Ulcerative Colitis
Background
Inflammatory bowel disease, most commonly manifesting as ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease, affects about 1 million Americans. It is one family of over a hundred autoimmune illnesses, in which the body’s defense forces (immune system) mistakenly attacks the body — in this case the small or large intestines.
Symptoms
- Persistent diarrhea
- Crampy abdominal pain
- Fever
- Intermittent rectal bleeding
It is the latter 2 symptoms that distinguish inflammatory bowel disease from the more common (and more benign) spastic colon and irritable bowel syndrome — which can be easy to treat holistically.
Although Crohn’s disease most commonly affects the end of the small intestine (the ileum) and the beginning of the large intestine (the colon), it may involve any part of your intestines. In ulcerative colitis, on the other hand, bowel involvement is limited to the colon.
Diagnosis
Most often your physician will diagnose the problem by doing a colonoscopy (looking up your bottom with a long flexible tube) and biopsies. Blood tests can also help distinguish between Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis.
Treatments
Natural therapies can be very effective to both treat the cause of the inflammation and the inflammation itself.
Recommended Supplements
Probiotics
Take a very high-potency probiotic called Optima for two months, taken on an empty stomach. Then can switch to other excellent but less expensive probiotics that also have an enteric coating to protect the probiotic from stomach acid.
Zinc
Nutritional deficiencies are widespread in Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis. Low zinc has been associated with markedly increased complications from inflammatory bowel disease (called "fistula" where the inflammation drains to the skin or other organs, and "leaky gut" causes food allergies). Take an extra 25-30 mg of zinc a day for 3 months and then at least 15 mg a day.
Vitamin D
A recent study showed vitamin D deficiency (which is associated with many autoimmune illnesses) plays a role in Crohn’s. Take 2,000-4,000 units a day for at least 6 months.
Multivitamin powder
You can try a good multivitamin powder to get the necessary zinc and vitamin D which also would supply excellent overall nutritional support. However, a powder supplement may aggravate loose stools. If this happens, substitute the product Clinical Essentials®. Although nothing like the powder, it gives excellent overall support for a single tablet each day.
Boswellia
The herb boswellia taken twice a day is VERY helpful. Also consider a highly absorbed curcumin 750 mg 1-2 a day.
Fish oil
Fish oil: Eat salmon or tuna 3-4 times a week (or more) or take a special omega 3 supplement 1-2 tablets a day.
Silver
Colloidal silver mixed with aloe can kill unhealthy bacteria in the gut. It is critical to use a good brand so it does not build up and turn you blue (called argyria)! I add this treatment only if the above treatments are not adequately effective.
In a glass, mix two tablespoons (1 oz) bio-active silver hydrosol with two tablespoons (1 oz) pure Aloe Vera Juice — swallow straight into an empty stomach 30-60 minutes before breakfast, one hour before lunch and one hour before dinner. Use for 2-8 weeks and add a good probiotic each day taken several hours away from the silver.
Other Therapies & Advice
Treat for bowel infections
Treat for yeast infections with Diflucan 200 mg a day for 6 weeks, plus add probiotics to restore healthy gut bacteria — consider the high potency enteric coated Optima (60-100 50 billion bacteria) for 2 months, followed by probiotic pearls or Pearls Elite 1 daily for 5 months, and then every other day thereafter.
Do stool testing first at Genova labs or DiagnosTechs (by mail — do the bacterial and fungal cultures and sensitivities and parasite testing). If the parasite or bacterial infection tests are positive, treat these based on the results. I recommedn treating for Candida regardless of the results. In persistent cases, I may also consider a trial of the antibiotics Rifaximin 550 mg 3x day for 10 days PLUS Neomycin 500 mg 4x day for 2 weeks taken at the same time. Doing stool cultures or parasite testing at most labs is a waste of time unless you are looking for an acute infection (e.g., salmonella food poisoning). Remember, not having good testing for bowel infections does not mean that they are not causing your problems!
Treat food allergies
Doing a "Multiple Food Elimination Diet" (see reference link below) after the bowel infections and nutritional deficiencies are treated would be a good screen for the role of food allergies. Though the food allergies may not be causing the inflammation, the inflammation will result in "leaky gut" and secondary food allergies which may then cause more problems. Eliminate the food allergies with NAET. Also do blood tests called an IgA and IgG Transglutaminase antibody to screen for Celiac Disease, a genetic wheat allergy. If either test is positive, a gluten-free diet can be dramatically helpful.
Medications
By using the natural treatments discussed above, you may avoid the need for both the cost and toxicity of these medications — by staying healthy!
Natural cortisol
Though high dose prednisone (over 5 mg a day) is toxic over time, the bioidentical cortisol (Cortef by prescription) up to 20 mg a day (similar to 4 mg of prednisone but safer) can be used safely long term. Once your prednisone dose is lowered to 5 mg a day, ask your physician if you can switch to Cortef 5-20 mg each morning.
Asacol and antibiotics
Your doctor might recommend Asacol (salicylates), which is a good medication for these illnesses and not very expensive.
Remicade
Your doctor might also recommend "biological modifiers" like Remicade — although possibly too quickly. This can cost over $2,000-$5,000 per injection (often netting a tidy profit for the doctor) and only works for about 2 months and then needs repeating. By 1 year it is only still effective in about 20% of cases. They are very heavily marketed to physicians because they are so profitable for both the company and the doctor. I recommend keeping these in reserve as "rescue therapies" to be saved for when all else fails (it’s better than surgery, which is sometimes needed).
More Information Online
Articles on Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn’s by Dr. T
Natural Treatment for Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn’s — Inflammatory Bowel Diseases
Multiple Food Elimination Diet
NAET (acupressure technique for treating food allergies at www.NAET.com)