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any ayurvedic medicines or any homeopathy will help for crohn's disease

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Posted 3/29/2012 5:31 AM (GMT 0)
Hi all,

any one using ayurvedic medicines or any homeopathy for crohn's disease, if using can you suggest me how it working and any side effects related information.

Posted 3/30/2012 12:14 PM (GMT 0)
Neelima,

Welcome to the forum.

I have not tried any ayurvedic medicines, however I have tried many different homeopathic meds. Homeopathy is a little tricky, very effective IF you can MATCH the exact symptoms to the remedy.

I would strongly urge you to look into LDN, low dose naltrexone - which has almost no side effects to speak of and has been very effective with Crohns patients. I will post links here for you (see #10). But I will post other links separately as well for you.

Also, I'd like to share other alternatives things that have helped me alot, and hopefully they can help you too.

Here's what's worked for me:

1) Diet is key for me: I do the Paleo diet, and I am very, very careful with food combining, because if you mis-combine it creates havoc! Here's some info on it: http://cureforulcerativecolitis.com/step-1-methodology-to-eating

2) Adding L-Glutamine powder 5 grams - for colonic repair. If you're having issues with urgency and diarrhea, then you'll need to take L-Glutamine powder 1 teaspoon mixed in a little water on an empty stomach, and that should alleviate your symptoms alot.

3) Adding slippery elm bark powder - 1 tablespoon mixed in a little water, 3-4 times a day - IMO it is the equivalent in nature to the 5asa's and works much more effectively than all the mesalamines without the side effects.

4) Probiotics are key. If you can get your doc to write you a prescription for VSL#3 DS - that would be better, stronger, and probably cheaper ( IMO 3 x per day at least) than buying VSL#3.

5) Drink lots of good water.

6) Get your vit. d and b12 blood work done, to see if you are deficient.

7) SCD diet - specific carbohydrate diet - many have had lots of success with it. If you can't do it because it's so strict, at the very least do dairy free, wheat free, gluten free. Personally, however I prefer the Paleo diet, because it is an anti-inflammatory diet - mostly veggies, salads,nuts, fish, lots of GRASS-fed animal products like lamb, beef, bison, and eggs, no grains at all. The whole basis of the diet is to concentrate on foods rich in healthy ratio of omega 3 to omega 6, which is ideally 1:1. Grain-fed animal products contain unhealthy ratio of 1:20 which causes and contributes to inflammation in the body, and therefore disease. Also grass-fed animal products contain important CLA, which you cannot get from any other source.

8) start a food journal and see what correlations come forth

9) There's a great app for keeping track of your symptoms, diet, meds, etc...

http://wellapps.com/products

10) Do some research on LDN - low dose naltrexone, you can search this forum as they are several threads on this. I can tell you it works! Here's the Penn State research done by Dr. Jill Smith with LDN and Crohns Patients.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21380937

https://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=38&m=2204683#m2222188, https://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=38&m=2129791&p=1

11) Adding rectal meds. Are you on any rectal meds like canasa suppositories or rowesa enemas?

12) You may want to add liquid vitamins/minerals to make sure your stomach does not have to do the work of breaking them down, and hence not absorbing them.

13) Also, I've been supplementing with good quality whey protein - Dr. Mercola's Pro-Optimal Whey, which I make with almond milk ( you can see from my sig).

14) Astaxanthin is a great anti-inflammatory

 

Good luck, and I hope you start to feel better soon.

Let us know how we can help you.


Posted 3/30/2012 12:17 PM (GMT 0)
Neelima,

Here are the other LDN links I promised:

LDN - low dose naltrexone is very cheap - it costs around $25-30 a month (for pills or the transdermal cream). Gastro doctors usually don't prescribe it because they say "it isn't the standard of care". My gastro refused to prescribe it, so I found a local osteopath who did. I did ALOT of research, and the bottom line is: it works!

