Crohn's Disease/Ulcerative Colitis

Diet and Nutrition
26

[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]

I suffer from UC and was curious how much and how often you consume aloe vera juice? Do you buy it online? If so, where? I went to pick some up at the local drug store and a 32oz. jug was nearly $20. The “recommended serving” was 8oz. a day…so, I was looking at $5 a serving… Any info would help! THANKS

27

There was some interesting work done by Dr. Mark Pimental at Cedar Sinai Hospital (a very well known place for advancement of IBS) and his research has led him to believe that IBS is caused by an abnormal amount of bacteria within the small intestine. There is a certain breathe test done to determine whether this is the source of your IBS. But there is a very high statistic ( something like 85%) of people with IBS have a very high growth of this particular bacteria. I wont claim it to be the answer, but its worth looking in to. Google Mark Pimental and judge for yourself.

28

I’ve got Crohn’s too. Was diagnosed when I was 10 years old although I had been experiencing symptoms for years before then.

I’ve recently (last six months) been trying to ease off the immunosurpressants (Remicade, Imuran) and instead focus on diet and supplements. The side effects from the drugs (getting infections every months, skin problems, etc.) were becoming too much to bear. I’m doing a variant of the PH Diet (except with more protein) and using Glutamine, N-Acetyl-L-Cysteine, silymarin and Life Extension Mix.

Just a note for those under 18 with Crohns or if you’re the parent of someone with it: there are some doctor’s out there who are stuck in the Middle Ages and think that near-Chronic dosing of corticosteroids is the best treatment option. Avoid them at all costs.

My doctor had me on steroids near continuously for five years from when I was 11 to 16 when my parents finally got me a new doctor when I nearly died from adrenal failure. I had horrible side effects from it the enitre time but my doctor kept telling my believing parents that steroids were the only way to treat the disorder. Anyone who has read a book on medicine since 1975 can tell you they’re not.

There’s no doubt in my mind that this stunted my growth along with causing a host of other chronic issues. I was 5’7" when I entered 7th grade and haven’t grown an inch since (I’m 20 now). It’s hard to blame genetics for this when both my father and brother are over 6’ and my mother is 5’11. Even throwing out height, I’ve still got Addison’s disease, a weakened immune system, liver issues and chronic joint problems from the steroids still 3 years after being off them.

You know those 16 year olds in the forums who say they’re gonna take D-Bol and Tren without caring about the sideeffects? It’s sad but some people go through eight years of med school and are just as ignorant about steroids as them.

29

I sympathise, and even empathise to an extent. Since January, I’ve had an intermittent pain in my lower right abdomen, occasionally stretching across the pant line, but seemingly focused in the lower right spot.

Since then, I’ve had two CT scans from two different hospitals (as I have been really frustrated with my main hospital). My first concern was appendix due to the location. My other concerns were Crohn’s, ulcers and possibly a hernia. The two tests came back negative, and I had a blood test for Crohn’s and that was negative too.

I’m in the process of trying to find a new doctor and hospital. My current doctor has given up and attributed it to stress. I think that’s ridiculous…although I have had some other tests recently (a colonoscopy about a year ago that was fine) I haven’t had an upper or lower GI yet, so there are plenty more tests to do.

If there’s anything I can suggest, it is to make sure you are your own case manager, and that you are aggressive with. Unfortunately, many doctors in this day and age are not good at that.

30

[quote]Sergius wrote:

There’s no doubt in my mind that this stunted my growth along with causing a host of other chronic issues. I was 5’7" when I entered 7th grade and haven’t grown an inch since (I’m 20 now). It’s hard to blame genetics for this when both my father and brother are over 6’ and my mother is 5’11. Even throwing out height, I’ve still got Addison’s disease, a weakened immune system, liver issues and chronic joint problems from the steroids still 3 years after being off them.

[/quote]

Well, to be honest, Crohn’s in itself does cause joint (monoarthritis, sacro-iliitis), liver(hepatitis, primary biliary cirrhosis, gallstones) and bile duct complications.

