![diagnosed with colitis 1994](https://i0.wp.com/www.ihaveuc.com/wp-content/uploads/Timo.jpg?resize=300%2C322&ssl=1)
Hi, My name is Timo, I’m 65 retired computer and electronics engineer and non-fiction eBook author. My motive is to share my positive experiences how I’ve managed to improve the quality of my life with Ulcerative Colitis.
Some more background info:
I was born in Helsinki Finland and now I have been living in Penedo RJ Brazil for 25 years with my wife and four dogs.
Symptoms:
Nowadays my symptoms are few. I take, not regularly, sulfasalazine called Azulfin 500 mg. The daily need to go to toilet is one or two times. Below I’ll tell you what I did.
Four Positive Changes
My UC was diagnosed in 1994 after a severe flair up. In that time UC was not very commonly known disease in Brazil and the first doctor said that I have probably AIDS as I was loosing a lot weight. I didn’t believe him and I went to see another doctor, gastroenterologist this time and he diagnosed it as UC but he was not a specialist in Ulcerative Colitis and he sent me to the only one in Rio. He started the treatment Prednisone. It took three months to get back to remission. Then came a problem where to get sulfasalazine as it was not sold in Brazil. That time airline company Varig had a special service to import medicines that were not available n Brazil and I was treated with imported and very expensive drug. Ever since I have managed to get by with this literally shitty disease.
Lately I have made four major changes in my life:
The first change for the better came when I learned that probiotics can be of help in UC and I tried it. A year ago I started to take probiotics called Yakult daily and to hurry to toilet and “accidents” became much fewer.
The second change was not to eat red meat. I noticed that after having participated a Brazilian BBQ party the next day was always difficult.
Third one was to quit beer. This I learned from iHaveUC pages and decided to try it and I feel better now.
The fourth is that I heard that to take sodium bicarbonate with lemon juice has a body Ph balancing effect that can help bowel function better among the other things. As we have a lemon tree full of fruits in our back yard, I started to take it first thing in the morning. Now the need to go to toilet is once a day.
Sodium Bicarbonate listings on Amazon.com
Reminder
The text above is my story of the changes that helped my life. I have made them with my doctor’s approval. I am aware that these kind of things are always individual and anyone that is willing to try them, please consult prior your doctor.
Medications / Supplements:
Four Positive Changes that have helped alot:
1. Probiotics (Yakult in my case)
2. No red meat. (Well, living in BBQ paradise it’s pretty hard to say no to it)
3. No beer. (Hard decision for a beer lover)
4. Lemon juice with sodium bicarbonate
written by Timo
submitted in the colitis venting area
![Timo Cavalheiro Liesimaa](https://i0.wp.com/www.ihaveuc.com/wp-content/uploads/userphoto/1173.thumbnail.png?resize=50%2C50&ssl=1)
Hi, My name is Timo, my motive to here is to share my positive experiences how I managed to improve the quality of my life with Ulcerative Colitis.