I was diagnosed with UC (pancolitis) last year after 2 years of being symptomatic and progressivly getting worse. I was very unaware about what this disease was and how it could affect your whole life. I am a 25 year old very socially active woman and this disease almost put me in a dehabilited state. I was scared to go out with friends (especially out to eat), to drive short and long distances or even go to work because of the discomfort and unpredictability of my bm’s.
The doctor had me on Salofalk which helped for a couple of months. I did not feel perfect but I could handle it and live my life close to normal. Progressivly over a couple of months my symptoms were back in full force. The doctor did a scope and told me that the inflammation was severe and that he wanted to get me on prednisone right away. Knowing the side effects of the steroids I started crying in his office and told him that I refused to take them.
I started doing alot of research on alternative methods to helping UC. I came across the SCD diet online and that day I went to the library and picked up a copy of Breaking the Vicious Cycle
I want to see my gastro again and he gave me another medicinal option that being Imuran. I told the doctor about the SCD diet but he had never heard of it. I told him that I was going to try it and he said that was ok because it wouldn’t harm me. I had also read the side effects of imuran and I was scared but feeling like this was my only hope of getting better, I started on 50 mgs a day. I had a blood test after the first week and it seemed that my body was reacting ok to the imuran so the doctor upped my dosage to 175 mg/day. This is when the problems started. During this time I was nauseaus 24/7. I was weak and my body seemed to be falling apart, I couldn’t go out, my symptoms were at their worst. After 2 nights of not sleeping because I was throwing up all night I finally had enough and went to the emergency room. I was unsure whether the effects were from the newly started imuran, the SCD diet (die off symptoms) or from UC itself.
The hospital doctor told me to stop taking the imuran immediatly, it had given me a mild case of pancreatitis and was making me sick.
I felt hopeless because I knew that my gastro would wanna try to make me try prednisone. After I stopped taking the Imuran I felt much better. It was in the third week of the diet that I started to feel and look better. To my surprise one day I woke up and I no longer had D, my stools were formed. This was a big shock to me because for the past 3 years D is all I have known. It has been 7 days now without any symptoms of UC. I feel good, have a ton of energy, and am having about 2-3 bm’s per day which is considered NORMAL!
I urge anyone suffering with UC to try this diet
My gastro has now prescribed me remicade. I am in the process of getting approval from my insurance company. BUT since I have felt so much better without any UC symptoms for now, the next time I see my gastro I will be telling him and most likely I am gonna stay away from the remicade as long as I can.
For those of you who are struggling with UC symptoms, and medications I urge you to just TRY the SCD diet
I know the battle isn’t over but I am hoping with the continued use of this diet that my UC will no longer control my life.
Wish me luck!
(Thanks SOOOO Much for sharing your colitis story Jessica!!!!! and most definitely we’re wishing you luck!)
All of the posts from “Annonymous UC” are from ulcerative colitis people who anonymously submitted stories or Doctor Reviews, medication, supplement reviews etc… I post all these stories to the site, but they’re different from my own personal stories so hopefully this account makes more sense:) -Adam – founder of iHaveUC.com
Wow – Jessica. So awesome to read of your progress. Honestly, I’m jealous of you… I hope one day to give the SCD diet another crack. In the meantime it is encouraging to read about people who are back to living full lives and thriving, all the while dealing with ulcerative colitis. Keep on seizing the day!
cheers,
vicki
Thanks for your post, Jessica. I’ve been on the SCD diet for 3 1/2 weeks, with no results so far. In fact, things got significantly worse for me after starting diet, so it was refreshing to hear that you had a similar experience. The SCD Yogurt, for which I closely followed the 24+ hour fermentation in a YoLife maker, seemed to disagree with my system. Unfortunately for me, things got so bad, I was unable to work or maintain any sort of lifestyle and was forced to start back on prednisone. I’m hoping for a quick wean and that the reduced inflammation will allow the SCD to more easily do its thing. I haven’t given up yet, but so far I’m not seeing any results. And with a diet this restrictive, it’s difficult to motivate myself to stick with it when it just seems to making matters worse. I’ll give it another week or two… Good luck with your continued recovery.
– Ben
Vicki,
I hope my story helps you get back on the SCD bangwagon! For me it has really changed my outlook on UC and helped me understand that this disease IS something WE CAN control. I wish you the best!
Ben,
Stick with it, dont give up! The first week I was on it I was ready to give up because I was feeling so awful! They say that the die-off symptoms can vary from a couple of days to weeks depending on the person! Wait it out, I hope you see some results soon! As for the yogurt, try eating very small amounts of it. I put my daily yogurt in my morning smoothie and it seems to work well!
Good luck and keep me posted on your progress!
Hi Jessica,
Quick question: some of the SCD sites I’ve visited refer to different “stages” of the diet. But, other than the introductory diet and the general practice of introducing new foods slowly and certain foods you should avoid until symptoms are under control, BTVC does not reference any discrete “stages” for the diet. How have you implemented the diet? Can you give any insight into what foods I should avoid at the outset?
Thanks,
Ben
Hi Ben,
When I first started I looked over the stages on the pecanbread website.
For me, I did the intro diet for 3 days, I then started adding soft veggies and fruits(zuchini and banana mostly) and all different types of meat and fish(grilled, bbq, roasted, basically everything except fried)! I ate eggs and yogurt right away as well and seemed to tolerate them well.
In the second week of the diet I made zuchini muffins with almond flour and ate one a day. By the third week I added in raw fruit and vegetables and was fine.
I am currently on day 27 of the diet and seem to tolerate all fruits and vegetables and all types of food. I even had some peanut butter yesterday (which is supposed to be a very advanced food) with no adverse effects.
My suggestion to you is to start slow with small amounts of different types of food. If you have any effects (D, bloating etc) then stay away from it and try again in a couple weeks. I dont think you need to follow the stages perfectly to heal.
Everyones body is differnt, but the way mine works is that it only took me 3 weeks to get full accustomed and I am having NO symtoms of UC at all currently.
Good luck and keep me posted on how things go!
hi- i first found and tried the scd diet in jan. and it helped me right away- i didnt even have to start at phase one. But in may i got the stomach flu passed from my two teens-after that i have to admit i ate a couple things i shouldnt have eaten which made things go down hill really fast- then i started the diet back up very strict-but not from stage 1 and ate like that for about 1 and 1/2 months. i just kept getting worse and worse. then i followed the diet from stage 1 still it did not help-so i went to the dr. and now i have started prednisone- i am continuing on the diet with the prednisone. i am getting a little better but i hope once i am much better i will be able to get off the pred. and just be o the diet again. unfortunately i learned that sometimes the diet alone does not always help. i will keep in touch and hope to report diet alone again.