Mastiha Therapy

[parisp]

I was diagnosed with CD on the middle of summer 2013.Facing months of flares in my Bowl i could not stand any more this situation and visited a Gastro doctor to see what is going on. Making the relevant test (MRI and colonoscopy) we found that there was a mid range problem in the bowl (around 15cm inside the final Ileos) which was the reason of the diarrhea crises i was facing
I started on 2 of August taking Budenoside (3 pills per day) and some days after i started Aza with 150mg per day.
The last 6 months i keep in good condition.When stopped Budenoside for one week i was so and so...I had a feeling that my bowl was sensitive to get back the prior condition.Meanwhile i was reaching the 12th week of Aza therapy (Aza need almost 12-14 weeks to give results).Stopping Cortisone my CRP went from 5-6 to 15 something which did not sound good to my GP.
At this moment i read a post in Greece about a therapy that has given very good results to patients with Crohns disease in Greece (the sample of patients was too small-almost 20 people tried it with 95% success).
The therapy is nothing more than pills of MAstiha. Mastiha is a natural product made only in a Greek island (Chios) of North East Greece.
I started taking (having asked my doc before) 4 pill per day with also 3 pills of AZA.
The CRP decreased sharply in 2 weeks time from 15 to 5 and now is 3.3 and i feel perfect with no problems at all.Of course i take care my diet since Crohns does not leave to calm down...
According to my doctor this is not a cure for serious damages of Crohns Disease but for low to middle types of the disease it can be suggested.
The question is what helped me more....
The Aza or the Mastiha????
For sure i continue to get both of them every day and take now blood tests once per month.
I feel good and i wish to continue as it is.
If you can find it there, ask your doctor and try it....Even if you face stomach problems (i had some also) it is the best cure.
Surely for serious cases of Crohn Mastiha can not help so much but for minor problems is a good choose without side effects at all.

 

[nogutsnoglory]

I have tried the chios mastiha and didn't notice a difference but I didn't take it at the supposed therapeutic levels nor did I use it consistently. I just chew the gum every now and than.

I don't know how much it may have helped you but it seems it can only be a good thing, so why not continue to incorporate it in food and as a supplement if you think it helps you. It's also reported to be good for a range of other ailments.

 

[parisp]

Normally i don't talk about the gum. The gum is mostly suggested from the dentist to keep teeth in good condition.
I talk about pills.
It is much more different since the pill includes 100% masticha that reaches in the stomach and the bowl directly so the affect is higher than the gum (the quantity of masticha is times bigger than that in the gum).
My doctor told me to get 4 pills per day (the max reported in Greece that it can be taken is 9 pills depending the case). 2 in the morning and 2 at night before dinner.
All this of course without missing to follow my medication which is 175 mg of AZA per day (3 and 1/2 pills according to my body weight).
Masticha is not a medicine by itself but it is supposed to help a lot the levels of inflation in the bowl. I think that it helped me a lot as a plus in therapy i follow.
For sure is not referred to serious cases of Crohn disease but minor like mine.
But think that when i started as i told i was so and so and my feeling was not good at all since i had started facing again some crises of diarrhea. Doctor had told me that next step would be Humira or Remicade something i wanted to avoid.
At the moment i follow this therapy schema and i am ok.
But for sure there must be other solutions than anti-TNF that can be used (like medical marijuana) that doctors do not want to hear about...
The reason??
I do not know....or i can imagine....