overgrowth of yeast in the body. These foods that are all right to eat under the specific carbohydrate diet are fresh legumes, fresh vegetables, frozen legumes, frozen vegetables, fresh fruit, raw fruit, dried fruit, fresh meat, frozen meat, fresh poultry, frozen poultry, fresh fish, frozen fish, fresh eggs, frozen eggs, natural cheese, homemade yogurt, and dry curd cottage cheese.

The list of proper UC foods is going to concentrate on freshness and on lack of preservatives. These are the specific carbs designed to strength immunity and keep an irritated bowel calm.
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truly it sounds like you must adopt a new form of eating, I guess this is the way the body works for you and you have to be very vigilant.
yikes, it must be rough actually but if you decide that living an easier life with this problem overrides "food in general" in this lifestime, then maybe you can eat cleaner to help your body??

I feel for ya...it must be super hard and with hubby sick it has to be horrible at this time for you.


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hang out here with us on SS we nuts and will bring a smile to your face on a daily basis here

 

[Bubblingbrooks]

My father has it, along with a few other things.
Things we know work.
Strict gluten and casien free.
And the number one thing that calmed the flairs down fully, was Kombucha.
He had to sip at it at first, as it had quite the effect on the UC, but now he enjoys it fully.

 

[freemotion]

Oh, yes, kombucha! Again, I have no diagnosis and probably have IBS, but what has helped me also is the way I prepare my foods, with a lot of fermenting and nothing processed. Fermenting with awareness of phytates is very key to reducing irritation for anyone, but particularly for those of us with a cranky GI tract.

I am extremely intolerant of milk products, but amazingly can have any quantity of raw goat's milk. It is actually very healing for me, as I discovered after having access to it for a year and then having to dry my pregnant dairy goat off later in her pregnancy, and I hadn't prepared by freezing much milk, so I went without for a couple of months. Those months were actually WORSE for me, and the first day I could spare some milk for me from one of my goats, I literally RAN to the house with my precious few ounces of warm milk, mouth watering the entire way!

You need to read-read-read, and then experiment. But I emphasize again, you must be very strict with your elimination diets, because there are foods that you should avoid and others that will be fine, and you really need to know. It will be very freeing and healing, and you may find that you can tolerate occasional "cheats" when your body is not so irritated all the time. You may also, like me, find that you can enjoy a wide variety of foods again if you prepare them in certain ways.

All this has taken me several years....a couple very strict years of healing and then more time to experiment, and it is still an ongoing thing. Thanks to BBrooks, I have had my first french fries in YEARS when she mentioned the obvious, sprout inhibitors sprayed on potatoes. I cautiously tried an organic potato, and eureka! I will be planting a few this year, thanks, BB! But it should have been obvious to me, since discovering that phytates, or germination inhibitors, found on all seeds, are very irritating to the digestive tract and can be neutralized with careful preparation....but I was in the habit of avoiding potatoes for many, many years and just didn't think about the connection. This forum has been great for getting ideas and finding new research.

 

[yourbadd]

I have had UC since 1996 and it's been a battle. At first my symptoms were quickly put into remission after a round of Prednisone. I would also go into remission with each pregnancy. Since I was pregnant from 1998-2003, I had a good run.

Fast forward to last year...I had been battling severe UC symptoms on my own for 2 years when I broke down and went to another Gastro. I ended up on high doses of prednisone for 5 months while waiting for the insurance company to approve Humira/Remicade/etc. In the mean time, I developed pneumonia and went on antibiotics for 10 days. My symptoms mysteriously disappeared. They've returned, slightly but I can pinpoint foods that cause issues.

I've used Heather's Tummy Care Peppermint capsules to soothe the GI tract and find her website wonderful!!! Probiotics seem to help too. I do know that eating foods as close to their natural form as possible helps tremendously too.

http://www.helpforibs.com/shop/

 

[campbellscoop]

Wow! Thanks you guys (girls)!

I was not "afraid"... but suspected that I would have to go gluten-free. It is very, very difficult to do for me... as I love carbs! (Crackers/Breads/Bagels/Muffins/Chips... PASTA! :

Both Chuck & I enjoy Mexican food the most (even better than Italian) ... and both are loaded with carbs! Do I even have to give up my tortilla chips too? Guacamole will never be the same if I can't have chips with it! Bye-Bye to Enchiladas, Soft Tacos... and the like. Ugh!

I bought some gluten-free products from Whole Foods. The gluten-free pancake mix is almost inedible (well, maybe not THAT bad) ... as the pancakes turn out to be heavy and taste NOTHING like the ones we all know & love. I have the SCD information... in fact, the book which gives all the history and info about it (I think I mentioned it in my original post). There are recipes and meal plan suggestions as well. A special HOMEMADE yogurt is required, and I looked for a yogurt maker for a couple of months when I was considering starting the SCD program. Not finding one in my shopping endeavors was a good excuse not to start the rigid diet "lifestyle"!


HOW am I going to prepare meals now???
There are VERY FEW gluten-free items available locally... and the expenses are higher than I expected. My husband (Chuck) is very concerned about our budget... and organic "anything" puts a strain on our finances. That's why I need to become Self Sufficient!

Okay guys... We have about 1 acre... Do you guys think I can have a goat, a worm farm, a little organic garden & hey... maybe a bee hive!) I need to be able to use my business and marketing skills & creativity to put money in the bank... can anyone here give me some good tips for generating extra funds with web design/site development. I am confident that whatever challenges I face... I'll be strong enough to face them and "I can do all things thru Christ, Who gives me strength."


It's very late now, so I'll say again... thank you all!
I really look forward to getting to know more "SS'ers."
Blessings to all!

VC
"Chuck's FAVORITE Chick"

 

[Shiloh Acres]

If you're looking for goats for milk you can always go with Nigerian Dwarf. I would think that's certainly do-able, but ... You can't have "a goat". Trust me. Unless you plan to spend every waking moment with her, and even then she won't be happy. Goats MUST have at LEAST one other goat for a security blanket. And if you don't want a buck (I wouldn't on 1-acre, unless buying a new buckling each year to resell after breeding) make sure in advance that you can get stud service.

 

[freemotion]

You are both going to have to completely change your dietary habits. It will be excruciatingly hard, I know. But you can do it. We did it. And guess what? It is VERY ss and VERY inexpensive compared to what you are doing now! But it doesn't really work to try to eat all the same foods, just in a different format. Meaning, switching over from regular processed foods to organic processed foods and gluten-free processed foods.

Gluten is not your only enemy. Hydrogenated fats are very irritating, as are veg oils and any seeds. Many "gluten-free" things at Whole Foods are not. They may be lower in gluten, but I've seen rye crackers and spelt bread described there as gluten-free. Neither is. Gluten is also added to many manufactured products that you would not expect to have it.

The most interesting thing to me....is we now eat cheaper than anyone I know AND we eat gourmet! It took a while, though, it did not happen overnight and although it IS easy now, it was not. It is like getting in shape for a race. You have to gradually get stronger and stronger, then you can maintain it with less effort and pain. It gets easy and enjoyable. New habits are formed. New ways of thinking about food.

Food used to be my enemy. I never knew which meal would make me very sick and in pain, and eating out was NEVER fun. (Still isn't, but I know what to order now and only eat out if I have to.....my food at home is SO much tastier!)

You can do this.