Anyone know of a therapy for Crohn's that is effective?

Question

I have Crohn's Disease and it's a pretty bad case.   I'm on Remicade and the side effects are awful.  I'm loosing my hair, i'm always tired, it's contributed to my weight gain.  What kind of quality of life will I have with this medicine?  Does anyone know of any alternative medicines or therapies that actually work for Gastrointestinal issues/ Crohn's?  Any insight into this concern would be helpful to me.  Thank you

gymdandee · Accepted Answer

Crohn’s disease is a bowel affliction, and its cause is unknown. It leads to ulcerations in the lining of the gastrointestinal tract — mainly the ilium and colon. The most effective nutritional treatments include omega-3 oils, zinc, selenium, medium-chain
fats (MCT oils), N-butyrate and probiotics. The latter is by far the most important.
There is growing evidence that a loss of these beneficial colon bacteria may be the cause of the disorder — or at least play a central role in its evolution. Many studies have documented dramatic improvement in patients treated with the proper type and concentration of probiotics
But most doctors don’t have a clue about intestinal bacterial flora — and they know even less about correcting it. They prescribe powerful antibiotics that kill these beneficial bacteria, but they rarely worry about replacing them. This is a major problem in children.
And when many physicians do replace them, they often suggest the wrong species of bacteria, offer poorly designed supplements and never inform
patients that they must keep them in the refrigerator. Most of these organisms will die at room temperature, and even when using brands that claim to require no refrigeration, they will last much longer if they are kept cold. Finally, these bacteria need special food to stay
alive. It’s referred to as prebiotics. While special sugars such as fructooligosacchrides (FOS) are commonly used, other prebiotics may be superior. I like a brand called Theralac® (see their website — www.theralac.com).
Recent studies have shown that these special bacteria reduce bowel inflammation, block abnormal immune reactions characteristic of Crohn’s disease and restore gut function.
This means a reduction or elimination of pain, cramping and diarrhea. Probiotics have also
dramatically reduced post-operative complications in patients facing bowel surgery.
It is critical to avoid red meats and iron supplements (unless anemia is a factor). And
sufferers must never eat any food or take any supplement containing carrageenan. This is a carcinogenic food additive that dramatically increases bowel inflammation. You should eat at least five servings of vegetables a day.
blenderizing vegetables is the best way to eat them.
Processed foods contain a lot of MSG and other excitotoxins. Newer studies have shown that because the GI tract contains an abundance of glutamate-type
receptors, glutamate in the food can overstimulate these receptors, resulting in a worsening of any GI disease — especially Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis.
Glutamine has not been shown to benefit this disease, and it may indeed be harmful since it is converted to glutamate in the body. All patients with Crohn’s have severe
deficiencies in zinc, and in many men this condition is so severe that it can result in infertility. That’s because zinc plays a major role in sperm
motility. And because of diarrhea and chronic inflammation of the bowel, many nutrients are either not absorbed or simply lost. Supplementation should
include:  zinc (100 mg. a day until the condition subsides then 50 mg. twice a week)
 200 ug. of selenium  250 mg. of magnesium twice a day with meals. Increase to 3 times a day after two weeks  B vitamins (a multivitamin/mineral capsule) Vitamin D3  5,000 ug. a day Mixed carotenoids — 25,000 IU a day Vitamin E (natural form) — 800 IU a day
 200 mg. of DHA twice a day 1,000 ug. of folate a day
AND 5000 ug. of methylcobalamin a day

allmymarbles · Answer

Re: Kinesiology. My doctor is a physician who straddles traditional and alternative medicine. Through kinesiology he cured me of all my food allergies (except corn) and allergies to the flowers I breed, among other things. When advising a new supplement he uses kinesiology to find out if it is suitable for me. A product can be unsuitable because of personal intolerance, not necessarily allergy. I am sure there are fools out there who adopt methods they think are "awesome." Then there are serious researchers and scientists. In Carton Fredricks' book "Low Blood Sugar and You," he mentions in passing that he noticed that holding an allergen made the arm weak. Kinesiology hadn't been born yet, but Fredricks was a keen observer.

Paxiled · Answer

Also, be careful of Zinc supplementation.  While it can be very helpful, it's also easy to overdose if you don't actually need it and become toxic.  One should only use high amounts for short periods of time, and even then it would be good to get levels tested to make sure you don't overdo it, but such testing is hard to get.

