Alternative Treatments

There's many, many alternative treatments to try, so try not to get lost in the forest. Here's a good guide of things commonly discussed about alternatives from our Resources Thread at the top of this forum. Good luck!

ALTERNATIVE

Clinical Trials:
clinicaltrials.gov/

Diets:

• Anti Candida Diet
  
• Eliminating Processed Foods
  
• FOODMAPS
  
• Gluten Free Diet
  
• Lactose Free
  
• Low Fiber Diet
  
• Low Residue Diet
  
• Paleo
  
• Raw Food Diet
  
• SCD Diet http://www.breakingtheviciouscycle.info/
  

Fecal Bacteriotherapy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fecal_bacteriotherapy

IVIG - Intavenous Immunoglobulin: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1728132

LDN - Low Dose Naltrexone: http://www.lowdosenaltrexone.org/

User InSoFL's story about LDN

Nicotine: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2014383/

Phosphatidyl Choline: Must be compounded to release properly
http://www.annals.org/content/147/9/603.abstract

Probiotics: Can be in pill form, yogurt, kombucha, kefir, fermented foods. Common oral pills/powder are Align, Culturelle, Florastar, Naturen, and VSL#3.

Supplements: Aloe Vera, Bitters Compound, Bromelain, coconut oil, Deglycrrhizinated Licorice (DGL), Digestive enzymes, Flaxseed, Folic Acid, Ginger, Grape Seed Extract, Grape Seed Extract, Nopal Water, Holy Basil, Peppermint, pineapple, Omega-3, Oregano, Psylium Husk (metamucil or Citrucel), Slippery Elm, Turmeric/Curcurmin/Boswellia, Vitamin D, and vitamin-e enemas.

Triple Antibiotic Therapy: amoxicillin 1500mg/day, tetracycline 1500mg/day, and metronidazole 750 mg/day
http://www.nature.com/ajg/journal/v105/n8/abs/ajg201084a.html

Tumeric (Curcumin) Use in UC: Research on Safety and Dosing (see links below)

NIH fact sheet: Turmeric (Curcuma longa Linn.) and Curcumin
/nccih.nih.gov/health/turmeric/ataglance.htm

Curcumin (comprehensive 'summary' of the research for the public)
Micronutrient Research for Optimum Health
Linus Pauling Institute, Oregon State University
http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/phytochemicals/curcumin/

Curcumin Therapy in Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Pilot Study
Digestive Diseases and Sciences, Vol. 50, No. 11 (Nov 2005), pp. 2191–93
www.curcumin.co.nz/pdf/Curcumin_Therapy_In_Inflammatory_Bowel_Disease.pdf

Wellbutrin: some studies have shown Wellbutrin to be effective as a TNF Blocker.

Worm (Helminthic) Therapy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helminthic_therapy

Medical Marijuana

[fixed bad links]

This isn't for everyone but I tried something called "Helminthic Therapy" which is basically infecting yourself with microscopic worms. It's incredibly interesting and I can honestly say it worked but not enough which is why I ended up opting for surgery. I spoke to lots of people, joined plenty of groups etc.. and plenty of people swear by it, whether you believe them or not is up to you. If for whatever reason you wanted to stop, there is something you can take to kill them within 24 hours.

People have used these worms to cure all sorts of illnesses/problems

I desperately want to say that I am having wonderful results with my IBD diet (anti-inflammatory based), lots of ginger tea daily, two probiotics and lots of PRE-biotics and a few other things in my sig line.....but alas, I am also taking both oral and rectal mesalamine -----all concurrently.

So how could I say anything definitively?

Here's the thing though, I took JUST the rx meds for 3 months and had zero luck until I began adding these other things to the mix.....and I am right now on my 11th symptom free day (after a very, very long 19 months with daily symptoms).

I had a TINY amount of blood a few days ago, negligible. I had to actually get super close to even see it (at first I thought it was a veg skin). So, is it the natural items or the meds?

Maybe a happy marriage of both....but I'll take it !

notsosicklygirl said...
None of the OTC stuff ever made a different for me, nor did diet restrictions. iPoop gave a pretty big list of items you can try, but there's no research on the majority (aside from turmeric - which in reality is pretty mild), and there is no way to know which, if any, will help you. It's a lot of trial and error, and time.

imBen's suggestion is on the above list. I've seen a small handful of people go that route, and actually I've seen more failures than successes. it's an interesting treatment but it's very expensive.

Depends where you live, cost me £130 at the time. I know it's super expensive in the states
I agree with you on more failures than success but all it takes is for you to be that one