mixing prescription meds with alternative/ herbal meds

Hi,

Just got into a bad flare. Lots of bloody stools, food not agreeing with me, feeling run down and just generally unwell tired and achey probably from the frequent bm.

I believe i am in this mess because i went on a short course of pred and came off it after only 2 weeks (i dont like to slate doctors but they can defiantly make you worse by just looking through a book and not really looking into the problem).

Anyway i have now new found hope in my local Hospital in England they have employed a full time specialist IBD nurse who has now given me a full 8 week course of pred starting me on 40mg a day tapering off right down to 5mg a day in the final week and started me on something called salofalk 3mg a day and continiuing my azathriprine 15 mg a day.

The things i want to know is will all these tablets not effect each other in a negative way?

Also i really want to believe in alternative meds so i take ginger, probiotic, slippery elm bark and aloe vera along with this.

Im in a really hard place at the moment half of me is thinking all this surely has to be having a good effect then the other half of me is saying putting all these pills in me cannot be healthy.

Can anyone offer any advice at all it would be really appreciated.

Cheers

Tom

Hi Thanks for the quick reply,

Thats another point i was thinking im taking that much herbal stuff dont really know what is helping and what isnt.

went to see a patheologist about a year ago he said stop taking fish oils as they aggreviate the colitis so i have stopped but never noticed any real difference.

Anything you have found that particulatrly works well?

Cheers

Rectal mesalamine should help a lot. I do take an omega-3 supplement - I use flax seed oil instead of fish oil. I think it is helpful, although it's not a real big hitter.

I chose to try a gluten free diet about 1.5 years ago because even though I was being adequately treated I still had some issues (crampy urgency, soft stool). Being gluten free got rid of all of those remaining symptoms. If you are going gluten free, give yourself about 2-3 weeks to see if it makes a difference. Your symptoms might be pretty variable at this point though, making it hard to tell what's working and what's not. You might want to wait on the dietary changes until things are more stable.

I would talk to your doctor AND your pharmacist about what all you're taking just to make sure.

I don't necessarily agree or disagree with that.

I buy flaxseed oil in capsules at the grocery store. You can certainly take it in liquid form - mix it in a smoothie, or put it on your cereal, or whatever.

thats the flaxseed oils ordered lets hope they hit the spot.

Christine1946, i wouldnt say its a common disease in the UK it took me 2 years to tell anyone i had it and at least another 2 years for people to actually understand what it is. Out of all the people i know one of my friends has Chrons which if im honest is a big help.

The frustrating thing about the Uk is they seem to be far behind the USA with knowledge and treatment, i find my self going to my GI and recommending treatments to him and not the other way around which can become highly annoying.

I really want to look into this Inflixmab or as its called in the USA Remicade. does anyone know on here why the doctor has told me they dont use it on UC patients in the UK just patients with chrons?

Cheers

Thanks for the reply,

imagardner 2 Would you say a big help to you has been the diet changes? do you have any sample meals that you swear by? i feel better from cutting out wheat although i am on predinsilone at the moment so it could be that making me feel better.

imagardner 2 Would you say a big help to you has been the diet changes? do you have any sample meals that you swear by?

Diet changes are totally responsible for my remission not meds. I've also tried almost every supplement (non prescription) that people here recommend and nothing helped except for VSL#3 probiotic which has medical research backing it's efficacy.

A meal for me consists of meat/fish and a veggie such as carrots, spinach, yellow squash, green beans (not starch types like potato). For me quitting dairy and grains (which includes all grains including wheat/gluten), using VSL#3 and using mesalamine enemas until they weren't needed are the most important facts.

Best foods for bad times: cooked fresh spinach, homemade chicken soup, well cooked carrots.

After all this time in remission I can now eat more types of food without fear of failure. I know there will be mild symptoms from ice cream or chocolate but nothing to throw me over the edge. I am not tempted by bread but do have mashed potatoes and french fries now without problems, just don't eat the less tolerable foods too often.

In the beginning you need to be strict with diet until you get your symptoms under control. What a relief to know what causes my symptoms and be able to control them.

I'm glad you're gluten-free and can see improvement. Now you'll need to find out what your other problem foods are and start healing.

derby county
Welcome to the UC forum.

You may be deficient in iron because of blood loss.
Will generally make you feel lousy.
You could try taking a vitamin with iron or an iron supplement that's easily absorbed and gentle on the stomach.
Works wonders for me.

In my opinion, forums like this are extremely valuable because of the exposure to people who live just about everywhere. Gives all of us the chance to discover new and different treatments.

I find doctors woefully lacking as far as keeping up with medicine and informing patients of possible issues with their recommendations.
I've had to "hunt down" information if I really want to know about side effects of meds and treatment options.
Nothing like reading about people's experiences in online forums.

Just remember...you are your own best advocate.
Best of luck to you.

Derby county can you get the vsl on prescription here?
Rage!

You See: thanks for the advice, i know what your saying its not a nice thought when you think your going to have to be on pills the rest of your life, i just try and keep positive hoping every new thing i try is going to give me that miracle cure

Rage:  I searched for VSL on the internet cheapest i found them were on amazon for around £65 and that certainly isnt cheap!!! thats a great idea what i might do is give my local doctors a call see if they can put it on my prescription.

Rage are u on facebook mate if you are add me tom yates and private message me if you need any answers or want to ask me anything i check that more often and get back to you quicker