Once you get the script for it, you'll need to get it from a compounding pharmacy, who'll make it up for you, and ship it to you. The best compounding pharmacy in the country for LDN is Skip's Pharmacy in Boca Raton, FL. They ship all over the world - they have 20,000 patients with various conditions on LDN. That's where I get my transdermal LDN. If you contact them, they'll tell you who locally to you will prescribe it to you. You can reach them at: 800-553-7429 www.skipspharmacy.com

Please, go to www.youtube.com write: Low dose Naltrexone in the search field and you will find a pharmacist explaining where in the U.S you can buy your medicine. You can also read these pages to find more info to bring to your doctor:
www.ldninfo.org

www.lowdosenaltrexone.org
www.ldnscience.org
www.ldnresearchtrust.org


and if you want to find what other patients have experienced when used LDN, choose UC, Or breast cancer, or Crohns Disease at:
www.ldndatabase.com

Hope this helps. And I hope to those of you on the fence about trying LDN, give yourselves a chance...

Please let me know how it works out for you.

 



What do you think?

 

 

 

 

 

Posted 3/30/2012 2:41 PM (GMT 0)
These are some great tips. I'm also interested in alternatives to the conventional treatments because I've done almost all of them and had reaction, including Remicade, which I can't take any longer. Now I'm without health insurance but still with Crohns symptoms raging. My main issues are difficult to pass stools accompanied by excruciating cramping episodes, so intense I often end up vomiting, and feeling faint. I also have serious joint pain in various parts of my body. I'm intrigued with the LDN, but afraid too. It sound like a strong drug. InSoFla, can you share any details about your personal experience trying this treatment and how it's helped you?
Posted 3/30/2012 8:36 PM (GMT 0)
busycrohnsmom,

 I'm intrigued with the LDN, but afraid too. It sound like a strong drug. InSoFla, can you share any details about your personal experience trying this treatment and how it's helped you?


 

LDN is one of the safest drug around - with no side effects. It's been around since the 1980's, is dirt cheap and VERY EFFECTIVE. It's NOT a strong drug. Dosages given for UC and Crohns varies between 1.5mg to 4.5 mg generally.

Here's my story of UC and LDN:

Transdermal LDN (low dose naltrexone) put me in remission - Bottom line is it works!

For those of you considering LDN, or for those of you not familiar with LDN, I wanted to share my story:

 

 

Here's the Penn State research done by Dr. Jill Smith with LDN and Crohns Patients.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21380937

Here's my story on LDN: I started on 4.5mg of oral LDN on 2/7/2011, and saw no change - still continuing to bleed at a 10 (on scale of 1-10, 10 being the worst).

When I spoke with the compounding pharmacist, she mentioned that I may not be absorbing the LDN properly, and suggested I switch to a transdermal LDN formula, which would be a cream applied to the bottom of the forearm. She told me a lot of her pediatric patients do much better with the Transdermal LDN, and in some patients with absorption issues it helps too.

 

 

The THIRD day after I started the transdermal LDN, my bleeding went from a 10 to a 3. FOUR days after that ( full week on LDN), my bleeding STOPPED completely, after more than 1 1/2 years of continuous bleeding. Bottom line is it works!

 

 

LDN - low dose naltrexone is very cheap - it costs around $25-30 a month (for pills or the transdermal cream). Gastro doctors usually don't prescribe it because they say "it isn't the standard of care". My gastro refused to prescribe it, so I found a local osteopath who did. I did ALOT of research, and the bottom line is: it works!

