Just discussing my mothers recent troubles (hole in bowel) over the past week and have been trying to get her to focus on getting to a (progressive dietician) who can help her get her diet in line with her long bout with Ulcerative colitis. It has been about 8 yrs and I am convinced that the reason she has the disease in the first place is due to the typical breakfast she would start her day with, a glass of coke, 2 slices of toast, with tons of butter on top. I happen to know that one of the causes of this disease is consistent high insulin levels and a high fat diet at the same time. Basically, what Berardi warns against and we all avoid. Too late, the damage is done and she has been on prednisone in 5mg orals for the longest time as well as some immune suppressing drugs to bring down the white cell counts I believe.
My questions are for both the Steroid forum and the nutrition forum. I am wondering if anybody on here suffers from colitis and how they manipulate their diet/supps/ etc. to attempt to live a normal life. Would Glutamine be a decent supp, to help if she is not taking the steriod. She will lose 12 pds in 2 weeks b/c of the disease and I am sure it muscle atrophy. I have already got her to switch from using soy-based meal replacement shakes and advised her to buy some whey protein MRPs.
My second question relates to the liver and its function after the yrs of daily prednisone useage. I am very unfamiliar with this steriod, don’t know its class, or if its androgenic/anabolic or what. I do know that since she has been on it for so long her liver is starting to deteriorate and this is a major problem probably leading to a liver transplant. I am always of the belief that diet is the first place my mom should start, cause she knows little about it, and then address the steroid issues.
I am wondering if you can give me some advice.info (website) to relate to prednisone in this instance.
For her liver check out a supplement called “Liv52” by Himalaya I think. Also check into Milk Thistle. Both of these herbs/herbal compounds have been studied and are used by steroid users, recovering alcoholics, etc.
I have ulcerative colitis. It’s in full remission right now thankfully. From everything I’ve learned, it is not caused by diet at all. They don’t really know what causes it, but one of the theories, which I believe, is that it’s caused by stress. It’s a hereditary thing, and for me it only comes back when I get really really stressed out about things out of my control. When I exercise and eat right, I generally feel less stressed so that seems to do the trick. The first time I came down with it was when I was on crutches for 4 months so I wasn’t really getting any exercise, and I was also dealing with a massive financial strain.
Idon’t have a lot oftechnical info about drugs, but I do know that prednisone is not an anabolic steroid, it has nothing in common with any of the steroids people reading t-mag are concerned with. It’s a nasty nasty drug with about 100 different side effects. Retaining water, inability to become full, full body acnce, thin skin, increased susceptibility to muscle tears, and the list goes on and on. I had to take it the first time colitis popped up, and it wreaked havoc on my body, but it did get rid of the colitis. There are other treatments out there however. The last time I spoke to my doctor he mentioned a new treatment they were coming out with that hadn’t been approved yet. You may want to get a second opinion if the current doc isn’t up on the latest stuff.
Thanks for the info bud. I have heard a couple of places that diet can be a culprit/contributing factor. Her diet is about the worst thing…it used to be at least a 2 litre a day of Coke for herself. Can’t help the scenario I am sure. Yeah the prednisone puffs her up like a marshmallow. It helps, but has destroyed her. I am going to suggest the liver supps to her, thanks for that info. guys.
Nick, PM me when you find out about the new treatment. Her colitis is at the stage now where its bad enough to be on Steriods alot of the time, but not bad enough to warrant the surgical removal of everything and the switch to a bag.
The stress is a huge factor for sure. If she stays unstressed it can be in remission for a long time. I also know it is heriditary and I am watching myself and keeping check to make sure I don’t get it. The funny thing about this bout is that she was on vacation when it happened? No work…no financial burdens, etc. etc. Enough sleep? Odd. The last time it was in remission was when she was pregnant. So about 3 yrs ago, and then when she wasn’t…bam. Back to the shit.
So…I suppose your answer to the question regarding nutrition would be to eat only “clean” food. As far as the steriods, I will suggest the above to her and get her to run it past her doc. before hand.
