I just want to start off by saying that I am not a newbie to this forum. I lost my account a while back but I never forgot about the people who helped me and I periodically pop in just to give support and updates to those who need it. If anyone seriously needs a friend who can relate to the severity of this disease you can PM me and I will email you and try to help out the best I can.
So I was diagnosed in 2010 with Crohn's disease after going to 3 hospitals 2 specialists and more than 4 doctors. I am lucky because I found a GI doctor who was not only a 40+ year specialist, but an open minded one to holistic and nutrition therapy. He understood that I didnt want to take mass amounts of medication for it so he always let me trial and error with lower doses unless it was 2 such extreme cases where I was hospitalized. I eventually removed most of the stressors from my life and focused on recovery. I took 2 years off of work (I lived by myself) and drained all of my savings in the process. Basically, with A LOT of research and trial and error I have gotten to the point that I have not had a flare up in 3 to 4 years. I have to say that my initial diagnosis was very bad, I lost one quarter of my body weight in a few months (twice) and had so many ulcers in my tract that the doctor stopped counting after a few dozen. I bled from both orafices. I wanted to die because the pain was so severe i would cry soon after every meal. I could go into more detail of the bad times, but why? I will tell you my recovery road instead.
I decided after promising my best friend that I wouldnt commit suicide that I was going to beat this. I pittied myself long enough and was determined to find structure in my life again. I began by quitting drinking alcohol for a year strait. I also quit drinking caffiene and soda and everything except water pretty much. fruit juice made me go to the bathroom too much so I waited til I was a little better before that. I also looked into herbs and natural remedies and plants and meditation and excercise to help me. I also used marijuana regularly for appetite and pain. Natural remedies are good! One of the best ones I came across was aloe vera juice that I made myself by picking a variety of leaves around the city (honolulu) and filleting the inside clear part, mix 50 50 with water and blend and drink about an OZ of chilled juice on an empty stomach once a day. I need to caution that this flushes you out so you need to express this remedy with your doctor because it can literally flush the medication out of your body and send you into a flare! I speak from experience. Trial and error, ya know!
I started to eat nothing but antiinflammatory foods and low fiber like Tuna, salmon, variety of potatoes, eggs for protein, yogurt, lots of rice, almond and coconut milk, rice cereal, and Kalo (Hawaiian food). This isnt everything but this is a basic idea of my meal plans in the beggining.
After my medication and nutrition plan started to take effect I went on to eat more foods like chicken, and veggies and fruits, lean red meat, cheese etc.... But I never ate at fast food restaurants. I never ate processed food. I never drank alcohol, smoked cigarettes, and used dairy sparingly. I continued to use herbs, aloe, marijuana, excercise, ocean activities and support from true friends to aide me. My family outcasted me around the time of my diagnosis so I had friends as my family. I removed the stress from my life and took it one step at a time. Slow and steady.
I never thought that I would be able to see my mid twenties youthful and extremely fit body again since the diagnosis and it messed me up psychologically (that and the prednisone-see steriod psychosis). I over came that eventually and after a couple of years of this pure and natural lifestyle I was in the best shape and most muscular I have ever been and got compliments all the time from people that hadn't seen me since I left work! Its been great feeling better.
People will never know how difficult it is to live with such a life changing disease like this one. But I do! And I feel for you and trust me I have been there! I know all to well the ultra high doses of prednisone, maximum dose of imuran, hospital stays, surgeries, moderate bone loss that they said would need supplementation for life, cataracts (i am only 31 now), body pains, touch sensations that hurt, and a host of mental issues stemmed from the disease. I now have none of these including tapered down all medicines to zero except humira which i am currently tapering down over 50% with no apparent backlash. I am not going to say that I am cured, but I havent had a flare in almost 4 years. I feel really good and I consantly remind myself of the steps I took to get here. Always remember that folks. This battle can be won for sure. I guess it all depends on how willing you are to press the RESET button?
Get back in touch with nature and the true meaning of being human. Live off the land, and use its herbs and plants and food to nourish you. We are not meant to be a slave to the system and to break our backs our whole lives for a promise of a peaceful and painless death! Dont get caught up in the materialistic world of consumers and "beauty". Stand up. Be healthy. Be righteous. Be self reliant as much as possible. Be aware, but not bitter. And live like we are meant to live!
Current regimine:
-vigorous excercise 3 days a week
-Aloe vera juice in the morning 1 oz
-Organic everything when possible and avoid high fiber foods and high fat
-minimal lactose except yogurt daily
-Life Extention Enteric coated fish oil w/ sesame seed 2x a day (as antiinflammatory and health benefit)
-Avoid stressors, including abusive family unfortunately :yfrown:
-vape marijuana regularly after work and before workout and eat sometimes
-tapered down humira shots from initial 2x plus every 2 weeks, to once every 3-4 weeks and tapering more... slowly.
