Natural Treatments

First off, this is my first post here. Hi all . I will post my story later on but to make a long story short I was diagnosed in 1998 when i was 16 and had no clue about Crohns at all.

Many pills, one emergency surgery, many liquid diets and 5+ Remicade treatments later, I am where i am now. I am taking no medications at all and i am in what i call "Semi-remission."

What led me to this is after college, I could not afford to see a doctor and I didn't have insurance. I got dropped from my parent's insurance, got a new job, and when you get a new job they don't give you insurance right away.

So with the help of my girlfriend who works at a natural foods store and is studying to be a nutritionist, I am happily med free and only taking natural supplements.

My purpose of posting this is to educate you all about the alternatives that are out there today. And let me also make a disclaimer that different things work for different people, and you might not react the same way other people might to the same thing. Same thing with meds today.

Sorry for the rant, here is the real meat of the post:
What I personally take every day is:

• a liquid multi-vitamin. The reason I, and you, should take a liquid multi is that it is absorbed better and easier than a tablet or pill mulit.
• 1000mg of Fish Oil. Why fish oil? Well because it is rich in Omega-3 fatty acids which is not only good for the heart and arteries but also a great anti-inflammatory.
• Pro-Biotics. I take a probiotc that has about 12 billion live cells in it to help maintain a heathly flora and to get rid of any bad bacteria. You can also get this from eating yogurt.
• I take a product called Intestinew which has a main ingredient of Glutamine. This enzyme is essential in the "gut" to help maintain cell proliferation and has other amino acids that benefit the small and large intestine
• In addition i also drink Aloe Vera Juice. Aloe vera acts as a natrual soothing agent and coats the intestines so that any inflammation does not increase. Do not get the whole leaf kind as that has a high fiber content.
• I also drink Hot Carob and Carrot Juice to reduce diarrhea as they are natural "bulk" building agents.

If anyone has any questions about natural products please do not hesitate to ask. They have worked for me. I feel no worse than when I was on medications and i feel great! Aside from the occasional flare up when i eat something I shouldn't but I do anyways.

Thanks for sharing RR!

Do you follow a specific diet in addition to the supplements that you are currently taking?

pretty much just a low-fiber. No nuts or seeds, or any real ruffage. Pizza and some cheeses can sometimes mess me up. But i just eat those on occasion and not often.

Hi Randy, Good to hear you're doing so well with this way of treatment, Gosh where were you 25 yrs ago when I needed ya. Kidding Randy...tha'ts great, what a way to go. I actually got an email from another lady who uses this method, and swears upon it. Dang, too late for me though...Happy to hear you are doing well, and nice to meet you.

Hi everybody, I'm Randy's girlfriend and I just wanted to follow up a little on some of the things he's posted. I'm on a constant crusade to find treatment for him, and over the years we've tried many things. Where we're at right now seems to be working pretty well, so hopefully I can help out some other people living with it too.

The liquid multivitamin we both take is by Liquid Health. The only thing is, it's not as complete as it could be. To combat that we take extra B-vitamins in a liquid sublingual form, as well as iron supplements. It seems to help his energy levels.

A few of the products he takes are from a company called Renew Life. They focus mostly on the GI tract, and have a great rep in the natural products biz.
The probiotic he's on is called Floramore. Not only does it have a wide spectrum of healthy strains in a very concentrated dose, but it also has L-Glutamine (an amino acid, not an enzyme. heh) and FOS (fructoogliosaccharides, basically a food for those friendly bactera). The N-Acetyl Glucosamine helps with inflammation as well.

I think what's made the biggest difference is the IntestiNew. He takes the capsules daily, and occasionally the powder when he has a particularly hard time absorbing things. The powder is about 7 times stronger than the capsules. When he first started taking it, he noticed within 3 days he was absorbing more. That's a really short time to see such a change. I was pretty proud of that one.

And of course the fish oil. Renew Life makes one but he hasn't tried that yet. He's currently using one by Carlson. Get a good quality one - you really get what you pay for with this. If you find that you're burping it up throughout the day, it's not a good product. And if you can't handle the fishy taste of the actual capsule, try Nordic Naturals - they flavor their capsules. Or, you can keep the bottle in the freezer. It'll be just as effective but less fishy. Taken over a long period of time, there's no other natural anti-inflammatory better than a sustained-release omega-3 fish oil.

If he feels a flare-up coming on, I'll give him some Zyflamend. It's a blend of high-potency herbal extracts that work together to produce a really great anti-inflammatory response. It's liquid softgels, so it goes to work quickly. Make sure you take it with food, though - the extracts are so strong, it could upset your stomach if it's empty.


And whole leaf aloe vera juice doesn't have a high fiber content - the latex of the aloe leaf has a laxative effect, and that's the last thing we need. Sorry Randy, that was bothering me

As far as the carob, try a tablespoon of carob powder with a cup of milk of your choice (i'd say avoid dairy, that's an irritant of course. we like almond milk!), maybe a bit of vanilla, and a tablespoon of sweetener. Heat it in a saucepan until warm but not boiling. It's got a earthy, chocolatey taste to it, and it's great for stopping diarrhea and restoring protein and other nutrients. The carrot juice is also good for forming bulk in stools.

Anyway, hopefully these suggestions help others out. Best wishes to all.

Cosmo,

Thank you so much for sharing all that will all of us (and you too of course Randy). It is always great to hear about things people have found that are working well for them.

My question though is do you think this is a "one solution" for everyone, or does each person still really need to find what works for them? It just seems to me that if a certain treatment was working well for everyone then it would be more well known. Just would like to hear your thoughts on this .

As Randy stated, this is just what works for him, and every case of Crohn's is difference, whether in severity or nature. And a lot of the things that we've tried that I thought were sure bets just plain didn't work (or made things worse!). For example, everything I've read about Boswellia (an ayurvedic herb) points to it being a wonderful treatment for him. It's anti-inflammatory, and practically everything I've seen on it cites tons of studies where it helps Crohn's symptoms. But we tried it, and it didn't do a thing. I have a feeling it was the supplement itself being of less-than-fantastic quality, but still.

A big part of the reason that most people don't know about natural options is the whole pharmaceutical industry's business with disease...if they keep you sick, you have to keep buying their products. If they actually worked on the root of the problem instead of just covering up symptoms and making you feel better (which almost killed Randy and led to his emergency surgery), there wouldn't be much money in that. Whereas the natural approach is more about stopping the cause of the problem, not just making you feel better. And it seems to be working well for us.

I can't say this would work for everyone, but I would definitely encourage anyone with Crohn's to look into it. Especially the fish oil!

What kind of fish oil do you take Randy? Where do you get it and does it ever repeat on you (like where your burping and tasting fish at the same time)?

Hi i thought id posta link in here as its under natural treatments for Ulcerative Colitis.A friend of mine has said this has worked for them recently.Good luck everyone with your battle against IBD

ulcerativecolitiscure.com

Fantastic suggestions!

Thanks so much for your input, Cosmo! I've only been on meds for a short while (less than a week), but am seriously looking for a more natural way to treat this disease. And really treat the cause, not just the symptoms!

For those of us who aren't so lucky as to have a loved one who works in a natural foods store, who would you recommend we talk to? A naturopath? A dietician? Someone else??

I believe you mentioned Liquid Healther (?) as the liquid multi-vitamin you are taking...what are some other additional liquid vitamin brands that are worth looking at?

I eat a lot of honey. For some reason I think seems to help

I started taking liquid centrum multi vitamin. I also take liquid b complex.
You can buy tham at target..