Fasting

I would say next to none. zip. zero.

Some advice for treating IBD in hospitals with pred does use the idea of "bowel rest", and put people on IV nutrition.

Some anecdotal advice on forums like this mentions short fasts to get a kind of bowel rest. Maybe to let some real inflammation subside a bit, or to let some med get a foothold, or both.

But I am unaware that short fasts in conjunction with oral pred therapy has been studied.

It make sense. There are also reports (that make sense) of low-residue or fasting for symptom management. You might restrict food (to some extent) for a few days to give the pred more chance of working quicker.

But "evidence" that it promotes "healing" - I still say next to none. Just anecdote and conjecture. .... So maybe worth a try, but ...

Right now I'm doing intermittent fasting. 16 hours no eating, 8 where I have 2 meals. I definitely am getting enough calories and nutrients (I've been eating healthy) and I have weight to lose, anyway, so I'm eating less on purpose. But I feel better in the mornings than I ever have before with a flare - I'm in a drawn out mild flare that doesn't quite want to go away but causes me no distress, just a little bleeding/mucous once in a while. I also take qing dai, which helps with inflammation. Right now most days I only go once a day and it seems to be all of it, and I've never had a stint like this since I started having UC. I hope it's a good sign. So for me at the moment, diet plus qing dai plus intermittent seem to be helping at least. I'm not dealing with uncomfortableness or gas like previously. But if I eat something like broccoli I want to die. :/

But I'd never do a water fast.

I've read numerous fasting attempts with UC over the years. Universally, you crap less when fasting (as input = output). However, once you resume eating the bloody flood gates just open up again, and you continue crapping your brains out. It might sound nice on paper, to give yourself a bowel-rest and time to heal, but the affect does not last. Not worth it, in my opinion.

Who is making the suggestion? People who don't have our disease like to suggest all kinds of stupid things. Tonight I had a co-worker suggest I try some collagen product she buys off of Amazon for her "leaky gut" issues and her irritable bowel syndrome. This was after I told her I had recently started Remicade and was in remission! I cannot stand people sometimes. I don't think you should fast. Is the prednisone not helping at all?