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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 1/22/2015 7:31 PM (GMT -5)
Just wondering how the nopal is working for anyone in it? Is there a better brand than others? There seems to be a few out there.
Posted 1/22/2015 7:55 PM (GMT -5)
I am not sure if anyone is using anything brand name. I went to the Mexican grocery and bought the leaves. I've been drinking it a few days and my symptoms are ok. Not the best not the worst. Can't complain but I haven't had significant improvement either. Been up and down for a while now. It's hard to tell whether it's helping because everything is so unpredictable
Posted 1/22/2015 9:55 PM (GMT -5)
I am from small town Saskatchewan, Canada and the only way I am able to get it seems to be in a bottle at health food stores. Thanks for the reply notsosickly, I appreciate the information. Take care!
Posted 1/23/2015 7:12 AM (GMT -5)
I went to a Mexican grocery store to get mine too. Not sure if the supplements would work. For that matter, not really sure how well the Nopal is working either. I started drinking it on 1/18 so today is my 6th day. Before I started I was going 1-4 times a day and it was usually soft and only semi formed. Every other day I would see traces of blood. On 1/19 I saw a good bit of blood but since that was less than 24 hours on Nopal I kept drinking it. Tuesday only 2 BMs in the AM and both were 100% normal, no blood. Wed, 1 BM 100% normal. Thursday felt like I was completely back to normal -- 1 BM in AM & 1 in PM (this schedule is when I function the best). Unfortunately, there was a bit of blood in the PM :(. This AM normal again & no blood. I am going to stick with this at least 2 weeks before I pass judgment. So far, mixed results -- better stool formation & frequency, but still seeing some blood. The blood is what bothers me the most. Been seeing blood since June. There were times I saw it with every BM, so it's not as frequent as it was, but it shouldn't be there at all.

Jess, I remember seeing someone post a product called Nopal Water that I was going to check out if I couldn't find the leaves. Maybe you could try that if you can't make your own. Here's the link:

http://truenopal.com/
Posted 1/23/2015 7:13 AM (GMT -5)
That looks like it's made from the fruit & not the leaves so it's not the same thing as I am drinking. It says it reduces inflammation so it might be worth a shot to give it a try

Post Edited (CCinPA) : 1/23/2015 5:17:15 AM (GMT-7)

Posted 1/23/2015 7:22 AM (GMT -5)
btw, I didn't expect the nopal water to work miracles. It usually takes pred several days/weeks to fully return things to normal so why should nopal work even faster? Still hoping for the best so I don't have to go back on pred and more potent maintenance meds.
Posted 1/23/2015 8:28 AM (GMT -5)
CCinPA, thank you for the info. I am going to give it a try as well, wishing you great progress!! Keep us posted how your doing.

Jess
Posted 1/23/2015 9:42 AM (GMT -5)
I saw people were selling it on ebay. It was expensive compared to what I paid in the grocery store but still under $10... Might be an option for you. I don't expect any miracles either. Every week there is someone with some other "cure". So far I haven't seen any change. This was easy and cheap enough, why not try...
Posted 2/26/2015 3:11 PM (GMT -5)
Instead of the leaves, I 've been making the concoction with nopal fruit and have been drinking it in the mornings for the past ten days after I had my first really bad painful flareup(I was diagnosed a year ago). I cannot tell if this stuff is working or not. I began feeling better this past Monday after starting Uceris on Friday. Are the fruits of the nopal as beneficial as the leaves? Should I be making this with leaves instead? They are hard to find in the supermarkets.
Posted 2/26/2015 4:24 PM (GMT -5)
The fruits have many small seeds, the leaves just give off liquid.
Mexican grocery is best place to find pads (leaves).
Posted 2/27/2015 8:41 PM (GMT -5)
NOPAL Update: This is 6th weeks now ,I am drinking Nopal Juice. I have successfully reduced my Apriso dose to 2 tabs per day. Absolutely symptom free. I think Nopal is doing something good to me and plan to keep drinking a glassful of Nopal juice evry morning for next 3 months when I will have follow up colonoscopy.
Posted 2/27/2015 9:01 PM (GMT -5)
Great! I'm thinking this might be the next item on my hit list but I'm doing pretty well right now and hesitant to mess with success.
Posted 2/28/2015 9:59 AM (GMT -5)
Diva, I don't know if it's a good idea to cut your meds. Be careful!

I am still drinking this and since I have switched back to Asacol after my brief try of Colazal, things are back to just seeing a small amount of blood every few days (on Colazal I was seeing blood every day!). I am going to continue to drink it. Maybe it will just take a little longer to knock out the last bit of inflammation.

I still have my appt at the Hershey Medical Center on Friday to see what my next step is for medication and I want to talk with them about the risks of waiting a little longer to try to get healed without the risks of more powerful meds. They are a research facility so they should have the most up to date info on IBD. Though I would bet they don't know about Nopal! lol
Posted 3/2/2015 8:25 PM (GMT -5)
I know that they know about Nopal.. But, Doctors mainly due to fear of Lawyers ..can not say many things they know are true. For example, every doctor knows that 1 to 2 drinks of alcohol reduces risk of heart attack significantly...BUT..they can't say it because if one out of one hundred thousand people gets dependent can lead to legal troubles. Also, they do not tell that daily Garlic use can reduce bad cholesterol by 10%.
Doctors have to be legally correct all the time as lawyers are like vultures ready to attack them .
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