How do you manage your Crohn's? (disease, natural, medicine)
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I only know what the person who had it told me. He said the nicotine masked his symptoms, or he would have been diagnosed earlier.
Symptom masking is super dangerous; Crohn's can be insidious and silent, then a sudden perforation, as happened to my son in law.
If nicotine did mask his symptoms (interesting cojecture, really) that may be why he needed surgery so quickly; disease activity was doing its damage while he had no clue.
This disease sucks; my daughter's pedi GI at her last visit before her going away to uni and taking over her own med care with adult GI told her he felt her need for surgery was 100%, no way to avoid it. She has a girlfriend with it, same age, who now has an ileostomy (permanent).
Did it help his disease activity, or just the pain?
My daughter was so anti-recreational drug, as she had been on SO MANY script drugs for Crohn's, rec drug use was never a thing with her, but at college she met some other kids with IBD and they talked her into it, she said her labs/path/imaging are still bad but it takes away the pain enough that she can function, not double over and have to leave work.
I am wondering ( I know pretty much nothing about rec type drugs) if it has any benefits other than pain relief?
Without marijuana he couldn't eat. He became a recreational user when a friend told him marijuana would help his stomach when he was a teen. He was diagnosed with stomach ulcers while in grade school that I'm guessing was early Crohn's.
OK then the logical inference to draw from it working as an appetite stim, is it must increase or regulate motility; dysmotility goes hand in hand with active Crohn's. Interesting.
A relative with this found out through years of trial and error which foods were triggers for her flare-ups. She also developed allergies later in life, like she would get sores in her mouth after eating citrus fruit. There's quite a bit that she had to cut out of her diet. Cooked vegetables she can deal with for the most part, but salad greens, nope.
A relative with this found out through years of trial and error which foods were triggers for her flare-ups. She also developed allergies later in life, like she would get sores in her mouth after eating citrus fruit. There's quite a bit that she had to cut out of her diet. Cooked vegetables she can deal with for the most part, but salad greens, nope.
My husband is the same. He can't eat many vegetables such as peas and broccoli because they will cause a temporary blockage. He has a love/hate relationship with corn -- loves to eat it, hates the results especially if he doesn't chew it enough to pulverize it.
I tried to get him to get allergy testing because allergies cause inflammation. It seems common sense to me that any food that causes inflammation would cause a big flare-up in someone with Crohn's. He's a little stubborn and won't even try an elimination diet, but I have to realize it's his body and I can't nag.
Because my husband was diagnosed years ago, prednisone was the only med used to control his symptoms. He spent many long stretches in the hospital with liquid feeding only. As long as he feels it is under control, he refuses to try the new meds. He has had many surgeries but has come through them well. His last surgery was about 7 years ago, and he hasn't had any major problems since. He has the same problems he's always had such as nausea and occasional vomiting, but no big blockages.
At least he'll take a good multivitamin, iron, B-12 shots, and probiotics. He remains anemic and I'd say he has to be malnourished even though his weight says otherwise. He eats too much sugar but won't try to stop. His bloodwork is never good, and even with iron pills, he remains anemic. He realizes he could do more to help himself, but he chooses not to. Because of the national push to take away pain pills even from those who really need them, his are being cut way back, and he's feeling it more.
My advice, and this is only from someone who has watched her husband suffer with this disease for years, is to keep a food journal to see what causes flare-ups. Get allergy testing, especially food allergies, if possible. Try your best to get nutrition, but if you cannot tolerate many foods, at least supplement. Keep on top of your bloodwork to keep anemia away. Continue trying the new meds because you might find one that works great for you. As with any medical problem, hopefully new helpful treatments are in the pipeline.
I've been taking Chitosan for over 20 years, primarily to control chronic diarrhea caused by bile acids irritating the colon because of poor reabsorption by my small intestine. Has been a life saver for me! Works by binding with fatty and bile acids, carrying them out of the digestive system. Works exactly like Questran Powder or Cholestyramine, but is available over-the-counter and is many times cheaper, and in convenient gelcaps.
I had a temporary ileostomy in the mid-90s, but have had only minor flares since, and no major flares. I take 8 500-mg gelcaps before meals with cholesterol (two to three times a day).
Note: Can cause constipation if you don't have diarrhea. Start with a low-dose (one gelcap) and gradually increase. Also can interfere with some medications and vitamins.
I've been taking Chitosan for over 20 years, primarily to control chronic diarrhea caused by bile acids irritating the colon because of poor reabsorption by my small intestine. Has been a life saver for me! Works by binding with fatty and bile acids, carrying them out of the digestive system. Works exactly like Questran Powder or Cholestyramine, but is available over-the-counter and is many times cheaper, and in convenient gelcaps.
