New User - My Story - Nice to Meet you All

Hello All,

I will be 23 on friday and I was diagnosed with UC June of 08.  Was put on 40mg pred and 4 lialda and it worked like a charm first time through.  I then stopped taking all medicine and went a year clean and free until about a month ago.  A severe flare kicked in and I was put back on the same.  I saw results but as I tapered it came back strong.  I was bumped to 60mg pred but have been having terrible headaches and have experienced a bad viral infection the past 3 days and am dropping back to 40mg tomorrow as I recover (was hospital today to get blood work and IV).  I have seen some progress with the 60mg lately so I am hoping it will continue with the 40mg.  I also tried a mesalamine enema about a week ago but was so inflamed I could not hold it in. 

Just wanted to introduce myself and my current situation.  Also, I just added some probiotics and fish oil to my routine as I took a more alternative path last time and saw results.  I am praying that I can recover enough to make it to work Monday and make it through the day.

Anyways, nice to meet all of you and thank you in advance for the support.

- Ryan

Be careful tapering down that quick. Also make sure not to start tapering until your symptoms have greatly improved or vanished. I've tried tapering too quickly according to the doctor's initial directions, and my symptoms were not really gone, so they got worse. But its different for everyone. If you taper too fast in the end you will have to bump it back up and take more total meds.

Thanks for the responses. I didn't want to taper as quickly either as that is what made it come back before. It was the combined opinion of the doctor at the hospital and my GI to bump it down due to the symptoms I was having that may or may not have been the prednisone. I am definitely leary of tapering too quickly but am following orders and hoping they work out for me. I agree stress is a major issue and definitely one that does its work on me; I'm debating doing some yoga and/or relaxation excercises.

I'm currently struggling over figuring out a proper diet for myself. I am on a low fiber diet, but there are so many conflicting opinions out there (dairy for example). I've read some posts on here about people avoiding dairy. I also enjoy my eggs and read that they are a pro inflammatory. I'm starting to feel like im stuck with meet, fish, and white rice ha.

Thanks again.

I agree I will never go without the lialda ever again.  I learned my lesson the first time in taking it into my own hands.

I remembered last year I took Acidophilus Pills (I think 500 million) so I picked up a bottle of those.  I noticed many of you use VSL#3 and Ultima Flora Critical Care; I plan on looking more into these but do you notice a measurable benefit?

Hello Ryan,

Seems like you are finding your way too. Hopefully my experience can give you light on some things you are pondering. Seriously consider the special no carb diet. It makes complete sense if you understand how the digestive system works. I have NO symptoms right now and consider myself in remission although I'd prefer NOT to be taking all this stuff. In time I trust that will change.

I'm new here. Diagnosed with UC 4/08 - hsp three times. I'm determined to beat this and know its possible with time, diet and conscious efforts to heal myself with yoga, massage, conscious eating, exercise, rest and patience! I consult with a naturopath dr, holistic MD and therpaist. Recent move, no gastro dr at this time.

Daily Supplements: 200mg Mutaflor, 4.5 mg Naltrexone, 200mg Sam-e, 2 caps Tryptopure Plus by Life Extension, 4 caps Yes EFAs, Multi-Vit - liquid preferred, 2 caps Bio-Kult probiotic, Fermented Cod Liver oil. Make my own potent yogurt.

Daily Rx/Prescriptions: (tapered off 60mg prednisone from Jan-June 2009), 10mg amitriptyline, 1600mg asacol/5ASA's, just began tapering off 50mg imuran or generic azathioprine - soon to be off in few months

In the beginning of my 2nd flair in 2008 after third time in hsp, I did mesalamine enemas for a month only. No longer necessary. Also used VSL #3 until my new holistic MD noticed the mutaflor had better results and was stronger.

Following the SCD/GAPS diet which WORKS for me! No symptoms of anything except I am very tired.

My blood was tested regularly for months this year and iron was lowest before anemia. I took iron supplements - tablets, herbal liquid and ate lots of liver and dark leafy greens. STILL, tired and require 8-12 hrs sleep. No longer taking iron pills as my dr said it was not healthy for the gut flora, especially since I'm working on building it back from being ziltch. Eating red meat helps believe it or not. Healthy grass-fed organic meats and dark leafy greens regularly helps!

My Doctor [Dr Thomas Cowan, Holistic MD wrote "The Fourfold Path to Healing" and at www.fourfoldhealing.com] tells me to rest often and to exercise in moderation; to not overdo physical exertion. The body is healing right now and taking many forms of medicine. Time is necessary for healing. My routine is completely not there since april 2008. I don't work my normal massage therapy practice or follow my usual yoga exercises right now. I think my energy level is b/c of lack of working, exercising, eating cooked food and meats again (was raw vegan for a year when diagnosed and vegetarian for over ten years). I need to build my stamina up slowly and as more medicines leave my body and healing is happening in my colon, then I trust my energy will come back like I remember.

My current intentions for healing myself are: yoga pranayama - breathing exercises - more than physical posture exercises (studied yoga in India), detoxing with my portable far-infrared sauna, bouncing on my rebounder, walking, positive attitude, rest and patience.

Hi Ryan, welcome to the forum.
Hope you feel better soon!