Hi, David here,
Through the ulcerative colitis of my wife (which she has had since around 2003), I am indirectly affected by UC. Therefore I know how hard it is to cope with it.
Although we had a sense of impending disaster for some months leading up to it, it was still quite unexpected when it did happen: ulcerative colitis. For ten long years, this disease significantly restricted many activities of my better half and those around her, and to some extent it more or less governed our lives. This is the story of a difficult time – and of a solution, which seems almost too good, and too easy, to be true.
Ulcerative colitis: How it all began…
Anyone who is directly or indirectly impacted by ulcerative colitis doesn’t need to be told what this disease is and how it interferes with the life of those affected by it. I am just going to presume that every visitor to this website is pretty well informed about it and will therefore dispense with the medical details.
I can remember the 3-4 weeks before my present fiancé suffered from a collapse as a result of symptoms caused by ulcerative colitis. At the time (May – July 2003), I was working in Barcelona, Spain as an intern as part of my university studies. For some time prior to it, my girlfriend had experienced severe discomfort because of her disease, but somehow nobody really knew about it. Everyone thought that her dejection and the resulting inability to pull herself together was merely some kind of laziness or sluggishness on her part. In reality, nothing could have been further from the truth. A tragic consequence of our wrong thinking was that we – i.e. the people immediately around her (esp. family) – were more prone to blame her for lacking motivation and being slack than to recognize the actual circumstances and to support her.
She came to visit me during the last two weeks of my internship in Barcelona. Her condition was pitiful: She had to constantly go to the bathroom because of the symptoms of ulcerative colitis; this was accompanied by quite a substantial loss of blood. Naturally, a result of the loss of blood was also a permanent, severe sense of dejection. She could hardly conceive of being away from the home, because she always worried about not being able to reach a bathroom in time if necessary. The poor woman had to go through so much… Obviously we (i.e. her family) knew that something was very wrong here. We should have probably pushed her more to go and see a doctor. I remember thinking back then in Barcelona that she should go to a hospital or see a doctor. However, we didn’t actually do anything about it, probably because we were due to leave Barcelona in a couple of days, and also because it is very difficult to express oneself in another language in a foreign country. And who knows whether our health fund would pay for this?
Anyway, we traveled back together to Germany (where I am from) in July 2003 after I had finished my internship. We only stayed there for a few days because we had planed a 5-day vacation with my brother and his wife in the Austrian Alps. Ulcerative colitis and the Alps: not a good combination!
In the end, the vacation didn’t turn out very well: once again, everything was dependent on the dismal health of my significant other. Of course she tried as best as she could not to let on, at least in front of the others. However, our companions also showed a certain degree of annoyance – they did not interpret my girlfriend’s listlessness correctly, because they weren’t really aware of the health issue. We also had to constantly stop during our hike to give her time to catch her breath. While I’m writing these lines and looking back knowing what I know now, I’m naturally angry at my behavior back then (=lack of understanding). So, here was a person who was suffering, and because of our lack of understanding we added a psychological dimension to this person’s physical suffering … 🙁
After the vacation she flew back to Greece, her home country.
It didn’t take long, actually only a few weeks, until her situation reached a crisis point. Ongoing, regular loss of blood finally demanded its logical toll. Finally her mother could convince her to go to a local doctor. Once there, it didn’t take long before she lost consciousness during the examination. She was naturally taken to the nearby hospital immediately.
Now the ‘adventure’ would begin.. and for the next ten years, ulcerative colitis would become a major part of our life.
Diagnosis: Ulcerative colitis…
After the relevant examinations in the hospital, the diagnosis was then made quite quickly: ulcerative colitis. Naturally, we didn’t really know what to think of it. In the meantime I had also arrived in Greece, because I had organized a flight from Germany to Greece on the same day I had heard that she had been admitted to hospital. Even if it had come late, the official diagnosis of ulcerative colitis helped us to understand that my girlfriend’s listlessness had nothing to do with laziness etc. after all. Blood tests revealed that because of the loss of blood (through the permanent bloody diarrhea) her hematocrit values were at a very low level. Only a little lower, and a blood transfusion would have been necessary according to the doctor at the time.
