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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 1/30/2012 10:58 AM (GMT 0)
I do not suffer with UC but my mother does and I am trying to find out as much as I can about the disease.  Mum has been ill and diagnosed with UC for about 2 years, she is 76 and at first she was unaware of what her problem was and was dealing with it with a natural diet which we both think actually aggravated it, beans, pulses, and raw food etc. etc.   After the diagnosis she was on enemas and other meds which she found very difficult to administer but they did help initially, but she was bed bound and tied to the bathroom for almost 18 mths.  Her GP recently started her on another program of medication which included Predfoam but in the UK it is almost unheard of and she has had increasing difficulty in obtaining her prescription (prednifoam), has anyone else had problems with this.  Since she has been using this it has helped and she managed to go out for a ride in the car.  She has a "toilet card" which has helped but is exhausted after using the bathroom and so is rushed back home to bed.  My dad is 82 and has coped very well so far, but life is very difficult for both of them.  It is such a debilitating disease and I can understand how depression can become another symptom to deal with.  What I would like to also ask is that she has developed a severe pain in her buttocks and has found that this can be another symptom from chrones or UC but there is still research going on for this.  She has found it can be Ankylosing Spondilitis - could this be joint pain from the steroids?  Has anyone heard anything about this and what can be done about this?  She is back to her GP tomorrow and hope to have more info but as they are not specialists we know they have limited knowledge about this.

This will be a very helpful site I think to help with mum's problem and how we as a family can understand it.  I look forward to any response and help, thanks.

Posted 1/30/2012 12:15 PM (GMT 0)
Hi-
I first had symptoms of UC when I was about 60 years old. You're probably right about aggravating the disease if she was eating high (insoluable) fiber foods. I did that, too.
One thing to realize is that when you have numerous bloody bowel movements, the food is not being properly digested and you're probably going to become anemic (which causes weakness).
It is important to introduce probiotics (friendly flora) into your digestive system to process the food better and slow things down. I am now 70, no longer have bloody BMs but take an ultra potency multivitamin with iron daily to combat anemia.

There are a number of websites containing some good info about natural treatments that can help your mother to feel better. cureforulcerativecolitis.com is one.

You don't mention her taking anything by mouth. Many doctors in the US believe in "treating from both ends" and prescribe something like Colazal (balsalazide generic) by mouth and another mesalamine in enema form. Steriod foam enemas are also commonly used but the doctor might suggest a mesalamine enema which may be easier to get.

I hope this information provides a basis for discussion with the doctor. You might print out some info from a UC-related website to help out your GP.

My best to your mother and father. Keep in touch....:-)
Posted 1/30/2012 12:54 PM (GMT 0)
Thank you for your reply, it was very helpful.  Mum does take oral meds too,  I dont know the name of them.  She has been taken some probiotics but I dont know if they have helped yet.  she does have anaemia tho. so they are sorting that out.   It is very distressing for her having to keep close to the loo, I just wish I knew how I can help more.  She has become more or less housebound.  She has had a bad weekend and is back in bed today, when we speak on the phone she has to dash off, it must be very exhausting for her.  I hope the Dr can help more tomorrow, but I think they are almost exhausting the remedies there.
Posted 1/30/2012 1:45 PM (GMT 0)
Welcome

It's nice that your mother has a daughter who is helping her. Hope she has quit all insoluble fiber and only eats cooked veggies now. Boiled carrots got me out of some bad times in the past.

Here are some suggestion:
-take probiotics S. Boulardii is a favorite for UC'ers. I understand that VSL#3 may not be available in the UK so do some research on what is available and start off slow since in the beginning it can cause gassiness. After a week or so go up in dosage. The higher dosage is needed to get benefits, it's non-Rx.

-Alinus (do a search for the name) is a poster here who has Ank.Spon. and UC. He belongs to a webgroup for AS and has gotten remission through controlled diet. If your mother has that then you can pursue that avenue.

-Ask her doctor for mesalamine enemas,a month's supply or more, which many, many here have had great success with. The pred enema is not to be used long-term whereas the mesalamine enema is a long term maintenance med with very few side effects.

-make her a gallon of chicken broth once a week which helps with fatigue and is just a great thing to have daily, with veggies and meat or without

-get her doctor to prescribe something for depression, several people here use Rx for that reason and feel it helps their UC.

-take hours and read back posts here. You will find too many ideas (which is better than none) and then choose the least radical and try them one by one.

Good luck. (Can she internet-surf? Send her here)
Posted 1/30/2012 2:04 PM (GMT 0)
http://www.umm.edu/altmed/

Here is another website (University of Maryland) that contains a lot of info about herbs/supplements.
Posted 1/30/2012 2:07 PM (GMT 0)
wow! what a lot of good information...thats brilliant many thanks. I will pass all this on to mum
Posted 1/30/2012 2:12 PM (GMT 0)
What is non-RX
Posted 1/30/2012 2:27 PM (GMT 0)
non- Rx is a medicine that's available without a prescription.
Posted 1/31/2012 2:01 PM (GMT 0)
Idontfeelwell-

I keep thinking about your mom and dad......
How is your mother?
Was her GP able to help her?
Keep us posted..............:-)
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