Crohn's Disease/Ulcerative Colitis

Diet and Nutrition
1

i was recently diagnosed with either crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis. it totally sucks. for those at there who might also be living these conditions, i’d be interested in hearing about your experience with the disease.

i.e. what age were you diagnosed, how did you control your symptoms <what medication, dose, how long did it take to improve>, and have you kept your symptoms in remission ever since?

most importantly, although these is no consensus in the medical community regarding an established diet that is effective in controlling crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis, have any of you noticed that certain foods help or worsen your condition?

thanks for sharing. i’m in a rush to take care of some shit right now but i’ll be checking back in this thread later and will share my experiences with the disease, so far. again, i don’t have too much to share as i’m new to this illness, but i’ll contribute what i’ve learned, thus far.

thanks in advance.

2

i have crohn’s. was diagnosed at 2004 but suffered since 2002. the first attack was just hell i went from 215 lb to 170.it actually went by itself but only after 8 month of not being diagnosed. the second one came at 2004 and got me hospitilized. then i got diagnosed. they put me on pentasa 3 gr/aday.

after finally being diagnosed i decided that it wont stop me. i got back to training and started a nutririon journal with everything i ate and the days the i wasnt felling good and found the foods that caused it.
i’ll tell you what i found works for me:
high protein, at least 1.5 gr per pound.
no wheat at all. keep my fiber relatively low but i do use metamucil.

keep fat and carbs separated, no sugar.
i use a lot o olive oil. my favourite carb source that dont cause me problems are quinoa,millet and rice(not brown which kept me out for a week) i also avoid nuts and seeds and stuff that might not get fully digested and irritate the linnings.
as for supplements that helped me control the disease:omega 3, glutamine, a good pro biotic and good digestive enzyme supplement.

since i started this i stayed in remission with bad days being few and far between.
hope this helps

3

let me tell you that I have been battling un named digestion problems for 3 years. So much in fact that they curtailed my training.

around here people will just tell you to take acidopholis, enzymes, hcl and eat High fiber. They regurgitate what some other writer says.

the problem is they don’t understand when things like imflamation are involved its a whole different story.

I can tell you for sure that it is treatable, and when a dr. says you have ulceriteive , or chrons its a kind of cop out, and it makes you feel better.

I would start by getting a thorough, digestived stool analysis, from great smokies,gsdl, its called cdsa, to check you levels of bacteria ,good and bad, digestive capabilities.

then I would follow jordin rubins patienet heal thyself program. he healed chrons.

live green juices are best,
whey protein is good.
watch the fats as they cause problems in people with digestive issues.
cooked foods especially zuchini is easy to digest.

doing some cleanses helps, like smart cleanse where you actually eat.

sometimes fasting on whey protein, green powder, and green juices plus lots of glutamine help.

doing a parasite cleanse helps,
anti candida herbs help.

4

Ill just add do a search there are a couple threads by ppl with chrons that have made great progress and should help.,

Phill

5

Avoid wheat like the plague is nr. 1 for me.

6

One of my roommates has that. High fiber sends him to the ER. He got his large intestine replaced last year. He’s doing well now and is easing himself back into the gym and road biking. Good luck.

7

Check out Barry Sears the Omega Rx Zone, talks about fish oil’s benefits and some other suggestions.

8

[quote]Phill wrote:
Ill just add do a search there are a couple threads by ppl with chrons that have made great progress and should help.,

Phill[/quote]

thanks for the recommendation, but after doing a search on crohn’s disease, i must say this site has VERY little information regarding this disease and equally little regarding ulcerative colitis.

that being said, it’d be interesting to build this thread up to include experiences of members of this website regarding their experiences with these disorders, if they feel like sharing.

9

anyways, regarding my own details, here they are:

i am 24 and was diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disorder in late september. so i have either crohn’s or ulcerative colitis. i will be getting a second opinion and most likely switching doctors as i am unimpressed with the service i received from my gastroenterolist.

i began having symptoms in the summer… probably in june. going to the bathroom just felt different. it was always loose in the morning… suggesting my colon wasn’t doing a good job of absorbing nutrition or removing water to solidify the stools.

being a typical guy, i figured it was something small and that it’d go away. i tried consuming more fibre although i’ve always been fibre conscious and have eaten a lot of natural fibres, that didn’t work.

the symptoms began to progress with me going to the bathroom more often during the day, and the need to go becoming more and more urgent over time.

