Natural vs. biomedicine...which do you recommend?

[Somadoll]

Hi there
I don't have Crohn's but my boyfriend does and I'm trying to learn as much as I can to support him. He doesnt take meds anymore, instead he sees a homeopathic doctor and takes vitamins and probiotic bacteria gelcaps as well as gets a B12 shot every 3 mths. I was under the impression that this was working for him, but I just recently found up he had just stopped talking about the 'crappy' way he's been feeling for the past 2 years. He says meds or no meds, he's resigned to feeling bad all the time, beause nothing works anyways. So my question is what do you guys think? naturopathy or biomedical treatment or a combo of both? anyone try what my boyfriend has been doing? and what were the results?

 

[D Bergy]

I use what works for me, with the minimal amount of side effects. I use supplements, Low Dose Naltrexone, and two experimental treatments to keep the Crohn's in remission.

Trial and error is really the only way to find out what is going to work. If what you are using is not working, then no point in staying with that treatment. It certainly is not as hopeless as he thinks it is. But it can take awhile and you have to be willing to try various methods.

Dan

 

[saidinstouch]

As Dan said, you gotta do what works best and no two cases of crohns are really the same. It is also a balancing act of how much you are willing to risk to feel better. While most of the biologics are considered fairly safe, their longer term effects and role in possible cancers aren't well understood. However, persistent inflammation is also linked with cancers, so its a trade off as to which risk factor you want to deal with. Ideally, you find a treatment that works well for you that is at the right level of risk so you are comfortable (or in this case your boyfriend).

For me, the homeopathic course was unable to give me any true relief from pains and was as expensive or more so than the biologics when insurance is factored in. However, a lot of people get great benefit from a variety of diets and/or supplements. He can try changing his probiotic to one that is at least somewhat clinically proven called vsl#3, adding in some more supplements that are beneficial to people with crohns like the omega-fatty acids (just be certain to get the right ones in the right ratio, others like Dan could inform you better on this subject), or taking the next step in medications and trying a drug like remicade that many people find great relief on.

There are a lot of options out there and the combined experience of this board pretty much gets you a perspective on most of them I think. So if you have more specific treatment questions I think you'll find excellent answers. For me the biologics have provided great relief, though the coverage can sometimes fail and I get a flare. This is also probably related to stress and poor diet, so I personally find the biologics to be great relief when nothing else was working. Others have gotten no relief from any of the biologics and found the probiotics to work wonders for them. I think it sounds like he needs to become more aggressive no matter which way he decides to go, either natural or pharmaceutical though if he is feeling bad. We can all get to a place where we feel at least a little better I think, its just getting there can be a rough time.

My opinion based on what you have said is that he wants to stay a bit more of the natural side though, so I would say start with the probiotic change to vsl#3 which is fairly expensive, but has the best chance of results. Then provide us with a list of the supplements he currently is taking and what dose and we can suggest things to add, remove, or change based on our knowledge. Then give that a couple months and see if he gets to a better place. If not, then he can attack it from the other side and see if a drug/biologic can give him what he is looking for.