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Does anyone take honey?

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Posted 1/16/2010 7:37 PM (GMT 0)

LookingFortheCure said...

I see many posting here that are finding their own path to recovery and then there are those that say it is pure coincidence etc.

I have to wonder if it would not be better to have 2 sections:

UC - Conservative care ( Doctors etc )
UC - Alternative Remedies ( Diet, Acupuncture & beyond the fringe )

Just an idea not a condemnation of either.

That's an interesting point...but I think it's great just to have everyone discussing their viewpoints from both sides because that makes us think more about each course of action and not have a one-sided discussion. And I find that using both regular and alternative treatments is what works for me -- each has its own merits.
Posted 1/16/2010 9:01 PM (GMT 0)

LookingFortheCure said...
Or you engage the opposite crowd and get told you dont really have UC, your actually flaring, and it will come back and bite you just wait long enough....LOL. Not very productive or conducive to progress. If each has their own camp they can venture over when and if they feel it is not working for them.

LFTC...I know where you're coming from -- especially given some recent posts that seem to put down anyone who recommends alternative treatments.

But, I'd rather hear them out and discuss it...we're all here to help each other somehow. And within reason everyone's got a right to their opinion. Don't let it deter you -- something that works for you probably might help someone else get better as well, or just give them more options to research and consider...so it's all good.
Posted 1/16/2010 11:11 PM (GMT 0)

LookingFortheCure said...
Well thanks for saying that. I am just trying to give back, you finally get on top of this monster and you would rather not see others suffer needlessly. I understand that for some people there is only one choice left -surgery but I also wonder if others get there believing the alternative stuff is hooey and never give it a fair shot.

LFTC,

I follow and find your posts interesting and informative.  Thanks, but do you think you could elorborate on your signature?  If members knew how long etc. you've been dealing with IBD it might add more credibility.  I understand that you consider yourself cured.  I guess my point would be that if you have been cured for six years as apposed to six months I would tend look at thing a little differently.  Just a suggestion.... 

Posted 1/16/2010 11:25 PM (GMT 0)

I like to use honey in my tea instead of table sugar (sucrose) just for the fact that the fructose in it is absorbed slower than sucrose by your body.  38% of honey is fructose.

I could see if you have seasonal allergies and (local or other) honey prevents allergic reactions for you then your immune system would not be triggered into you starting a UC flare. Or it takes you out of a flare which was caused from allergies using the same logic. If your flare stem from seasonal allergies then you should try it.

I don't see the anti-inflammatory benefits of honey being noticed for anything but extremely mild inflammation. Honey did nothing for my flares or allergies.

I know three people that take local honey for their allergies. One person says she now doesn't have any more seasonal allergies because of taking honey and is very happy about it. The other two people I know take the honey and stopped taking allergy medications. They continue to have terrible allergy symptoms yet they are happy to be taking the honey instead of allergy medications anyway (lol). “Jay, you look awful, is the honey not working for you?” “No, but I’d rather take the honey and have these symptoms then take the allergy medications.” Okay.

I used to have terrible seasonal allergies and then 3 years ago it stopped. It could be a unintended but convenient side effect of the Imuran.

Posted 1/17/2010 1:25 AM (GMT 0)
How can I know if I have fructose intolerance? Go to hospital and do a test? I don't believe honey is a cure. If only it does not do bad, I will start to have it. Or can it be mixed with something else to make having it safer? I read on wiki. wiki says it is useful for constipation and mucosa recovery. I guess I'll take the plunge.


Rio - Thanks a lot. I am dealing with my advisor on a fundmental problem. He does not "let me pass/go" even if I 'beg'.
Posted 1/17/2010 4:52 AM (GMT 0)

LookingFortheCure said...

Durango Kid said...

LookingFortheCure said...

Well thanks for saying that. I am just trying to give back, you finally get on top of this monster and you would rather not see others suffer needlessly. I understand that for some people there is only one choice left -surgery but I also wonder if others get there believing the alternative stuff is hooey and never give it a fair shot.