this summer, in july, i went through a difficult time. i work a semi high-stress job (call centre customer service for a wireless canadian carrier), and was working around 70-80-ish hours a week this summer in order to earn money for school.

about 20 of these hours were spent in another job, promoting wireless products at the retail level for the same provider for Q3 . needless to say, i was stressed out trying to earn money for the coming school year in september.

also during this time, i was having personal problems as i had a falling out with my closest friend/romantic partner. it’s the cliche story of best friends crossing the line and everything getting fucked up. this upset me greatly and contributed heavily to my stress levels. this damaged what little sleep i was able to get during this busy time.

with this type of lifestyle, i spent every hour AWAY from my two jobs sleeping at home for 6-ish hours. and usually less, because i was so anxious all the time with personal stress. you can imagine how shitty my diet was, as well… with no time or energy to prepare normal food. i resorted to the worst fast food options available. pizza, coffee houses with club sandwiches and donuts, frozen dinners, etc. and forget about hitting the gym.

my symptoms began to get severe during this time. i was going to the bathroom ALL THE TIME. then i began to see blood in the stools. i was hoping it was some sort of virus or intestinal bacteria.

so i scheduled a blood examination and stool sample to see if undesirable bacterial cultures were present in the stools or if antibodies were detected in the blood. the tests came back negative.

so i went for my initial physical examination with a gastroenterologist and explained my symptoms. he gave me a simply physical exam, and look ‘up there’ with something, an immediately told me i had severe inflammation and that i needed a colonoscopy.

so i went for my colonoscopy <well, it wasn’t a full colonoscopy, they didn’t go TOO deep>, and what the doctor suspected was confirmed. i had inflammatory bowel disease.

so i was prescribed prednisone, and told to take 6 pills <5 mg each> per day, along with 3 asocols a day. my symptoms quickly came under control. i felt like i was fixed! but i was told to quickly taper the dose, so after 3 days of 6 prednisone per day, i was to reduce the dose to 5 prednisone for 3 more days, and then to stick to 4 prednisone per day for the remainder of the treatment.

i am going to be taking prednisone for another month. i’ve already been on it for a month. i feel like my symtoms were under better control at the higher dose, but i also feel like when i eat a bit ‘lighter’ and control my portions and timing, that my symptoms are also mildly improved.

it’s too soon for me to share detailed experiences since i’ve only been controlling my symptoms for a short time. but i’d love to hear more detailed stories from people dealing with these conditions if they’d be willing to share.

10

although i don’t think i have any food allergies, i will be scheduling a food allergy test as well just to be sure there’s nothing i need to know about.

according to recommendations i’ve seen ‘around’, it looks like people with these IBDs tend to sacrifice a lot of tasty foods. i.e. all sorts of seeds and nuts , fatty foods, and dairy… and that’s just for starters.

11

some interesting things to note are that crohn’s is most common in canada and the US.

is it a coincidence that these two countries are among the highest consumers of low-quality processed foods? maybe.

i’m definitely cutting out all SHIT foods. although i love going for pizza and eating cookies, etc… i have a good reason to deny these foods, going forward. it won’t be because i’m one of those food-obsessed carb-a-phobes who’s terrified of eating a couple of extra calories like people i’m sure we all know.

i’ve never done a low fat diet, but i will try one in the future if i can’t keep my symptoms in remission after i get off the prednisone.

and stress must be kept low. i can only share personal anecdote, but i don’t think it’s a coincidence that this disorder flared up on me like CRAZY during a time when i was incredibly stressed out and eating HORRIBLY. think of it, bad sleep, high stress, zero exercise, horrible food choices… i did everything wrong except take up drinking and drugs and promiscuous sex.

14

I know what you’re going through. I have IBS and although it’s a bit different, can affect people in some of the same ways. IBS affects different people very differently and the symptoms range from barely anything to severe cramping and other problems.

I’ve been battling it since my early 20’s (25 now) and it’s definately kept me out of the gym due to having to stop eating enough to really achieve my goals.

I’m giving it another go though now. I don’t know what’s going to work, but I’m going to be keeping an eye on this thread.

Right now I’m just going with a good bit of fiber and eating 3 decent-sized meals a day (as high calorie as I can pack into a meal that isn’t going to keep me off my feet the next day). But I’m also eating protein shakes 3 times a day.