Paxiled · Answer

The most important probiotic for the gut is bifidus, so make sure it focuses on that one.  Personally don't like Metagenics, because it's only sold to professionals and those companies by virtue of their monopoly status with your provider often cut corners and you'll never find out.  But many like it a lot.  The industry gold standard is Healthy Trinity by Natren, but it's really expensive.  As to what your doc did, it's called kinesiology.  Many swear by it, but it has failed all double blind trials.  And docs can easily manipulate the results or influence them without even being aware of it.  I had a chiropractor show me how he could make it come out any way he wanted it to -- he had been taught by a former colleague who sold supplements that way.  Yet, this chiropractor still used it, and I learned how to do it with supplements and something sure is happening.  So my mind remains very open to it and also very suspicious of it at the same time -- fervent ambivalence.

gymdandee · Answer

ug is micrograms   5000 ug. of methylcobalamin is vitamin B12  The Metagenics - Probiotic 50:50 blend take 1-2 per day then I would try Theralac

CakeisgoodFrostingisbetter · Answer

Thank you for your suggestions.  I've tried the Aloe before but it was hard to drink everyday.  I found this pretty good alternative medicine dr. in Ithaca a few years ago.  He was strange.  I showed up late for the appointment (only 10 -15 min)  anyway.. he had me lay on this table & he started pulling my body and tugging her & there.  He had these viles of crap for each pull?  Sound familiar to anyone?? I turned to him & was like... "what are you doing"  he got a vile of say tomatoe, put it on my stomach & told me to lift my arm.  I COULD NOT lift it with everything I had..  It was ******* awesome...Oooooo.. pardon my french.  Not sure what it's called, but they use your muscles to test for sensitivities to things.  pretty cool.  I wonder if you got a large enough vile of something that you knew someone was allergic to & planted that stuff in their pockets, if they would get somewhat paralyzed??    
Sorry for the ramble & thanks again for the post.  I appreciate you and your recommendations for me!!

CakeisgoodFrostingisbetter · Answer

Wow!  Thaaaaank Yooouuu!  That was a lot of info right there and I learned some things.. Thank you again for the knowledge you've shared with me.  I have .. wait i'm gonna get the bottle .  I never take this stuff because I hate taking all these pills.  It's Ultra Flora IB from Metagenics - Probiotic 50:50 blend of 60billion live organisms - NCFM & Bi-07  It was a pretty costly bottle of 30 caps so i will start taking them.  Should I only take 1 a day?

Also, red meat ... ummmm i eat a ton of it.  Now that i'm on meds like Lomotil to slow the intestinal track, i probably don't have to eat as much.  Meat takes longer to digest so it pretty much would slow me down.  Fiberous foods don't do well with me.  Why is it so important to avoid red meat?  
Oh man.. you are correct about the iron supplements... they made me flare BADLY.  I get iron infusions Iron Sucrose for the anemia.  
What is g. of methylcobalamin a day?? Never heard of it.

I most likely will not ask my doctor, i'll just tell him next time I see him.. or i'll tell the Remicade nurse when i get the infusion.  They know NO THINGS about nutrition, diet, alternative methods of treatment for this disease.  Want to hear something funny.  This is so sad too.  The best place.. The Mayo Clinic doctors told me DIET DOES NOT PLAY A LARGE ROLE W/ CROHN'S.  I couldn't believe it. American Medicine = brainwashed by FDA. 

Thank you for your help   :)

allmymarbles · Answer

I just learned that one of my grandsons has an ulcerated colon (whether from Crohn's has not been determined yet). His family is overseas and they hadn't told anyone here about it. Now they have asked me to contact my alternative medicine doctor which I will do. They say that yogurt (live organism) has helped tremendously. When I have recommendations I will let the forum know what they are. With the aid of this doctor I now only take natural supplements for COPD and am much the better for it.

Paxiled · Answer

I personally know of no cure for this disease, but gastrointestinal discomfort can often be controlled through the regular use of aloe vera juice, DGL, slippery elm, and other natural remedies that have the advantage of not creating rebound acid.  Always check with an expert on pharmacology and the disease you have before mixing herbs and medication and in choosing which natural remedies to try.  Also, seeing a holitstic nutritionist can be helpful in eliminating common foods that many people have problems digesting and will even harder on you.  The most common are wheat and dairy, but each person has different foods that can be an irritant.

gymdandee · Answer

Please speak to your doctor first

Anyone know of a therapy for Crohn's that is effective?

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