Natural cures

I had read on this site once that someone was using different vitamins to help keep the crones at bay. Like Omega 3 and probiotics. Any help would be appreciated.

you know I am vegetarian and very into taking natural routes for healing. I find that taking the probiotics helps as it adds bacteria to help digestion so we can absorb all our vitamins and minerals. The omega3 helps all kinds of people, it has so many benefits. I try to incorporate the natural route with the medical and found the best balance for me. I have heard about people "curing" their Crohn's but I am skeptical, but everyone is different. I was told some people have gotten their CD under control with yoga breathing but I feel like if healing was as easy as breathing a certain way we would not all be here on this message board.

There is no cure for this disease yet, going the natural route is more another way of managing your symptoms, it requires discipline and commitment but there are some poeple who have suffered with dreadful sides effects from conventional medications and basically its the only other option available to them.
Tess

The single most powerful "natural cure" in my opinion is to grow up in and live in the third world and have some degree of parasites in ones intestines- a.k.a. the "hygiene hypothesis" for why, other than the elites of those countries, the populations of the thrid world, while they have many other illnesses that are virtually unknown in the developed world, have extremely low incidence of IBD. This is a proven fact, not a case of the data being buried by other intestinal ailments, because the immigrants from the third world in countries like Israel have been well documented to be very IBD-free vs their hosts... that is, until those immigrants start living there, parasite free, for some years.

This has led to the development of the still controlversial helminth (intestinal worm egg and worm) therapies. I am currently using TSO, Trichuris Suis Ova, aka pig whipworm eggs and am getting some relief for my UC- it has seriously knocked off my (UC) flare and has caused no side effects. I don't know yet if it will get me off pred.. so far it has allowed me to get much lower on the pred though and I now am in a med/TSO-induced remission.

The double blind palcebo studies showed a 75% significant response rate for CD but only a 55% response for UC. I didn;t get a response until I took double the dose used in studies, and this stuff is EXTREMELY expensive, so I am hurting $ big time, but being allergic to all the 5ASA meds, this is my best hope for finally getting off pred after years on various doses.

As for probiotics, I am all for them too- it is a case of trial and error. Some of the higher quality ones out there are, in my opinion, Culturelle, VSL-3, customprobiotics, primal defense, Natren, Pro-Bio, and there are other decent ones too.

Christopher UC

Well, the dose used in the double-blind clinical trials, 2500 eggs every two weeks, costs 300 euros a 2500-egg dose, and 300 Euros is over $450 dollars now (this time next year it'll probably be $600 I predict as the dollar keeps shrinking).  I know, these prices are astronomical and I am praying that I will be able to shift to a maintenance dose within a few months.  In theory, a lower maintenance dose might be used if it gets one into remission.

In my case, the 2500 eggs every two weeks didn't have anything other than a mild dampening effect on my active UC, even though as a positive side effect it completely cured me of my annual summer hayfever, which was fairly severe. (I never had to take any antihistamine whatsoever, and had no allergy symptoms, whereas normally even taking them just takes 50% off the severity). 

After quitting the TSO for lack of effect on the UC, I flared worse, so out of desperation I decided to try double-dosing as a last ditch test, 2500 eggs every week (a dose is in a small vial, is tasteless and colorless), and that's when it finally seemed to really kick in.  But only time will tell if it gets me off pred, i.e. makes for a pred free remission.

There is a fair amount of literature published at the manufacturer's site at http://www.ovamed.de, and the TSO forum there is fairly decent albeit not super-active, and you have to disregard the spam that is lately getting posted there by spam-bots.

Christopher UC