Hi. I’m Lauren. I’m 36 years old. I’m a stay-at-home wife and mom. I have 2 wonderful young kids (ages 5 and 2). I’m blessed with a supportive husband and family.
Some more about me:
I’m a former elementary teacher. I love life. I have a great family; wonderful friends; keep strong in my faith. I enjoy planning parties; I love the beach; and I once loved running, exercising and being outdoors – but I’m very limited now.
Symptoms:
Presently, I’ve just lost over 15lbs in 3 weeks. I was hit with a stomach virus and recovered from the virus – but now my UC is quite vicious. I’m scheduled to start Humira next week – but starting to second guess. I find it difficult to rest and take ALL necessary steps to healing naturally when I have 2 young kids to care for at home. I love the natural approach – but having young kids to care for has been a game-changer for me. I NEED to be better fast to care for them. They basically have been living with family members for the past 2 weeks as I try to rest- but my symptoms are getting worse: massive weight loss, unbelievable urgency (had several “accidents”), losing so much “fluid” – no formed stool AND quite a bit of blood. ugh. – and of course… pain.
Natural TNF Blockers … the Missing Piece for Remission?
Diagnosed with IBS in 2004. In 2007, re-diagnosed with pancolitis UC. I struggled and couldn’t get remission on Asacol, Prednisone, etc… I was blessed with REMISSION in 2009 during my pregnancy and for several months post-pregnancy. However, I had a major flare in 2010 when my son was 9 mos old. I was hospitalized and started Remicade. After an allergic reaction to my first dose of Remicade, I stopped the Remicade. I took Canasa, Lialda, and periodically Prednisone – none of which kept me in remission. I had a few good weeks or 3 months (at most) of relief and just kept “functioning” but never thriving. I kept the edge off the disease by diet, supplements, etc… but never attained full remission. I hoped for remission with my second pregnancy (as I experienced in my first pregnancy) but was not so blessed. For the past 4 years, I’ve managed to lead a normal life (but with inconveniences). However, I’m often anemic a nd running on about 60% or less energy level from the drain of this disease. At the end of the summer, I faced a major setback began and now things are spiraling out of control (as I mentioned above).
I’ve tried the natural and homeopathic approach: Maker’s Diet (modified – as I can’t tolerate Kefir); SCD diet (though probably not long enough); fasting, Aloe Vera, Inflammacore, Arbonne (pea based shakes), NAKED green and GREEN GOODNESS / Bolthouse Farms drinks (definitely help!), Garden of Life products, etc… All of these things HELP and have kept me functioning for years. However, nothing has brought complete remission.
So, now I’m faced with giving a Humira a try (which scares me). My hope is to be on it short-term and achieve remission and then maintain naturally after coming off Humira in less than a year.
OR, don’t start Humira and consider giving this last natural thing a try… I really think that there are natural TNF blockers that can help with reducing inflammation in our bodies. After researching, it seems odd that I can’t stop bleeding and attain remission on the natural paths I’ve tried. I thought about the fact that TNF blockers may be the missing piece. Humira and other biologics block TNF. I’ve never approached targeting TNF naturally and full force (while combining Ulcerin I and II by Dr. Verma) AND following a modified Maker’s/ SCD diet.
I’m wondering if anyone has thought about this before and given it a try? Here’s a list of natural TNF blockers: Tumeric/ Curcumin; Milk Thistle; Stinging nettle leaf extract; Fish Oil / Omega 3’s; CoQ10; Green Tea / EGCG; Vitamin E / Alpha Tocopheral; Magnesium; Tart Cherry Juice;
Clearly, consuming ALL of the above would be too much on a very sensitive system. However, maybe incorporating quite a few of the above while following SCD and using Ulcerin Compound I & II might prove successful.
Has anyone tried anything similar? Has anyone thought about the concept of natural TNF blockers before?
Do I start Humira Tuesday or put it off and give this last approach a try?
written by Lauren K
submitted in the colitis venting area
Hi. I’m Lauren. I’m 36 years old. I’m a stay-at-home wife and mom. I have 2 wonderful young kids (ages 5 and 2). I’m blessed with a supportive husband and family.