LFTC,

I follow and find your posts interesting and informative. Thanks, but do you think you could elorborate on your signature? If members knew how long etc. you've been dealing with IBD it might add more credibility. I understand that you consider yourself cured. I guess my point would be that if you have been cured for six years as apposed to six months I would tend look at thing a little differently. Just a suggestion....

Good point. I had everything in there as I withdrew asacol and tested things out, basically it is the same formula I used to get out of the hospital and to stop a sudden bloody flare last summer without prednisone, doctors or hospitals. The difference is what tells me I may fall but I will bounce back so as I have said I do not mean cured in that I do not have UC I mean that my life is back to normal as if I do not have to do anything other than a bodybuilding diet with fibre and probiotics in order to live as I used to and am putting on weight and strength. I was down to 130 and am up to 185. No it has only been 6 months since I smashed the bloody feverish flare in 4 days but what I learned along the way, having signed up here about the same time is all I need to know.

Besides the skeptics will say I have to go 10 years 20 - they can always say you will flare again before you go to your grave, so there is no point in posting the duration of good healthy living. Look at the intensity of my life right now. I am billing 71 hours for last week, 16 hours monday alone, up till 4:00 am again last night chowing pop tarts and guzzling coffee, yohimbine, ephedera to keep going plus 3 scoops of NO*Explode to start my day This is ongoing and there is no way I could have done this previously without winding up in a serious flare. Knock on wood.

I'll remove the consider myself cured part.

LFTC,

Right on, I totally understand where you are coming from!  Your positive thoughts will do nothing but help you.  From one Coloradan to another-Best wishes and stay healthy!

Posted 1/17/2010 8:43 AM (GMT 0)
Skeptics try to keep others from getting hurt. Everyone is trying to help or learn. I consider myself a skeptic of most alternative cures for UC yet I tried them anyway and believed in them going in. I like to point out that my remissions last 1-5 years and, until recently, were med free; yet I took no supplements and ate whatever I wanted (med free, diet free, supplement free and alternative method free). So to me, I'm skeptical of someone saying they did something that "worked" and their supporting evidence is they have gone 5 years or less med free.
Immune system triggers...that's our bottom line problem.
I get concerned someone will go an alternative method and end up having surgery because they dropped their meds. Let people hear the alternative method, the anecdotal evidence, opposing views and weigh those with any advice from others with experience.

I wish others had told med some of the things I tried didn’t work for them as I would have stopped some of them sooner instead of continuing on with them, getting sicker.
Posted 1/17/2010 12:28 PM (GMT 0)
LookingFortheCure, what I find interesting is that it seems as if you are never in remission. It sounds like you are able to suppress the symptoms so you appear to not be actively flaring by consuming certain things but it doesn't sound like you are actually in remission. It would be interesting to know if there is a risk difference (colon cancer, etc) between the two states.

If I'm in remission then it doesn't matter what I consume or don't consume, I stay in remission regardless. When it's time to flare my body flares just like clockwork every later summer and late winter. My goal in the past has been to try to get back into remission as swiftly as possible which has always been easier said then done. My goal now is to try to find something that prevents me from flaring in the first place.
Posted 1/17/2010 1:02 PM (GMT 0)

Burli said...
Skeptics try to keep others from getting hurt. Everyone is trying to help or learn. I consider myself a skeptic of most alternative cures for UC yet I tried them anyway and believed in them going in. I like to point out that my remissions last 1-5 years and, until recently, were med free; yet I took no supplements and ate whatever I wanted (med free, diet free, supplement free and alternative method free). So to me, I'm skeptical of someone saying they did something that "worked" and their supporting evidence is they have gone 5 years or less med free.
Immune system triggers...that's our bottom line problem.
I get concerned someone will go an alternative method and end up having surgery because they dropped their meds. Let people hear the alternative method, the anecdotal evidence, opposing views and weigh those with any advice from others with experience.

I wish others had told med some of the things I tried didn’t work for them as I would have stopped some of them sooner instead of continuing on with them, getting sicker.