Moreover, while corticosteroids might have something to do with it for some people, it is very common for young individuals experiencing from Crohn’s ealy in life to develop unexplained growth failure and delayed puberty.

Now it is true that corticosteroids are no longer indicated for maintenance therapy but are usually very effective in an acute situation.

It is important to remember that both Crohn’s and UC have many extra-GI involvements some of which can almost be as bad as the GI symptoms.

Anyway, good luck with you situation,
chronic diseases are a bitch.

AlexH

31

[quote]Shiggy wrote:
I sympathise, and even empathise to an extent. Since January, I’ve had an intermittent pain in my lower right abdomen, occasionally stretching across the pant line, but seemingly focused in the lower right spot.

Since then, I’ve had two CT scans from two different hospitals (as I have been really frustrated with my main hospital). My first concern was appendix due to the location. My other concerns were Crohn’s, ulcers and possibly a hernia. The two tests came back negative, and I had a blood test for Crohn’s and that was negative too.

I’m in the process of trying to find a new doctor and hospital. My current doctor has given up and attributed it to stress. I think that’s ridiculous…although I have had some other tests recently (a colonoscopy about a year ago that was fine) I haven’t had an upper or lower GI yet, so there are plenty more tests to do.

If there’s anything I can suggest, it is to make sure you are your own case manager, and that you are aggressive with. Unfortunately, many doctors in this day and age are not good at that.[/quote]

Well, it is not that ridiculous considering that when everything comes back negative, functional bowel disorders like Irritable Bowel Disease/Dyspepsia must be considered and these do respond to stress (but are caused by other neuro-GI abnormalities).

Also, one must realize that tests are not one hundred percent sensitive and specific and that physical exams results change as a function of time so sometimes you don’t ‘‘catch’’ the disease red-handed.

Anyways, good luck with your abdominal pains,
AlexH

32

[quote]Shiggy wrote:
I sympathise, and even empathise to an extent. Since January, I’ve had an intermittent pain in my lower right abdomen, occasionally stretching across the pant line, but seemingly focused in the lower right spot.

Since then, I’ve had two CT scans from two different hospitals (as I have been really frustrated with my main hospital). My first concern was appendix due to the location. My other concerns were Crohn’s, ulcers and possibly a hernia. The two tests came back negative, and I had a blood test for Crohn’s and that was negative too.

I’m in the process of trying to find a new doctor and hospital. My current doctor has given up and attributed it to stress. I think that’s ridiculous…although I have had some other tests recently (a colonoscopy about a year ago that was fine) I haven’t had an upper or lower GI yet, so there are plenty more tests to do.

If there’s anything I can suggest, it is to make sure you are your own case manager, and that you are aggressive with. Unfortunately, many doctors in this day and age are not good at that.[/quote]

Well, it is not that ridiculous considering that when everything comes back negative, functional bowel disorders like Irritable Bowel Disease/Dyspepsia must be considered and these do respond to stress (but are caused by other neuro-GI abnormalities).

Also, one must realize that tests are not one hundred percent sensitive and specific and that physical exams results change as a function of time so sometimes you don’t ‘‘catch’’ the disease red-handed.

Anyways, good luck with your abdominal pains,
AlexH

33

I would check out Garden Of Life’s Primal Defense and Perfect foods sups. I had a friend who suffered with Crohn’s and from what i can tell eats pretty normal now while taking his sups. Also i just met a lady at work ( vitamin Shoppe) who uses homemade Kiefer ( very similar to Primal defense) to battle with a similar digestive order. Read up on Heal Thyself by Jordan Ruben as another point of reference. Hope that helps.

34

try sams for aloe vera, I’m pretty sure they are cheaper.

35

You’re right about the extra GI symptoms causing problems too. My doctors at first thought that the joint troubles I had were Crohn’s related arthirtis until tests showed that not be what was going on.

