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Hello Everyone,

I was originally diagnosed with UC eight years ago and then was rediagnosed with Crohn's in spring of 2015. I have been battling a severe flare up for 9 months and have tried Mezevant, azothiaprine, IV prednisone and oral prednisone, Simponi and Humira. My body won't stay in remission and my speicalist and I are now talking surgery. I really was hoping to avoid this as it sounds like no fun and I am in the middle of pursuing my Social Work degree and would likely need to take off a semester off school for this. Anyhow, my question is does anyone have any other suggestions to try? Medications, medication combinations, diet, naturopath...anything. I am desperate and just want to be in remission so badly and have my life back. 

I might be interested in LDN. Where did you buy the product?

 Reply posted for irishgal.

Fecal Transplant has helped some Crohn's patients, but the odds are less than 20% in my estimation, and you would need to do many of them over an extended period of time, from what I have observed. If you google fecal transplant you will find a ton of information  Good Luck to you. 

 Reply posted for veronicajay.

Hi Veronica - I&#39;m so sorry you are suffering. I understand, since I&#39;ve had Crohn&#39;s for 20 years and finally ran out of treatment options and was flaring horribly. I tried all sorts of diets and lifestyle stuff, like yoga, and a bunch of it worked for a while, but it never really healed me. I researched anything new, and finally decided to take a flyer on Atypical Mycobacteria&nbsp;Antibiotic Theory since it was cheap and accessible. I was sick initially, but then got better little by little. I had sent my blood for testing through a new lab in New Zealand, and I turned up positive, so I at least had some basis for trying this therapy. I just had a retest after a year of therapy, and I hardly have any of the pathogen left, which corresponds to how great I feel.<br /> <br /> So for what it&#39;s worth, you may want to check it out. There are a ton of resources on this site that helped me. TheCrohnsInfection.org. The science seems solid and there&#39;s a lot of research going on now surrounding this theory. Again, so sorry you are sick. I hope you find some relief&nbsp;soon!

Hello Veronica,
  I suffered from colitis for 18 months.  I followed the diet recommended with little relief.  Finally, I decided by eating I was not allowing my colon to heal.  It is like scratching off a scab that forms over a wound.  If you continue to scratch off the scab, the wound will never heal.  I had to give my ulcers time to heal without continually using my colon by fasting from all solid foods for two weeks.  I drank only water, fruit juice and Pau d' Arco tea, which is recommended for its healing properties.  The bloody stools finally stopped and have never returned since January this year.  It is also important to know how to fast properly.  Please do some research on fasting so it will be done properly.  Also, there is an emotional component to this disease so you must remove all stress and anxiety from your life as much as possible.  I recommend you listen to meditation tapes a few hours every day and read the New Testament or other spiritual books that will leave your mind in a state of peace.  Prayer has been proven to be effective in healing.  Research this too to strengthen your faith in the power of prayer.  God wants to heal you!   You must do your part and God will be faithful to do His part.  
Best wishes to you.  I am healed and so can you, but you must make this sacrifice to gain your reward.  Fasting is good for your general health when done properly.  I hope you have the time to devote to this important pursuit.  May God guide you as He did for me.  
    Sincerely, Bill

Hi Veronicajay,

I am sorry to hear you have not had successful treatment. I've had UC for 15 years.  My GI suggested I see a TCM doctor / accupunturist, since I insisted upon trying complimentary treatments before going on biologicals.  
The TCM treated me for almost a year before I went into remission. The medical community treated me for 14 years with only one 8 month long remission.  After about a year of treatment I went into another 8 month remission.
You must  find a GOOD TCM. I have heard some people have had bad experiences. Find someone who listens and preferably has the TCM degree.  The acupuncture treatments seemed to help my body overall,  he prescribed colostrum by Health Concerns.  He worked closely with me. It worked for loose stool and liquid stool by firming things up, and eventually less bathroom runs.  I also insisted on allergy testing. It turned out I had  allergies to dairy, gluten, wheat, & rye. For 2 months, I ate rice congee almost exclusively. This gives the digestive system a chance to heal and helps you evaluate how each food effects you when you add it back in to your diet.  I avoid red meat, dairy, processed foods, sugar, & pork.  I recently had a flare up, but there were some extenuating circumstances that made it get bad. But it is nice to have a combat plan that I have some control over, and no side effects.   I returned to taking sulfalazine and this seems to help w the bleeding.   The accupunture needles open energy channels and allow your body it's optimum chance to heal itself.  I would suggest you try these steps before committing to surgery. I have still used the prednisone but in a short blast, such as 3-5 days, just to get some momentum, but if 7 days then must ween off.  It won't fix you overnight, but either do the pharmaceuticals.  Good luck, I hope this helps you.

 Reply posted for veronicajay.

I was diagnosed with Crohn's 8ish years ago and we kept surgery off as long as possible. I was in remission for awhile with remicade then had an allergic reaction and switched to humira for a few years. Summer of 2014 started the worst flare I have ever had, it was also the same time I graduated college and started a Ph.D. program. I tried methotrexate, accupuncture (my usual go to), increasing doses, etc and nothing would work. Last Februrary my GI said we needed to look at surgery becuase I had a couple of fistulas and the entyvio was too little too late. I had my first operation in Feb 2015. I got better, although the recovery is really hard, and the entyvio kept working. This summer during my followup colonoscopy I was told I was in remission. Unfortunately I was sill having symptoms and my anastomsis didn't heal well so we went back in last week to fix the anastomosis. They are hoping this one heals better and I get 10 years out of it. My doctor tried to explain it like this: obviously don't start with surgery, but you need to use all available treatments in order to manage Crohn's effectively. So yes, I put it off as long as possible. Will I wait as long as possible again? absolutely. But when the time is right, the time is right. 

I was in a similar situation. I have (had?) UC. Four GI specialists strongly recommended surgery to remove my entire colon. Luckily, while I was seriously considering surgery, I found a small study of the Chinese herb Qing Dai that was very effective. I starting taking it, 1 gram, twice a day. It's available online. I buy it from 1st Chinese Herbs (Google it). It costs about $30 a pound, enough to last a year. You'll also need "00" size capsules and a cheap capsule filling device (both also available from 1st Chinese Herbs). Qing Dai took about 2-3 months to fully work, but it's been over a year now and my BMs have been drastically reduced to 2-3 per day (I think this higher than normal number is due to permanent scarring). During my last colonoscopy the doctor found no inflammation. And now there's no more talk of surgery and my current doctor recommends a yearly colonoscopy only. I also take LDN (Low Dose Naltrexone). I'm not sure if LDN is doing anything, but I'm afraid to stop it. The really amazing results are due to the Qing Dai. Good luck!