Of course back then we were not to know to what extent ulcerative colitis would influence and to some degree determine the years following. I think I was of the opinion that it would be over and done with quickly after treating it with medication. In truth the reality was nothing like my assumptions.
Standard ulcerative colitis treatment of a doctor in love…
Initially she had to take medication, which is the typical way to treat ulcerative colitis. We heard that the gastroenterologist treating her was very competent in his field, and really, so everyone said, too good for the small town in Greece he worked in. It was probably for that reason that it wasn’t long until he accepted a position at a hospital in the Greek capital Athens about a year later. But not before contributing to my girlfriend’s further distress by telling her one day at her bedside that he had fallen in love with her…
No-one could tell us much about what had caused the ulcerative colitis: the topic wasn’t sufficiently researched as yet, genetics, nutrition, … there was a potpourri of possible reasons.
Medical drugs like Asacol and the cortison preparation Prezolon during crisis times of inflammation now became the constant companions of my significant other. Speaking of crisis times: unfortunately these now came at regular intervals. We were able to ascertain that these crisis times, i.e. a more severe flare-up of the symptoms of the colitis, happened with a more or less steady regularity. Stress seemed to play a vital role, as did certain foods. She seemed to cope well with white meat, however, not so much red meat or alcohol. In order to ensure that the symptoms would not flare up again or intensify, she also had to forego a lot of other food products.
Ulcerative colitis: Is food the healer?
In the meantime I had finished my university studies and had emigrated to Greece in 2006 because of our relationship. As time went on I developed a strong interest in the topic of nutrition, fueled by my passion for jogging / trail running which I had discovered in Greece. I became increasingly interested in the effect that nutrition could have on the origin of ulcerative colitis as well as the fight against it. And somewhere along the way I came across ‚Paleo‘ (link to book on Amazon >>>). Those who have already looked into this know that cereals, and also industrially processed products, are held responsible for many diseases of civilization. Paleo experts consider ulcerative colitis part of these and believe that certain components in cereals are the cause of it. This inspired me and I tried to apply what I had newly learnt to my fiancé’s situation, hoping that she would experience a (marked) improvement through giving up cereals etc.
Unfortunately I am neither a doctor in a white lab coat nor a nutritionist. Therefore my efforts were not successful… Instead of forgoing white bread, noodles, etc., I had to look on as she continued to suffer from ulcerative colitis and struggled with its symptoms. At the same time, not surprisingly, my frustration also increased, because I couldn’t understand why a person who felt so bad wouldn’t want to ‘experiment’ a little. I asked myself how much suffering one was going to put up with until one was open to alternative approaches, in the hope of dealing with the root of the problem instead of just dealing with the symptoms of ulcerative colitis by way of medication. I was often close to despair which then of course in turn surfaced in increasing tension between us. Stupidly such tensions erupt at the most unfavorable times psychologically, by which I mean that the symptoms were especially severe, my fiancé was at the end of her strength in any case, and at the same time I showed a lack of understanding for treating her condition with cortisone tablets, although the past had clearly shown that this was not a long-term solution. I believe that to some extent both sides had a valid viewpoint.
Relationship crises because of ulcerative colitis…
I did mention earlier on that ultimately ulcerative colitis had a big effect on our life. I particularly remember a situation in February one year when we wanted to go on a weekend skiing trip to the Bulgarian Alps with colleagues from work. Unfortunately, just at this point in time one of her ulcerative colitis crisis broke out again. I just wanted to do something involving other people again, something that we hadn’t done in a long time because of her sickness. The renewed flare-up of the ulcerative colitis drove me to despair, but also made me furious. I couldn’t and wouldn’t accept it, for various reasons. I also thought that a change of climate and some relaxation might do her good. It was a very difficult time in which our relationship was sorely tested, continually (= over several years!).
