stereofidelic89 said...
It's really unfortunate so many of you have such a limited view of how to care for IBD, that being through the lens of your doctors. Sara, that's great what you're doing has worked for you, or is to some extent, but it's ignorant to assume that plants and herbs and adjusting diet has little to no benefit. This is what angers me about our medical system. These crocs will get you in and out of an office in less than 10 minutes, and somehow make all of us believe a man-made drug is the temporary and end-all-discussions-fix to anything IBD related.
I'm one of those plant people. I'm one of those people who suggests alternatives because I was LIKE YOU. Desperate to and determined to not live the rest of my life relying on drugs or be fearful of not making it to a toilet and living with pain and stomach aches.
9 years ago I was diagnosed and doctors wanted me to stay on prednisone, stay on asacol, not give a crap about diet or herbs or anything else. None of that was working long-term, and I was sick and tired of being sick and tired, so I consulted some of the like-minded people of this forum along with an integrative medicine doctor (yes an MD) who specializes in auto-immune disorders.
Where he suggested continuing the hard drugs to get my body back to where it needed to be, so that I could then rely on what nature intended: Which for me, was to get rid of dairy and gluten in my diet, to use herbs like curcumin (turmeric), boswellia, and less harmful, lower dose studied drugs like low dose naltrexone to manage my symptoms. And it wasn't easy. I didn't see results for years, but I stopped experimenting with eating gluten and that's what truly stopped all of this madness for me. Yet, I took a standard celiac blood test and turns out I'm not celiac. Other blood tests showed positive markers for gluten intolerance though. So by completely eliminating it to my doctors suggested, it helped.
Fast forward 9 years later, I'm healthy, add a dose of faith & God into the mix and I'm better than I was before. I have bad days, and I do use some asacol + rowasa from time to time, which is a god send, but I would not be here if it were not for those who studied the power of manipulating diet, and adding plants/herbs to the mix.
So quite honestly, and this isn't a slap in the face, because we all know what that pain feels like, but you should be more open to alternatives. Consult with medical doctors that actually tout the benefits of diet and herbs. What in the world do you have to lose? Don't you owe it to your body? Everyone reacts differently, but you don't know until you try. I was just trying to survive nearly 10 years ago, and now I'm thriving. If you have any questions, just ask. I'm happy to point to studies that my doctor gave me.
hey ster - nice to see you again ! glad things are going well
and that what you are doing is working !!
same here - every once in a while, life challenges tend to disrupt things butt wise - but fortunately, it is short lived and easily remedied -
the forum has changed so much that I seldom post, and if I do, it's pretty benign - the fun days of the past are sadly gone - "sigh"
stick around and pound away - maybe you'll turn some heads ;-)
ps: Merry Christmas
TT