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Who has tried the naturopathic route....

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 9/28/2007 10:54 PM (GMT 0)
Hello I'm kind of new to the board although I have been reading for quite a while....

I wondering who here has tried to take the naturopathic route and what success they've had? I just met with a ND for the first time and she recommended some supplements for me but I curious to see what other people have tried and with what success or failure they have had. Currently through my GI I'm taking 4 Salofalk every day as my prescribed meds.
Posted 9/29/2007 2:17 AM (GMT 0)
Ill tell you what ive tried:

- david kliens book pushing a vegan raw diet- followed it exactly for 1 month- was the worst. I was extremeley weakened and lost about 55 pounds (110lbs down from 165lbs) my symptoms got worse and i was miserable. however i think that it would be healthy if i tried again once i get to remission

-acupressure/reflexology and pranayam- there is a book called health in your hands. i highly reccomend it. I do the reflexology and breating exercises- breathing exercises help a lot when youre in pain. i also try to lay in the sun for 20 minutes and that helps a lot- more that you can imagine, not with the symptoms though, but it lets me make it through the day.

-acupuncture and traditional chinese medicine- with an insurance discount it costs me $90+/week. too much money but i felt good with it. It consists of a acupuncture session an da moxibustion session, and a weeks supply of Chinese herbal medicine (tastes nasty but seems to help)

-herbal teas with antiinflammatory herbs will soothe

but i have found that all of this will be useless if you eat the wrong foods. and that in itself is the most inconsistent thing i have ever dealt with in my life. One mistake will slip up a weeks worth of feeling okay. natural medicine however is the way to go. I was feeling great with no meds for about a month until i accidently ate breadcrumbs. Now i am paying for that one big time.

Hope it helps and if you have any questions let me know
Posted 9/29/2007 5:31 AM (GMT 0)
I do the natural route with some success, I was going 30+ times a day before I started the natural route, I now go 5 or less/day...My GI encourages me to continue with this route, I DO NOT take any oral RX for my crohns-colitis...

bee propolis
omegas 3-6-9
fibre supplements
probiotics
chamomile tea

Along with eating healthy, no processed foods/beverages, fast-foods, refined sugar, ect and exercise regularly.

:)
Posted 6/27/2010 10:06 PM (GMT 0)
to pb4

Did you ever take glutamine? If so, how long for it to work?
Posted 6/28/2010 12:38 AM (GMT 0)
I have tried many naturopathic remedies over the years. I will try to list some of them with positive and others with no real results.

Naturopath ('94) - hold on to a device and the doc put various viles of allergens in it. then he would push down on my arm and gauge my resistance. it was supposed to tell him what types of foods and things bothered me. I left there everytime with loads of diet requirements, $100s of worth of remedies and of course aloe vera juice. I can't really attribute any great remission to any of this activity.

Naturopath/Acupuncturist ('06) - originally wanted to try acupuncture, but when I arrived the doc described her methods that again involved gauging the resistance of your arm as you hold it out and she pushes it down. this doc would put her hand in various places to affect different glands and things to determine where the problem was. the areas were based of acupuncture areas and the technique is from New Zealand, but again i was unable to attribute any real benefits from this.

Naturopath ('08) - went to this one to have a stool test done at genova diagnostics because I was planning fecal transplant at home. I ended up going to Sydney to do the fecal transplant, but eventually I went back to this naturopath. This one has no strange machines or techniques. She actually uses a stethoscope and checks your blood pressure. She does a blood test to check for immune response to various foods. I don't know how much I buy in to that, but that is how she determines the foods you should avoid. I did follow her diet recommendations, which were extremely limiting, but had little response. in addition to that her clinic can administer vitamins via IV and also provide hyperbaric oxygen treatment (HBOT). I find the IV and HBOT make the most sense and seem to help a little however I am currently in the 2nd worse flare of my life and had to start Remicade.

Conclusions: I don't think I have given a resounding endorsement for Naturopaths, but I still see one so that must mean something. I would avoid any that attempt to hook you up to strange machines or gauge your tolerance for things by the strength in your arm. Also, leaving the office with loads of herbal remedies never provided much benefit to me, but it sure cost a lot of money. The blood test for food sensitivities seem to show what ever foods you have been eating, so I believe that if you stop eating certain foods and did another test you would just see other foods. Be very cautious and keep a close eye on the costs.

