Mom's tried everything

 

My mother is 80 and was diagnosed with U/C over a year ago. Her regular MD soon gave up on her after trying several meds and sent her to a specialist. - Steroids, test to determine if her colon has adequate blood supply and a myriad of other things have been tried to no avail.  Sorry I don't know the name of all the meds but she has gone down hill steadily since the oncet. The specialist says she has nothing else to try.....  

She has had two hospital (ER) visits in the last month because of dehydration due to not wanting to eat or drink. She now looks like a skeleton.

When this all started she was told that the Humira that she was on would help. Among many things she was also told that her U/C was actually a bacterial infection and given antibiotics. This seemed to help for a while.

Most recently, her Dr. has actually stopped all meds and given her something to stop the diarrhea but now she still has a lot of stomach acid.

She is desperate and has asked me to look into holistic medicine and even acupuncture. 

 

Any advice will be greatly appreciated 

Thank you for replying. Please do post your findings for us.
I will look into the book also.
I will also be getting a list of meds from my mom. This will include all that she has taken.
Maybe someone can comment on them.

my daughters dr had her on rifaxamin for pain of gas it's an antibiotic that works in the colon and doesn't get absorbed into the sysytem at the rate of other antibitoics she believes it was what stopped her symptoms , i think it was interesting how fast she felt better when she began this med.

The book above suggests that you take out all sugar, fructose, sucose, high fructose corn syrup (which is in everything) and also take out maltose and sorbitol.  The idea behind this is that without the sugars, it will starve your colon of all the bad bacteria and yeasts.  It did not work for me, but since you moms is a bacterial infection, it may work.......also try some ngood probiotics, you can get a lot of suggestions on this forum....it will also help replenish her colon with "good" bacteria.  Best of luck and I hope she feels better

Poobs - Welcome to HealingWell! Sorry you had to find us, but glad that you did.

Diabetes and UC can be an "interesting" combo as sugar alternatives (aspertame, etc) can be really hard on the colon. Another of our members, who has not posted recently due to medical complications, also has diabetes and UC and recommended Stevia as a sweetener as it does not raise blood sugar.

Bland foods are good for a flaring gut, however, a balanced diet is still needed. It might be best to consult with a nutritionist/dietician to find some good foods for your mom. Veges are okay as long as they are cooked "into oblivion" and are fork tender - if you can smash them with a fork without resistance, you're good to go. Lean protien - chicken breast, turkey breast - are very good as well. The body need protien to heal.

Rectal meds are a hard thing to wrap your mind around. However, they do work wonders as they are applied to the source of the inflammation. It took me a few good days to work up to the mental aspect of it - and a good "talking to" from Quincy about their importance. I would suggest starting with the suppositories as they are easier to administer and working up to the enemas.

Good luck!

Like I mentionend ealier, the Dr has taken her off all meds and put her on Lotromex.

Yesterday she started complaining of headache, stiff neck and swollen neck making it hard to swallow.

We called the Dr and he did not say if the Lotromex could cause the above.

  Thank you all again for your help and advice.   To answer some of the questions posted :  She lives in Palm Harbor Florida near Clearwater.   The stiff neck, difficulty swallowing has subsided probably as a result of stopping the Lotromex.   I'm having a real hard time getting her to stay away from starches too although she does understand that sugars are NG.   She is also trying Imodium to see if she can function with just this over the counter drug.   On a brighter note, I printed all the above replies for her and she read them and is very interested in helping herself.     

Thank you. I will forward the information.

You said that antibiotics helped her.....has she ever been tested for c-diff?   Flagyl is a good antibiotic that has helped me alot. 

I would definitely seek a second opinion and soon. A different doc can make all of the difference in the world. You might want to go to CCFA website to look for docs that specialize in IBD in your state. Also, ask for copies of all test results and keep them together in a file or notebook and take them with you to all doc appts. I have all pathology since day one that I keep in a three ring binder in chronological order and it is helpful when seeking a new opinion or seeing a new doc, even if it is for another condition. I would also google IBD and rifaxamin studies, IBD and antibiotics etc., and go in there armed with scientific evidence. One doc doing Rifax studies is Dr. Baidoo at Univ of Pitt. Good luck. Keep us posted.

One more thing, Cipro might get you through til Aug and is indicated in some cases for IBD. Good luck! I know how unpleasant and life altering this disease can be. Chime back in after the Aug appt!

I don't know about the garlic, it might agitate the intestines.....  I would be careful with that. Two non-Rx remedies that do seem to help me is taking a probiotic  - I get it at Whole Foods and drinking a lot of the probiotic yogurt.  I drink 2-3 of those per day. If it is any consolation, this disease is really difficult to control.  She might also want to stick to a low fiber diet.  Kind of boring, but it helps.  Finally, I can't remember, but did they at least give her a month or two of prednisone to at least try to stop the inflammatory process.  Sometimes a 45-60 day round helps and at least you get some temporary relief.  I wish you and your mom all the best.

Yes, I want her to go to another specialist but with her health plan she has to go thru her primary dr and he is useless.