 

 

 

Once you get the script for it, you'll need to get it from a compounding pharmacy, who'll make it up for you, and ship it to you. The best compounding pharmacy in the country for LDN is Skip's Pharmacy in Boca Raton, FL. They ship all over the world - they have 20,000 patients with various conditions on LDN. That's where I get my transdermal LDN. If you contact them, they'll tell you who locally to you will prescribe it to you. You can reach them at: 800-553-7429 www.skipspharmacy.com

 

 

Please, go to www.youtube.com write: Low dose Naltrexone in the search field and you will find a pharmacist explaining where in the U.S you can buy your medicine. You can also read these pages to find more info to bring to your doctor:
www.ldninfo.org

www.lowdosenaltrexone.org
www.ldnscience.org
www.ldnresearchtrust.org


and if you want to find what other patients have experienced when used LDN, choose UC, Or breast cancer, or Crohns Disease at:
www.ldndatabase.com

 

Hope this helps. And I hope to those of you on the fence about trying LDN, give yourselves a chance...I would highly recommend LDN over any other medication.

Please let me know how it works out for you.

 

 
Posted 3/30/2012 10:09 PM (GMT 0)
I would not go so far to say that LDN has no side effects. I'm glad you didn't appear to experience any, but there can be significant side effects that can force patients off LDN. The most common are Anxiety, dizziness, headache, muscle pain. The reason for this is the form of naltrexone crosses the blood brain barrier so it can have effects that are neurologic in origin. That being said it appears to be a very interesting drug and a good deal of people can go on remission with it. I'm looking into it myself.

Here's a study that was published with the above information:
http://www.gidoctor.net/client_files/file/Naltrexone-Side-Effects-and-Efficacy-in-GI-Disorders.pdf

The study goes on to briefly talk about methylnaltrexone which cannot cross the blood brain barrier. LDmN would be an interesting drug for Crohn's patients in the future.
Posted 3/31/2012 11:58 AM (GMT 0)
CDPharmD,

Welcome to the forum.

Thanks for the link, however there are some flaws with the study - especially if you relate it to Crohns and UC patients. Alot of the patients were in fact IBS patients, and as you know IBS is totally different than IBD, Crohns and UC.

There are minor and I mean, very minor side effects with LDN: vivid dreaming, sleep disturbances, a little anxiety (in minority of patients) - however these side effects are usually very short lived, and these minor side effects are well worth IMO trying LDN for such serious and chronic diseases such as: UC, Crohns, IBD, MS, Parkingson's, various forms of cancer - because it has such a high rate of success with very few side effects.

When you compare the big guns meds usually prescribed for UC or Crohns, like the biologics, 6mp, Remicade, etc... which have TREMENDOUSLY dangerous side effects including but not limited to lymphoma, liver toxicity, respiratory failure, heart problems - just to name a few - to me, it's a no brainer: try the LDN.

There are over 100,000 patients if not more by now ( this is a figure that was quoted in 2007) who are on LDN for a multitude of serious and debilitating diseases, so why knock it if you haven't tried it or done the extensive research on it?

If you really want to get informed, call Skip at Skip's Pharmacy in Boca Raton, FL and ask him. Skip is very nice, and very knowledgeable as he's got more than 20,000 patients worldwide on LDN for a variety of serious conditions being helped with LDN.


 

Posted 3/31/2012 4:03 PM (GMT 0)
Thank you InSoFla for this great information. I agree with you in all aspects, as I am one of the 100 000 happy LDN users. I have been on LDN since fall 2007, and I am very glad I took that choice when I got diagnosed earlier the same year.

I also happen to know that the side effects are minor, I have been advocating LDN in a yahoo forum all the years, and I have never heard of anyone having any serious side effects from LDN. Side effects like morning head ache some mornings, or lack of sleep / vivid dreams for a week is to live with. I had these side effects, and they went away within a week. After that: NO SIDE EFFECTS at all. This is what most of the LDN users are telling.

There are no serious side effects from using Naltrexone in a full dose which is prescribed to block narcotics like heroin or to help alcohol abusers to rid their habits.
The dose size for these groups are from 50 mg to 300 mg a day.

For Crohns and 200 more auto immune diseases you can use doses from 2.0 mg to 10.0 mg a day: Mpst of the users are having a dose from 3.0 mg - 6.0 mg a day.

