# Natural Treatment for Crohn's and IBD



## socceric17

Hello everyone!

There is a really great herb that has help me SOOO very much with Crohn's Disease. I used to be on Humira but I hated the idea of suppressing my immune system and injecting unknown "toxic waste" into my body so I decided to look for a natural alternative. One of the things I found was an herb called Cat's Claw.

Cat's Claw is a powerful anti-inflammatory herb that relaxes inflamed muscles, improves immune system function, removes free radicals from blood, prevents cancer, lowers blood pressure, and has anti-fungal properties.

The side effects are: dizziness and diarrhea (both go away over extended use)

After one week of this herb I was able to stop Humira and eat more foods. I stopped having a lot of my symptoms and when I do have symptoms, I take more Cat's Claw and it goes away in minutes. I no longer have blood or cramps and feel much better. 

If you are looking for alternative to the medicine you're currently on, try Cat's Claw. 

*Note: I have to take around 4000mg/day with moderate-severe Crohn's Disease to feel the effect.


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## Crohn's 35

Hello and welcome.  You may get more responses if you tell us about your journey on the forum rather than sounding like a person pushing something.  Many people feel uneasy and we would like to get to know you first!  Glad you are here trying to help, but you can help more about you! Thanks


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## socceric17

*Socceric17's Story*

(​Part 1)

Yah sure! My name is Eric, I am from Vermont. I developed Crohn's Disease the summer before my senior year of high school. I am currently age 19 and attending Clarkson University. 

When I developed Crohn's Disease, I started having blood in my stools. I thought it was just a bad bug at first but my my symptoms just got worse. I gave it a week but going to the bathroom just became more and more painful. So I told my parents and they scheduled an appointment with a doctor. The appointment was about a month later and during that time, it became so painful to go to the bathroom that I would bite my t-shirt and go on the verge of tears. I stopped eating because it just meant more pain. 

I then had my colonoscopy and my endoscopy and my doctor diagnosed me with Crohn's Disease. My doctor said that there was nothing I could do and that my best chances were on medication and I would likely have complications in my future. I was put on Prednizone and a couple other antibiotic drugs. Prednizone made me constantly hungry. I gained weight rapidly until I hit 169lbs. I developed a lot of acne, my face bloated, I developed stretch marks on my thighs, and I woke up at least 3 times every night drenched in sweat to go to the bathroom. Whenever I went back to my bed, it would be cold and wet from sweat and I was very miserable. Slowly they took me off prednizone and put me on a drug called Azathiaprine. I stayed on Azathiaprine the rest of the year, staying on the antibiotics for a little bit after going off of prednizone.

I took dosages of 50mg of azathiaprine but my reccommended dose was about  70-80mg but I felt fine. I was doing well on azathiaprine and made it through the rest of my senior year without incident. Summer came along and one day I started feeling really tired and cold. It started to hurt whenever I sat down. The pain gradually increased and it came to the point where I was wearing a sweatshirt and shivering in the middle of the summer and about to collapse. My mom rushed me to the emergency room and they ran some tests. They discovered that I had an abscess and that they would need to perform surgery (too big to treat with antibiotics). 

They put me under and cut into my rear to drain the abscess. After draining it, they stuffed it full of gauze to let the inside heal. I slept through the night and the next day, they came over to remove the gauze. This must be the most painful experience in my entire life. You know how sometimes bandages stick to your skin after you get a nasty scrape? It was like that except a thousand times worse. 

I was free to leave the hospital after that as long as I cleaned the hole to make sure it didn't become infected. After this incident, they decided a stronger drug would be better and put me on a drug called Remicade. It was an infusion which I was strongly opposed to because I didn't want to have to go to the hospital at all. They set me up on Remicade but the insurance company refused to pay for it and wanted me to go on Humira instead. So that's what I ended up doing.