-meditation and forrest hikes
So I was diagnosed in 2010 with Crohn's disease after going to 3 hospitals 2 specialists and more than 4 doctors. I am lucky because I found a GI doctor who was not only a 40+ year specialist, but an open minded one to holistic and nutrition therapy. He understood that I didnt want to take mass amounts of medication for it so he always let me trial and error with lower doses unless it was 2 such extreme cases where I was hospitalized. I eventually removed most of the stressors from my life and focused on recovery. I took 2 years off of work (I lived by myself) and drained all of my savings in the process. Basically, with A LOT of research and trial and error I have gotten to the point that I have not had a flare up in 3 to 4 years. I have to say that my initial diagnosis was very bad, I lost one quarter of my body weight in a few months (twice) and had so many ulcers in my tract that the doctor stopped counting after a few dozen. I bled from both orafices. I wanted to die because the pain was so severe i would cry soon after every meal. I could go into more detail of the bad times, but why? I will tell you my recovery road instead.
I decided after promising my best friend that I wouldnt commit suicide that I was going to beat this. I pittied myself long enough and was determined to find structure in my life again. I began by quitting drinking alcohol for a year strait. I also quit drinking caffiene and soda and everything except water pretty much. fruit juice made me go to the bathroom too much so I waited til I was a little better before that. I also looked into herbs and natural remedies and plants and meditation and excercise to help me. I also used marijuana regularly for appetite and pain. Natural remedies are good! One of the best ones I came across was aloe vera juice that I made myself by picking a variety of leaves around the city (honolulu) and filleting the inside clear part, mix 50 50 with water and blend and drink about an OZ of chilled juice on an empty stomach once a day. I need to caution that this flushes you out so you need to express this remedy with your doctor because it can literally flush the medication out of your body and send you into a flare! I speak from experience. Trial and error, ya know!
I started to eat nothing but antiinflammatory foods and low fiber like Tuna, salmon, variety of potatoes, eggs for protein, yogurt, lots of rice, almond and coconut milk, rice cereal, and Kalo (Hawaiian food). This isnt everything but this is a basic idea of my meal plans in the beggining.
After my medication and nutrition plan started to take effect I went on to eat more foods like chicken, and veggies and fruits, lean red meat, cheese etc.... But I never ate at fast food restaurants. I never ate processed food. I never drank alcohol, smoked cigarettes, and used dairy sparingly. I continued to use herbs, aloe, marijuana, excercise, ocean activities and support from true friends to aide me. My family outcasted me around the time of my diagnosis so I had friends as my family. I removed the stress from my life and took it one step at a time. Slow and steady.
I never thought that I would be able to see my mid twenties youthful and extremely fit body again since the diagnosis and it messed me up psychologically (that and the prednisone-see steriod psychosis). I over came that eventually and after a couple of years of this pure and natural lifestyle I was in the best shape and most muscular I have ever been and got compliments all the time from people that hadn't seen me since I left work! Its been great feeling better.
People will never know how difficult it is to live with such a life changing disease like this one. But I do! And I feel for you and trust me I have been there! I know all to well the ultra high doses of prednisone, maximum dose of imuran, hospital stays, surgeries, moderate bone loss that they said would need supplementation for life, cataracts (i am only 31 now), body pains, touch sensations that hurt, and a host of mental issues stemmed from the disease. I now have none of these including tapered down all medicines to zero except humira which i am currently tapering down over 50% with no apparent backlash. I am not going to say that I am cured, but I havent had a flare in almost 4 years. I feel really good and I consantly remind myself of the steps I took to get here. Always remember that folks. This battle can be won for sure. I guess it all depends on how willing you are to press the RESET button?
Get back in touch with nature and the true meaning of being human. Live off the land, and use its herbs and plants and food to nourish you. We are not meant to be a slave to the system and to break our backs our whole lives for a promise of a peaceful and painless death! Dont get caught up in the materialistic world of consumers and "beauty". Stand up. Be healthy. Be righteous. Be self reliant as much as possible. Be aware, but not bitter. And live like we are meant to live!
Current regimine:
-vigorous excercise 3 days a week
-Aloe vera juice in the morning 1 oz
-Organic everything when possible and avoid high fiber foods and high fat
-minimal lactose except yogurt daily
-Life Extention Enteric coated fish oil w/ sesame seed 2x a day (as antiinflammatory and health benefit)
-Avoid stressors, including abusive family unfortunately :yfrown:
-vape marijuana regularly after work and before workout and eat sometimes
-tapered down humira shots from initial 2x plus every 2 weeks, to once every 3-4 weeks and tapering more... slowly.
-meditation and forrest hikes