It's good to research and question any treatment -- traditional or alternative. So I definitely agree with your approach. But keeping others from getting hurt, and telling people to just ignore most of the advice on alternative treatments are two different issues -- especially when the person who posts about their experiences then gets bashed for trying to help others in their own way.

Alternative treatments aren't about stopping all meds and only going alternative. I think they complement each other, and that's why I use both.

Yes...let people hear opposing views and weigh things out for themselves.
Posted 1/18/2010 12:38 AM (GMT 0)
Can we lower down our expectation of any treaments? I just hope that a treatment, if any, can help maintain remission for about a year. Some not very severe flares are OK. I did meet 2-3 such patients who maintained their remission for about 5 years or longer. This is almost the same as cure for me. I don't mind being hospitalized and taking a lot of medicines every 5 or 10 years.
Posted 1/18/2010 12:45 AM (GMT 0)

Rio in Maryland said...

Burli said...
Skeptics try to keep others from getting hurt. Everyone is trying to help or learn. I consider myself a skeptic of most alternative cures for UC yet I tried them anyway and believed in them going in. I like to point out that my remissions last 1-5 years and, until recently, were med free; yet I took no supplements and ate whatever I wanted (med free, diet free, supplement free and alternative method free). So to me, I'm skeptical of someone saying they did something that "worked" and their supporting evidence is they have gone 5 years or less med free.
Immune system triggers...that's our bottom line problem.
I get concerned someone will go an alternative method and end up having surgery because they dropped their meds. Let people hear the alternative method, the anecdotal evidence, opposing views and weigh those with any advice from others with experience.

I wish others had told med some of the things I tried didn’t work for them as I would have stopped some of them sooner instead of continuing on with them, getting sicker.

It's good to research and question any treatment -- traditional or alternative. So I definitely agree with your approach. But keeping others from getting hurt, and telling people to just ignore most of the advice on alternative treatments are two different issues -- especially when the person who posts about their experiences then gets bashed for trying to help others in their own way.

Alternative treatments aren't about stopping all meds and only going alternative. I think they complement each other, and that's why I use both.

Yes...let people hear opposing views and weigh things out for themselves.

Very well put Rio, exactly my point(s) that I try to make.

 

:)

Posted 1/18/2010 12:18 PM (GMT 0)

My perspective comes from having severe-moderate UC and, from my experience; trying certain alternative treatments during flares (like mine) can have negative consequences. I will always believe that certain alternative methods relieve only mild symptoms and will do nothing to take one out of a flare. I base this on my experience and what I’ve learned through the years. I think about UC in terms of it being an autoimmune disease. If I advise someone to ignore a particular treatment then I usually say it in the context of how severe their condition is or if they expect it to take them out of a flare.

 

I am not anti-alternative and it’s obvious our GI’s don’t have this disease figured out. They just try one med or another. I’m in here because I hope one of you will mention something that makes sense for me to try…so I’m still very open to trying alternative meds myself.

Also, I will always bash SCD and others will always defend it. I have my opinion based on research and a horrible experience with it. Others have theirs.

Folks are free to read all our opinions and decide for themselves. You are smart people in here and I doubt someone will read my post and solely use it as a basis to not try something that someone else said helped them. But if they just wanted positive testimonials they can get that from the website of the product or the literature which comes with the product.

Posted 1/18/2010 1:46 PM (GMT 0)

Burli said...
<SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; FONT-SIZE: 9pt">
<SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; FONT-SIZE: 9pt">My perspective comes from having severe-moderate UC and, from my experience; trying certain alternative treatments during flares (like mine) can have negative consequences. I will always believe that certain alternative methods relieve only mild symptoms and will do nothing to take one out of a flare. I base this on my experience and what I’ve learned through the years. I think about UC in terms of it being an autoimmune disease. If I advise someone to ignore a particular treatment then I usually say it in the context of how severe their condition is or if they expect it to take them out of a flare. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>

<SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; FONT-SIZE: 9pt"><o:p> </o:p>

<SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; FONT-SIZE: 9pt">I am not anti-alternative and it’s obvious our GI’s don’t have this disease figured out. They just try one med or another. I’m in here because I hope one of you will mention something that makes sense for me to try…so I’m still very open to trying alternative meds myself.