My parents found a gastrointestinal doctor near my college so at the beginning of my freshman year in college, I started taking Humira. I started with the "booster pack" everyone has to do. I did very well on Humira and was happy with it but I was constantly fearful of developing a serious infection.

I went through the school year doing very well. I actually didn't get sick at all which I was very surprised of except of one instance where I got food poisoning. That was not fun at all. But even though I was doing well with Humira, I wasn't content. I didn't want to spend the rest of my life injected myself with this drug for a couple reasons. It is an experimental drug, it causes cancer which my grandpa just died of last year, it increases risk of serious complications, it wasn't 100% effective (still having blood usually around time I need to take next injection), and it was ridiculously expensive. So I began looking for alternative treatments.

At the end of the school year, I went home, and started researching alternative treatments for Crohn's Disease. I decided to try managing Crohn's be diet alone. I tried the "all-natural" diet of only meats and vegetables and was able to last about a week longer than normal without Humira but still couldn't do it. I tried alkaline diet to try and increase pH of my body but had little success with that. So I decided I would need something to help manage it better than food and started reading forums for what other people used. One of the forums a lady mentioned Cat's Claw had worked well for over a year for her. 

I looked up more information about Cat's Claw and found that it is a natural anti-inflammatory that's been used for centuries to treat gastrointestinal problems. It looked promising so I went on amazon.com and bought the most reliable looking Cat's Claw with the best reviews. I got it in the mail and started out at 500mg/day. I didn't feel any effect so I upped my dosage to 1500mg/day. Still nothing. I went back online for what the lady used and found she used a dosage of 4000mg/day! So I slowly increased my dosage and sure enough, it worked!

I stopped Humira and my mom just said it was all in my head but I continued. I stopped having blood every other week and felt a lot better. My mom scheduled an appointment with my doctor and I told him about what I was doing. He said that he had never heard of Cat's Claw and to go back on Humira but I disagreed saying that it was working better than Humira. We kinda got in a fight but needless to say, I kept taking Cat's Claw. At around 3 months of Cat's Claw (missing 6 Humira injections), even though I was fine with Cat's Claw, I still had to watch my diet and really wanted to cure Crohn's Disease. 

So I continued to search for other ideas of what causes Crohn's Disease and how to cure it. At this time, I strongly believed Crohn's Disease was caused by MAP bacteria which thrives in pasteurized milk. So one of the ideas to cure Crohn's was a raw milk diet. I was scared to try this because I have such terrible reactions from pasteurized milk but tried it anyways as there was a local farm down the road. I bought some and tried it, and not only was my body able to digest it, but it tasted delicious! I started my raw milk diet believing that the good bacteria in the milk would eradicate MAP bacteria in my system. I stopped Cat's Claw and only did raw milk. I went two days but then started having problems so I went back on Cat's Claw. I should have tried Cat's Claw and just raw milk which I'm planning on as soon as I go home.


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## socceric17

*Socceric17's Story*

(Part 2)

I stopped the raw milk diet but still drank it as it was a great source of vitamins, minerals, protein, calcium, calories, and fat. I then tried a new approach. MAP bacteria gets into your white blood cells so I decided I needed something to target my blood. I looked online and the most prominent/safe thing that came up was the Bob Beck protocol. I was EXTREMELY wary of this because it made a lot of claims and there was a lot of people who said that it was fraudulent and a lot of people who said it really did work. So I tried to find one person who tried it didn't work for them but I couldn't. I searched and searched and only found stories of success, not failures. So I decided there was only one sure way to know. So I bought two parts of the Bob Beck protocol. The Blood-electrification device from Sota called "Silver Pulser" (extremely expensive >_< over $200) and colloidal silver ($25).

