Where To Go From Here? This Feels Like A Roundabout…

Introduction:

Hello! My name is Danielle, and I am currently a 24 year old teacher from Connecticut. Unfortunately, UC has been controlling my life since June of 2005. 3 Colonoscopys, only two of them say YES to UC. I am convinced that stress, diet, and exercise (or lack there of- for all three) are the reasons that I am continually sick.

Colitis Symptoms:

My symptoms have always been: bloody stool, stomach discomfort, mucus in stool, gas, bloating, the constant “urge” to go to the bathroom, and diarrhea. Then there is… weight gain, weight loss, moodiness… depends on the flare… right?

I was first diagnosed at 17 years old with Ulcerative Colitis via Danbury Hospital in Connecticut.

I was put on the now “usual” asacol protocol, which I had temporary success with. I carried on dealing with the pain, and being a typical college student; cafeteria food and tons of alcohol consumption. Strangely, (or maybe luckily) I experienced no problems for almost a year being medicine free, or in remission most of the time. Then, the flare arrived.

At 19 years old I went to a doctor in Princeton, NJ that had cured a friend of mine. I had a colonscopy at Princeton Medical Center for Gastro., and she found NO Ulcerative Colitis. (They actually found ZERO scar tissue/biopsies that pointed to UC.) She diagnosed me with IBS and tested my allergies to find that I was allergic to sorbitol. She also gave me enemas, which were actually wonderful. She explained to me that if the rectal bleeding is BRIGHT red, then it is local, which means I am bleeding towards the END of my intestinces/rectum. I still use enemas to this day, and it stops the bleeding…. (IF i do them every day). Anyway, I kept a diet, and eventually flared again… so I went back to my previous doctor in Danbury, CT who put me on Lialda.

At 21 years old, I had constant flares; good one week, dying the next. I then decided to see an herbalist who tested me positive for Candida (yeast overgrowth). This was strange to me because i’ve never had any issues with yeast, even as a female. After several months of harsh dieting, supplements, vitamins… I woke up one day without any brain fog, and without my alarm. It was as if I passed a threshold and I overcame the poisons in my stomach. I was good and healthy for 4 months, pooping like I’ve never pooped before. (If I could turn back time….) Then…. slowly, I started reintroducing pizza, italian sandwiches…. then alcohol, and before I knew it I was digging myself into another hole.

I couldn’t get out of this another flare, couldn’t stand the idea of going on a diet “again” and was diagnosed at 23 years old with Ulcerative Colitis by Yale Gastro Hospital via Colonoscopy. They seemed to think the Princeton Doctor was wrong, and that I 100% have Ulcerative Colitis. I was put on 4 tablets of Lialda a day, enema’s, and sent out the door.

Now, I am in my current flare and have been here since Thanksgiving 2011. (Thanks bronchitis and antibiotics) Therefore, I have been on the SCD diet (for about 3 weeks) after reading most of your input and posts about it. The SCD Diet and the Candida Diet conflict in many ways… Candida is basically sugar-free (no fruits, no juice.. NO sugar!) I am still bleeding, still bloating, and not seeing an upside yet. I know it takes “time” but I haven’t felt a teensy bit better. Soooo, I started a hybrid of Candida/SCD Dieting today. The herbalist that “fixed me” once before has provided me with the Candida killing substances and vitamins to keep my nutrition up. He seems to think that dieting won’t fix anything without supplements. His analogy goes something like this… “By dieting, you are just putting a bear into hibernation; no destruction is occurring. In order to get rid of the bear, you need to kill it, and that’s what the supplements help you do.” Bear= poison/toxins/yeast/garbage we eat that hangs out in our tummys.

Well, it has worked for me once before, until my lack of self-control kicked in. Has anyone else tried the Candida diet? Or given up sugar like this? Has anyone had colonscopy’s come back positive once and negative another time? Struggling with SCD? Have found no relief from prescribed meds?

Colitis Medications:

This is the tricky part…. I haven’t liked any medications that I have been on. Lialda has worked the “best” for me- but that doesn’t come close to satisfactory. Prednisose has gotten me out of a flare, but that is not the route I will ever go again, my body does not need any more toxins! I have only ever been able to manage my flare with diet, stress management (not easy) and exercise.

For not being able to sleep…. I take “coffee cruda 30C” before bed- it is a natural sleeplessness remedy. They look like small white tic-tacs. They relax me and make me gentle fall asleep. it’s almost as if I sleep like normal people.

Mint teas are a great way to ease stomach discomfort, and warm baths help alleviate the urge (Thanks Princeton Doc.) Also, I wanted to share with you that enema’s have been a godsent from the doctors at Princeton. If you haven’t tried them, It might be worth while. I have gotten “use” to them, and now just lay in front of the couch and watch TV until times up.

written by Danielle

submitted in the Colitis Venting Area