Also, I will always bash SCD and others will always defend it. I have my opinion based on research and a horrible experience with it. Others have theirs.

Folks are free to read all our opinions and decide for themselves. You are smart people in here and I doubt someone will read my post and solely use it as a basis to not try something that someone else said helped them. But if they just wanted positive testimonials they can get that from the website of the product or the literature which comes with the product.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

My perspective comes from having severe UC too, and being able to get severe symptoms under control with the help of alternative treatments -- at a time when surgery was recommended by 2 different specialists.

So I definitely respect your views, but also have my own experiences to speak of -- as do others on the forum. The point being that since UC is such an individualized disease, your experiences don't make you the yardstick for alternative treatments, and nor do mine. People should be encouraged to have their say and discuss their experiences before someone dismisses their posts and claims that they weren't as ill as they say they were, or that their treatment is some snake oil.

As for your posts being about advising someone to ignore a particular alternative treatment in the context of how severe their condition is -- I could choose to believe that, but having read many of your recent posts, I know that isn't exactly what you've been doing.

This isn't personal. I enjoy reading everyone's posts, including yours. But I'd rather not see people who have benefited from alternative treatments get put down and discouraged for sharing their experiences. For many of us, this is one of the only places where we can openly discuss what we're going through and what we're doing to get better, so a bit of understanding goes a long way.
Posted 1/18/2010 2:27 PM (GMT 0)
Rio:
Seems you are taking this personal. What did I do to you that makes you react this way and maybe we can talk this through. What treatments did I dismiss of yours or when did I say your illness was not as severe as you said...let's work this through. I'm willing to change and learn but cannot recall what I said to you.
Posted 1/18/2010 2:54 PM (GMT 0)

Burli said...
Rio:
Seems you are taking this personal. What did I do to you that makes you react this way and maybe we can talk this through. What treatments did I dismiss of yours or when did I say your illness was not as severe as you said...let's work this through. I'm willing to change and learn but cannot recall what I said to you.

Burli...nothing personal at all. Just responding to your posts as you respond to others who write about alternative treatments, be it Cfromutah, LFTC, Sue, and more....people who I have learned a lot from, and many of whom I have even corresponded with offline to research/find solutions...so I know their experience and advice is genuine.
Posted 1/18/2010 5:24 PM (GMT 0)

Over many years I have been looking for help about alternative treatments. In the beginning I did less research and just tried what others said helped them. I tried everything you could imagine and nothing helped. Only immune system altering meds bring me out of a flare. In remission I have no symptoms. Some years would pass and I would flare again and try other things folks suggested along with what the GI prescribed but those alternative options never helped. I tried diet and treatment while in remission to stay that way and would flare the same way almost each time anyway.

 

Then this site came along and the same treatments were discussed so I tried those in different ways thinking maybe I did it at the wrong time or used the wrong one, etc. I added others over the years as more were discussed.

 

Some treatments actually made me worse and I was talked into staying the course in order to rid my body of the toxins. Oh, that SCD almost killed me!

 

Other alternative treatments made my symptoms worse in other ways.

 

As more years passed and more failed attempts I grew more critical and asked more questions of the folks who used them for serious flares like I have. To help myself I wanted to know every detail about that person and what other things they were taking and what other things they did. I found out that some people would omit the fact that they were also taking prescription medications or were under emotional stress that went away when they started getting better. I also caught folks who actually exaggerated the severity of their flares.

 

I thus now ask very detailed questions that some people take offense to as though I am trying to convince them that the treatment they were boasting about was not really what helped them. That is not the case at all but I have found that to be true in the past so yes, I am skeptical and critical but still open and eager for something to come along that will help me.

 

I am very critical in my questioning and a lot of folks cannot handle it. They get on here and make a simple statement like “this worked for me” and expect, I guess, for everyone to just pick it up at the store and try it. That’s what I did early on but not anymore. I now share my previous experience and what I learned throughout the years with others.