I had a temporary ileostomy in the mid-90s, but have had only minor flares since, and no major flares. I take 8 500-mg gelcaps before meals with cholesterol (two to three times a day).
Note: Can cause constipation if you don't have diarrhea. Start with a low-dose (one gelcap) and gradually increase. Also can interfere with some medications and vitamins.
Good to read your info. I sent it on to a friend as I've been telling her about LDN. She came down with crohns just in last 10 yrs and she's in early 80's. J
The article I posted earlier (on Chitosan's anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties) was about Chitosan Oligosaccharide (COS), which is created from regular Chitosan. COS is water soluble, non-cytotoxic, readily absorbed through the intestine and mainly excreted in the urine. Regular Chitosan is fat soluble, not readily absorbed through the intestine, and is mainly excreted through the anus. See:
Chitosan oligosaccharide (COS), an oligomer of D-glucosamine, is derived from decomposition of chitosan or deacetylation and degradation of chitin, which is the structural element in the exoskeleton
of crustaceans. Due to its high solubility, non-toxicity and biocompatibility, COS has been extensively studied for its biological activities. [...]
In the present study, we demonstrated for the first time that oral administration of COS prevented inflammation-associated intestinal damage and mortality in two experimental models of acute proinflammatory cytokine production in IEC could account for the anti-inflammatory effect of COS observed in mouse colitis models. Importantly, our results indicated that COS may suppress NF-kB activation in IEC at the very early step by inferring with binding of bacterial products (i.e. LPS) to its membrane receptors (e.g. TLR4), leading to alleviation of mucosal immune activation in mouse models of colitis. In addition, we demonstrated that treatment with COS prevented the LPS- and TNF-a-induced decrease in transepithelial electrical resistance and inhibited TNF-a and H2O2-induced apoptosis in T84 cells. Furthermore, the anti-oxidative activity of COS against H2O2-induced ROS production was also demonstrated by DCF assays. These findings suggest that oral administration of COS could preserve the intestinal epithelial barrier integrity through anti-oxidative and anti-apoptotic mechanisms, thus conferring protection against initiation and progression of colitis in vivo.
I do believe that my use of regular Chitosan for well over 20 years is not unrelated to my not having had any major flares over that time. If you have chronic diarrhea from Crohn's, I highly recommend the LipoSan Ultra formulation of Chitosan - as a bonus, it might also have some anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer effects. Once again, if you don't have diarrhea, it can cause constipation, so use with care (starting with just one cap, until you find the appropriate dose). The best deal for LipoSan Ultra Chitosan that I've been able to find can be found here:
I have had severe inflammation in my last two colonoscopies (1 1/2 and 3 years ago) and a recent MRI (2 months ago), but I still am symptom-free. My use of Chitosan might be helping to stop the inflammation from progressing to something worse (ulcerations, infections, and fistulas).
My GI doctor did put a hard sell on me to start Entyvio enfusions. I declined, stressing my lack of symptoms and the high cost of the treatment. Instead, since last Friday, I've started taking Chitosan Oligosaccharide (a.k.a. "MicroChitosan"), which I hadn't previously realized was available to us numbnuts. I've agreed to do another MRI by next December - we'll see if my inflammation is reduced over that time! If you are interested in trying it for yourself, it is available through Amazon:
The article I posted earlier (on Chitosan's anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties) was about Chitosan Oligosaccharide (a.k.a. "MicroChitosan"), which is created from regular Chitosan. See also:
I do believe that my use of regular Chitosan for well over 20 years is not unrelated to my not having had any major flares over that time. If you have chronic diarrhea from Crohn's, I highly recommend the LipoSan Ultra formulation of Chitosan - as a bonus, it might also have anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer effects. Once again, if you don't have diarrhea, it can cause constipation, so use with care (starting with just one cap). The best deal for LipoSan Ultra Chitosan can be found here:
I have had severe inflammation in my last two colonoscopies (1 1/2 and 3 years ago) and a recent MRI (2 months ago), but I still am symptom-free. My use of Chitosan might be stopping the inflammation from progressing to something worse (ulcerations, infections, and fistulas).
My GI doctor did put a hard sell on me for starting Entyvio enfusions. I declined, stressing the high cost. Instead, since last Friday, I've started taking Chitosan Oligosaccharide (a.k.a. "MicroChitosan"), which I hadn't previously realized was available to us numbnuts. I've agreed to do another MRI by next December - we'll see if my inflammation is reduced over that time! If you are interested in trying it for yourself, it is available through Amazon:
Marijuana. Seriously. It will work. Talk to your doctor. Or find a teenager to get you some.
This! My late husband treated his Crohn's with it. It provided immediate relief. Too bad for him he didn't choose to move to a state that legalized it for medical use.
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