root cause

After an analysis of my life right before UC, this is my best thoery on root cause.

i was having sinus problems and at that time i wasnt as nature-oriented as i am now

i had something like  a"just cut it up" mentality so i started taking drugs for the sinuses and then got the surgery. the drugs basically stopped my mucus production in my nose, and i suspect also in my colon, in some sort of spiritual or physical way, tehre must be a connection between mucus menbranes.

so with my mucus shut off, i went in for surgery. then came the antibiotics as well as the stress of the surgery. I have the feeling that this killed off the good bacteria in the colon and allowed the bad ones to thrive. The bad ones are called bad because when they eat the food, they leave toxic waste. when the good ones eat, they leave behind nutrients/ or eat things that we cannot digest.

this accumulated toxic waste set off a reaction from the exposed colon and the rest is history.

this is why i have been searching and searching for a way to repair/regenerate that intestinal mucus coating, because in my mind it is the only way to give the colon walls a break to allow them to heal. The only thing I have found to help that is goldenseal which i am heading to Chinatown soon to buy.

does anyone haqve an opinion on this theory or any suggestions as to rebuild the mucus coating?

thanks

Read this link...

http://www.healthy.co.nz/healthy-developments-news-item-480.html

Imparticularly this paragraph about primadophilus reuteri..

1. Probiotics - Restore
One of the most important treatment strategies if you suspect you may have LGS is to restore a healthy balance of friendly bacteria in your digestive tract. This will not only help to naturally support your immune system but help to reduce the number of pathogenic microbes present in the bowel. Certain strains of friendly bacteria found in Nature's Way Primadophilus range have been shown to help strengthen and repair the lining of the GI tract reversing LGS. Use the appropriate age-specific Nature's Way Primadophilus product that contains a three way promise to you: True potency, True Release and True identity. Remember, there are more friendly bacteria in 1 Primadophilus capsule than you will find in eight tubs of acidophilus containing yoghurt.

:)

Thanks a lot for those links FosterDad and pb4 i will check them out.

Nicepeter- i have taken vsl#3
there is also a similar product called floraQ which is what my gi recomended. I looked it up and it is essentialy the same as vsl at about half the price. It also contaims only 8billion bacteria perserving vs 125 billion for vsl pills and 250 billion for vsl powder.

good luck all,
jay

The initial cause isn't really as important as is the body's response afterward.

I think slow simmering infection anywhere in the body can cause autoimmune reactions to present.

Regarding UC...seems you have it placed. It doesn't matter anymore, however...because UC has already been triggered.

quincy

I think alot of colitis problems are indeed caused by a total depletion of our intestinal flora. Once we lose certain strains we cant get them back. There are over 400 different species of bacteria in the gut and most of those species are yet to be identified. Most probiotics have around 8 strains at the most. This is why it cant cure most colitis cases. Also there is over 60 trillion bacteria present in the human gut. So if you think about it, taking a probiotic with only around 10 billion bacteria count isnt going to do a thing. The bad bacteria will devour it. I still think there is alot to fecal transplants. just my 2 cents

Try Kefir. It has been around since recorded history .
Kefir has many more friendly types of bacteria (probiotics)and yeast
then you can buy in a pill. The good bacteria will colonize in your colon
and that is the mucus. I have been drinking it for three months now and have been
off the meds for about two weeks. I have been on meds since 1990 and every time
previously I tried to get off it was instant flare. When I first started drinking it
I got mini flares AKA in bathroom for about a few hours or a day here and there.
I think it is possible when the bacteria was colonizing in my colon and reached an area of
flare or ulcers it would cause a bad bacteria die off and aggrivated my colon but
that part is just my theory. My sore joints have gone away also.
I am going to wait a few more months and have a colonoscopy. My colon has always
had ulcers since 1990 when I get a scope but I this is the best my colon has felt so I
am actually looking forward to the colonoscopy. I can't say for sure it is the Kefir(probiotics)
but it is my gut feeling. If I stay in remission for over a year of meds, wich has never happened to me even on meds,
then I will be leaning more towards it was the Kefir.
Here is a link to my previous post.

https://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=38&m=1037653&g=1051595#m1051595

my symptoms also started after self medicating on antibiotics and pain killers..

I agree about the killing off the flora being a (yet to be scientifically discovered and proven) cause of UC. Just a hunch. No family history what so ever, but I was on antibiotics for years off and on due to acne. I also had food poisioning in the months before being diagnosed.

TPT - Yes, there is research on fecal bacteriotherapy and there have been a lot of posts here about it. Here are links to a couple: https://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=38&m=891388&p=1&ord=d
https://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=38&m=891388

It sounds promising, but it's hard to find a doctor to do it. There is a doctor in Australia who does it though.

Sure. =)

I work in health care, meet a lot of people with very unhealthy lifestyles, drug addicts to be specific. I'm talking smoking crack, shooting heroin, meth, daily use and it usually comes with smoking 1-2 packs of cigarettes a day--in the past 10 years at work I've had maybe one person tell me they have UC (and yet they were not in treatment and their symptoms didn't add up). Oh, and alcohol, people consume mass quantities of alcohol, talk about killing off good bacteria. I was a vegetarian and in pretty good shape, happy, things going pretty well for me, up to then never took an antibiotic in my life, but yet, I got UC--who knows why? And, for me, I'm not sure it matters why or how I got it--it is what it is--there is peace in that.

Antibiotics kill everything, good and bad bacteria, which is why it's essential anyone who takes antibiotics takes probiotics too (for IBDers taking probiotics on antis or not is indefinite), but you should take probiotics at least 2 hours AFTER you're finished taking antibiotics for the day.

:)

The fibre supplement I use has some in it, I take one pill/day...others use psyllium husk but I'm not sure of the amounts people use, I think one has to play around to find what works best for them but starting with a small amount and slowly increasing if necessary, is always safest.

Glad you find it helps, make sure you take it indefinitely (even in remission), same with the probiotics.

:)