Juice cleanse

I seem to be finally nearing remission after mildly flaring on and off for the last 8 months. I had a baby 4 months ago and have just stopped breastfeeding, so I'm ready to start losing the last 16 pounds of my pregnancy weight. I'm thinking about doing a juice cleanse to jump start a healthier diet and exercise plan.

I'm worried about it aggravating my UC. Does anyone have any experience with juice cleanses? I'm looking to do a 3-5 day cleanse. I currently take 2.4g of Lialda and 2 packets of VSL. Would either of these be an issue with a juice cleanse?

Any experiences or recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

Natof9: thanks for your response. You said you'd like to be off all meds before you start the juice cleanse. Do you discontinue medication while you are in remission? That's my current goal, which is fully supported and encouraged by my GI. I actually started medication for the first time during my pregnancy. I've been fortunate enough to remain in remission without meds since my diagnosis in 2010.

I have a follow up appointment with my GI in a few weeks, so I will run everything by him then.

since i wasn't there personally myself, i can't call your doc an idiot - he may have said "walruses make great house pets" and you heard "it's ok to stop your meds" - i dunno ?

but i can say with certainty, that ANYONE who may have told you it's ok to cease taking your meds, is in fact AN IDIOT !

the juicing thing sounds ok - i would just add it to your diet, not in lieu of your normal diet - i'm just not a big fan of "cleanses" - guess i've had enough UC cleansing to last a lifetime

Our individual uc disease severity (and likely our underlying genetic variations) detemine what treatments our uc responds to or doesn't. While it's encouraging/exciting that some have maintained their uc a very specific treatment way, there's absolutely no guarantee that you or I can copy it and get the same exact results. In the end, what truly matters in your quality of life is your ideal and individual uc treatment plan that produces results. Uc is calling all the shots and making all of the rules, best you and I can do is react and try to block/counter with an appropriate treatment. It's frustrating and gives a path of uncertainty, but I think it's more realistic than saying "we're in control of our uc and can choose one of severally equivalent treatment paths, like choosing between a coca cola or a dr pepper, and get the same exact results". If we know the house and card dealer (uc) has the advantage and it is likely a rigged game, then at least we can place safer, more strategic bets on our treatment plan. We're talking uc, an autoimmune disorder (or at least an immune deficiency) where our body has turned against us, and attacks us. It's luck of the draw whether we get a mild case that is easy to maintain with minimal treatment, a moderate case needing strong medications, or a severe case that ultimately requires surgery. Not everyone wins their preferred/ideal grand prize of the exact treatment plan they personally want for uc. I'd say we settle for what's necessary.

The much larger focus group of the forum that many of us read over many years has really shown how greatly varied uc treatment is, what works miraculously for one and ends up doing absolutely nothing for another. It's just uc and it sucks.