Naturally Fighting Crohns

[k.laws]

Hey everyone,

I wanted to see if anyone else has had experience with the SCD diet or the book Breaking the Vicious Cycle.

I was diagnosed with severe Crohns last April (2013) after weeks stay in the hospital and put on prednisone for three months and 75mg of Imuran. (no surgery) Within 6 months miraculously I had achieved remission seen in my colonoscopy and we were amazed.

However.. with the Imuran I have been catching so many sicknesses. I got mono, the flu, and many colds in between in this short period.. while I used to rarely get sick.

Because I have been in remission and doing so well.. and the Imuran has had such rough side effects.. I have really been considering doing the SCD diet long term as long as I can. The side effects have been worse for me than Crohns itself.

I have been gluten free for many years and dairy limited.. and the diet seems to play a huge role for me. I also take probiotics, fish oil, vitamin D, and zinc.

Do any of y'all have experience with this or thoughts with this?

I am needing to come off Imuran soon anyways because the doctors don't want me on it long term. So I can either move to a Biologic (ex. remicade) or try natural. I am doing so good so it is hard to make the decision to go on such a big medicine.

Thanks so much! I appreciate your thoughts/ideas.

 

[Josephine]

Welcome to the forum, I can not often words of wisdom. Good luck.

 

[JMC]

For me, taking azathioprine/imuran actually stopped me from picking up so many infections. I have a flu *** every year, but now rarely get colds, whereas in the time before I was taking it, I was always plagued with flu/cold like symptoms. I believe in some cases those symptoms are related to Crohns.

As for diet, there are some people who believe that Crohns can be controlled by diet alone, but I would say those doctors are in a small minority. My view is that getting my diet right has made a substantial improvement to my well being, but I would still take azathioprine. The best way to know what works for you is by experimentation and keeping a food diary. You also need to be aware of the signs of problematic food, e.g. racing heartbeat, drowsiness, stomach cramps, etc.