I wanted to try colloidal silver with it but my mom took it away from me cause she thought I was going to turn blue xD so I never got to try that. But I did do the blood electrification device. I started out at 10 minutes and didn't have any reaction. So the next day I tried 30 minutes. Still nothing. I was beginning to think it was a scam, I tried it for two hours while playing video games. The protocol warns of using it more than an hour without building up due to creating excessive toxins in your system from killing bacteria. Well, after the two hour trial, I had the worst flare up I've ever had. I could not walk straight, could barely go up stairs. I was in pain and quickly took some Cat's Claw and laid down in bed. Slowly the pain went away. The next day I decided to test it again xD just to make sure it really was from the blood electrification device. And sure enough, after two hours, I got another major flare up. I decided that was enough of using that device.

I discontinued the blood electrification device and noticed I had increased energy levels. I also noticed that I didn't need as much Cat's Claw. Instead of my regular dosage of 4000mg/day it was now 2000mg/day. Additionally, I felt a lot more rested and felt much better.

I continued to do more research and found that even if you clean out your blood, the (MAP) bacteria will still infest your intestines so that is why you need colloidal silver. Since I couldn't use colloidal silver, I looked if it could starve it to death. I talked with my roommate at Clarkson about how to clean out your intestines and he mentioned something particular. He said that he heard a story of where a man cured allergies with hook worms. It got me thinking because there is a connection between allergies and Crohn's Disease. I started thinking if I got hook worms, would it cure Crohn's Disease as well? And why did it cure his allergies? 

I did more research about what hook worms eat and turns out they like to eat fungus. So I looked up if there is a connection between allergies and fungus. Sure enough, a fungus known as Candida Albican can cause allergies if it overgrows in your intestines. And there is an extremely easy way to test for it. All you do it spit into a glass of water in the morning and if it develops "cloudy legs" coming from the top of the glass, you have Candida overgrowth. If it stays floating, then you have healthy levels of Candida. I tested my self and sure enough, I developed legs in seconds. I decided to test my friends and family to make sure that just doesn't happen to everyone. Sure enough, all my lean, healthy, active friend and family, stayed floating, and my mom and dads sank a little bit.

I then remembered reading a Mayo-Clinic article about how Cat's Claw can be used to treat allergies. And if allergies are caused by Candida fungus, wouldn't that mean Cat's Claw is anti-fungal? I looked it up and sure enough! Cat's Claw is a powerful anti-fungal as well as a powerful anti-inflammatory herb. 

So that left one question. If Candida fungus causes allergies, does it also cause Crohn's Disease and IBD? So I decided to look up the diet to kill of Candida fungus. To my surprise, it was IDENTICAL to the diet described in the book, "The Specific Carbohydrate Diet"! The Specific Carbohydrate Diet has many good reviews for helping people with Crohn's Disease and IBD get better and get off their medication. 

So I started this diet and almost immediately, I noticed I stopped having phlegm whenever I got up in the morning but the diet was too hard and my school does not offer enough options of food that I could not continue the diet. So I decided I would need something else to kill of the Candida fungus.

I went back to the Bob Beck protocol and bought the magnetic pulser. The Magnetic Pulser supposedly neutralizes pathogens and fungus in your intestines and the reason you can't use the blood electrification device with your intestines is that it will cause electric burns.

I have not yet received this device in the mail yet so I can't comment yet on it but I will keep you guys updated when I do get it.

So that's where I am now. I hope this information helps someone. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I'd be happy to help. 

And the reason I am only recommending the Cat's Claw is because I've been using it for about 5 months and have had no ill side effects where as blood electrification I've only tried it for about a two weeks.


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## Crohn's 35

Glad you told us your story!  I have tried Cats claw and it did squat for me, but then so have alot of meds.  I have done everything under the sun, from Acupuncture, natural pathic doctor, gluten free, changed diets, meds, and the only thing that helped me for the most part is a dietician who specializes in bowel digestive disorders. 

Everyone has their magicall pill or med that works for them but everyone is different and the FDA hasnt updated alot of the natural stuff and people can have reactions to those too. I think it is trial and error and I am so happy you found what works for you.  It is what we all want relief with out so many drugs.  Glad you here!