The only medicine that you can't take in combination with Low Dose Naltrexone is narcotic pain pills.

Dr. Skip Lenz that you're suggesting has a lot of knowledge re LDN, he was one of the first pharmacies compounding the LDN capsules and LDN transdermal cream in the US. He also has a well educated staff that everyone can call to get information.

I would also like to say that LDN can be used 12 hours separated from narcotic pain pills, as of the scientist cooperating with Phd. dr. Jill Smith. 2 of the teams doctors, phd. dr. Zagon and dr. Mosche at Penn State University, Hersey, are informing the LDN users that it's possible to use LDN during the same day as you have taken a narcotic pain pill. The thing is that you can't take them within a 4 - 6 hours time span, LDN needs 4 - 6 hours to get metabolized, when LDN is still on the cell receptors a pain pill containing narcotics won't work.

I also know that Dr. Skip don't agree with dr. Zagon and the Jill Smith team re the pain pills containing narcotics. Naltrexone was made to block the receptors so that opiates wouldn't work for 24 hours each 100.0 mg naltrexone.

When taking 3.0 mg low dose naltrexone the medicine is a like a covering glue on the cell receptors, stopping any narcotic pain pills taken while the LDN is occupying the receptors. As soon as the LDN is off the receptors, the pain pill will work again.

I would anyway prefer to wait untill they know a bit more on this, and take a pain medicine that is stopping the little pain left after taking LDN. Remember, one of the immediate effects on LDN is that you're ridding your pain.

LDN will often work by gradually reducing the inflammation and therefore the symptoms will gradually go away. I don't know any Crohns medicine exept prednisone that is able to rid all the symptoms within days.

If you have ANY other autoimmune disease, diabetes, asthma, allergies, fibromyalgia or cronic fatique disease, you would like to consider LDN. This cheap little pill could actually be able to help you in more than one way.
Posted 3/31/2012 4:58 PM (GMT 0)
BeeSting,

If you are now in remission do you take LDN daily as a maintenance drug or do you rely on ramaining gluten-free?
Posted 3/31/2012 5:24 PM (GMT 0)
BabeintheWoods,
I am in remission, but I take LDN to continue to keep my immune system at a good and protecting level. They explain that LDN is balancing or restoring the immune cells so that they can do the job they were meant to do. So; without LDN it won't take long before we're having the same old disease activity.

LDN is keeping the immune system on track as long as you take it. For some people it's also necessary to change the diet to get better, I honestly think that certain food is one of the influences making our immune system reacting in a wrong way. Then add some genes not doing their job due to some "bugs" on them, and so we have this enormous microflora with both friends and enemies not being in balance. I guess because of "allergi" / sensitivity for some nutrition. It's all nature totally off balance. In my opinion.

I guess that you would do great with LDN. When using LDN you'll also get a much stronger immune system. You may not get the flu, colds and you may not get any other auto immune issues as we often do when having one.
Posted 3/31/2012 5:28 PM (GMT 0)
InSoFla--

can you elab a little bit on the food-combination stuff? i went to the website you provided, but you have to pay money to get access to these documents. do you have access to these documents?

thanks
linn
Posted 3/31/2012 11:46 PM (GMT 0)
BeeSting,

Thanks for posting your story on LDN! It's wonderful to hear the success stories from like-minded individuals.

I've been on LDN for over 1 year now, and don't intend to stop it.

I wonder, would you mind posting your wonderful success story on this thread?:

https://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=38&m=2338980&p=3

That would be great. Thanks.

Posted 4/1/2012 12:19 PM (GMT 0)
Linn,

Basic principles of food combining is if you combine the wrong foods, i.e. proteins + carbs, fruits with proteins or carbs, it will cause great intestinal distress, gas, bloating, pain, cramping, etc...

I purchased the program because it actually tells you which foods are ok to eat with each other, and which are not. It also comes with a cookbook as well.

