Need support/success stories with naturopath experience..

If you don't like your GI why not look for one you do like? I am not able to provide any positive stories about naturopathic medicine, because I have not gone down that path. But my GI is the one who has suggested different supplements to me, and supporting my choice to eliminate gluten as a way to improve my bowel function.

Thats awesome to hear. I dont know why so many people turn away from naturopathic medicine. ITS THE WAY IT WORKED YEARS AGO. This whole American Medicine movement is absolute bull. If anyone thinks twice if their medical doctor is even listening to them half the time, your not alone. I'm so with you on natural medicine. Our bodies werent born with drugs or chemicals, why assume a quick fix for it when there are things to take care of it naturally. Good luck to you, I see my naturopath tomorrow i'm so excited!!!

Amk that is awesome!!! So chiros do that stuff too? Not just naturopaths or are they similar? I'm have no background with this except what I researched and I haven't even looked into chiro..

Blonde,

Check out my signature and follow it. Get off your multivitamin if it has iron in it by the way... Its super hard on the guts when they're trying to heal. Just eat a bit of red meat twice a week to fix iron. Everything I do is supported by solid research, no woo woo taboo BS that some naturopaths suggest. Most of the benifits from naturopathic docters is from diet, and not the 100 dollar supplements and 70 dollars per hour consults you buy from them. Homeopathic, accupuncture and alot of herbals have very weak scientific evidence... I think thats why people might turn away from em, its just another money grab.

Things like large doses of vitamin D (or many hours a day fully exposed in the sun), B vitamins, melatonin, gluten free, and low meat and low egg diet are strongly supported by research. Even fasting or intermittent fasting is! Artficial sweetners like sucralose alter your gut flora, meaning thats a bad thing! Theres a study for that too... Like real research and not someones website or blog.

Hope this helps!

I think the Chiro is a good idea. Our nervous system, which is housed in our spine controls everything. If you have problems (subluxation) in the area of your spine that connects with the organs of the GI (lower back) then it can cause the signals that our nervous system sends out to be damaged. I'm a case of this. Even though I've had a total colectomy and Jpouch, I still go to a Chiropractor to get my spine back in alignment. My lower back was actually curving the wrong way, worst my doctor has ever seen and only two other doctors in the practice have seen it before. And guess what, both of those patients had intestinal problems too. Not all Chiros follow the subluxation theory though. Many will just crack your back and send you on your way. You need them to x-ray you, explain what's wrong and most importantly, they need to offer you physical therapy exercises for you to do at home and in office that will get the problem corrected in a timely manner. It's not cheap though, and most insurance doesn't cover it. But if you can get your parents on board it can be life changing.

You are on the right path if you are looking for a natural cure rather being satisfied with suppressing your UC symptoms. Earlier this year I was diagnosed with UC shortly after being treated for a bad infection. To make a long story short, I found myself a member of the UC club whether I wanted to belong or not.

My specialist has been practicing medicine longer than I've been around (53 years) and is great at pushing big-pharma cures. When I ask about alternate therapies, diets, etc., he tells me that nothing but drugs work. Having read about a hundred testimonials from former UC sufferers who were effectively cured via alternate methods, it's clear that his perspective is very clouded.

I've been filling my UC toolbox with a number of supplements and approaches. This week I began Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) treatment with acupuncture and herbs and have seen some improvements for the better. Since my insurance doesn't pay for TCM I'm taking a hit to my wallet, but I consider this a good investment. I'm familiar with my TCM practitioner who was an MD in China before coming to the U.S. of A. If you can find a similarly qualified person and afford it, I recommend you give it a try.

If the TCM doesn't work, I will definitely try the Specific Carbohydrate Diet and stool implants. Nothing is too crazy if it works. We are all different, so it may be frustrating to try something that was successful for others but doesn't work for you. I'm sure your decision to look at natural cures is the right one and you will eventually find a cure.

53 year old male
Diagnosed with UC in July 2011
Looking forward to full remission and saying goodbye to Prednisone and Lialda.