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## debjandy

Thanks for sharing, I greatly appreciate the passion and journey you are on.  I will look into the Cat's Claw.  I hope it continues to work for you and that you are able to share your research with others, as maybe the combo is what is working....to me it sounds like a lot of positive attitude in the mix of things too.  Good for you, I hope I can keep mine, just getting started.


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## debjandy

I just googled Cat's Claw and see that it is tied in there too with Tumeric.  I have been adding this ingredient to everything, so now all my foods are yellow.    But it makes sense!  I researched a lot of different diets and what I found in common with the ones that "made sense" to me were more fruits, veggies and whole grains.  Then along the way things like Tumeric, eliminating hulls & husks, red meat, fructose, and working on sugars in general...  Have you found a doctor you like?  Is he just a GI?  I use a really cool NaturoPath and a GI Doc I don't feel is apart of my "journey" as I would have him be.  It is a journey for me, and I am really trying to research a holistic approach without creating too many gaps or going too far down any ONE path and really messing myself up worse.  Good luck to you!


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## socceric17

Unfortunately I have not found a doctor I like. There was a really nice doctor at a Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in NH hospital that I went to to get a second opinion on Humira. I believe his name was MD Corey A. Siegal. But it's a long drive there from Vermont so I've only seen him once. My mom wants me to see a homeopathic doctor because the doctor's I've seen don't approve of herbal medication and want me to take pharmaceutical drugs. So hopefully I'll see a homeopathic doctor soon. I heard there are some nice ones in the area back home.

That's interesting about Tumeric. I had never heard of it. I just looked it up and it is part of the garlic family which is very good at killing fungus which fits in well with my theory. Maybe it's nothing but I'll have to give it a try.


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## debjandy

I had a meeting with the Physician's Assistant today, it went well and she put my mind at ease about some things.  Just basically by broadening the communication gap.  I do use a Naturopath Dr to help with my diet and vitamins, just wanted the ear of the Medical Doctor to make sure what I was going through was "normal."  It's funny, I add the Turmeric to everything now, so everything I eat is this bright yellow.    But when I read about that spice it makes sense to me...  Good luck to you!


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## socceric17

I got my magnetic pulser yesterday. I used it for a little over an hour yesterday and didn't feel any different. When I got up this morning, I didn't have a lot of phlegm in my mouth (which is unusual) and I wanted to see if it had helped my Candida overgrowth problem at all. I did the spit test and it does appear to have gotten better. Instead of having a lot of thick cloudy legs, they were more like short vines and broke if they got to long causing there to be a lot of 'particles' in the water. It's looking good but one day isn't long enough to know for sure. I'll try and post my results as soon as they come up.


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## TMos

Wow, I thought you were selling Cat's Claw when you first posted.  You're pretty hard core into finding something that will work.  Good for you!

Let us know when you hit on something.  I think you have to quit sugar to stop Candida, don't you?


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## socceric17

Sorry if I came across that way ^^' The ideal diet to get rid of Candida is to eliminate all sugars including fructose found in fruits which is ridiculous. So I'm trying to find other ways to treat it such as using herbs, large amounts of probiotics (specifically raw milk which I love <3), and now the Bob Beck Protocol. I'll be sure to keep you posted on how it goes.


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## TMos

Does scotch kill it?  lol!


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## Inna

Yes, many Crohn's disease patients I know used Cat's Claw and did very well with it.
The best sources for it is from Peru and they are called Uno De Gato. Great suggestion!!!


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## capturetwist

*Hello from a newbi*



socceric17 said:


> I got my magnetic pulser yesterday. I used it for a little over an hour yesterday and didn't feel any different. When I got up this morning, I didn't have a lot of phlegm in my mouth (which is unusual) and I wanted to see if it had helped my Candida overgrowth problem at all. I did the spit test and it does appear to have gotten better. Instead of having a lot of thick cloudy legs, they were more like short vines and broke if they got to long causing there to be a lot of 'particles' in the water. It's looking good but one day isn't long enough to know for sure. I'll try and post my results as soon as they come up.


