MY STORY OF COMPLETE REMISSION Re: UC

A few years ago I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis. I'd lost a lot of blood in my stools and lost a lot of iron in my blood and subsequently blacked out. I remember worrying about climbing stairs as I was always exhausted. I was 37 I'm now 42. I done the usual things and went through the usual medical help route and it got worse, the doctors and specialists were useless!!, the drugs were literally killing me. The side affects were horrific, skin rashes, terrible toilet issues, continued blood loss etc etc. I had moved house a few times and had blood transfusions and the result was still not a complete recovery, I was so depressed. At the time I smoked as my condition seemed to be no worse or no better so I stupidly smoked anyway. Anyway I'm not sure what made me do it but one day I decided to throw all the tablets down the toilet and quit smoking. I felt something drastic needed to be done. And oh my god what started then was armageddon!. Without the smoking habit for some reason my body went into panic mode, I was passing more blood than ever and I had to give up work as I couldn't leave the house or be far away from my loo. During this time I was painstakingly researching my condition via the internet. I'd learnt more about the human digestive system than most doctors would ever. I subsequently found out some remarkable facts. Our digestive system has an array of different types of bacteria that individually deal with different types of foods. Now for example if you eat unhealthily lets say all you eat are (chips, pizzas, fast food, sugary drinks) the bacteria used to break down vegetables, pulses, fruit etc will all die off. The reason why is because they are simply not being used, so the bacteria used to break down burgers and chips etc become dominant. Now this then leaves your digestive system in a serious weak state. So if an infection should develop, then your system has nether the strength, immunity or healthy bacteria to fight against the virus. So now armed with this knowledge, and now a non-smoker I went out and bought every different vegetable, fruit, seed, pulses, and most importantly bottles of beer from every conceivable country. Beer from India, China, Canada, America, Australia etc etc you get the picture, I basically filled up my fridge with beers of the world and fruit and veg I'd never heard of or eaten since I was a kid. (Radishes, beetroot, celery etc etc) I then began eating this veg completely raw, not cooked but raw, and washed it down with a different bottle of beer every time. My energy levels strangely started to go through the roof, I found myself only sleeping 5 hours a night, my eyesight improved and the best part was NO BLOOD in my stools. And to top it all my stools were long and thick and heavy, kind of like how they were when I was a teenager. In other words my system was kicked back into shape. I've had ZERO symptoms for the last 2 or 3 years. And I'm now fitter than ever and I now do a lovely poo once a day. If I can help anyone on this site and I hope I can, I'll be a happy man. Just remember the simple rules. Don't smoke, eat a huge variety of different fruit and veg and seeds and pulses, and try to eat them raw. Also why not treat yourself and try drinking beer from around the world. Well it worked for me.

Weird...

I don't think it was solely the beer, the secret is, and this purely is just my experience, is the variety. The more different foods and drinks you consume the more alive your digestive system becomes and stronger too. These viruses are a result of what humans are digesting in this day and age. If we go back to basics and consume more fresh fish, more seeds, more pulses, more fruit, more veg, we start repairing hundreds of years of digestive damage.

Just my experience.

Oh and I can't stress enough how stopping smoking was the most important factor.

UC is not a virus. It is a disease of the immune system. I have always eaten a variety of foods. I am also an ex-smoker. I also like beer. But I personally do not believe your "diet" or "theory" is a treatment for UC.

Same as you pam i stopped smoking andalong came u/c.

There's definitely a correlation between quitting smoking and developing/activating your UC. So I'll give you that one.

However, the diet you prescribed is probably the worst recommendation I've ever seen. Raw vegetables are high residue, abrasive to an inflammed colon, and not a good idea for anyone who is flaring.

As for the beer, we all know about my little case study with that. As much as I wish it were true, beer is not a remedy. It's actually quite bad for a flare.

Your theory that UC is due to all the "bad stuff we eat these days" is utterly false. For one, if it were the case that these bad foods caused UC, a lot more people would have it. Secondly, I have recently changed my diet to a MUCH healthier lifestyle about six months ago and ended up flaring again this February. This directly contradicts the idea that a healthy diet can save you from flares.

Zero symptoms are part of remission. It's not anything miraculous. You're in remission for whatever reason, and what that reason is I don't know. It is possible for UC to enter remission on it's own. You've been in remission for 2-3 years, and congrats on that. I was in remission for 4 years TWICE.

UC is a chronic disease with periods of flaring and remission. Flaring = symptoms, Remission = no symptoms. That's how it works.

What is a 'pulse' and I agree that variety is helpful, where lack of diet diversity reinforces the associated strains and causes die off for many others.

**Mudua, come now. Remember not to disrespect.

Post Edited By Moderator (Lonie) : 4/19/2010 11:56:20 AM (GMT-6)

    I'm not thrilled about all the drugs I have to take either, especially the prednisone.  However, I hate beer, always have and fiber does a number on me while flaring.  If it works for you, I am very happy it does and I wish you continued good health .

Sorry, but the drugs are working wonderfully for me, and are not a major problem. I'm glad you found something that works for you, but the meds do work for many with UC.

I felt pretty good until I read eating lots of fiber and drinking beer.  Seriously , happy you are in remission and hope you stay that way.  Meds are doing fine for me right now - but one never knows with UC - read enough of this forum and you will find that out!

ElaineNY

pulses are legumes

Legumes, in terms of foods we eat are bean, peas, peanuts, lentils, soybeans. They're cool, because they fix nitrogen in the soil...that's part of the reason farmers do corn/soybean rotations and the like.

Anyhow, why do you way that the "only true way to ahcieve remission is through diet?" Do you mean for you? Because believe me, I am in a true remission. I have absolutely NO symptoms, and basically eat what I want (no MSG and artificial sweetners, and I keep processed foods to a minimum, but I did that long before I had UC).