my doctor made me happy

nanners -

it wasnt as hot for me as it was for the poor guy i sent out to fallbrook all last week to watch the jobsite. ouch! luckily i also live coastal and my work office is coastal too, pretty close to the beach and where i like to surf so lucky me. it felt like beach weather all week but when you went to the beach you had a thick fog hanging on it that never cleared - it was so odd. i got away with just running a fan at night. working at night i didnt even need a jacket it was that warm. i'm glad it is cooling down.



trish t -

the best thing you could for your family is put them on the diet too. just ask emom. she put her whole family on it for her son who has crohn's and is very glad she did.

my last colonoscopy was done june 2008 i believe. it was normal. the doctor was very happy. i had the camera pill done in may of this year. that showed small little ulcers throughout the small bowel. my GI did not want to use meds since all i have left are the biologics and i have already developed antibodies to remicade so i cant use that one anymore. he'd rather i stay on the diet routine since i am not reporting any symptoms. i feel fine. totally fine. he wasnt overly concerned either. so the camera pill results threw me for a total loop. my naturopath had me take s special glutamine formula for a few months and sedacrohns (a wormwood extract you can order off the internet - study at yale (yes yale) showed this as having promise in clinical studies). another doc at my church who is into alternative type stuff has me taking aloe vera juice and colloidal silver. i showed the film to this doc and he said it looked like tiny little canker sores. he wasnt too worried about them and said to stick to the diet. so i am doing stuff. in that time i ratcheted things back only a little cos i was not symptomatic. even with all the stuff i took, i have no idea if it helped or not. problem is i cannot get the camera pill test redone and paid for by insurance as it is expensive so they will be reluctant to do it again any time soon and i'm not taking meds for it, so that will be a red flag. i'm going to mexico for like 3 weeks at the end of the month and i'll be living off the beach in the middle of no where so i'll definitely have a reduced diet then and that will do me good - just eating fresh seafood and fruit and some veggies.

strict scd is very similar to phase 1 makers in what is allowed and disallowed. i'd have to recheck, but i think phase 1 makers lets you eat berries whereas scd may not cos of the sugars. scd doesnt like a lot of fruit. i do.

Harry, SCD is actually fine with fruits. Some people like to make SCD into a low carb diet, but that's just their personal preference.

njmom, I'm looking at getting on LDN as well as staying SCD.

CH - watch out for your colloidal silver intake. It is poorly eliminated and can build up in skin and internal organs. Over time it can cause arteriosclerosis and damage other internal organs. A somewhat vague article on side effects: eZine

A lot of people on SCD are worried about yeast problems, and limit high carb fruits and veggies. Personally, I don't seem to have any yeast issues and eat a couple of servings of fruit/fruit juice a day. I think as far as Elaine Gotschall was concerned, you could eat as much fruit as your body tolerated.

both makers and the scd get you off carbs. for makers, it is only a temporary initiation phase to get the body off carbs and let the gut rest and repair itself, assuming the high calorie, high refined carb, high sugar diet is a contributing factor. the bonus is that you end up going into ketosis and lose weight. granted at first most of it is water weight, but hey, you get slimmer (this is what happens on a high protein, high fat diet; also it is not bad for you if it is temporary, not long term or normal eating habit). dont restrict calories. eat all you can.

you might want to look into making your own yogurt and kombucha so you know for certain the cultures are live and fresh. it is super easy, just requires a bit of time and some elbow grease at first, but super easy. also, you may want to consider taking a probiotic supplement, especially when starting the diet cos your flora will have a die off (detox) as the bad stuff is not getting the food they live off of (ie sugar/high carbs). so they die off and you can reseed and get the correct flora proportions.

both diets are hard, but stick them out. do it to a "T" - the better you do the better chance you are giving the diet to work for you and achieve the results you are looking for. but remember, diet is not a panacea. some get into remission, some dont. some have relief of symptoms, but not complete remission. worst case though, it may not help with the CD, but it will help with every other aspect of your health, even your mental health. i just dont want you to be disappointed if you do a diet and dont get the results you were looking for. trust me, you are still doing an excellent thing for your body so stick with it.

vegetables may be hard to eat, so cook them (ie soups) or if you are brave enough, try putting a combo of veggies in a blender with a cup or two of water and some fruit (berries, orange, apple) and drink it up.

i quit my meds cos i felt great and i suspected long term us of 6-mp (over 10 years) was causing bone marrow suppression and i never though colazal (or any other 5-ASA drug for that matter) did anything for me. i havent looked back since. when symptoms appear, i ratchet my diet back to phase 1 or 2 makers and fast until things get under control. so far it works for me.

thanks crazyharry and emom!!

it is so nice to hear from people who are enthusiastic about taking charge of our health. a lot of (well-meaning) people say that it makes more sense to take steroids than change our diet! huh?! i am much more interested in preventing inflammation than treating it. i really appreciate all the tips and suggestions. i will definitely do the diet 100%, and as you say harry, even if it is not a cure for the CD, at least i know it will be the healthiest thing i can do. i have had a long-time interest in nutrition, and the maker's diet is generally consistent with what i have learned from my two fav books, nourishing traditions by sally fallon and also jonny bowden's recommendations for general health!

it's very hard to know what to do about the med thing. i think at the most i will take a 5 ASA temporarily in addition to the other supplements.

which probiotic supplement do you recommend? last year i took florastor for 4 months and i thought it worked. i have read that both florastor and vsl #3 were shown to be effective for CD in clinical research. i was trying to save money on my supplements so i stopped taking them but i will go back on one.

i will start making my yogurt so as you say i will know it is live and active. it doesn't look too difficult. do you use a yogurt maker or make it by hand? i tried brewing kombucha, but it never tasted very good, maybe because i tried to do the continuous brew method. i have my SCOBY in the fridge now. i also tried making sourdough bread but my started kept getting covered in black sludge, yuck. when i add grains to my diet i will probably soak them instead.

thanks again for the suggestions and i am thrilled to know others who have been successful. it is inspiring!