It's been a long time since I've posted on the board but I'd like to give an update. Dunno if anyone cares but it might help someone who was desperate like me. I am in no way advertising anything here. Just want to tell my success story. It's a long read but a decent one for anyone who doesn't want to take the conventional meds that have risk of cancer, and kill your immune system.
I have been going to an Osteopath, Dr. Juetersanke, for the past 6 months and have made HUGE strides since then. He specializes in the "hard to treat patient" and I would definitely classify myself in that category as I have tried a number of conventional medications like immuran, remicade, steroids, etc. and none of it worked, in fact The list goes on and on.
Anyway I started off with a number of things. First off he told me for anything to work I had to commit to the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. I agreed and have been religious about it since July 2009. Then he recommended trying LDN and VSL#3. The VSL helped a little but it was expensive so I tried a different route. (I stayed on the LDN and am still on it but I'm honestly not sure it's helping much. Hard to tell.)
After that we tried standard antibiotics like Flagyl and Cipro and those affected me very negatively so we ruled that out. He then put me on a course of Fluconazole (for Candidia infections - common in Crohn's patients) which also seemed to help make some progress. I was also put on a heavy course of 300mL B12 shots (self-injected in the thigh). 30 shots for 30 days, 15 for 30 days, and down to 1 shot per week which is what I'm doing now.
So here's where we get to the important part. After all this I was feeling better but I knew I wasn't in remission. One of the last things he said he wanted to try was an antibiotic called Rifaximin AKA Xifaxan (3 to 6 a day, I took 3). He explained to me that it goes right through the GI tract and does not get ingested. It kills off all the bacteria in the GI (which works with the theory that Crohn's is a bacterial infection and your body attacks the bacteria on the intestinal wall resulting in the auto-immune). He recommended I do the Rifaximin in conjunction with the Fluconazole to prevent any Candidia infections.
Now with this medication I knew I had to take a probiotic. On the SCD I make my own Yogurt with a Yogourmet Yogurt Maker with a starter from GIProHealth.com which has the 3 strains of bacteria that are good for the GI. (I'm not advertising, just informing of what works well.) I made sure I consumed a LOT of the Yogurt while on the Rifaximin. After 1 treatment I felt way better. My stools were getting solid, my energy level was up, I was less irritable, life looked way better. I then waited 2 weeks for the dust to settle and I felt good but like I needed one more treatment. I put myself on another 10 day dose and I have never felt better. My immune system is strong, I don't remember the last time I caught the flu or cold, even my Asthma is improving! I dropped my Advair from 250/50 to 100/50 and am on the verge of taking myself off it completely!
All in all the SCD Diet + SCD Yogurt + Rifaximin + Fluconazole (to prevent yeast infection from the antibiotic) worked like MAGIC for me.
Here is a website I stumbled across that has a bit of info for anyone that is interested in this:
http://beatingcrohns.blogspot.com/2009/09/rifaximin-xifaxan-antibiotic-used-to.html
I honestly hope it helps someone else as much as it has helped me!
Cheers!
Andrew
I have been going to an Osteopath, Dr. Juetersanke, for the past 6 months and have made HUGE strides since then. He specializes in the "hard to treat patient" and I would definitely classify myself in that category as I have tried a number of conventional medications like immuran, remicade, steroids, etc. and none of it worked, in fact The list goes on and on.
Anyway I started off with a number of things. First off he told me for anything to work I had to commit to the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. I agreed and have been religious about it since July 2009. Then he recommended trying LDN and VSL#3. The VSL helped a little but it was expensive so I tried a different route. (I stayed on the LDN and am still on it but I'm honestly not sure it's helping much. Hard to tell.)
After that we tried standard antibiotics like Flagyl and Cipro and those affected me very negatively so we ruled that out. He then put me on a course of Fluconazole (for Candidia infections - common in Crohn's patients) which also seemed to help make some progress. I was also put on a heavy course of 300mL B12 shots (self-injected in the thigh). 30 shots for 30 days, 15 for 30 days, and down to 1 shot per week which is what I'm doing now.
So here's where we get to the important part. After all this I was feeling better but I knew I wasn't in remission. One of the last things he said he wanted to try was an antibiotic called Rifaximin AKA Xifaxan (3 to 6 a day, I took 3). He explained to me that it goes right through the GI tract and does not get ingested. It kills off all the bacteria in the GI (which works with the theory that Crohn's is a bacterial infection and your body attacks the bacteria on the intestinal wall resulting in the auto-immune). He recommended I do the Rifaximin in conjunction with the Fluconazole to prevent any Candidia infections.
Now with this medication I knew I had to take a probiotic. On the SCD I make my own Yogurt with a Yogourmet Yogurt Maker with a starter from GIProHealth.com which has the 3 strains of bacteria that are good for the GI. (I'm not advertising, just informing of what works well.) I made sure I consumed a LOT of the Yogurt while on the Rifaximin. After 1 treatment I felt way better. My stools were getting solid, my energy level was up, I was less irritable, life looked way better. I then waited 2 weeks for the dust to settle and I felt good but like I needed one more treatment. I put myself on another 10 day dose and I have never felt better. My immune system is strong, I don't remember the last time I caught the flu or cold, even my Asthma is improving! I dropped my Advair from 250/50 to 100/50 and am on the verge of taking myself off it completely!
All in all the SCD Diet + SCD Yogurt + Rifaximin + Fluconazole (to prevent yeast infection from the antibiotic) worked like MAGIC for me.
Here is a website I stumbled across that has a bit of info for anyone that is interested in this:
http://beatingcrohns.blogspot.com/2009/09/rifaximin-xifaxan-antibiotic-used-to.html
I honestly hope it helps someone else as much as it has helped me!
Cheers!
Andrew
