Natural Remedies In A drug Obsessed Culture?

[Jim Gonsler]

I'd love to hear from anyone who is not buying the hype that clinical based prescription drugs should be the only choice of people suffering from the effects of Crohn's Disease. Medical doctors get lots of praise for the work and dedication and expense that they put out in their efforts to complete medical school and it is rightly deserved. However, I wonder how many of them may be have been functioning for many years in a educational vacuum. It's a well know fact that for decades the field of medicine has been partnering up with strong pharmaceutical companies in their treatment offerings. From the time young doctors graduate from medical school to the time they set up their practices, drug companies are an inseparable a part of their lives. My question is this. If drug companies have such a large stake in the medical community where they derive billions of dollars in profits, how much attention is paid to non-traditional forms of treatment methods in the medical community, namely natural supplements?

I have had Crohn's Disease for years, fortunately it has been pretty well controlled. I thankfully have not had to rely on strong drugs as an only alternative. I have heard stories of people not quite so fortunate, who have suffered greatly from the harsh side effects of clinically developed drugs.
Lately I have been doing some research on largely natural supplements like aloe and OPC (Oligomeric Proanthoscyanidins) and their effects in controlling Crohn's naturally and been hearing some very favorable results. These natural supplements seem to be quite effective in reducing the inflammation caused by Crohn's Disease and strengthening the bodies own natural immune system that helps to combat this characteristic. I'd like to hear from some others who have been using natural supplements effectively to control their Crohn's.

 

[e13 boy]

Hi Jim,

Very pleased to tell you i have had life changing success with AMP(aloe mucilaginous polysaccarides).I never came anywhere near 'remission' with the drugs the hospitals gave me.The crohn's was always active - it fluctuated from mild to severe - a vicious cycle which put me under the knife 9 times.Within the first month of taking AMP every single symptom CD gave me started to heal for the first ever time.Within 6 months i was in 100% complete remission for the first ever time.Looking for 'alternative' help was the biggest turning point of my life.

Best Wishes

 

[e13 boy]

Also,in reply to your original post, when i told my Dr what i was taking he had never heard of it.

 

[Jim Gonsler]

Congratulations! I love to hear from people who have decided to take control and fight this disease by doing the research and taking charge of their health, like you have.

 

[mizgarnet]

I am fortunate to have an orthomolecular scientist in my community. Doc has helped me more than allopathic meds ever have. Orthomolecular is the science of healing from within. I tried the meds and I became very ill. The only time I have had trouble (real, debilitating trouble) with Crohn's is when I allowed to docs influence my diet and my treatment. Never again. I believe there is a place for the mainstream doctors but I think they are blinded to the alternatives. Diet is a tremendous tool for symptoms, Aloe and Boswellia are great for inflammation. Serrapepatase is wonderful for scar tissue. The list goes on....

Wendy

 

[Cookie]

Just a general statement of agreement. One thing that I have learned since being diagnosed with this disease is that doctors tend to focus blindly on what they "think" they know and usually miss the big picture. We tend to forget that many of our doctors finished med school years ago and with the rapid changes in medicine, they are often left "learning" as they go. Unfortunately, much of that "education" comes compliments of the big pharamceutical companies.

Right now I am med free and focusing heavily on my diet. I also started taking probiotics. This decision was made after spending quite a bit of time around this forum and pulling information from the experience of others. A combination of these two things has me feeling pretty good at the moment. I hope it stays that way.

 

[mozzie85]

Hi e13_boy

I am quite interested in your story. I've had a look on the website but I can't find much information on dosing and how many tablets you take per day. It seems quite pricey and if you need 2/3 a day it could be even more expensive!!! Could you give us abit more information about how many you take and how much it costs in £s?

Thanks

Maurice

 

[Dogluv]

Hi! I am starting an elemental diet for my crohns after recently getting 1 dose of remicade which did help, but had to many side effects. I did see a homeopathic doctor who told me to do aloe, vitamin a, and go gluten, and dairy free, but it didn't seem to work. I still am gluten free (because gluten is hard to digest.) but my regular GI seems to think that the elemental diet will work.

 

[Jim Gonsler]

I too have Celiac Disease and need to stay away from Gluten. Same thing with dairy, even though I love ice cream. I'm taking prednisone now but not for my crohn's it's actually for a problem I had with Gout a week or two ago. The prednisone actually seems to keep me diarrea free, but I've had side effects like insomnia and really sore knees, the past 2 weeks I've been on it. Taking my last pill tomorrow and that's it.

 

[e13 boy]

Hi e13_boy

I am quite interested in your story. I've had a look on the website but I can't find much information on dosing and how many tablets you take per day. It seems quite pricey and if you need 2/3 a day it could be even more expensive!!! Could you give us abit more information about how many you take and how much it costs in £s?