I saw your note and wanted to know if you follow the Bob Beck Protocol and wanted to know how did it went with the magnetic pulser. I hope to hear from your progress.


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## Stacyface

socceric17 said:


> Sorry if I came across that way ^^' The ideal diet to get rid of Candida is to eliminate all sugars including fructose found in fruits which is ridiculous. So I'm trying to find other ways to treat it such as using herbs, large amounts of probiotics (specifically raw milk which I love <3), and now the Bob Beck Protocol. I'll be sure to keep you posted on how it goes.


What about all the yeast in bread products and many other products in general?  I am always curious about that and the Candida relationship?  Does the yeast in these products cause overgrowth as well?


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## Avery

Has anyone tried Aloe Vera Gel or Juice ? I has helped me maintain Crohns for many years. Along with selective eating, no milk (Only diary I use is Greek Yogurt), no fast foods or junk foods. I also use turmeric, boswellia, Quercetin & N-Acetyl Glutamine. All these are natural anti-inflammatories including Aloe Vera. Some of these have been studied.


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## notochrohn

socceric17, 

Any news regading your success with Bob Beck Protocol ?


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## nogutsnoglory

Avery said:


> Has anyone tried Aloe Vera Gel or Juice ? I has helped me maintain Crohns for many years. Along with selective eating, no milk (Only diary I use is Greek Yogurt), no fast foods or junk foods. I also use turmeric, boswellia, Quercetin & N-Acetyl Glutamine. All these are natural anti-inflammatories including Aloe Vera. Some of these have been studied.


I have used aloe with success at reducing flares but stopped it after reading some information on its potential harm. 

Here is info from CCFA about aloe:

"Aloe vera is widely used topically for wound healing and pain relief. It is also thought to have anti-inflammatory properties.

Some people with mild-to-moderate ulcerative colitis who drink aloe vera juice have reported reduced symptoms.

However, this effect has not been demonstrated in scientific studies.

Anyone with Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis considering using aloe vera should be cautioned that aloe vera, when taken orally, also has a laxative effect. In addition, it has qualities of an “immune booster.” A person with Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis should be careful about treatments that can boost an already overactive immune system." 

http://www.ccfa.org/resources/complementary-alternative.html


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## Avery

Hello nogutsnoglory,

  I have been using Aloe Vera for over 20 years for Crohns treatment, without any noticable negative effects. It still remains the Most Important treatment for my crohns relief. Simply put, when I take the aloe gel or drink during a flare-up the pain goes away within the hour. Also I am aware of the laxative effect of certain varieties & if too much is taken at one time. I personally have never had any laxative effects from aloe. Some juices are made with the yellow extract from the outer skin layer of the leaf & those types are known to have that effect. Also if the Aloe boosted my immune system it was for a good effect, since it took away the intense pain from a flareup. 
 I personally would Never stop Aloe Vera juice for the treatment of crohns based on my Positive Results for over 20 years. I dont need any other scientific studies to verify what I have already verified with my own experiences. 
 Also there was a study done in 2004 in the UK on the use of aloe with Ulcerative Colitis that showed positive results.
 Here is the link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15043514


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## sAiyAnstAr

Thanks for your story socceric17.