Recommendations (feel free to ignore): Try eliminating foods first, such as dairy and grains. If a food is causing bloating, gas and discomfort the bacteria in the gut is having a feast on it.
Posted 6/28/2010 4:03 AM (GMT 0)
Fecal Transplantation
Probiotics
Vitamins and Supplements
Diet
Meditation and Breathing Exercises
Yoga and Dance

So far all work to varying degrees. I've had the most success with fecal transplantation and then diet.
Posted 6/28/2010 4:11 PM (GMT 0)

nosyrosy said...
to pb4

Did you ever take glutamine? If so, how long for it to work?

Yes, I tried it for about 6 months but never noticed any difference so I stopped taking it, my updated list is in my sig below...

Posted 6/28/2010 4:35 PM (GMT 0)
Never spent money on a ND, but followed an antifungal whole foods diet (basically lower carb/high protein) along with natural supplements (olive leaf extract/caprylic acid, probiotics, beta glucan, propolis) to get well.

Posted 6/28/2010 5:15 PM (GMT 0)
Kim 123--did you get better on that program? Did you eliminate carbs like in Doug Kaufmann's program or did you just go low carb? Did you eat grains? My husband is flaring right now and going every 2 hours. We went to a nutritionist and I'm introducing acidophilus and oregano very slowly because he's getting a lot of die-off and his die-off means more diarrhea. He's also been on Glutagenics which is glutamine, aloe and licorice for 3 weeks, but stools are still "mushy".
Posted 6/28/2010 10:53 PM (GMT 0)

Yup, did Doug's phase one diet. By the 14th day, it felt like a "feel good" switch was turned on in my body. I followed it very religiously, no cheating, not even a sniff of the wrong food. No grains at all until after the first month, then I introduced oats and yeast-free wheat flat tortilla bread, and yeast-free millet bread. I used olive leaf extract for a month, and rotated monthly with the caprylic acid. I don't think the diet alone would have done much for me. Everyone is different, however. Die-off is a good indicator that fungus is probably your issue. I had big-time die off for 4-5 days. I couldn't leave the house, or bed for that matter.

Is your husband following a diet right now?

Posted 6/29/2010 12:48 AM (GMT 0)
My husband is following the standard "candida diet" now. I had a real hard time getting his carbs lowered since he's a big-time starch eater. He's off sugar, no raw veggies, no fruit, except for an occasional banana. He's on Oregano and I will add some other yeast killers as soon he can tolerate them. Don't know if I can work in Doug's diet with him. Doug used to be on our local TV station but they took his show off. I think if my husband could watch his show, he'd be more of a believer. I do have one of his books, but hubby doesn't like to read. Unfortunately, he depends on me to monitor his condition.
Posted 6/29/2010 3:09 PM (GMT 0)
I went to a naturopathic doc, had food sensitivity testing and the most important revelation was the extreme gluten sensitivity. I was also found sensitive to about a dozen other foods, which I still avoid. I also was given a very strong probiotic to use for 14 days, then a maintenance version. And a rotation diet, which was frankly impossible to follow. I was also anemic, so was getting B-12 shots for a while too. I certainly improved, but no miracles. I quit going because I didn't think there was anything more he could do for me. I decided to try Remicade and that has been a miracle!

The first appt was about $300, sensitivity testing was a few hundred, each new appt was $60 I think (maybe it was $85? I forget) and each shot was $30. The probiotics were about the same price as others in health food stores. Insurance didn't cover any of it -- oh, except he did suggest I get the thorough blood screening he wanted done through my regular doc so insurance would cover it and that worked out.

I have to say the disease was explained to me better by the naturopath than it ever had been by my two GIs. So I think it was all worth it.
Posted 6/29/2010 6:11 PM (GMT 0)
It is really tough when starting any kind of diet change, that's for sure, but it does get easier once the addictions are gone. I'd be careful with bananas, high sugar and potential mold content. Why no raw veggies? I ate any kind of berries and green apples, and did just fine. The berries are powerful antioxidants which help build your body up. But, if he is following to a specific diet given to him, best to follow that. You can watch Doug's TV weekly episodes any time of day on his website, as well as listen to his live call-in show on Tuesdays (6 PM Eastern) and Thursday (8 PM Eastern) nights. Bless you for helping your husband. I'm sure it is not easy being his cheerleader and cook! :)

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