Thanks

Maurice

Hi Maurice,

I now take 3 capsules per day.This now costs me £20 per month.
I am a 'Max Pay Pass' member.I choose to purchase 6 bottles in one order which allows me a 40% discount.I also receive free Serolife Probiotics as part of my Pay Pass membership.
When i first started taking AMP i took 9 caps per day.I stayed on that dose until i was in complete remission,then i reduced to 3 per day.
The doseage information is on Serovera.com.(Support)
AMP is not cheap when you first start but i was willing to try anything after the hell i had been through.When i decided to try it i ordered 3 bottles(which is 3 months supply on 9 p/d).
For myself it was the best decision of my life.
If you decide to try AMP i wish you every success.
If you have any more Q's please feel free to ask.

Best Wishes

 

[Fuzzy_griffon_cheeks]

I too have Celiac Disease and need to stay away from Gluten.

Oh my word! You're Celiac too!? :hug: Oh wow! I thought I was one bizarre cookie having both Crohn's and Celiac, wow.... That's a rare combination. @_@ But...can you have kamut? I can thankfully but it's because its a pure form of wheat; it's not been genetically modified like its durum wheat cousin--the kind that's in EVERYTHING. :ymad:

Now I don't have the issues however with dairy, in fact I have whole milk on my cereal every morning as my body demands it. It won't except anything else. XD And I know that's only thanks to a set of Bowen therapy treatments that I received from my mother in law back 4--5 years ago I think now.

I am on western medicine treatments but I do have a homeopathic doctor that I go see every now and then. I'd go see her more often but I have to pay for her nutrition out of pocket and it's so expensive.:eek2: Stupid insurance for thinking homeopathy doctors aren't real doctors. -___- Oh well. But anyway, I've noticed that for me, when mixing the two all while listening to my body, it works quite well. ^_^

Thanks to a battle I'm still undergoing with Pentasa (it's lodged in my gut and has been since last January, still vomiting up the doses), I've come to find that ginger and cinnamon--more so the ginger--is something that I crave often if not daily. The ginger is an anti-inflammatory amongst other things and tends to soothe my system giving it a kick in the process. *hehe* Right now though I've been on a real natural antioxidant craving so cinnamon and artichokes have been on my menu. lol

I find more relief and satisfaction of health through foods than meds. -and because of my insane sensitivity to things, I can figure out what it is I need and don't need just by how my body resonates around certain foods and meds. For example, I'm allergic to Darvocet (pain med) and if I'm dumb enough to actually touch a bottle--just picking it up--it will drop me into a pseudo seizure quicker than you can blink an eye, where as if I'm in need of salmon oil (the omega 3's), I can pick up a bottle and feel soothed just by holding onto it, obviously even more so if I ingest it. It pays to listen to one's body over anything else. lol ^_^ And this I've gotten good at. =)

 

[partlycloudy]

I'm on a gluten-free, lactose-free, grain-free diet and having good results. I just began taking DLPA (DL-Phenylalanine), which is an endorphin boosting amino acid. I've discovered my IBD seems to be very responsive, positively and negatively, to my endorphin levels. The diet helped tremendously with my diarrhea, pain, inflammation and energy, but I was still having some diarrhea, which the DLPA has fixed. I've had no diarrhea since starting it several days ago.

Between the diet and the supplement I'm feeling a lot better than I ever did on meds.

Great thread!

 

[M2M]

Hello Jim
I am a mom to a 24 yr old that was diagnosed with CD in mid Feb. They immediately started her on the reg protocol; Pentasa (alot of it) Entocort; Cipro & Flaxg
within 2 1/2 weeks she had a pancreatic attack from Pentasa.
stayed on the other meds... well the saga continues.. however
what I did was started her on Isotonix multivitamin; OPC 3 (both from Marketamerica) tried to get her to do at least 3 Omega III a day; 1 each meal. along with a can of Boost every day and eating normal CD diet (no lettuce; raw veggies; no coffee; no viney fruits.
she did get pains after eating about 1/2 hr; so had to rule out galbladder...
now last week started her on Boswellia after reading on this forum about that..we went to doc last friday and she is doing great; tapering off the entocort now.
I believe that the supplements have made the difference with her also; esp the OPC 3 and Omega III. Keeping up with the multivit are important too. I think the Boswellia is a great addition.
we were willing to give the natural way a try since she had issues with Pentasa and 6MP and certainly didnt' want to do remicade unless we absolutely had to.
I would recommend anyone trying the supplement way for sure; not saying it will put everyone in remission; but it certainly is all good for you

 

[Tesscorm]

Has anyone had experience with coconut water (not milk). I've read on a number of sites that it in anti-inflammatory and has helped people with Crohn's?