Scd thread...PART II

Yes, I am quite aware that if left untreated, this is very very unlikely to resolve itself.

For the SCD, I have not cheated, not even a tiny bit, I have been very very good.  Honest.  I have tinkered a little with the diet, like went 2 weeks w/o any honey (I almost never make the muffins or use honey anyway) and didn't notice any difference.  Actually, I have always had a very healthy well balanced diet, and thought I was eating very well when my symptoms (1 bm daily with blood on it) started.  I then cut out dairy, gluten, started scd, and haven't noticed one tiny bit of difference for the better, just slightly worse than when it first started. 

I have tried meds.  I have taken meds as my GIs have prescribed.  I have been good there too.  Honest.  I have another sigmoidoscopy tomorrow to see if my inflammation has spread since April when I was first scoped.  I am sure after my GI gets a look inside me, he will prescribe something else, based on what he sees, and I will take it.

I am aware that the SCD doesn't work for everyone.  Maybe it won't work for me.  Maybe there's another trigger somewhere that I haven't found yet.  My dad has UC so maybe I was just pre-destined in some way to develop it at some point in my life.  His started probably in his late 30's too, same as mine.  Maybe I just have that pre-disposition.

In the meantime, for what it's worth, I am sticking with the diet, not cheating, taking my probiotics etc., and taking whatever drugs my doctor prescribes for me (yes, rectal meds).  I even tried a fecal transplant (4 consecutive days) with absolutely no change in my symptoms.  I also have an appt with a naturopath in a couple of weeks to get another spin on things.  If that doesn't do anything, I have the name of a local accupuncturist who was recommended by a friend, and I will try that next.

Oh, and I have proctitis, at last scoping it was just the last 4 cm or so of my rectum.

So there you have it, all about me.  I think the SCD is a lovely idea, and I really really really hope it works for others!

I also saw a naturopathic physician today, which was really quite interesting.

Basically, she determined I have 3 different parasite infections, all of which could potentially cause abdominal/gut issues (since that's where they live in your body).  So I am now taking an herbal formula that should kill the little nasties. 

I had mentioned to her about not eating any sugar, grains, or dairy, and she said that was good because it was starving off any bad bacteria or pathogens that might be thriving inside me.  She also said that both the probiotics and glutamine were great things to add to one's daily regime. 

I know I have had a bad parasite infection before, but it was many years ago when I traveled to Costa Rica, and it caused me to fluctuate between diarrhea and constipation with lots of mucous (gosh, that's kinda what I have now!). 

So last night I spent a couple of hours looking at parasite info on the internet and found that it's not uncommon for people to have a parasite, that it's quite possible to have one and not know about it (stool testing can determine it sometimes, but not always, depends on what part of the life cycle it's in), that apprarently they can lay latent for years before your body's environment changes a little and allows them to flourish and start causing obvious damage. 

In theory, once the parasites are gone, I would need a little time to repair and strengthen the lining of my gut, and in theory the bleeding and inflammation will go away.  I will definitely keep you all posted!

In my experience, it took more than the SCD to turn my situation around. The addition of a quality probiotic in high doses was key. Also, omega-3 supplementation to reduce inflammation and l-glutamine to promote gut healing were very helpful.

If all of these things aren't helping, you may have some type of infection - bacteria or parasite - that needs to be cleared, as seems to be the case with Zuke.

I actually went about 2 weeks without dairy to see if dairy was causing me any trouble.  Didn't notice much difference with or without it.  So today I tried some homemade kefir in my smoothie.  Certainly didn't notice any change in how I felt today, it'll be interesting if my morning poop tomorrow looks any different (I doubt it will).

The naturopath recommended something called "VRM2" for the suspected parasite infection.  It contains Black walnut, wormseed, kamala, quassia chips, bromelain enzyme and bethyl but. I don't know what some of these are, but it'll be very interesting to see how it works!

I've been feeling fine the last few days with just 1 poop/day.  Basically I feel pretty normal.  (and FWIW, I am still not doing any drugs, just the herbal stuff).