New to UC and diet modification

Hello this is my first time in this page,I was diagnosed with UC 2 weeks ago mild moderate,I've been reading a lot about this,I'm taking prednisone and Aling probiotic, I'm doing a diet,gluten free,lactose free,very little red meat,mostly fish or eggs...

I'm reading the book self healing colitis & crohns from David Klein, vegan diet will get you compltetly off medication and will cure you..also reading Listen to your gut from Jini Patel Thompson,also saying the same thing...

I just want to talk with people with my condition...to know tips about this UC or anything that can help,thanks a lot to everyone

(I added a subject)

Post Edited By Moderator (iPoop) : 4/25/2017 3:51:10 AM (GMT-6)

Diet modification produced zero results for me. Not everyone benefits from diet modification. I'd urge you to take the mild anti-inflammatory mesalamine (like asacol) prescribed by your doctor and continue expirementing with your diet.

Hi Carlos,

I am currently in a huge probiotic self education period myself. I have been determined to "cure" my UC with diet and natural nutrition based ways, too. Unfortunately after a solid 14 months of trying that I finally surrendered and am using mesalamine. Within a week of beginning it all symptoms vanished (both M and B). I have tried to stop it twice now and the symptoms have immediately returned (within 48 hours).

Even so, I am not giving up. I am currently using the strain SACCHAROMYCES BOULARDII which is often recommended for folks with a UC diagnosis. I also have VSL #3 which is often referred to as the probiotic with the most scientific research behind it for IBD conditions (seriously expensive though !!!).

There IS an RX version of VSL3 called VSL3 DS (which is double strength) and I plan on asking my MD to prescribe it. My GI said no because his stance is that there is nothing that can help my condition other than maintenance medication as he said "this is your immune system". I am not ready yet to believe that, so I search non-stop.

What I am realizing is the human micro biome is incredibly different person to person. Not all strains of probiotics agree with each of us and we need to experiment. But here are a few articles I have found vastly educational and interesting recently.

On feeding the good bacteria so they are more likely to thrive and colonize the gut: (I am using unmodified potato starch)
http://www.gestaltreality.com/2014/02/27/resistant-starch-a-concise-guide/

Probiotics in the Management of Ulcerative Colitis:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3033537/

More about butyrate producing bacteria:
https://thehomeschoolingdoctor.com/2013/12/10/butyrate-series-part-6/

More about s. boullardi
http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-332-saccharomyces%20boulardii.aspx?activeingredientid=332&activeingredientname=saccharomyces%20boulardii

Good luck on your quest, Carlos !

EDIT: I am purchasing a yogurt maker and plan to make my own yogurt, coconut kefir and fermented foods right here at home. Apparently we can produce some VERY high count bacterial products this way and since no-one is certain how many of the good guys make it through the stomach acid----more seems to be best.

I would urge you not to put all of your eggs in one basket so to speak. If diet was a sure fire way to manage UC, most of us wouldn't be posting here and would be symptom free and not thinking about UC. While a few lucky people can manage their UC only with diet, it's worth noting a few lucky people also sometimes go into spontaneous remission for no apparent reason. Most people with a manageable version of the disease muddle along with a combination of medication and alternative approaches (diet, supplements, etc.). I would not recommend foregoing the baseline medication (mesalamines) unless you can't tolerate them (a somewhat rare occurrence).

There was a study I found showing that folks who used mesalamine intermittently as opposed to continuous use had similar outcomes, but I don't know how severe their illness was. There are also many people like me who had long-standing remissions without medications or very intermittent use (my longest run was 12 years). My GI says that my disease is unlikely to escalate after 16 years of never getting severe and not taking meds for most of it. Everyone is different and it's a risk obviously but some people chose to experiment with getting off meds once they are in solid remission and have very good results. For me it was the best decision to never take the predisone that was prescribed to me in 2001 and experiment with SCD diet/probiotics combined with asacol, then experiment with stopping it once I hit solid remission. The folks who are managing things well without medications or have very mild disease don't generally post on this forum so we tend to see the more extreme people whose illness escalated. Most people who start with mild to moderate UC or proctitis will not get severe UC.

I have another friend with very mild proctitis who just used rectal meds once to get into remission (worked great) and has had a 10 year remission without meds, but this person started with very mild disease so it's very individual. If her disease has not escalated in 10 years without meds, it is unlikely to at this point.

Post Edited (Jane974) : 4/25/2017 10:58:44 AM (GMT-6)

Carlos080986 said...


Imagardener2 thanks a lot... they put me on pred for a full month with Aling probiotic,the mesalamine 4 pills a day 0.375 for the rest of my life I guess,they told me about light diet and I need to get a colonoscopy in 3 years,like I said I'm new I just got diagnosed 3
weeks ago..

Good that you are thinking about probiotics. I'm not a big fan of align because it only has one strain and does not have any active bacteria. There is also no data on UC and align while other probiotics have some evidence-base. The multistrain ones that require refrigeration are generally more effective. You can do a search on this forum if you are interested in different probiotics to try.