Thanks so much guys! I never would have thought of a chiro... thats interesting considering I almost applied to chiro school! Maybe I can ask my friends about that first that are up there to point me in a little direction. I really REALLY am looking forward to seeing a naturopath but I'm assuming until my funds go up it's not going to happen... until then I guess I'll just have to do some reading. This is all just really overwhelming seeing that everyone is so proactive about their treatments and I'm sure you guys didn't come up with it overnight... and the thing is.. it works! It really just is alot of information and I guess it's just trying things from here on out until I can get some other type of help. It's amazing to think that there is the possibility of going back for a scope and it shows no inflammation at all. This makes me smile, congratulations!

I have been lurking here for quite some time and appreciate so much all of the great information. I want to

tell you about our experience with a naturopath.

My daughter was diagnosed with Crohn's in 2007 at the age of 16.  Since that time the doctors are thinking it

more likely is ulcerative colitis.  She was started on Asacol but she quit that when her hair started falling out.

They prescribed different drugs: Lialda made her worse and  Apriso didn't seem to make any difference. She was hospitalized in 2009 with a flare but the pred and flagyl worked quickly to get her feeling well again. 

She was not on any medication but last November she started another flare. This time the prednisone helped

somewhat but she was still having symptoms.  She weaned herself off the pred in January because of the

side effects she was experiencing and was doing ok until her gi decided he needed to do a colonoscopy.  The

prep for that procedure sent her into a horrible tailspin.  She was going 20 to 30 times a day with bloody

diarrhea and sleeping on the bathroom floor. She had to have a blood transfusion. It was such a nightmare

because she refused to quit school, but we live close enough that she moved home and commuted.

Her gi had been pushing her to take remicade but she kept resisting, but  she was so sick she started the

infusions.   She felt better after the first infusion but she says she's not sure now if it is really helping.

I finally decided to take her to a naturopath in Seattle. At the first visit he took a detailed history

and started her on the following:

                              1 to 2 scoops MediClear Plus by Thorne Research  in a smoothie 1 to 3 times a day

                                 (she just blends it in almond milk because it tastes bad and she doesn't want to

                                   ruin a smoothie) He said that she was not getting enough protein, esp at breakfast

                                1 scoop L-Glutamine powder by Thorne mixed with the MediClear

                                BCQ by Vital Nutrients - 4 caps three times a day

                                Ferrasorb   by Thorne - 2 caps per day

                                Saccharomyces boulardii - 250 mg per day increasing to 500 mg

He ran a bunch of lab tests and gave us the option of testing for food allergies which we decided to do.

At the next appointment, he added DHEA15 by Thorne - 2 caps per day and told us to resume the fish oil

she had been taking.  The next week he had the results of the food allergy test run by Us BioTek.

She is allergic to lots of foods, gluten, dairy, sugar, coffee, corn, on and on. We already knew that

gluten was a problem because we had a stool sample tested for gluten sensitivity by Enterolab.

Dairy is a problem for her because she is allergic to the casein, not the lactose.

So he started her on a gluten, dairy and sugar free diet. He said that most of his IBD paitients improve

on a gluten-free diet.  And sticking to this diet has been the hardest part. But. she has steadily improved.

Initially she started on prednisone when she first went to the naturopath because she was feeling pretty

rotten and she felt that she needed it to get over the hump. The naturopath had no problem with that.

She is still on all of those supplements plus he finally let us resume probiotics. He wanted her to heal

before we started back on the probiotics. She is feeling so much better. The bleeding has stopped,

the bowel movements are greatly reduced. She stopped the pred about 2 months ago and is doing fine

without it.  She is scheduled for another remicade next week and is trying to decide if it she wants to

continue. I told her she may be able to maintain with Rowasa, so we will see. Her gi had never prescribed

them. (Actually he had her stop the L-glutamine when he decided she was sufficiently healed).

He also wants her to have a hydrogen breath test because he says a lot of her symptoms are

consistent with SIBO. So that is something we will do when we get a chance.

That's kind of where we are. We have been very happy with the naturopath. The biggest problem we

are having is finding a gi who is willing to work with the naturopath.  When my daughter strays from her diet or

gets stressed from school, she has to be really careful and get back to healthier eating.  So far so good,

knock on wood.

