I don’t take meds but when flaring my symptoms were just as bad or worse than most of what I have read here. Diet and supplements didn’t snuff out my flares, three major flares were snuffed out with antibiotics. But diet and supplements kept me in remission for over 6 years, except for a few weeks last November when I became overconfident and sloppy.
Look at the PubMed medical publications and you will see that there are just as many rigorous, double-blind research studies that prove psyllium seed is just as effective as mesalamines for maintaining remission. And PubMed says certain probiotics such as VSL#3, S. Boulardii, Lactobacillus GG, etc., are also as effective as conventional meds. It is frustrating to read how so many doctors and members here dismiss these rigorous studies but then cite studies that support conventional meds.
IamCurious said...
Before my diagnosis I had no idea what hit me. Severe abdominal pain, drenching night sweats, and bloody diarrhea 10 to 15 times a day. I was losing 5 pounds a week for over 50 pounds. Sometimes UC can include other systemic manifestations such as serious eye inflammation, skin lesions, and crippling arthritis. I had all of these. With the arthritis I had trouble climbing stairs or making a closed fist. My blood counts were so fouled up that I was referred to an oncologist to check for lymphoma.
At first my GI tried to prescribe low level treatments. For some people Asacol works great and sustains them for years, but for me several attempts at taking 5-ASAs such as Colazal and later Asacol quickly caused nausea, severe flu-like symptoms, and pleurisy. I would even suffer a fit of nausea after inserting a Canasa suppository.
Another symptom when flaring is that for some reason my fasting blood sugar spikes from around a normal 85 mg/dl to 110-120 mg/dl, very close to the diabetic range. My GI prescribed 40 mg of prednisone. I knew my flare had to end but I was reluctant to take pred. I have diabetes in my immediate family and I was afraid pred would push me over the tipping point into full-blown diabetes. There are many accounts here of people who ended up with diabetes after taking pred for their UC. I did not want to be another casualty.
Luckily I also developed a very painful perianal abscess. I say luckily because my doctor then prescribed a three week course of Flagyl and Cipro. I looked up the side effects of Flagyl and while it did have side effects, they seemed manageable. Cipro had a black box warning and a tendency for blowing out tendons. I was 59 years old with degenerative discs in my back, the last thing I needed were blown out tendons. BTW I always had healthy discs before my UC but I think my discs quickly degenerated from ankylosing-spondylitis, which can be yet another lovely side effect of this DD.
So I set aside the Cipro and took the Flagyl alone. Along with the Flagyl I took assorted probiotics including S Boulardii because it was immune from ABX. I didn't want C Diff or any other bad guys replacing the bacteria that were getting killed by the Flagyl. That jump-started me out of my flare and into remission. Shortly after my flare ended all of my symptoms including skin lesions and arthritis quickly disappeared. My blood work was back to normal along with my elevated blood sugar and rapid heart beat. All normal. A later scope showed that my intestines were clean.
That was my flare in 2010. I have been able to maintain a med-free remission since then by taking probiotics every day and closely watching my diet for triggering foods. But eventually I became overly confident, UC seemed more of a dietary inconvenience than a wretched disease.
Last November I cheated on vacation, then upon returning enjoyed happy hour with old friends, etc., then POW!, I was in a flare. Apparently symptoms can gradually accumulate until a tipping point is reached when diet and supplements are no longer effective. Same drastic symptoms as previous flares with the addition of even worse abdominal pain. I wondered if this time was something worse than before and seriously considered going to the emergency room. I had moved out-of-state last year and it would be two weeks to get an appointment from a new doctor.
I was afraid the hospital would shoot me up with prednisone. My fasting blood sugar was already spiking into the danger zone from the flare and I was afraid that the pred would tip me into full-blown diabetes.
Finally I saw my doctor and told him how Flagyl had snuffed out my two previous flares. He gave me a prescript
ion and within 3 weeks my flare had ended. All symptoms including pain and arthritis soon back to normal. In total the flare lasted about
six weeks and I lost 30 pounds which I slowly gained back.
For sure I will never become overly confident and eat sloppy again. I don't know what I would have done if the Flagyl didn't work. I am lucky because only about
15 percent of IBDers are helped by antibiotics. Diet and supplements are once again helping me remain in remission but now I can more easily understand why others don't find them beneficial for actually ending a flare. Diet alone was not enough against a full-blown flare.