My case is a little different in that the long term corticosteroid treatment shut down my adrenal glands and caused my hormone levels to plummet as well as liver problems from having to break down the prednisone. Long term steroid use (cortico or anabolic) has been shown to cause joint issues, I believe there was even an article abuot that on T-Nation.

While prednisone is no longer thought of as an acceptable long term treatment there are doctors out there that still use it that way or that fail to check for adrenal issues. I"d be wary of them.

36

Yeah, I get that, but my point is “everything” hasn’t come back negative, because there are plenty of tests they haven’t done yet.

For example, I haven’t had an upper/lower GI, and I thought of those. I’m not a doctor so there are probably other tests I haven’t thought of. My frustration is that my doctor has given up without even doing all of the relatively common tests, which is why I’m trying to find a new doctor.

[quote]Dandalex wrote:
Shiggy wrote:
I sympathise, and even empathise to an extent. Since January, I’ve had an intermittent pain in my lower right abdomen, occasionally stretching across the pant line, but seemingly focused in the lower right spot.

Since then, I’ve had two CT scans from two different hospitals (as I have been really frustrated with my main hospital). My first concern was appendix due to the location. My other concerns were Crohn’s, ulcers and possibly a hernia. The two tests came back negative, and I had a blood test for Crohn’s and that was negative too.

I’m in the process of trying to find a new doctor and hospital. My current doctor has given up and attributed it to stress. I think that’s ridiculous…although I have had some other tests recently (a colonoscopy about a year ago that was fine) I haven’t had an upper or lower GI yet, so there are plenty more tests to do.

If there’s anything I can suggest, it is to make sure you are your own case manager, and that you are aggressive with. Unfortunately, many doctors in this day and age are not good at that.

Well, it is not that ridiculous considering that when everything comes back negative, functional bowel disorders like Irritable Bowel Disease/Dyspepsia must be considered and these do respond to stress (but are caused by other neuro-GI abnormalities).

Also, one must realize that tests are not one hundred percent sensitive and specific and that physical exams results change as a function of time so sometimes you don’t ‘‘catch’’ the disease red-handed.

Anyways, good luck with your abdominal pains,
AlexH
[/quote]

38

I know where you’re coming from when it comes to having doctor’s seem to run out of ideas. I’d suggest trying to find a good GI specialist. In my experience, doctors that are affiliated with med schools or are actively doing research are best at thinking critically and finidng out what’s wrong when regular pracitioners have exhausted the textbook. If you’re in the midwest the Cleveland Clinic has a great GI department (although I’ve only had experience with its pediatric wing).

Good luck

39

Thanks. I’m in the Boston area, and almost ironically, although this is one of the top medical areas in the world, there are also some hospitals with horrible reputations with some pretty bad malpractice claims thrown against them. So it’s very much like you said, finding the right doctor who studied at the best schools and who works at a reputable hospital is key.

[quote]Sergius wrote:
I know where you’re coming from when it comes to having doctor’s seem to run out of ideas. I’d suggest trying to find a good GI specialist. In my experience, doctors that are affiliated with med schools or are actively doing research are best at thinking critically and finidng out what’s wrong when regular pracitioners have exhausted the textbook. If you’re in the midwest the Cleveland Clinic has a great GI department (although I’ve only had experience with its pediatric wing).

Good luck[/quote]

40

What about HCl therapy? Over in Shug’s experiment thread it’s getting pretty good reviews fro those who’ve tried it.

Also, there seems to be enough interest for a full-fledged T-Nation article on this topic.

41

One other thing to do is try getting some myofascial work done. People like Guy Voyer have found that certain gastrointestinal problems can be linked to problems with the parasympathetic nervous system and can be ameliorated (in some cases even solved) by opening up nerve pathways (if they are impinged).

My PT was telling my the other day about a guy he knew who had horrible lower bowel problems until he (the pt) worked on his lumbar and sacroiliac regions. It turned out that the part of his spine that carried the nerves to his large intestine and rectum was compressed and the surrounding musculature scarred up. After getting rid of the scar tissue and releasing the compression the bowel problems went away.

