root cause

I use IPS by Biotics and it's been great for rebuilding my gut. You take 2-3 away from food twice a day. It has glucusomine in it.

BigLucy said...
I was a vegetarian and in pretty good shape, happy, things going pretty well for me, up to then never took an antibiotic in my life, but yet, I got UC--who knows why?

Similar situation here. I was a vegetarian (still am), pretty healthy, hardly ever taken antibiotics...maybe 3 times my whole life up until getting UC. I was in a stressful point in my life, but other than that was pretty healthy.

blessteve said...

Polution is another cause of bacteria die off.   Also being a vegetarian is not healthy.

If humans stopped eating meat 1,000 years ago we would have birth defects that would lead

to a present day population of zero humans.

Sara14 said...

BigLucy said...
I was a vegetarian and in pretty good shape, happy, things going pretty well for me, up to then never took an antibiotic in my life, but yet, I got UC--who knows why?

Similar situation here. I was a vegetarian (still am), pretty healthy, hardly ever taken antibiotics...maybe 3 times my whole life up until getting UC. I was in a stressful point in my life, but other than that was pretty healthy.

I respectfully disagree that being a vegetarian is unhealthy...nor do I believe if humans remained vegetarian that there would be 0 population of humans today....Birth defects??  Mad cow isn't exactly something that keeps humans thriving since it kills...there are alot of ways to get sick from eating meat so I disagree completely.

:)

blessteve said...

Also being a vegetarian is not healthy.

If humans stopped eating meat 1,000 years ago we would have birth defects that would lead

to a present day population of zero humans.

Um, where are you getting your information from? It is extremely healthy to eat a vegetarian diet (assuming you get a balanced diet, of course, just like people eating meat). It's also thought that our earliest ancestors (primitive humans) were vegetarians. Since the worldwide human population has increased into the several billions now, guess your theory isn't right. Please do some research before saying blanket statements like this. If a vegetarian said something like this about all meat-eaters they'd be ripped to shreds. Oh, and not only is it healthier, it's also better for the environment and means innocent animals don't have to live miserable lives just to end up getting slaughtered because someone happens to like what they taste like.

Judilyn - It is not true that vegetarians and vegans must combine foods to get complete proteins. That theory is long-outdated, but still often quoted as true. The American Dietetic Association states: "Plant protein can meet requirements when a variety of plant foods is consumed and energy needs are met. Research indicates that an assortment of plant foods eaten over the course of a day can provide all essential amino acids and ensure adequate nitrogen retention and use in healthy adults, thus complementary proteins do not need to be consumed at the same meal." Refer to Peter Singer's The Ethics of What We Eat for more information and a great and informative read.

Sara, I didn't mean adequate protein so much as complete protein. There are specific amino acids that we need to keep rebuilding our body cells. They are all found in plant materials, but not all are in all plant materials as they are in meat. Hence, the necessity to be sure we eat a combination of plant products that provide us with all of the essential amino acids. One combination I remember is corn and beans = all of the amino acids.

A lot of people can and do live healthy lives as vegetarians or vegans. In the end those diets are healthier simply because we eat too much animal protein.

Thanks for the update, Sara.

I don't see anyone here who said the human body was never meant to eat meat, Damo. But, if a vegetarian did say that, it would probably be because an omnivore who is anti-vegetarian was telling them it was unhealthy to be vegetarian. I'm guessing it would be kind of a defense. Just my thoughts.

You're welcome, Judilyn.

So has anyone tried Fecal bacteriotherapy? Does anyone know of any doctors who would perform this here in the US? Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

I'm a meatatarian

Sorry I couldn't help it.

But honestly, I developed a slight aversion to carbs for some reason before and currently.  My theory is that my body doesn't feel like it's worth the effort to digest carbs.

I have not taken antibiotics in years, maybe decades.

I suspect my trigger in part was taking too much Advil, and later Aleve. Last January my GP recommended taking Aleve for migraines; in May I started my current flare and was diagnosed.

Or it could have been some change in my body related to a very rare benign brain tumor I was blessed with; my first UC symptoms appeared in fall 2004, about the time I was starting to feel absolutely exhausted and just plain wrong in the head -- by July 15, 2005 I was having emergency surgery to remove this rather large mass. Between then and this June, I had only occasional and very minor blood and mucous, maybe a few days at a time, but I guess they were flares nonetheless.

My tumor was located near the brain stem, and my theory is that there's some link between the autonomic system and UC, with things going haywire somewhere along the way.

See for example:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17931336
A comparison of autonomic function in patients with inflammatory bowel disease and in healthy controls.

I hope more research will focus in this direction.

Honestly, no idea. I got my first real live discernible flare in Afghanistan in 06. No one knew what was going on, and I was in lotsa unhappiness - none of the docs or medics had a clue, tested me up one end and down the other, gave me mixtures (GI Coctails the military calls them), gave me antibiotics..

In the end they just chalked it up to "GI problems are the number 1 experienced issues of Soldiers Deployed. Everyone gets it, no one knows why".

I have a theory - and its not totally unfounded. These immuno-disasters are linked to genome. I was twice in a foreign country with a crazy amount of bacteria, etc. It is entirely possible that I got a parasite of some sort, and it caused the initial "Oh my god I am going to die" sickness. Then came all the treatments, and the Cipro, ad nauseum. So, Parasite vanquished *trumpet sounds of victory and cheers*. But, the parasite's intensity and the antibiotics dosage basically lets a permanent scar on the memory of my intestines. SO my genome decided to flip a card from it's deck of tricks and said "Congratulations, you win Left Sided Colitis YAYAY!! *cheers*". Ok, being silly, but my Genome says "Guess what pal, there was something wrong, and we fixed it, but I keep remembering there was something wrong, and I want to continue to fix it". Enter my Immuno-therapy, and wayward but well meaning psychologist trying to console my genome and colon: "There is no problem, you are over reacting." And then my pompous Genome: "I don't mean to sound condescending *brushes nails on shirt* but I have about 4 million years of education on you sir, and I really don't think you know what the hell you are talking about."

So, it's chaos, and chaos is what is causing my UC.

Stupid Genome.

For the most part it seems the convenient theory of autoimmunity is nonsense in regards to ulcerative colitis.