Hello! - Slippery elm and Larch powders at the same time?

Hi All

Very much a new person to UC - I've just started a long distance relationship with a girl that has UC for the last 9 years (age 29 now) so I'm trying to find out as much as possible on it all to see if I can help her as her doctor does not seem forthcoming with any assistance to her (she lives in a small town in the Czech Republic, I went there for work and now we have flown to each other a few times to see how things go!) - she had switched to a raw vegan diet which seemed to be helping but she has had a flare up of blood in her stool and is back on Prednisone to stabilize it again - but we have to try and get it contained as best as possible for a possible future Visa for her to come and live with me...

She is also taking slippery elm powder which I understand is to coat the lining of the stomach to help - one item I have recently read about is "larch powder" - reading into that it is a probiotic - I was wondering could she take both, or would the lining that the slippery elm give the stomach cancel out the absorption of the larch powder? Or should she take the larch powder first, wait 20 min then take the slippery elm powder??
Cheers
Gav

Thanks Gary, yes I can understand it is a topical treatment, she has it 20min before food - hence the question should the larch powder be taken maybe 1hr before lunch and dinner for instance. Thanks for your input :)

Larch powder is a source of galactans, which are another food for bacteria. It is a prebiotic, similar to those containing oligosaccharides, that also swells and provides bulk to the stool. As such it shouldn't really matter that the bowel is coated, if the idea is to help bulk the stool.
Does she get benefit from either the slippery elm or the larch powder? Care needs to be taken with both those products, and some definitely react poorly to them.

Good on you for trying to research this stuff.

(iAC if you spent more time on the subject rather than making personal attacks, it might be more helpful. You have quoted an old post from poor pmedic, who has struggled greatly since that post was made 5 years ago.)

Alternatives work for some, not all. If she's struggling with uc then focus on the traditional uc medications. What uc medications is she on?

Watch it IAC, you're the one atacking others.

I apologize, apparently I had a block about reading thru his entire post. Maybe my higher self is hinting that for some people I really do need to take advantage of the forum's “ignore” feature. Lol.

Hi two other powders worth considering: psyllium seed (before eating yogurt) last thing at night and flaxseed mixed in oats. These continue to work miracles for me. In any case we're all different and hope you find something. I believe fibre (wholegrain spelt, oats etc.) if it works for you can win half the battle.

Hi IAC,

Personally speaking, I've had problems with wheat but not spelt. I began by eating an organic form of sourdough wholemeal spelt bread (that importantly contained no yeast or soy and used olive oil instead of vegetable oil) and the brand was permissible on the Low Fodmap diet. In fact, I found loading up on fibre, such as that bread, improved my bowel motion and hence health. Later, I experimented with pure wholemeal spelt flour, note not refined, and could tolerate it quite well. I learned to make Indian style roti bread with it, combining oats, spelt and flax and had great success.

It is my understanding that a lot of UCers have problem with grains/gluten so I should have probably added an additional disclaimer there. I gather, like you, that spelt contains a different quality of gluten and is not marred by processing or industrial machinations. It would still be prohibited to Celiacs and may not be suitable for many UCers. Cheers

P.S. Old spelt-related thread, interesting comments by other users:  https://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=38&m=3349818

Post Edited (isleman) : 5/11/2015 6:25:44 AM (GMT-6)