I have a very similar story to yours but I started off being diagnosed with UC in 2005 before being re-diagnosed with Crohn's in 2011 after I developed a perianal abscess. I had that removed by am still suffering with a few complex fistulas in that area. I have had well over a dozen surgeries for this and had 3 seton's inserted. I still kept getting infections and last December it got so bad, I had a fever of 41 degrees Celsius which is nearly fatal. I was admitted into hospital and we (the surgeon and I) that we needed to bypass the affected area by getting an Ileostomy bag. Since that surgery I have not had one fever due to infection. I still get slight infections in the fistula but not nearly as bad.
I am taking Remicade which has really helped me and I also take Methotrexate to act as a supplement between Remicade infusions. I have also been on hardcore pain-killers for quite some time which is a concern to me as my body is now dependent on it. I am on Oxycontin (CR) and Oxcycodone and if I don't take any of them for more than 12 hours I get severe restless leg syndrome. I know I will need to taper off the drugs, and am attempting to do so rather slowly. I tried stopping cold turkey but I wasn't able to sleep for 2 weeks because of the RLS.
I have been looking for natural ways to help with my Crohn's because I know these manufactured drugs are harming my body as well. I don't think I can find anything natural for pain at present, but I want to at least get of the methotrexate. Thank's to your detailed post, I am going to try our Cat's Claw to see if that helps with the healing of my fistula, because as long as my Crohn's is active, it's not going to heal. I want to have my ileostomy bag removed and the procedure reversed as well as have the seton's removed, but I can't do that until the fistula cavities have closed up.
I eat a lot of curry as I am Sri Lankan, so Tumeric is part of my diet. I also take Inner Health Plus IBS support, which is very high in the good gut bacteria.
Thank you for the effort you have taken, and the detail in which you have posted it in. I will try the Cat's Claw out and let you know how it goes!!


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## Avery

sAiyAnstAr
The aloe vera along with greek yogurt help me to get over a bleeding anal fistula this year. I use the :Whole Leaf juice" from Lily of the Desert or GNC, daily along with fresh aloe leaves once a month. Have you tried Aloe Vera in the past. My case is obviously not as severe as yours at this time. But ALoe is definately worth considering for the healing of the digestive tract. I know I would be in a worst condition if I had not started on ALoe Vera 20 years ago.
The fresh gel has removed acute pain from my inflammed intestine when I was flaring. Always after eating something that did not agree with me. I have not had that acute pain for over 10 yrs now, also because I watch everything I eat now.


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## sAiyAnstAr

Hi Avery,
I do actually drink Aloe Vera quite regularly as I was advised by my sister-in-law (who has Crohn's too) that it has anti-inflammatory properties. I haven't really noticed if it makes much of a difference as my Crohn's itself has been quite good. It's really the fistula which is causing me a lot of heartache.
Thanks for your post though


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## Avery

sAiyAnstAr,
 Yes I drink Aloe daily or twice week depending how I'm feeling. Also I have noticed great benefits with using a Enteric coated or time released probiotic.
I use Renew Life 50 billion. Amazon has the best prices. When I was younger I only used the Fresh gel from my plants & within a half hr.-1hr., the pain would go away. But the bottled Aloe still has benefits. A few yrs. back I was having a continuous dull pain on my lower right side (classic Crohn's). The bottled aloe juice took away the ache after using Aloe for 3-4 days. I had this ache for weeks until I drank a quart of Aloe juice. My very old plants have lost their efficacy because I need to take better care of them. 
Has anyone here tried High CBD medical marij. oils (RSO oil)  or plant for tea (I don't smoke)?


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## ronroush7

Avery said:


> sAiyAnstAr,
> Yes I drink Aloe daily or twice week depending how I'm feeling. Also I have noticed great benefits with using a Enteric coated or time released probiotic.
> I use Renew Life 50 billion. Amazon has the best prices. When I was younger I only used the Fresh gel from my plants & within a half hr.-1hr., the pain would go away. But the bottled Aloe still has benefits. A few yrs. back I was having a continuous dull pain on my lower right side (classic Crohn's). The bottled aloe juice took away the ache after using Aloe for 3-4 days. I had this ache for weeks until I drank a quart of Aloe juice. My very old plants have lost their efficacy because I need to take better care of them.
> Has anyone here tried High CBD medical marij. oils (RSO oil)  or plant for tea (I don't smoke)?


Hi.  You might want to post this question in the Medical Marijuana section


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