The problem with conventional doctors is that they often just prescribe the medications and not really fix the problems at all, more of masking the porblem, you know? Maybe nautropathy doctor might be a better alternative, but it’s just my opinion. I just don’t agree with most of M.Ds approach to illnesses, that’s all. Almost everything are related to nutrition and M.Ds don’t know one thing about nutrition but knows tons of prescription medication and makes a living off the pad…
I don’t really know what the new treatment is, I’m sorry. It’s been years since I’ve had a bout of it, and that was when he told me about it. He was saying it might be approved for use soon back then, so it may be in use now. There’s also this treatment my grandmother gets called remicaid. She has crohn’s disease, which is seen as the same as ulcerative colitis, just that it flares up on the other end of the digestive tract. Remicaid is pretty radical, it involves being hooked up to an IV and having all kinds of stuff pumped into your blood stream for an hour or so. It makes her feel pretty bad, but it does seem to clear up any flare ups she gets. I don’t know if they do that for UC, but it’s worth checking out.
They key I think is to get rid of the UC and get off the prednisone, because that drug makes life pretty difficult. Once you get off that stuff you can safely exercise. For me, having UC has actually been a gift. It has taught me how to pay attention to my body and how I react to stress, and therefore has shown me how to deal with stress better. Most people go through life completely unaware of whether or not they are stressed out, and this disease taught me how to pay attention to the signs. Maybe she could attend some kind of workshop on stress management, or do meditation, yoga, accupuncture, or something like that. It might just have been my solution though, so it might not work for everyone. If what you’ve done so far hasn’t worked, you may as well branch out right?
Tungsten thanks for the link. Informative to say the least. Another pump for fiber. I also agree with the statement that everything has to do with diet. I read a statistic somewhere a long time ago, when I first got into eating right, exercise etc. etc. and it said that 70% of all diseases that doctors are treating can have a link to diet. That is a huge number. I also tend to agree with the general MD attitude towards nutrition. I remember when I was a fat little sombitch. I went in to get checked, asked the doc, what I could do to drop some weight cause I could fit my dad’s jeans at age 13…with a 32 waist. His suggestion was to eliminate starches. To a little kid…what the hell is a starch? My mom certainly didn’t know? And his simple one sentence advice didn’t help.
My mom is seeing a bowel specialist and I trust he knows what he is doing, but a life without drugs would be ideal for her. Exercise in her life would help immensely, and the stress reduction techniques provided by Nick, could be implimented by my mom.
I could see her now…with her friedns joining a yoga night or whatever. Nick…I will suggest that to her when she comes to visit me and maybe get her a couple of classes at my gym. That is a great idea and it should help overall with her mental stress levels as well as increasing exercise in her life.
Thanks a bunch guys, I really appreciate it and know my mom will take the advice b/c she is at the end of her options.
While these recommendations are based on my Crohn’s disease, they may have some benefit in dealing with Colitis.
Foods to avoid include: most dairy such as milk and ice cream (yogurt and eggs are sometimes tolerated), fried or greasy, alcohol, high in fiber, spicy/hot. Acidic fruits can be difficult such as apples and oranges. There may be other individual foods that should be avoided that are found by personal experience.
Foods that are fine include those that are bland such as: meats, some fruits such as bananas, starches such as potatoes, pasta, breads.
I have found that finding relaxing activities such as walking, drawing, and reading help disolve stresses. Stress has been something that really sets off my Crohn’s so exercise can definitely be helpful to feeling better!
In regards to a new treatment, my girlfriend, who is a surgical assistant, talked with a gastrointestinologist last week who mentioned that with Crohn’s there is treatment where parasites are put into the body to eat away at the Crohn’s… It’s certainly different!
As for resources… there are generally support groups for those suffereing from Crohn’s & Colits. Check out the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation’s website for links about the groups as well as more information about the disease. www.ccfa.org
Hope this helps