I know some people with UC and Crohn’s. Horrible diseases and very debilitating. I’ve done a lot of reading on them and have experience observing those people and how they manage their disease.
Stay away from ORAL anti-biotics. They will make you flare up within 24-48 hours.
I’m not sure if IV-administered anti-biotics cause the same problem with gut flora (eliminating healthy flora). If the IV version does NOT have this issue, and your doc recommends it for use (only for an infection, I mean), then make sure you only take the IV version.
Casein is a hard protein to digest. So is whey. Stay away from dairy.
Your gut needs to be under minimal stress:
-Avoid nuts.
-Avoid high amounts of fat (since fish oil is anti-inflammatory, try restricting your fat intake to mostly fish oil).
-Avoid high amounts of INSOLUBLE fiber (plant based, so greens or skins of fruits). SOLUBLE fiber should help you (inulin, acacia, psyllium husk). Yes, keep away from salads for now.
-Avoid pungent or spicy foods (mustard, spicy peppers).
-Avoid SEEDS.
-Avoid coffee and alcohol. Both are highly acidic and can damage/irritate your gut lining.
As a general rule, avoid sauces. They tend to be high fat or be very complex in preparation, incorporating many herbs/spices whose cumulative effect on your gut could be very bad.
What is the medical procedure you’re scheduled for? If it’s invasive (and especially if it’s surgery), stop fish oil about 3-4 days before the procedure. Fish oil thins the blood so there is a risk that you will bleed more.
One tea you should be drinking daily is cuachalalate. The plant is only found in Mexico I believe, but its active ingredient is anti-inflammatory, anti-ulcer. See if you can find it there. It comes in tea bags but you can also buy the bark (preferred) and boil a large piece in 1 L of water. Store in fridge and drink 4-5 glasses a day.
If you look at the molecular structure of the plant/tea, it is similar to prednisone, which is a steroid used for inflammatory conditions (it’s very powerful but has nasty long term side effects). I’m not sure if that’s why the tea is known to be anti-inflammatory or if there are other factors. I remember a chemist friend and I talking about this and he showed me the structures.
Try whole egg protein. It is pretty close to whey in profile and much easier on the gut.
Take your probiotic at NIGHT before bed AND take it with some soluble FIBER (pre-biotic), which should help the probiotic do what it needs to do.
Keep us updated.