I don't think I have the patience to post here for much longer

If I see one more person witter on about wanting to avoid meds because they are "bad" for them, I will throw my laptop across the room. Or my cuddly green croc soft toy - one or the other.

*throws cuddly green croc out of the pram!*

C2 patiently picks up cuddly green croc

- and fires it back into the pram!!!

*wicked grin*

I completely understand. I was diagnosed a year and a half ago, and I feel like I get judged for needing the medication and not being able to control it by diet. I started Remicade infusions last week, and I've been hospitalized 5 times in the past three months, with two surgeries. I understand wanting to have it "easy" with diet, but sometimes it's not possible. I say people should try it if they want to, but not to get frustrated if it doesn't work for them. Your attitude needs to be that you'll do what you need to control it and be grateful you live in places where medicine and hospitals and treatment are even available - can you imagine having this in a 3rd world country?

Meds are not bad. Everything has a purpose and it all comes from God's green earth in one way or another.
Moderation is key.

@scifigal - It sounds like you've been through the mill. I hope the Remicade gets you into remission. In the meantime, anybody who judges you for taking Remicade has literally no idea about Crohn's disease or medication in general. If it helps, I can find an article or two analysing the risks of taking Remicade, but it'll have to be tomorrow - should be in bed right now, tbh. Anyway, while Remicade is undoubtedly a potent drug, it's really not particularly dangerous. Old people with multiple health conditions run a higher risk of serious infection, but younger adults have pretty little to fear. Basically, it boils down to what is more risky: Remicade or untreated aggressive Crohn's. The untreated aggressive Crohn's knocks the Remicade into outer space regards relative risks; there is no contest.

And I for one am extremely grateful to be living in a country where proper medical care is accessible to everyone.

@ambling - Agreed with all of that. With regards to nobody actually wanting to take meds, I think that's true. Partly because they're boring to take, they possibly have undesirable side-effects, and so on. But mainly they are an uncomfortable reminder of having a chronic disease which isn't going anywhere. People fear illness. They fear being seen as weak or incapable. Medication is the perfect reminder that you are not perfect, in body at least. Diet, in the meantime, is seen as an unmitigated positive. You can do no wrong with going on a healthy diet; the entire western world will approve of that.

I could say a lot more, but am at risk of entering serious rambling mode if I do. I'll just finish with a quote that I posted earlier on from a guy with Crohn's on the SCD diet who didn't want to be a "slave to drugs". Says it all really. He was happy and proud to be a slave to diet, but to be a slave to drugs was severely undesirable. (Being a 'slave' in either context is ridiculous, but that's another issue.) Thing is, he kind of shot himself in the foot with that for me, because the rest of his post was moderate and convincing.

Bleurgh, now I am rambling, I can't stop myself... :-/

@Roni - Exactly! It all boils down to atoms in the end. Food is as much comprised of chemicals as drugs are.

@pettitarte - The side effects are real, but the dangers exaggerated. (Though I appreciate that argument carries little weight for the ones who have experienced the dangers.) In some cases at least, I suspect the worst side-effects/complications of medications are caused by lousy prescribing and inadequate monitoring. I'd just like to add before I finish for the night that holistic treatments are not risk-free themselves. Some so-called 'healthy' diets are anything but. And cutting out several food groups is never a healthy act, no matter what the proponents say.

I'll be off now before the time gets even more ridiculous and I mortally offend anybody else just by breathing :p

I agree COMPLETELY with PB4!!! I am tired of you attacking me and anyone else who posts something YOU dont agree with. It is OUR bodies and if you do not like that we use diet and natural supplements to help manage our disease along with pharmecueticals then you should leave because this IS a support forum not the NCOT forum!

Not bad, NCOT. My apologies for stumbling, falling on pram, smushing it and you into that BIG mud puddle. But then all kids have to eat mud pie now and then whilst growing up.

PB4 and PMedic: I take Pentasa, Imuran, a good probiotic and a one a day vitamin w/iron. Believe it or not I NEED that iron in order to AVOID constipation or at least reduce the risk. If I don't take my daily dose of iron (18 mg) I only "go" every 3-4 days and then get "plugged up". Go figure. Hey, whatever works and it works for me.

I don't eat a specific diet - but - there are foods I've learned the hard way to avoid like the plague - and some "favorites" I've learned I have to eat ONLY occasionally IN MODERATION - or pay the "price". Ouch!