HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

New user - A few questions

Support Forums
>
Ulcerative Colitis
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 10/6/2009 7:52 PM (GMT 0)

Hi everyone.  I'm a new user to this forum.  I'm 24 years old and was diagnosed with UC in September 2007.  I first started on Lialda but this resulted in me having pancreatitis.  My doctor switched me over to Remicade and I've been on that since January 2008.  It has worked pretty well for the most part.  I'm on 10 kg every 6 weeks.  I've had flare ups here and there and have been put on prednisone to decrease the symptons.  Recently, it seems as if the Remicade hasn't been working that well.  I'll feel fine a couple weeks after my infusion but then I'll start to see flare up symptons (frequent bm's, bloody stool, weight loss, etc.)  I saw my doctor last week and he was talking about switching me to Humira.  I have a couple questions I was hoping everyone could me with:

1)  For people who have switched from Remicade to Humira, has it worked?  How quickly does it take for the Humira to start the heeling process?

2)  I've been doing some research on the web and saw a bunch of articles/videos regarding cabbage juice and how that decreases UC symptons.  There's something within the juice that is suppose to really help with ulcers in the digestive tract.  Does anyone have any experience with drinking this?

3)  I was curious about the j-pouch surgery.  My symptons aren't bad enough to get the surgery but I was curious in case something happens down the road where I will need it.  For anyone who has had this surgery, how frequent are your bm's?  Do you need to go every time you eat?  Is there still an urgency like with UC?

Thanks in advance for your help! 

Posted 10/7/2009 3:05 AM (GMT 0)
Sorry I can't really answer any of your Q's, just replying to give your post a friendly bump since you're new.

smilewinkgrin
Posted 10/7/2009 3:31 AM (GMT 0)
Thanks. I appreciate it.
Posted 10/7/2009 4:51 AM (GMT 0)
I have never been on remicade or humira but I have seen people here who have had remicade stop working and have had luck with humira. I would deifnitely give it a shot if I were you depending on how bad your symptoms are. Can you make your remicade infusions closer together?

I don't know about cabbage juice but I have heard a lot of people say cabbage is bad for symptoms. I have also heard that fermented products can have loads of probiotics and help symptoms. I guess it depends whether your cabbage juice is fermented whether I would consider it something worth trying. Before cabbage juice, have you considered a good probiotics or live probiotics in fermented teas/food? Kombucha tea helps me when I feel a decline in my condition.

Jpouch could be very helpful if you're at the end of your options. I believe it does stop the urgency but it also makes your BMs more frequent. I would image that you do have to empty every time you eat. I think the frequency is a lot mroe than a normal pesrson but a lot less than a person with severe UC. I think a person with a j-pouch goes about 4-8 times a day. I go 1-2 times a day and a person with seveve UC could go up to 30x a day. For me, a j-pouch wouldn't make sense right now but I could definitely see it being a life saver if I were in the condition I was in when I started taking oral meds.

I hope you are able to control this with medication. If not, try some natural remedies, if nothign helps, you can live a very full life with a surgical cure. Please try to stay stress free, stress can cause symptoms to get much worse.

Posted 10/7/2009 2:32 PM (GMT 0)
notsosicklygirl, thanks for your help. My doctor considered moving my remicade infusions to every 4 weeks. But he thought it would be better to try humira first since I'm already on the highest dosage of remicade (10kg). It seems like it's taken every 2 weeks so hopefully this will help.

Regarding the probiotics, I have been reading up on VSL 3D and I think I'm going to give this a shot. I've been hearing a lot of good things and I'm going to see if my doc can call me in a prescription.
Posted 10/7/2009 11:49 PM (GMT 0)
Hi,

I took Remicade a few times and it helped a lot. In fact, I firmly believe it stopped two flare-ups within 24 hours. I was always under the impression that Remicade treatments last 2 months at a time. I've been on a Asacol and Azathioprine combo for 7 years straight now and everything has been fine. My GI thinks the Azathioprine sent me into remission, but I still think Remicade played a major role.

No info on Humeria or cabbage juice, sorry. However, I have heard about pickle juice helping symptoms and the apple cider vinegar and water or honey being helpful as well.
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply