Diet/meds confusion

[SaucySusan8]

Too many opinions, not enough answers.

I really want to help myself in whatever way I can. I'm not totally on board with Big Pharma, & the traditional gastroenterlogists only focus on your intestines, not on the whys of your whole immune system going crazy. They just want to shut it down with immuno-suppressant drugs. But there is a reason that my sinuses are inflamed,my polyps are swollen, my psoriasis never quits, my Gallbladder & pancreas are in pain, & my Crohn's is the worst it's been since I was first diagnosed 20 years ago. I'm looking for alternative answers..including dietary & supplements, but that too, is becoming a big business with everyone with something to sell; & of course, their way is the ONLY WAY. All the research I do leads to more confusion. Way too much contradiction, unscientific methods, unreasonable claims. My GI doc feels that diet has nothing to do with it, but that to me is absurd. Garbage in, garbage out. I am a whole person, not parts. I have to see too many freaking specialists & no one sees the whole person. I'd love to see a Integrative practicioner; but there is only one in my area, & they don't see Medicaid /medicare patients. I'm in so much pain, I'm at my wits end. I'm currently on Metronidazole, Cipro, & just started a short course of steroids, because I refuse to take a (dangerous) biologic. I just can't believe that's my only option. I'm also on meds for hbp,& diabetes. I also need to use a rescue inhaler at times. There are other meds they want me to take, but I've been there, done that, & they don't work. Sorry for the long rant. I'm 59 years old.

 

[Axelfl3333]

Welcome,the diet thing is pretty much down to what your body tolerates my clinic says diet has very little to with crohns other than we do develop trigger items but for me I,ve found over the last year the triggers aren,t anymore.treatment wise the meds aren,t poison as many people have come realise and have posted on the forum it's a good idea for crohnies and non crohnies to buy and consume the best we can afford and tolerate but it's common on here that greasy,oily over processed food some raw fruits and veggies are bad after all we know 20 sausages a pound are junk.
I,ve looked at some of these alternatives practisers and they are generally scientifically unproven and mainly rely on the placebo effect.chinese medicine herbs and treatments usua lily have a high steroid content and could have parts of endangered species in them and made in unsanitary conditions.conventional medicine I,m afraid topped up less stress and exercise helps.good luck all the best

 

[wild_one353]

This is how I felt after being subjected to years of acne medication when i developing crohn's I wanted nothing more to do with modern medicine especially after i started improveing my diet and saw my acne improve greatly because of it, i was disappointed that diet was teh last thing for any doctor to mention. I was sick of managing acne and wanted better answers and wasnt looking forward to managing another disease. I eventually found out the antibiotics i had been on could have contributed to me developing Crohn's. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20700115

But mainly it was the antibiotic Augmentin I took for bronchitis that probably did the final blow to developing Crohn's.
But i spent a great deal of time reading studies to understand the research and stumbled onto fecal transplants which attempt to restore missing bacteria in the Gi tract. there are offical reports of long complete remissions and they believed these people may have been cured,i been keeping up a thread on this site for a few years now, hope you come by to check it out!! follow the link below for more info.

Also look into reading the book Breaking the vicious cycle, the diet was finally tested by researchers and shown to maintain remission in IBD. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term="specific+carbohydrate+diet"

 

[SaucySusan8]

I also read about the fecal transplant thing, my doctor, who doesn't want to treat me anymore,is probably not up to speed on this development. I'm actually waiting for that book in the mail. I'd already purchased a low fodmap diet cookbook, but I realize it's not exactly the right thing for how severe this flare is. I'm on a steroids course, but will be seeing a nutritionist for additional support. This flare actually started because of what I thought were positive dietary changes. I started eating more barley & beans & other foods that are not conducive to gut health. I had been im remission for 5 years prior to that, but my diet was total crap. Go figure. I also want to mention that I may also have gotten sick 20 years ago from an antibiotic! Thanks so much for your input.