qing dai

I tried CC for a month or two. At first it seemed to help a little but after that the effects kind of disappeared and I quit taking it. I believe headaches is a side effect, although I don't think I had any. The drugs you are taking are way too dangerous to have results where you don't even know if they're working or not.

I've been trying the qing dai for about a month now. I went and talked to a TCM practitioner to basically get there opinion in it. He told me it was pronounce SHING DEE btw, I know we discussed that a few weeks back. Anyway, he told me it does have a cloying effect on the gut so it would not be good to use long term. He said that it could lead to other intestinal issues even if it seemed to be helping at first. On the other hand, he did say two grams per day was well below the limit that could be taken for a day so that was a good offsetting statement I thought.

It seemed to really help me for the first four weeks or so. I noticed I was going two times per day more often than three and noticed a big drop in the amount of blood and mucus that I was having. For the last four days, since Thursday, I sort of everted and have had pretty soft stools and have gone 4,3,4,2 times those four days. I don't know what the heck happened, but it did have a very noticeable positive effect for me for the first four weeks in blood, frequency, and mucus.

Dusty Desk, Thanks for posting this.

I have the same questions because I ordered a batch from Acupuncture Atlanta and am planning to start it this week.

I hope you don't mind if I piggyback this question on to your post. How are people ingesting it? I'm worried about the taste so I bought gelatin capsules and was planning on swallowing it in the capsules. But I'm not sure if this is the most effective way to take it. If anyone has insight on that, I'd love to hear it.

I have been taking Isatic (qing dai) which i purchased on amazon.com and are capsules. They are 365 mg. and I have been taking them for about a week, although i usually only take one as i am experiencing a kind of fear that they could cause more harm also. I usually only take one, but sometimes 2 a day.

I am also on a 14 day supply of hydrocortisone enema which i use nightly, and mesalamine enema in the am.
So I do feel better, but I am sure the hydrocortisone enema is helping at the present.

I originally ordered it because I saw a lot of posts that said it was helping them, but I am yet to see anyone say it helps long term, and i am scared to take it long term, so i will probably stop it. It really doesn't say how long to take it for.

I have had no headaches, but haven't been using very much at all. They say to take a good quality probiotic with it though and although i am on VSL#3, I still am a little concerned as i do not want to upset anything right now.

hey DD - I don't know if I'd make a special trip or call to your doc to tell him - as in so many things with uc, you're more likely to get useful info here than you would your doc - but next time you see him, sure, mention it - if he's a big boy, he can take it in stride - if he can't, find a new doc -

Thank you everyone for the replies.

Small update, still have the headache. There seems to be more urgency, not noticing diarrhea as much, stool seems more formed, blood seems less. I would say overall, I am seeing improvements but it's hard to say for sure.

Levi, good to hear you will continue the herb. I like the reassurance a random person on the internet is continuing this herb. I don't feel so alone now. Also good to see you happen to be 30 years old just like me, hah. The info about the sulfur content is interesting. When I have a chance to talk to a TCM practitioner, let's see if I get the same info. I'll share it on here.

Kiptyn, I also bought mind from Acupuncture Atlanta. Ordered on a Friday, arrived the next Friday. Has yours arrived? The taste is hard to explain. Imagine old stale leaves(?). It isn't unbearable, but still, I don't like the taste and I try my best to not taste it by gulping water right away. I don't know what to tell you about using the capsules. I thought about going that route but trying the herb is already a questionable thing, using the capsules would only add another question to the mix. One good thing, if you bite into the powder, there is a satisfying crunch.

Soystud, funny. I can't tell if my doc is a big boy but he is my new doc and I don't want an even newer doc just yet. I kind of like the guy, you know. But I should bring this herb business up the next time I see him and explain to him it isn't that I don't have confidence in his ability to treat me, it's just I want so badly to free myself from this bs disease (aka bloody crap disease).

To the posters who have decided to stop the herb for now, I think you folks are smarter than me. Seriously. This isn't eliminating some food from your diet or taking probiotics. With this qing dai thing that you get from some random internet site, there is definitely some risk involved. I think I'm trying to scare myself to not taking it anymore, lol.

I have the same problem that others mentioned. Although in the beginning Qing dai took all the blood away and helped me considerably in getting more formed, harder stools, after a while it made my stools extremely soft and thin. But I won't stop it, I will just reduce the dosage and see what happens.

Levi said...
King,

What time frame are you talking about from start to seeing softer stools? I'm curious if it lines up with me.

I would say pretty much the same as yours, around a month.

Levi said...

KotT said...
I would say pretty much the same as yours, around a month.

Well that sucks. I wonder if that's because of the cloying tendency the TCM practitioner told me about. I've cut back on mine some too.

I have not noticed any problem with it other than it tastes like a dead fish. I avoid tasting it.

I have been taking it since mid December.

Levi said...
I was wondering if you were still doing OK aguywithuc. That's great. I decided last night I am going to stop for a while. I had the most blood in a single BM since I started this flare Dec. 10th. This is the first time I've ever had an improvement in symptoms and then gotten noticeably and consistently worse again before going into remission.

Sorry to hear your condition is worsening. That only happens to me when I binge on bad food like chocolate chip cookies. I brought a tub to work but nobody came in around me so I got really busy and started eating them with coffee. A little is fine but not half a tub full. I can feel the difference today and will avoid sweets,crank up the fiber, have a little navy beans, qing dai and over the weekend open a couple packs of VSL#3DS. I will continue ASACOL HD 2-3 times per day.

No blood since the worst of the previous flare back around October. What stopped that was a mixture first thing each morning of P-seed powder, Wheatgrass powder, and Intestinew. I completely stopped that a while back but it might help you. Also occasional Turmeric, NAC etc.

I actually went jogging/sprinting yesterday and was amazed - no signs of the anemia which was pretty bad. I felt fine and sure I got winded but did not feel like I was going to have a heart attack after 10 yards like I did when I was so anemic I was having visual artifacts.

Navy beans have iron and I felt like I had a good amount of red blood cells for a change.

Post Edited (aguywithuc) : 2/27/2014 8:40:51 AM (GMT-7)

Started taking quing dai two week ago with turmeric and lialda. Radical reduction of symptoms less gas no bleeding. 3trips to restroom in lieu of the normal 10-15. I use a coffee press to make a tea (4oz of water with 1 gram of powder. Twice a day. This was ordered from amazon is a concentrated bluish green powder. Have reduced Lialda to twice a day. It wonderful to have a reduction in flare up and am actually a little constipated.

I would like to post a summary after I have been taking qing dai for several months now:

Soon after I started it I saw a great reduction of symptoms. Blood and mucus gone away and stools became more formed. It has helped me greatly, but it has side effects as well:
1. The biggest is the urgency it gives me and the constant pressure I feel in my anus (like I want to visit the toilet), although I barely visit it more than once a day right now.
2. It gives me gas and it creates a "clogging" feeling in my gut: I have to push sufficiently and steadily to get the air out.
4. It also makes stools "sticky" (sometimes a big piece gets stuck in my bottom), and that makes wiping messy.
5. Taking too much of this will only have the opposite results: Less formed and a lot stickier stools.
6. I have found that I might tolerate some fibers less when on qing dai. Spinach for instance didn't bother normally but now that I'm on qing dai it makes me worse.

As taking too much of it is counter-productive you need to find your optimal dosage. I currently take 1 pill (custom-made around 700mg) every 5-7 days or so, it's that strong. I could try smaller pills more often as well, but I don't have any currently.