New book out regarding gut and diet....by an actual Dr.

She's my GI :).

She's been on Dr.Oz numerous times touting the benefits of resistant starches before the science got to it. She has many patients on nutritional therapies alone for their IBD so she clearly knows her stuff. She advocates clean, paleo-ish style diets.

The notion that diet has no influence on disease development and progression is just asinine. It's an excuse for 5-minute doctors to take the easy way out and pump people full of medications.

Maybe ridiculous for you, not for all of us. Remember, we are all different.

What exactly are "resistant starches"?

garylouisville said...
Stealth: I'm confused. One post said she was your GI and your latest post says that she is your primary physician now. Did she get a demotion? Anyway, I don't want to come accross as being negative here because I believe in limiting meds as much as possible, particularly the hard core ones and I believe treating UC with antibiotics in most cases is the wrooooong way to go. I believe broad spectrum antibiotics actually caused my UC. Even though I am not a big believer in diets this resistant starch thing does fascinate me and I wholeheartedly believe that certain diets have helped certain people. Even though I have tried several different natural supplements for my UC I think some people tend to go a little nuts being antimedical and antipharmacy and too much into the alternative therapies as if they were the only answer. I can't say I really blame them though because in many cases medical science has failed those with chronic diseases. I personally believe that alternative science has also failed a lot of people too. The truth is, for many patients, both medical science and alternative science have failed. If either medical science or alternative science had discovered a cure that worked in the masses none of this would even be up for discussion.

By primary physician, I mean overlooking doctor, including GI. Her specialty is gastroenterology but she's well versed on most things outside of gastroenterology. For instance, If I had thyroid issues, I'd consult with her first before running to an endocrinologist whose standard of treatment would be levothyroxine. I just wouldn't trust anyone else given what the current medical model is - you have a symptom, so we're going to treat it with something that suppresses the symptom.

It's true what you say about alternative medicine, but you have to be on the lookout for newer therapies in the medical literature. There are some good studies out there on many of things proposed in the alternative medicine arena - resistant starches, colostrum, lycopene, resveratrol, etc. I'm not entirely anti-pharmaceutical - there are some great companies out there that genuinely work their butts off and try to help people. But for each of those companies you have clowns like Bayer or AstraZeneca manipulating the studies so that the results look favorable.

I've learned that the best kind of care is preventative care - once the disease progresses and goes haywire, people will need luck and prayer on their side to overcome it.

What a great article.Dr. Chutkan says everything that I have learned on my own about my UC.

SGuardian you are soooo lucky to have such a genius doctor.
I hope her mindset spreads far and wide.
It is not so easy as eat this/don't eat that and get better but it's certainly better than Rx meds that don't work and create problems of their own.

She sounds great. So, she recommends paleo-like diet? Are there any differences?

Don't forget that just a few short years ago this forum was dominated by the same mindset. So after hearing from doctors that diet doesn't matter, you come here and the veteran IBDers tell you the same thing and shout down contrary opinions. This forum became much more valuable when other voices like yours to began to participate.

It is so important to hear from a wide diversity of personal experiences. How else would one learn about diet modification, possible problems with gluten or dairy, fecal transplants, resistant starch, etc., (and now wild oregano oil)? I'd be lost without my powdered psyllium seed which I learned about here.

Of course nothing works for everyone and everyone is different. The alternative treatment guys also don't have all the answers and shouldn't shout down other voices either.

SouthernGirl6 said...
SGuardian, I've been reading your threads on here about cipro, and I'm glad you have found a good doctor. Has resistant starch been the key to healing for you? I was recently hospitalized and they gave me cipro, flagyl, and methylprednisolone..I immediately stopped taking cipro after reading the horror stories a day or two after I got home (hospitalized 2 nights). Any advice would be appreciated in order to prevent future possible symptoms if any way possible. How are you doing now with your tendons? The anxiety over this has gotten the best of me this week. I've added probiotics and considering magnesium. My UC is almost in remission, but I hate meds, and I will do anything else to avoid meds such as cipro.

Hi SouthernGirl. Sorry to hear about the recent hospitalization.

1) My first question would be why they gave you flagyl and cipro if you have a history of UC. The solu-medrol drip is the standard for UC flares here. Did they suspect a bacterial infection or was it confirmed through a culture? A study found that nearly half of these prescriptions are unnecessary and end up causing more harm. You need to press the hospital and ask why they gave you those antibiotic drips if there was no infection.

