new to forum - treating my crohn's holistically
hello, all - my name is heather and I am a 31 yr old female with crohn’s. frustrated with conventional IBD medicines and treatments that for me were ineffectual, i recently made the decision to take a holistic, natural approach to treating my disease. i hope to find others through this forum that are interested in such an approach and who are willing to share their experience with and knowledge about holistic treatments for colitis/crohn’s. below is my story:
my struggle with IBD began at an early age, but i suffered through adolescence and early adulthood undiagnosed. early on, i was told by many doctors that i simply had an irritable bowel, and just needed more fiber and roughage in my diet (which I later discovered is the worst advice for someone with IBD). i increased the amount of fiber and whole grains in my diet, but this seemed to only make matters worse. in my teens and twenties i wrestled with the psychological ramifications of being in constant pain, and my doctors focused on my depression and social anxiety - completely ignoring the possibility that my psychological issues were related to what was going on in my gut. i managed through college and into my late twenties on antidepressants, lots of pain relievers and a strong dose of denial, but became extremely ill shortly after starting graduate school. my diarrhea, fatigue and abdominal cramping had become increasingly worse, and I was losing weight at an astounding rate. i chalked it up to an inability to deal with the extreme stresses of going back to school and the possibility that i contracted some sort of parasite or bacterial infection while studying abroad. however, my doctors could find no parasite or bacterial infection, and as usual could offer no explanation for why I felt so terrible physically, and psychologically out of control. i reverted back to ignoring what was going on with my body until i collapsed on a public train in the summer of 2007.
completely dehydrated and emaciated, i was rushed to the hospital. the bright point of this event was that while at the hospital, i was finally treated by a doctor who was familiar with IBD. she referred me to a reputable GI doctor, who immediately did a colonoscopy and discovered ulceration in nearly every part of my colon. he promptly began aggressively treating me for ulcerative colitis (and possible crohn’s) with a heavy cocktail of high-dose prednisone, asacol and flagyl. for a few months, i felt significant improvement - i regained the 15 lbs i had lost in the prior months, i felt much more energetic, and i had a lot less pain in my abdomen. but then, the weight gain got out of control and i started to experience a multitude of very unpleasant side-effects, eventually having a severe allergic reaction to the prednisone.
over the next few years, i tried several other conventional IBD medicines, and GI doctors, in hopes of finding the right pill or combination that i could tolerate. in 2010, after seeing little improvement with mesalamine, corticosteroid, and antibiotic therapies, my GI doctor urged me to consider mercaptopurine (6MP) or humira. in researching these drugs, i learned that they were quite toxic and could have extreme side effects, including bone marrow toxicity and lymphoma. for me, the risk did not seem worth it - why treat a debilitating disease with a drug that could potentially leave me with another more life-threatening one? i simply could not accept that there was not an alternate, safer way to treat this disease. part in reaction to my negative experience with conventional medicine, but more so influenced by my growing suspicion that the increasing prevalence of auto-immune diseases is linked to the toxicity of our environment and the poor quality of food that we put into our bodies, I resolved to take a holistic approach to my treatment.
within a few minutes of combing the internet for alternative colitis/crohn’s treatments, I came across matt herod’s specific carbohydrate diet website. the diet, promulgated by elaine gottschall, author of “breakig the vicious cycle”, is based on the understanding that people with IBD cannot process the complex carbohydrates and sugars that make up much of our contemporary diet, and eliminates them completely. essentially, in people with IBD, an imbalance of microbial flora in the gut (the cause of which has many theories) leads to an overgrowth of harmful microbes whose toxic by-products of fermenting the carbohydrates and complex sugars that their body cannot digest, damages enzymes on the surface of the intestine, disrupting digestion and absorption of carbohydrates. this damage to the intestinal lining provokes an excessive production of protective mucous, which further inhibits digestion and absorption – and this is the vicious cycle. with this newfound understanding of what was occurring in my gut, the rationale behind the specific carbohydrate diet made a lot of sense to me, and I immediately went out and purchased elaine’s book to learn more. in a few short hours, i had devoured breaking the vicious cycle, and now had what seemed to me a very sound, scientifically based explanation for my crohn’s symptoms and a reasonable way to approach treatment of my disease through dietary modification, without toxic medications.
i have been following the specific carbohydrate diet for 11 months now and have seen significant improvement in my condition. my abdominal pain in nearly non-existent, my diarrhea is much less frequent, and my energy level seems to be returning. however, following the diet is a quite a process, and it isn’t always easy to deal with so many food restrictions. i am far from feeling normal, but i daresay that this approach has given me hope for one day leading a pain-free, productive life again without the need for surgery (which almost all GI doctors will tell you is inevitable). and, combining the SCD diet with daily yoga practice has really helped me to feel like I have gain some control over both the physical and psychological aspects of this disease. although I am much improved, some days are still a bit of a struggle, and I hope to connect with others in the forum who are treating their colitis/crohn’s holistically so that we may help each other learn more about non-conventional strategies for dealing with this disease.