I can tell you that whenever I don't apply the food combining principles, I really suffer tremendously. I thought it might be helpful because most people have no clue as to food mis-combining.

How are you doing on the LDN?

Posted 4/1/2012 4:22 PM (GMT 0)
BabeintheWoods, I would like to add some lines to your question: LDN never promises to be a cure. LDN is blocking some receptors on the cells in the gut (immune cells). This is what they think the medicine is doing: Our system is producing endorphins. When you take LDN it's working by blocking the cells so the body is tricked to produce much more endorphins. (OGF / Met Enkephalins)
As most people know endorphins is what we need to stay healthy.

The term ‘LDN’ refers to the use of Naltrexone (50 mg) at low doses; specifically between 3mg and 10mg per day.

Naltrexone exhibits novel and paradox effects when administered as these low doses, as discovered by Dr. Ian S. Zagon and his team at Hershey Medical Center, Penn State University in 1980.

As a consequence of this displacement / blocking, the affected cells become deficient in OGF and three things happen:

Receptor production is increased, in order to try to capture more OGF.
Receptor sensitivity is increased, also to try to capture more OGF.
Production of OGF is increased, in order to compensate for the perceived shortage of OGF.
Since LDN blocks the OGF receptors only for a few hours before it is naturally excreted, what results is a rebound effect; in which both the production and utilization of OGF is greatly increased. Once the LDN has been metabolized, the elevated endorphins produced as a result of the rebound effect can now interact with the more-sensitive and more-plentiful receptors and assist in regulating cell growth and immunity.

This leads to much better functions of the immune system. The system are almost reacting and working as a healthy one. Now ain't that great? ;-)

This explains why the immune system returns to the same old if we stop taking LDN. Other things that is great with ldn is that it MAY protect us even more than bringing us in a remission.

Go read at the www.ldndatabase.com
you'll find a lot of nice benefits from LDN there...
Posted 4/1/2012 9:34 PM (GMT 0)
Thank you for the information. I am already familiar with ldndatabase.com probably because you had posted about it months ago. For sure I will look into LDN if/when I experience another flare, it is much safer than the usual meds with their toxic side effects.

I am reluctant to take meds in general so will continue trying to maintain remission thru diet and supplements such as probiotics. But I am glad you posted this information for all those with IBD who are not familiar with the potential of LDN.
Posted 4/2/2012 1:33 PM (GMT 0)
InSoFla when you use LDN in conjunction with the SCD diet, what do you have to tell the compounding pharmacy about fillers? As you know, with the SCD diet you want to stay away from certain fillers they add to the pills.
Posted 4/2/2012 7:38 PM (GMT 0)
Hey InSoFla,

So the LDN is giving me the crazy dreams :) I haven't gotten any worse, but can't say that I've gotten much better. I'm trying to single out foods that cause me trouble. But I think I may scrap that and just cut out gluten, and see how I fare from there. I'm wondering though, how did you do Paleo when you were flaring? It seems like there's so many high-residue, gas-causing foods on the allowed list that its just asking for D. But maybe I've been schooled incorrectly.

I've been adding glutamine to my grape juice along (SCD-approved Welchs with half water) with my VSL#3. And as soon as my Ultimate Flora probiotics come in, I'm going to add that to the mix. I figure it can't hurt to just blast the area with bacteria, right? The more the merrier?
Posted 4/2/2012 11:42 PM (GMT 0)
NY-Sooner,

Although I started on oral LDN with avicel filler (to which I had a bad reaction), and then switched to oral LDN with hypo-allergenic filler which is sucrose (which I do not see as a problem with SCD) and found I could not absorb it, so I ended up switching to transdermal LDN (cream).

BTW, problematic fillers with LDN are: avicel, lactose, and slow release. The safest filler in terms of least reactions is: hypo-allergenic which is sucrose.