2) Cipro does a number to the gut bacteria so I think you are doing the right thing by supplementing with probiotics - high quality ones like BioKult or VSL3 are great. Other than eating a clean diet (Gaps/SCD/Paleo) filled with fermented goodies, I'd suggest the following things.
- Cipro binds to and depletes the body of magnesium. Most IBD patients are deficient in magnesium anyways and should always be supplementing. Because of the laxative effect of most magnesiums, I find that transdermal magnesium works the best and use this brand and apply/rub 30-50 sprays all over the body after a shower or before bedtime.
- Bone broths are great for replenishing the cartilage and tendons. These are the cornerstones of the gaps / scd / paleo diets. You'll find instructions all over the web or youtube. My symptoms improved after adding this in.
- exercise and sunlight - yoga, walking, weight bearing are all great for building the bones.

3) Resistant starches have shown to improve UC symptoms, but everyone has different tolerances. Navy Beans work great for some, but not so well for me. You have to find the ones that agree best with you - plantain chips seem to help my digestion and stool bulk. It's really a matter of experimentation.

4) My reaction to cipro plunged me into a deep seated hatred for everything that had to do with western medicine. My tendon and nerve issues are much better than my initial months, but I still have work to do and I won't rest until I get better. My body has had trouble healing after the antibiotics - wounds that would otherwise take days to heal are taking months. It's a complex issue and only now are researchers uncovering the damage that these class of antibiotics do to the body. We are essentially the guinea pigs since the clinical trials were flawed, limited and manipulated.

I think you will be fine. Just cover your bases and take charge of your own health. I hope this helps.

Post Edited (StealthGuardian) : 10/5/2013 7:27:35 AM (GMT-6)

becky 9/24/04 said...
She sounds great. So, she recommends paleo-like diet? Are there any differences?

There are some differences, but you have to find what agrees with your body. Those diets are just blueprints. I find that meats, broths, and cooked veggies like squash and carrots seem to agree with most people.

SGuardian, Thank you for your response, it is very helpful. I have had muscle aches/back pain from the hospital stay, and that combined with the extra anxiety (probably from steroid) have caused me to worry. I'm glad that you are doing better and have found what helps you. I definitely plan to ask about the antibiotics in my follow-up visit. The only reason I can think of is a UTI showed up which I have treated with cranberry juice and plenty of water since quitting antibiotics...it's a very small town hospital, and the ER doctors are usually a joke..I wouldn't have been admitted for dehydration if it hadn't been for a nurse. Other than the antibiotics & ER doc, I was very pleased with my stay though..great nurses. The main reason that I have to be hospitalized (2nd time ever for UC) is nausea which causes dehydration. I will continue the black cherry, as it helps me with pain and inflammation so much, and I read where is it a good alternative help for tendonitis as well. Thanks so much for the food and supplement recommendations, I will definitely be proactive and try to get my nutrients built up.

BabeintheWoods said...
My first question would be why they gave you flagyl and cipro if you have a history of UC.

My last flare was extreme and included all the EILs such as crippling arthritis and eye inflammation. Because I also developed a perianal abscess my GI prescribed Cipro and Flagyl. I read the side effects and decided to discard the Cipro and just took the Flagyl alone. I was in my late 50's with crippling arthritis from the flare, the last thing I needed was blown out tendons from the Cipro.

I took S. Boulardii along with the Flagyl. It is a probiotic yeast that is immune from antibiotics and helps to prevent C Diff infections which can sometimes occur after taking antibiotics. Anyway the Flagyl ended my flare immediately including all EILs such as arthritis. I have taken probiotics every day since and more on those days when even a hint of a flare rears its ugly head again. So far it is working.

I don't believe in antibiotics as a maintenance drug but as a ONE-TIME medication it can sometimes be useful for ending a flare.

I completely agree. Antibiotics are useful for certain situations and I'm glad it helped your abscess. Flagyl might be useful in the short-term, but the long term studies point to serious damage. S. Boulardii is very useful, I started taking it recently as well.

The prevalent issue today is that the patients that don't need antibiotics are being given antibiotics. They end up coming out of the hospital hobbling and god knows what other issues. That thread about the 17-year old kid who lost the use of his arm is a great example of this. These kind of stories crop up everyday and they are 100% preventable. Even if an infection is suspected, it's always better to wait until the culture comes back - most of the time these are negative for infections.

aguywithuc said...

StealthGuardian said...

garylouisville said...
I had better results with resistant starches than I did with biologics.

Yep. Thats why I dumped my guy.

My new GI is also a woman and said she has no problem writing scripts for Uceris, however I decided to blow it off as I have this flare stabilized by getting back on Resistant Starches etc. Worst case I have to see her but at least she wont be shoving biologics down my throat. Last guy went binary on me, biologics or nothing since 5-ASA's have not helped.

Kudos to sticking it to him and being your own advocate.