It’s a bit of a setback, mentally, because I know that if I didn’t have this problem, I would eat 4500 calories a day without any problems. I’ve even fought my way through it for a month and a half about 10 months ago but my body couldn’t take it anymore so I HAD to quit. We’re talking stomach pain and intestinal cramping so bad that you can barely stand. There are certain foods I have to avoid, but I just can’t stay out of the gym anymore, so I have to do things smart.

15

LET ME MAKE THIS CLEAR TO YOU
that the stool test you got at the doctors is not sufficient. THose are the worst stool tests done, by very untrained experts.

Only TWO companies are even recomended to detect undesireable pathogens, and even then the test you got at your doctors is not a complete digestive analysis.

You need to read up some books. like parasite menace, prescription for nutritional healing.

Let me just say to get a thorough CDSA comprehneisve digestive and stool analysis and if you do the research you will realize as its stated by many health experts that

great smokies diagnostic labratory
or meridian
or doctors data
are the only one
and that the office doctor stool swab are not very through
and often come back negative. Its a very complicated thing

FYI, candida and parasites are linked to imflamation.

17

[quote]TheWookie wrote:

One of the suspect diseases may be Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP), but it is notoriously difficult to test for as it is difficult to culture. Some people have been treated for MAP despite not having a sure-fire test and have gone into remission (at least), but it involves going on heavy antibiotics for up to a few years. What makes the MAP theory so interesting is that it is also a livestock disease called Johne’s disease or Bovine Johne’s disease AKA “wasting.” The thinking goes it was passed into human populations by way of milk that wasn’t pasturized enough.

The Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America http://www.ccfa.org/

Crohn’s Disease Information Center
http://www.shafran.net/crohn/ [/quote]

One doctor is actually testing a vaccine to destroy the MAP bug. So in a couple of years, there could be a cure for those whose disease is caused by this bacteria.

18

[quote]Kill’Em All wrote:
LET ME MAKE THIS CLEAR TO YOU
that the stool test you got at the doctors is not sufficient. THose are the worst stool tests done, by very untrained experts.

Only TWO companies are even recomended to detect undesireable pathogens, and even then the test you got at your doctors is not a complete digestive analysis.

You need to read up some books. like parasite menace, prescription for nutritional healing.

Let me just say to get a thorough CDSA comprehneisve digestive and stool analysis and if you do the research you will realize as its stated by many health experts that

great smokies diagnostic labratory
or meridian
or doctors data
are the only one
and that the office doctor stool swab are not very through
and often come back negative. Its a very complicated thing

FYI, candida and parasites are linked to imflamation.[/quote]

can you elaborate on this at all? your post is a little unclear to me.

19

[quote]TheWookie wrote:
hueyOT wrote:
some interesting things to note are that crohn’s is most common in canada and the US.

is it a coincidence that these two countries are among the highest consumers of low-quality processed foods? maybe.

Interestingly it has been mainly a disease of industrialized countries and/or populations. So could it be processed food? I bet there is some link, but that is just a “gut feeling.” LOL

Japan had virtually no cases until after WWII. Same with much of the Thrid World. However, it could also be a diagnostic issue. Crohn’s can look a lot like tuberculosis and may have been diagnosed that way in countries where TB is prevalent (i.e., the third world). The latest research suggests Crohn’s may not be just one disease, but several diseases that reveal themselves in the same way. This may explain why some treatments work on some people on not on others. One of the suspect diseases may be Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP), but it is notoriously difficult to test for as it is difficult to culture. Some people have been treated for MAP despite not having a sure-fire test and have gone into remission (at least), but it involves going on heavy antibiotics for up to a few years. What makes the MAP theory so interesting is that it is also a livestock disease called Johne’s disease or Bovine Johne’s disease AKA “wasting.” The thinking goes it was passed into human populations by way of milk that wasn’t pasturized enough.

The Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America http://www.ccfa.org/

Crohn’s Disease Information Center
http://www.shafran.net/crohn/[/quote]

ya, i’ve heard about that stuff. i seriously need to get a second opinion, as i was unimpressed with the doctor i dealt with.

20

i’m going to incorporate some sort of weekly fast as well. i’ll pick a day to only consume fluids and maybe some easily digestible foods. like real chicken soup with very soft zucchini, carrots, and chicken. lots of fluids, etc… just to give the colon a rest on a regular basis.

damn i want to get cured and i’m not gonna let myself get surgery because of an imcompetent doctor.