hello, all - my name is heather and I am a 31 yr old female with crohn’s. frustrated with conventional IBD medicines and treatments that for me were ineffectual, i recently made the decision to take a holistic, natural approach to treating my disease. i hope to find others through this forum that are interested in such an approach and who are willing to share their experience with and knowledge about holistic treatments for colitis/crohn’s. below is my story:
my struggle with IBD began at an early age, but i suffered through adolescence and early adulthood undiagnosed. early on, i was told by many doctors that i simply had an irritable bowel, and just needed more fiber and roughage in my diet (which I later discovered is the worst advice for someone with IBD). i increased the amount of fiber and whole grains in my diet, but this seemed to only make matters worse. in my teens and twenties i wrestled with the psychological ramifications of being in constant pain, and my doctors focused on my depression and social anxiety - completely ignoring the possibility that my psychological issues were related to what was going on in my gut. i managed through college and into my late twenties on antidepressants, lots of pain relievers and a strong dose of denial, but became extremely ill shortly after starting graduate school. my diarrhea, fatigue and abdominal cramping had become increasingly worse, and I was losing weight at an astounding rate. i chalked it up to an inability to deal with the extreme stresses of going back to school and the possibility that i contracted some sort of parasite or bacterial infection while studying abroad. however, my doctors could find no parasite or bacterial infection, and as usual could offer no explanation for why I felt so terrible physically, and psychologically out of control. i reverted back to ignoring what was going on with my body until i collapsed on a public train in the summer of 2007.
completely dehydrated and emaciated, i was rushed to the hospital. the bright point of this event was that while at the hospital, i was finally treated by a doctor who was familiar with IBD. she referred me to a reputable GI doctor, who immediately did a colonoscopy and discovered ulceration in nearly every part of my colon. he promptly began aggressively treating me for ulcerative colitis (and possible crohn’s) with a heavy cocktail of high-dose prednisone, asacol and flagyl. for a few months, i felt significant improvement - i regained the 15 lbs i had lost in the prior months, i felt much more energetic, and i had a lot less pain in my abdomen. but then, the weight gain got out of control and i started to experience a multitude of very unpleasant side-effects, eventually having a severe allergic reaction to the prednisone.
over the next few years, i tried several other conventional IBD medicines, and GI doctors, in hopes of finding the right pill or combination that i could tolerate. in 2010, after seeing little improvement with mesalamine, corticosteroid, and antibiotic therapies, my GI doctor urged me to consider mercaptopurine (6MP) or humira. in researching these drugs, i learned that they were quite toxic and could have extreme side effects, including bone marrow toxicity and lymphoma. for me, the risk did not seem worth it - why treat a debilitating disease with a drug that could potentially leave me with another more life-threatening one? i simply could not accept that there was not an alternate, safer way to treat this disease. part in reaction to my negative experience with conventional medicine, but more so influenced by my growing suspicion that the increasing prevalence of auto-immune diseases is linked to the toxicity of our environment and the poor quality of food that we put into our bodies, I resolved to take a holistic approach to my treatment.
within a few minutes of combing the internet for alternative colitis/crohn’s treatments, I came across matt herod’s specific carbohydrate diet website. the diet, promulgated by elaine gottschall, author of “breakig the vicious cycle”, is based on the understanding that people with IBD cannot process the complex carbohydrates and sugars that make up much of our contemporary diet, and eliminates them completely. essentially, in people with IBD, an imbalance of microbial flora in the gut (the cause of which has many theories) leads to an overgrowth of harmful microbes whose toxic by-products of fermenting the carbohydrates and complex sugars that their body cannot digest, damages enzymes on the surface of the intestine, disrupting digestion and absorption of carbohydrates. this damage to the intestinal lining provokes an excessive production of protective mucous, which further inhibits digestion and absorption – and this is the vicious cycle. with this newfound understanding of what was occurring in my gut, the rationale behind the specific carbohydrate diet made a lot of sense to me, and I immediately went out and purchased elaine’s book to learn more. in a few short hours, i had devoured breaking the vicious cycle, and now had what seemed to me a very sound, scientifically based explanation for my crohn’s symptoms and a reasonable way to approach treatment of my disease through dietary modification, without toxic medications.
i have been following the specific carbohydrate diet for 11 months now and have seen significant improvement in my condition. my abdominal pain in nearly non-existent, my diarrhea is much less frequent, and my energy level seems to be returning. however, following the diet is a quite a process, and it isn’t always easy to deal with so many food restrictions. i am far from feeling normal, but i daresay that this approach has given me hope for one day leading a pain-free, productive life again without the need for surgery (which almost all GI doctors will tell you is inevitable). and, combining the SCD diet with daily yoga practice has really helped me to feel like I have gain some control over both the physical and psychological aspects of this disease. although I am much improved, some days are still a bit of a struggle, and I hope to connect with others in the forum who are treating their colitis/crohn’s holistically so that we may help each other learn more about non-conventional strategies for dealing with this disease.
