No RX

I have tried and I failed. Others have had better luck. Not sure how I feel about a nutritionist making these types of decisions. I have a cousin who is a nutritionist and her training wasn't very in-depth, nothing like medical school.

One of the main things I've learned on this forum is don't stop the meds just because you feel better. Maybe cut back so you have the option of increasing the dose if you start to flare. Even if you have a scope that shows no inflammation I would be hesitant.

I don't take oral RX (or injections) for my CD (either allergic or non-responsive) and my mom never took meds for her UC, she was allergic to some and found others didn't help (though she was a very impatient person in general) so she went med free virtually right away since DX...died at 82 of a brain aneurism....nothing related at all to her un-medicated UC. She got UC in her mid/late 60's BTW, so just over 20 yrs with basically no treatment for her UC and it didn't kill her...she often had issues but it didn't kill her and she was never at risk of losing her colon....her experience anyway.

It's very rare to die as a result of IBD, it's more likely you'll live a long (though probably fairly miserable) life, everyone's degree of severity differs as well, many are mild their whole lives with it and often meds can help them live a very normal life compared to others that are more severe for the most part when even meds don't help...it's very individual....trial and error as they say.

I once had a total med free (because i didnt tolerate meds other than pred) remission that lasted ten years, though it took high dose steroids to induce that remission. The are some patients - and some quacks- who make the completely unsubstantiated claim that meds throw off the body's own natural healing ability- to me that notion is usually just a cop out by an irresponsible quack; these are the same quacks who will always blame you for not healing because you need to wait just anoer month or two or three to get well on their therapy since it didnt work after x months; or you eat three molecules of some illegal substance therefore the therapy needs to be started from scratch. I have had intolerable side effects from virtually every medical therapy, and am therefore no big fan of them, but with very few exceptions, if a medical therapy is tolerated it will almost certainly help and not hinder any natural healing ability of your body.

That is not to say that meds dont present sometimes serious side effect issues that can hurt your health in ways other than IBD-related. (And in the case of 5ASA's, meds make my UC much much worse).

Post Edited (Probiotic) : 4/18/2013 6:11:31 AM (GMT-6)

To some extent just about every single person here has had UC and not taken any meds - until diagnosis. I think that tells you something. Not taking any meds while having symptoms is what eventually led us to going to the doctor in the first place because we weren't getting any better. We were getting worse. That's just a fact. Your nutritionist is living in a dreamworld.

Perhaps your nutritionist wants "all" your business because if/when you flare then you become a big customer for them.
The one big benefit to Rx meds is that there is a boatload of scientific research behind their safety and efficacy (that they work).

I'm not someone that Rx meds have helped much but neither have over-the-counter supplements.
And I still take Balsalazide because it's an anti-inflammatory with no side effects (for me).

If you cannot afford Rx meds that's one thing.
If you are intolerant/allergic to Rx meds that's another thing.
If you've given Rx meds a good long try with no benefits then what the heck, try something else.

Has this nutritionist done anything to make you believe they know something that no one else in the world does?

your nutritionist? lmbo.

what meds are you on at this point?

What's the extent of your UC? limited or throughout?

welcome to the forum.
q

I'm not gonna ask this very gently: What makes your nutritionist even a little bit qualified to make recommendations about UC medication?

No meds here now, and I hope to avoid them in the future. I believe there are some powerful natural ways.

friskie,

Welcome to the forum.

I started out on the prednisone route, 5ASA, etc... but they didn't help and I became intolerant of the mesalamines. And then when my doc gave me a choice of remicade or surgery, I had to find my own way.

So I went all natural: slippery elm powder, l-glutamine amino acid powder, probiotics and lots of them, diet modification and started doing better and better. The only problem I was still having was major bleeding. Then I found LDN, low dose naltrexone, and it put me in remission.  LDN is not a big pharma drug, and has almost no side effects, and it has put many into remission. But your doc probably won't prescribe it, you'll need a holistic type doc to prescribe it.

Anyway, if any of this interests you,  there are things IMO that you can control, which will have a direct impact on your disease, the symptoms you experience and their severity.

I was able to control my UC into remission through various supplements, probiotics, diet modification, and LDN , low dose naltrexone.

For more info on the protocol which has put me into remission, please go to this link: https://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=38&m=1666318 , and look at the 11th post.

I hope you feel better and let us know how we can help you.