21

From my experience, taking glutamine, drinking aloe vera juice, using greens powder, and taking a probiotic a few times daily helped a great deal. If you only do one though, go for the probiotic. I’d reccomend Primal Defense made by Garden of Life.

About 4 years ago during my freshman year of college I started showing symptoms of some unknown digestive problem. It didn’t help that at the time I was under a variety of stressors (complete lack of sleep, poor diet, etc.) Anyhow, I had abdominal tenderness, and pain would usually follow any decent size meal. I started losing weight at a significant pace, dropping down from about 215 at december of that year to 170 by the summer. As such, I underwent a variety of blood, fecal, urine tests which failed to reveal any cause. After seeing a specialist and having a colonoscopy, I was told I had some form of Crohn’s, although not severe.

I was not put on any medication, probably because I just stopped going to see doctors. Instead, I found my symptoms were reduced by following a low fat diet with a few supplements, eating small portions throughout the day, and cycling. No clue exactly why it worked for me, but it did. Unfortunately though, this meant I was still under eating, and my weight plummeted to 145lbs at 5’10".

It took a while for me to work up to consuming more food, but now I feel fine. Every now and then while under stress it might flare up a bit, but for the most part its a non-issue. How it affects my training from a nutrient absorption standpoint, I couldn’t tell you.

22

[quote]Trogdor wrote:
From my experience, taking glutamine, drinking aloe vera juice, using greens powder, and taking a probiotic a few times daily helped a great deal. If you only do one though, go for the probiotic. I’d reccomend Primal Defense made by Garden of Life.

About 4 years ago during my freshman year of college I started showing symptoms of some unknown digestive problem. It didn’t help that at the time I was under a variety of stressors (complete lack of sleep, poor diet, etc.) Anyhow, I had abdominal tenderness, and pain would usually follow any decent size meal. I started losing weight at a significant pace, dropping down from about 215 at december of that year to 170 by the summer. As such, I underwent a variety of blood, fecal, urine tests which failed to reveal any cause. After seeing a specialist and having a colonoscopy, I was told I had some form of Crohn’s, although not severe.

I was not put on any medication, probably because I just stopped going to see doctors. Instead, I found my symptoms were reduced by following a low fat diet with a few supplements, eating small portions throughout the day, and cycling. No clue exactly why it worked for me, but it did. Unfortunately though, this meant I was still under eating, and my weight plummeted to 145lbs at 5’10".

It took a while for me to work up to consuming more food, but now I feel fine. Every now and then while under stress it might flare up a bit, but for the most part its a non-issue. How it affects my training from a nutrient absorption standpoint, I couldn’t tell you.

[/quote]

that’s interesting, thanks for sharing. i’m seriously considering purchasing a pro-biotic because i think my immune system is destroying the friendly bacteria that would normally be assisting in digestion. aloe vera juice sounds interesting…

good news for you that your case isn’t too severe, but that also leaves me thinking that my case is quite different from yours, as my symptoms are quite severe.

again thanks for the info and share more in this thread if you can.

23

Im not gonna beat this over your head anymore. It is well kown throughout the holistic community and many up to date doctors, that the stool tests done in doctor’s offices are the least worthy.

Through the industry their are only a few good companies that can accurately tell you whats going on.

go to greatsmokies diagnostic labratory
read about the various csda tests.

read any book and you’ll find this true.

NUFF SAID>.

you will just treat symptoms with you DOCTOR , or you can get to the root cause with a holistic, naturopathic approach.

It all starts with a comprehensive digestive analysis.

[quote]hueyOT wrote:
Kill’Em All wrote:
LET ME MAKE THIS CLEAR TO YOU
that the stool test you got at the doctors is not sufficient. THose are the worst stool tests done, by very untrained experts.

Only TWO companies are even recomended to detect undesireable pathogens, and even then the test you got at your doctors is not a complete digestive analysis.

You need to read up some books. like parasite menace, prescription for nutritional healing.

Let me just say to get a thorough CDSA comprehneisve digestive and stool analysis and if you do the research you will realize as its stated by many health experts that

great smokies diagnostic labratory
or meridian
or doctors data
are the only one
and that the office doctor stool swab are not very through
and often come back negative. Its a very complicated thing

FYI, candida and parasites are linked to imflamation.

can you elaborate on this at all? your post is a little unclear to me.
[/quote]