Maybe you could look into finding a pt that’s studied under Dr. Guy Voyer (from what I read he’s the expert on fascia), Or barring that getting a copy of his ELDOA stretches (he’s developed individual stretches for each vertrebrae to decompress them and help create a greater flow of extracellular and spinal fluid around them) and doing those.

If any of editors are reading this I think it’d be amazing if we could get an article by him published on the site. The stuff he’s doing in myofascial release (ELDOA, pompage, etc.) is so cutting edge it’s mind blowing.

Best

42

That would be a very, very interesting read.

[quote]Sergius wrote:

If any of editors are reading this I think it’d be amazing if we could get an article by him published on the site. The stuff he’s doing in myofascial release (ELDOA, pompage, etc.) is so cutting edge it’s mind blowing.

Best[/quote]

43

Yea a full article on this with some good doctors who understand athletes would be nice. Im not sure if I have one of these but have to start scheduling the tests after Christmas…

This past year Ive had some horrible doctors, and just completed my second surgery…last year about this time doing heavy squats I caused a bad anal fissure…kept trainng hard b/c my primary care thought it was just a hemorroid. Once I found out it was a fissure, I went through months of various meds and strict diet with no luck. Had surgery, doc messed it up bad I couldnt get off my hands and knees for 3-4 weeks, having no kidding spinchter spasms that would produce knee buckling pain.

About this time I started having major stomach issues too, which the doctor and his nurses kept blowing off…around and around this doctor just wanted to send me on my way with clean bill of health despite continued bleeding from an open wound, drainage I didnt have before surgery, and stomach pains and cramps. I used to have an iron gut but with an entire year of this medical hoops stress, I thought I might have caused ulcers.

Finally found a good doc, and along with a fourth opinion confirmed I now had a fistula…yea two tears in my rear with a tube between them causing the leakage…right before the surgery I got death like flu, felt like food poisoning, and my stool was white…had the fistula surgery which went GREAT compared to the fissure surgery.

Im up and about and rear doesnt hurt at all, but now I need to find out if I have gall bladder issues so we are starting with an ultra sound. If its not gall bladder, it could be UC or Crohns/IBS…fun fun…

Never before have I had health problems outside of sports injuries, Im 32 in a couple of weeks and have been out of training for an entire year basically due to all this. It is the WORST year of my life and causes tremendous stress. Add to that Im a S&C coach part time, a full time cop and PT instructor, and my life revolved around working out…its my life…Im sure God has some lessons in all of this for me, as Ive leared a great deal of patience, but I do wish for all the guessing of why Im having so many issues to be over with.

I do not have blood in my stool or pain in my lower right side. Ive had some bad pains in my upper right side under the rib cage a few times after the first surgery when I was going through hell. When I was on heavy pain meds I got constipated, but after getting off the pain meds I go okay.

Just in recent months has it turned into the eating a meal and all the sudden feeling like I gotta run to the bathroom…or all day long Ill have audible growns, growls, and gurgling from my upper stomach to lower abs, even to the point of seeing my belly shake and vibrate from what feels like air pockets moving around in there. Its horrible, not painful most of the time, just terribly annoying and frustrating, only sometimes painful.

Ok I wrote way too much…but I just got on here searching because I thought once I got the fistula surgery healed I was gonna have a green light to go full speed ahead…now I have this new Crohns/IBS/UC to worry about and figure out how to manage if its not gall stones.

I appreciate ANY and ALL advice and suggestions.

God Bless, Merry Christmas

44

I typed up a longer post but it didnt get printed for some reason…but I ditto Id really like an article on this topic…been struggling with hell all year with other issues and surgeries that might be related.

45

Very interesting information, if you would like to see some more current info. you may want to check out www.gotcrohns.ca, it tells a lot about current research and what cure(s) are currently being used around the globe…and what might be available locally for everyone…I’ve found the forums are a good read.