Just wondering when you say you Cannot tolerate mesalamine what reactions were you experiencing? What can you use instead? My son has been diagnosed with UC this past summer and I'm trying to get him in remission. We saw a natural path we are doing Gluten free/Wheat free diet. His acne has sored out of control and I'm beside myself with why this has happened. He went off pred. and Salofalk and flared again so he is on Entcort now and I think he is putting off going on Salofalk for fear of acne flare up. I'm at a loss as to what to do next.

butterflymom,

Welcome to the forum, btw.

I totally agree with AMK77, I had the same reaction to mesalamine: abdominal pains, terrible watery D, headaches too.

 What can you use instead?

Slippery Elm Bark Powder - it's nature's mesalamine, and it coats the whole digestive tract.

Is he on any probiotics? What's his blood work like?

If you like, I can share what alternatives I've found worked for me.

 

butterflymom,

Glad he's going to be seeing naturapath, and he'll be starting the supplements. Did he have blood work for the vit. d and b12?

Here's what I can share with you that's worked for me:

1) Diet is key for me: I do the SCD diet, and I am very, very careful with food combining, because if you mis-combine it creates havoc! Here's some info on it: http://cureforulcerativecolitis.com/step-1-methodology-to-eating

2) Adding L-Glutamine 15 grams - for colonic repair.

3) Adding slippery elm bark powder - 1 tablespoon mixed in a little water, 3-4 times a day - IMO it is the equivalent in nature to the 5asa's.

4) Probiotics are key. If you can get your doc to write you a prescription for VSL#3 DS - that would be better, stronger, and probably cheaper ( IMO 3 x per day at least) than buying VSL#3.

5) Drink lots of good water.

6) Get your vit. d and b12 blood work done, to see if you are deficient.

7) SCD diet - specific carbohydrate diet - many have had lots of success with it. If you can't do it because it's so strict, at the very least do dairy free, wheat free, gluten free.

8) start a food journal and see what correlations come forth

9) There's a great app for keeping track of your symptoms, diet, meds, etc...

http://wellapps.com/products

10) Do some research on LDN - low dose naltrexone, you can search this forum as they are several threads on this. I can tell you it works! Here's the Penn State research done by Dr. Jill Smith with LDN and Crohns Patients.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21380937

https://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=38&m=2204683#m2222188, https://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=38&m=2129791&p=1

11) Adding rectal meds. Are you on any rectal meds like canasa suppositories or rowesa enemas?

12) You may want to add liquid vitamins/minerals to make sure your stomach does not have to do the work of breaking them down, and hence not absorbing them.

13) Also, I've been supplementing with good quality whey protein - Dr. Mercola's Pro-Optimal Whey, which I make with almond milk ( you can see from my sig).

14) Astaxanthin is a great anti-inflammatory

 

 

Good luck, and I hope he starts to feel better soon.

Let us know how we can help you.

AMK77 said...
I have a success story for you - mine! I was right where you are 3 years ago. Sick as a dog and the GI pushing 6mp on me after 3 5ASA's only made me more ill. I did not want to take something that strong. I went to a chiropracter that specialized in applied kinesiology. I took a ton of all natural supplements recommended from my chiro. I also did a couple sessions of Reiki. I had absolutely NO support when it came to seeking all natural therapies. My husband would just roll his eyes when I told him about it, my mother in law called my chiro a "witch doctor". I also took Effexor XR for a short period, I think it helped calm my gut. All of these therapies I had to pay for on my own and they weren't cheap! BUT, by my next colonscopy I had an almost normal colon!! My GI could tell that the UC had been there, but there was no sign of it via scope or biopsies. This after my first scope showed pancolitis. GI said I'm ok with you not being on meds, see you in 5 years.

Of course, what works for one person may not work for the next. I know I could have another flare up, but if that happens I'm going all natural. I've been living w/o UC sypmtoms for over 2 years now. It's worth looking into. If you want any more details just let me know. Hang in there!

Hi Amy,

I am interested to know what you did to achieve success, can you let me know?

thx,
NBT