 

Someone told me to just say “it didn’t work for me”….I’m sorry, if I’ve picked up enough information that convinces me it would be better if that person didn’t waste their time with something then I’ll share that too. I usually spend a lot of time looking into the “whys” about things so I will share accordingly.

 

I grill folks who boast about alternative treatments because I want to know all the facts.

 

LFTC: This disease, from my experience, behaves like an autoimmune reaction but I am open to all types of causes and would not be surprised if it turns out to be something else. We disagree about the mild flare thing but I don’t know you so when you say you had a different experience then all great for you.

Posted 1/18/2010 6:55 PM (GMT 0)
I have tried some other alternative treatments on the recommendations of others that had/have success with them and they haven't all worked for me (the ones in my sig sure have helped though and no oral RX ever has other than pred which ended up not working anymore all together). It gets frustrating when things don't work but that's the way the cookie crumbles, I move on to the next thing in the hopes that something else will help.

I've tried L-Glutamine, chrolophyl and colostrum none of which did a thing, and I gave them a fair chance too spent money and took the time to give each of them a chance and noticed no benefits so I stopped them...based on my experiances with the above mentioned, I have never, nor would I ever tell anyone not to bother wasting their time since it didn't work for me. I might mention to people if they ask about those particular products what my own experiances with them were but I always encourage people to go ahead and try cuz bottom line is what works for some doesn't work for all...and it's fine tuning, often it's a combination of certain things that will have benefit compared to just taking one or even 2 things. It all depends on the person...flares can change from time to time too, sometimes they're milder for an individual and sometimes they're worse for that same individual.

More and more I see people (here and at other boards) that use a combination of both naturals and their RX and many if not most find remission and have quite a good long streak of it too.

I'm curious though as to how you've "caught people over exaggerating their symptoms" though, considering with IBD there often doesn't tend to be alot of rhyme or reason. One day you're doing fine, and by that night you can be a sick as a dog and vise-versa.

Nothing that I take comes with pamphelets or literature written on the bottles stating they are a cure or known to aid with IBD, bee propolis or any thing else I take claims to aid IBD on th packaging.

Personally I won't dare tell anyone not to try whatever it is they're wanting to try, I wounldn't want to be the one that might keep them from possibly finding relief, IMO I think that's worse than trying to warn someone about something that I honestly have no idea if it will help them or not anyways...I can't base on my experiances what will or won't work for another person, no one can.


:)
Posted 1/18/2010 8:40 PM (GMT 0)
I think we've gone totally off topic now -- plus "lost" the original poster! The original post was about "Does anyone take honey..." so let's get back on topic or the thread will be closed. Thanks everyone!

Posted 1/18/2010 9:46 PM (GMT 0)
LFTC, if you have another topic to discuss other than "honey" -- then please start another thread. I don't have a problem with people discussing issues, alternative treatments, medications, or whatever; but I believe this thread got pretty off track. If you have issues with my stepping in, please contact the administrator. Just doing the job that was asked of me.

Posted 1/18/2010 9:50 PM (GMT 0)
Moderator...can I please answer Pb4's questions and explain one more thing (or 2)

PB4:
I caught two people in here since I've joined by checking how they posted their symptoms on different threads. One person told that they were helped by a product on one thread and then in another thread they told of already being near remission before the date they said they started the product. Another time one person said they were in a much worse state on one thread when they tried a product that helped them and then posted on another thread that they were in much better condition. There was a third similar incident as well. These were not about feeling well one day and feeling bad another rather these were clear cases where the folks were in different stages of a flare. When I asked questions to clear things up they got mad and took it personal.
One person was my cousin's neighbor who exaggerated her condition as she was selling some health aid and wanted me to think she had a severe flare. She said she used this everyday and it allowed her to not have to have her colon removed. It turned out she didn't even have UC.
The product I recall that had the literature boasting claims of healing UC was A.M.P. Molocure (not A.M.P. Florocel or something like that). There are a lot of products out there like that. My wife brought home something two days ago from someone at her work. They are selling a product that boasts of curing all kinds of thing including UC...My parent's friends tried to get us to buy some product that was another cure all.
To each their own about warning people. I believe some products are nonsense and a waste of time and don’t mind saying so. For those seeking relief like me from a serious flare I believe it better to tell them what I believe is worth trying versus what has helped very few in a much less significant way. I don't feel bad about speaking my mind of products as I give what I wish others would have given me a long time ago. I don't believe I have prevented anyone from getting some relief in any of my posts because there are others that tell an opposing story. The end user will at least have different opinions to judge the product by. I usually provide logic as to why I believe something does or doesn’t work. If there is no logic to try something then it’s a bad idea. I believe one can cause someone harm talking them into trying products outside their GI’s advice. IMO that's a much worse thing to do.
I wish I had a dollar for every time someone told me we are all different. I understand that but I like what I’m doing and we’re just different based on our history and personality.

