Alternative Treatments

Congratulations! I am not a big believer in meds either because of the side effects. Besides they may not address the problem. If UC is an autoimmune disease then perhaps my body is allergic to something. I was diagnosed two years ago after a routine colonoscopy. I was allergic to the colasol that was prescribed to me. My symptoms were not serious so I ignored it.

Then last summer all hell broke loose. I have since learned I am extremely allergic to carrageenan and to a lesser extent beef, sorbitol and (believe it or not) broccoli. All symptoms aggravated by coffee. I have since avoided carrageenan (ice cream, coffee creamer, or anything made with cream such as chocolate mouse), switched to moderate tea, and my symptoms have only been minor since last September. Ask your doctor for an allergy test to determine which foods are really poison for you. I used to eat broccoli in my salad almost every day.

(I hope these are not just famous last words. If I have a repeat of last summer then I am sure I will probably beg a GI for conventional meds. But so far so good.)

Besides watching what I eat I take DGL before meals (must be chewed but choose brand without fructose or sorbitol e.g.Nature's Plus) at the first sign of stomach discomfort. Along with slippery elm, aloe vera juice (MAKE SURE ALOE DOES NOT HAVE CARRAGEENAN), and assorted vitamins and herbs.

Here is an excellent website for discussing Alternative treatments. Supposedly there are scientific studies that show boswellia to be effective.

http://altmedicine.about.com/od/digestivedisorders/a/Colitis_Remedy.htm

Also watch carefully which foods cause problems for you. For example, when researchers want to induce UC in test animals, they feed them carrageenan! And unfortunately it works for me too. Most food ingredient labels will not indicate carrageenan directly, but may list heavy cream. Only when you look up the ingredients for heavy cream do you find carrageenan. But everyone's diet is individual and you need to look up on your own.

I applaud your efforts in trying alternative herbal supplements...next week I will begin taking new herbs that I hope will improve my condition further.

At this point, I think western medicine has become the alternative treatment, judging from reading all the recent posts here.

     My nutritionist told me to avoid anything ending in "tol"

Yes Christine, sugar alcohols (which all end in "tol"), sorbitol, malitiol, xylitol, ect can all exacerbate IBD and IBS symptoms and should be avoided.

:)