I did switch from SCD to Paleo, which I believe is alot healthier than SCD, as it is anti-inflammatory.

 

Posted 4/3/2012 12:33 AM (GMT 0)
Linn,

How much L-glutamine powder are you using?

There are 2 ways I would recommend you use L-glutamine.

1) for D, a heaping teaspoon in a little water on an empty stomach

2) for colonic repair, heaping teaspoon mixed in juice or shake of some kind

As far as diet, as I mentioned to you, I started out on SCD but found Paleo was much better and anti-inflammatory.

I don't know what you mean about allowed foods on Paleo. My basic diet comprised of: grass-fed beef and lamb, grass-fed filet mignon, grass-fed bison filet mignon, egg yolks ( i can't tolerate egg whites) from grass-fed hens, together with some salads, lots of grilled salmon, smoked salmon, herring (great source of omega 3's). Once I stabilized on this diet, I slowly added back some veggies like cauliflower and broccoli, and string beans (all organic of course), and a few low fructose fruit like blackberries, raspberries, and some nuts. Definitely no gluten, no grains of any kind, no carbs at all, no dairy except for almond milk, and the occasional sheep or goat cheese as well.

Hope this helps.

 

Posted 4/3/2012 4:23 AM (GMT 0)
Hey Insofla....

I put a tablespoon at least in my water glasses. Sounds like I should do less water and more l-glutamine? As I'm really trying to cutback the D.

I just knew that there are certain foods that are not allowed on paleo (for example, pasta) that are relatively low in residue and thus are suggested during a flare. I'm not used to eating veg during a flare that is for sure. But it sounds like you basically lived off meat and then cautiously added back in a few veggies....I love salads and miss them so much. I know salads are SCD legal but again, it just seems like so much fiber to be putting into my colon. Here goes nothing!

I also just got a giant tub of absorb plus in the mail in case things really get hairy and I have to go elemental. I'm so overwhelmed with diet stuff. Haha. Thanks all for your help so far and wish me luck!

:pops a naltrexone: good night!
Posted 4/3/2012 7:24 PM (GMT 0)
Linn,

Tablespoon of L-glutamine powder sounds right. But are you doing it in water on an empty stomach?

I think you're confusing low residue with Paleo.

The Paleo diet consists of NO grains, NO gluten, NO wheat.

The important thing here is to cut all of those out, and substitute grass-fed animal products for grain fed animal products.


 

Posted 4/3/2012 8:05 PM (GMT 0)
If this LDN works so great then why would the docs not prescribe it? That to me makes no sense unless they want to keep watching us all suffer. Just starnge to me.
Posted 4/3/2012 8:50 PM (GMT 0)
hi i have been using ginger tea anf ginger instant drink everyday 3 drinks a day it helps alot . ginger takes away inflammation in gi disease.

i still need a goog crohns disease expert do you know of one?
Posted 4/3/2012 11:21 PM (GMT 0)
Malshay,

If this LDN works so great then why would the docs not prescribe it? That to me makes no sense unless they want to keep watching us all suffer

That's a great question!

Docs don't like to prescribe it because it's so cheap and BIg Pharma can't make big $$ profits on it.

That's the reason GIs write script for expensive drugs, even some of the mesalamines are very expensive too, and the biologics... big price tag, AND ALSO BIG SIDE EFFECTS!

Unfortunately it's the sad and awful truth, western society has a health care system based on profiting off the sick, rewarding doctors for writing BIg Pharma drugs (big profits and big $$ price tag) - there's no incentive for helping sick people go into remission and be med-free. shakehead

Posted 4/4/2012 12:11 AM (GMT 0)
^Or maybe the docs are waiting for more evidence of the efficacy of LDN. Right now said evidence is sparse at best. The evidence for TNF-alpha blockers is much more robust.

Also, when you say SIDE EFFECTS, you should be saying potential side effects. They don't happen to everybody, you know.
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