Now I probably will get another three posts against this one so I'll have to cut this out as my wife is getting annoyed that I am on this computer so long. I was sick for months and now that I'm getting better it's not fair to her for me to do this. So...I will probably be forced to stopping what you all don't like about my posts anyway...I believed in my heart I was doing good but I see your point as well. Talk about off topic....
Posted 1/18/2010 9:59 PM (GMT 0)
 smile Burli

Posted 1/19/2010 2:16 AM (GMT 0)
Sorry, I'm the original poster.
I don't disagree with other members. I can easily understand every point since I am a PhD student and hence know how a research is conducted. Medicines should be taken because they have been approved by FDA, and doctors. They prove to be effective by clinical/research experiments. On the other hand, it can be imagined that research showing effectiveness must have been designed intentionally for providing the best performance.

Such experiments just exist in every field.

Now, I just want to know the experience of taking honey, and/or honey combined with other medicines/foods/supplements, especially the good and bad effect from real experience. Because I noticed in an article that honey is anti-inflammatory.
Posted 1/19/2010 3:44 AM (GMT 0)
Againstodds, so long as you're not allergic to bees than honey is a great alternative (especially to table sugar) and yes it is anti-inflammatory (unlike table sugar)...there reall shouldn't be any issues with you using honey regardless of what meds/supplements, ect you're on but if you want to be 100% sure you can talk to a nutritionist and/or google interactions with honey and see what you find out.


:)
Posted 1/19/2010 3:47 AM (GMT 0)
Burli, I started taking the supplements listed in my sig before I ran it through with my GI, although I'm an old timer with this disease and although my guts are screwy, my gut instincts still seem to work well for me...when I told my GI everything I was taking, he was pleased with my choices and said it was obvious I had put alot of thought and research into the supplements/naturals I chose and so long as they help me he's all for it.

Everyone is different, as you well know...I kept this short so you could spend more time with your wifey...enjoy!

:)
Posted 1/19/2010 5:37 AM (GMT 0)

thx moderator and pb4...the wife is asleep now...I'll sneak this one in.

I read back through these posts and that Burli is sure long winded.

I gathered this from a web site selling Manuka honey:
"There are a few major differences between ordinary honey and Manuka Honey.
1. Only Manuka Honey provides non-hydrogen peroxide antibacterial components.
2. Manuka Honey's antibacterial factor is unaffected by enzymes in the body that destroy hydrogen peroxide components.
3. Manuka Honey is highly effective against antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria, such as MRSA and VRE.
4. Manuka Honey maintains its potency even when diluted over 50 times, as will happen when used on the body.
5. Manuka Honey is unaffected by heat or light.
6. Manuka Honey does not require moisture or oxygen to be effective.
7. Manuka Honey diffuses deep into skin tissue, making it possible to get to effected areas. "

From this I would think that regular honey should have similar anti-inflammatory benefits at a much lower cost. Even #7 is not required for UC. The Manuka seems better for ailments other than UC going by this one advertisement.

It appears Manuka is more used topically from the sites I visited and studies they referenced. If fact, many of the studies were about using honey, topically, for it's anti-inflammatory effects...it seems you would need to consume a lot of it to get similar benefits for UC just going by the studies I glanced over.


I never noticed honey giving me diarrhea but will start paying more attention once back in remission.

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