Hey gang. I know, I know. I'm terrible at message boards. I've disappeared for about half a year and it's for whatever reason hard for me to keep up with these things on a regular basis. I have been meaning to share some info though, in the hopes it may help some people, and also say hi and see how the regulars are fairing.
So for the last year I had been up and down. I'd flare for a week, then be fine for 3 to 5 days, then flare for 8, then be fine for 6. It felt like a casino where I won just enough to be constantly losing. It was very frustrating because I have a job to do and I work out alot and am used to being active. Obviously I'd miss the gym while I was flaring, and hated always feeling like I was starting over in the windows I felt better. I was also on an HMO health plan, and every time I'd have a new GI doc they would end up canceling their contract with my HMO, or, in one case, be in the middle of an indictment for fraud. One of my doctors blatantly admitted that he couldn't give me the real treatments I needed because he'd never be able to get approval from my health provider(and HMO thing).
So basically after a year of this my girlfriend got tired of me being sick and took to the internet. She had me change my diet and start taking supplements. Here are the changes:
A month into the change I felt better, and the flares went away. It's been 3 months now since I felt even a twinge of pain. I finally got on a better insurance plan and got a PPO, which let me see the GI I had been wishing to see ever since he took care of me in the hospital two years earlier. He spent like an hour with me catching up on my history, rolling his eyes at the measures me previous docs took to take care of me, and scheduling a ct and colonoscopy for the end of this month. So things have finally stabilized health wise, one less thing to worry about.
So that's that. Corn syrup is apparently the devil's elixir. How's the forum doing? I like the new look!
So for the last year I had been up and down. I'd flare for a week, then be fine for 3 to 5 days, then flare for 8, then be fine for 6. It felt like a casino where I won just enough to be constantly losing. It was very frustrating because I have a job to do and I work out alot and am used to being active. Obviously I'd miss the gym while I was flaring, and hated always feeling like I was starting over in the windows I felt better. I was also on an HMO health plan, and every time I'd have a new GI doc they would end up canceling their contract with my HMO, or, in one case, be in the middle of an indictment for fraud. One of my doctors blatantly admitted that he couldn't give me the real treatments I needed because he'd never be able to get approval from my health provider(and HMO thing).
So basically after a year of this my girlfriend got tired of me being sick and took to the internet. She had me change my diet and start taking supplements. Here are the changes:
- Cut out about 90% of my corn syrup intake. Way less fast food and soda.
- Began taking fish oil, cod liver oil, and aloe vera pills.
- Eating more fish. Salmon and Sardines. Sardines surprisingly tasty in olive oil!
- Continue taking Asacol, the only thing my docs could put me on..
A month into the change I felt better, and the flares went away. It's been 3 months now since I felt even a twinge of pain. I finally got on a better insurance plan and got a PPO, which let me see the GI I had been wishing to see ever since he took care of me in the hospital two years earlier. He spent like an hour with me catching up on my history, rolling his eyes at the measures me previous docs took to take care of me, and scheduling a ct and colonoscopy for the end of this month. So things have finally stabilized health wise, one less thing to worry about.
So that's that. Corn syrup is apparently the devil's elixir. How's the forum doing? I like the new look!
