Link between UC and Diet

Hi all,

I am new to this so apologies if I am repeating anything someone has already asked in the past :)

I was diagnosed with left side sigmoid colitis two years ago.
I have had the odd flare up but nothing that I couldn't handle by upping my horse tranquilizers (colazide/balsalazide) from 3 per day to 9per day. My uc flares worst in the morning and I find myself having to get up 3 hours early for work just to make sure everything is our of my system and to ensure that I can lie down after every bowel movement as it really drains everything out of me. Last August I flared while on holiday in Spain, upped my meds as per usual and nothing happened. So I decided to go to my GP on returning home to the UK. The journey home was horrendous and using an airplane toilet during a flare up was the lowest point of my life (and ironically the highest!!!) so when I got home I went straight to the DR's and he prescribed me a short course of prednisolone which sorted me right out. I was back to normal and able to enjoy my birthday and Christmas with my family without any problems.

After Christmas, around 11th January 2014, my symptoms began to flare again and after a week or two of trying to get them under control nothing was happening. So back to the dr's I go to be given another weeks course of prednisolone, which this time didn't do a thing. I was advised to ring the nurse in charge of inflammatory bowel disease at the hospital who told me in future to ring her first and totally cut the GP out as a short course of prednisolone can actually be counter productive in this case. She put me on a 6 week tapering course of steroids. 4 weeks later and 8 weeks into this flare up I had had enough and decided to ring back on Friday 28th Feb 2014, to which I was told the nurse was on annual leave and someone would be in touch. On Monday like I received a phone call at work saying they had a bed for me and wanted me to go straight into hospital to have to steroids intravenously. Within two days I felt 100% better but overall was on the hydrocortisone injections for five days and was released home on Friday afternoon.

While in hospital I picked my consultants brains (as he is the expert, and I have a tendency to look online and believe everything I read in regards to uc.) I wanted to know whether there was a link between uc and diet as I believed that all the crap and alcohol I had consumed over christmas was the reason I flared up so bad. He said no, simply no! He told me that if I were having dietary problems this would be classed as a whole different condition on my medical records. He told me to go away eat what I want and if I start to have symptoms again they would to look into any intolerances I may have to different foods. I was astonished As I was expecting to leave the hospital non dairy, gluten free etc (and I love my food!!!) I would love to know the reason why uc flares and if it is just as and when it wants to.

I am sorry as I know I have rambled on for quite a while, but I would appreciate to hear from anyone who remotely understands what this is like :)

Thank you for reading!

Meghan x

Meghan,

Welcome to the forum.
sorry you have to be a part of this terrible club.

In my experience, diet does absolutely affect UC.

Here's what my experience has been like, hopefully it can help you as well.

As a newbie to the forum, I think it's important for you to know that you have options, which your doc probably won't tell you about. So let me share with you what's worked for me in the hopes it might help you too.

Some meds work for some and not for others.
IMO, it isn't one size fits all, and you have to find what works for you, and it may be a combination of things like diet, meds, supplements, etc...

For me, the traditional meds failed me and the mesalamines I became intolerant of.
And when the doc gave me a choice of surgery or remicade, I balked and had to find my own way.

He also told me diet has nothing to do with UC, but I found that it has a great deal to do with exacerbating its symptoms!

I found that by taking certain proactive steps, it put me in full remission.
My steps to remission included: diet modification, various supplements, probiotics, and LDN, low lose naltrexone..

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.

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.

Meghan,

Lots of things IMO you should be taking: probiotics, vitamin d3 as I assume you're low as most of us are,
cod liver oil is great, cucurmin as an anti-inflammatory, l-glutamine, slippery elm powder.

And then to address the prednisone caused problems of bone density: K2 ( with goes with vitamin d3), algaecal and strontium, DE, these are all for joints and bones.

Check into DAO and foods and that are high in histamines. Many UC'rs are low on the digestive enzyme DAO and if you eat too much histamine in relation to the DAO you have in your body, you can have a histamine overdose, causing your UC to be much worse. Most all alcohols are high in histamines. Since taking the digestive enzyme DAO before meals my UC has gotten much better. Sometimes it's not really the food - it's the histamine content in the food.

I am a firm believer that diet affects UC, but everyone is different and what works for one may not necessarily work for everyone. Browse our individual signatures to see how each of us manages this disease for suggestions on what might work for you.

BTW Kaz's post about rectal meds is very popular and works for many here.

Thank you for the advice everyone :)

Meghan x

Welcome to the forum!

Touching up on what InSoFla said -

If there are three certainties with food, it's these:

1) Omega-6 fatty acids (or vegetable oils) intake correlates positively with disease risk - not just UC, but cardiovascular disease and the spectrum of the top killing cancers. Best way to minimize this is to avoid processed food, since just about everything is loaded with canola or soy oil. Replace these with omega-3 fats (seafood), monounsaturated and saturated fats, with the latter being found in butter, olive oil, ghee, lard, high oleic sunflower oil, etc.

2) We're dangerously deprived of gut bacteria required for immune function. UC does indeed have a strong genetic component, but most (if not all) of us are lacking the same bacterial diversity in found in those without gastrointestinal disorders. It's best to resupply our gut with the range of beneficial bacteria from fermented foods, raw dairy, probiotics, kombucha, "dirty" vegetables - these will help replace some of our lost critters.

3) Modern wheat and GMO foods correlate well to gastrointestinal disorders. The studies are beginning to show a discernible difference between ancient and modern wheat. If you do wheat, go for organic or the biblical kinds - foodforlife, alvarado street are some good brands.

Best.

-SG