One has to imagine that I had even considered the information I had received about a surgical procedure. Such an operation would mean removing the large intestine because this is were ulcerative colitis occurs. The consequence of this, in turn, would mean that the person affected would be free of ulcerative colitis, but, according to my research, would have to go to the bathroom every few hours or so, because the large intestine was missing. Among other things this would mean that there would never be any uninterrupted sleep. Therefore in the end you were caught between a rock and a hard place. Even the fact that I actually considered this surgery an option surely proves how desperate I felt… for my fiancé, of course, it was never an option.
Ulcerative colitis and stress: A vicious cycle…
“There we go again…” if we would have had to pick a motto regarding ulcerative colitis, that would have been it. My fiancé’s job entails stressful months in May and June each year. As if on cue, we could always observe a flaring up and worsening of the symptoms exactly at that time. I couldn’t say with absolute certainty that it was just the stress or also the fact that during that time there wasn’t always sufficient time to eat properly or rather to devote enough attention to dealing sensibly with the topic of food. If you don’t have time during the day to eat, then naturally you just eat what you can lay your hands on when you come home in the evening. Often the summer was ruined because of this, then quite often the symptoms flared up so severely that they necessitated another course of cortisone tablets over several weeks…by the time the symptoms had disappeared again, summer and the summer holidays, were over, too. Therefore proper rest and recreation was never really on the cards. Once summer was over, the stress at work steadily began increasing again. It felt like a vicious cycle with no way of escape. Only those who have experienced it themselves will understand how this feels.
Ulcerative colitis and the “Specific Carbohydrate Diet”…
As part of my research into ulcerative colitis I came across a book in 2013 which was supposed to have helped numerous people in their fight against this disease. According to this book, treatment consisted in adopting the correct diet. The success stories were unambiguous, and for that reason I bought the book on Amazon without delay. The title is „Breaking the Vicious Cycle: Intestinal Health Through Diet“ (link to the book on Amazon >>>) by Elaine Gottschall. In English speaking countries this diet is also known as „The Special Carbohydrate Diet“ (i.e. a diet consisting only of selected carbohydrates). As with the Paleo Diet above, the book also emphasizes abstaining from certain foods, among them cereals. It took quite a while until I had convinced my better half to finally give this a try. However, it worked and she was motivated to do it. I was delighted and set to work putting the method described in the book into practice and taking on the task of being in charge of my fiancé’s diet. Even if she dug her heels in a little bit in the beginning, after only about 4 days she was able to feel an improvement, and was able to see the proof of it when she went to the bathroom. We began to experience something like hope!
I am no longer sure why in the end this test only lasted one single week and we did not pursue it any further. For some reason, ‚circumstances‘ stopped us again. Although it was frustrating because the symptoms were becoming more severe again, ultimately it was not tragic, because salvation was near!
An ulcerative colitis study in Japan…
Then, in October 2013, something ’strange‘ happened.
First of all I had read on the internet, quite by accident, that one reason for ulcerative colitis could also be a bacterium, more specifically the so-called Fusobacterium varium. In a study (link to study >>>), which was published in 2010 in the American Journal of Gastroenterology, it was proven that patients with ulcerative colitis had responded quite well to a therapy with antibiotics. Under ‚Conclusion‘ it even says: „his long-term follow-up study suggests 2-week antibiotic combination therapy to be effective and safe in patients with active UC including those with steroid-refractory or dependent disease.“
„Wow, that’s interesting news!“ I thought, naturally with a huge portion of hope and renewed courage, that this might also be a way for us to get out of the misery which had been plaguing us for so long. I forwarded the article to my fiancé straight away, with a comment that she might want to discuss it over the phone with her trusted gastroenterologist (still the same doctor who had looked after her in the beginning, however, because of his move to Athens any contact was now sporadic and then only by phone). Unfortunately she didn’t follow my advice. However, because of what was going to happen soon after, this proved to be no longer important.
An unexpected treatment for ulcerative colitis!
Towards the end of 2013 my fiancé had an unplanned run-in with staphylococcus, i.e. bacteria which led to a crater-like, open wound on her calf. It’s origin was probably a mosquito/insect bite at the same spot which then became inflamed through scratching. As a result, it was necessary to take antibiotics.
We didn’t really notice it at first, but all symptoms of ulcerative colitis vanished as well. A few weeks later, however, I recalled this article and I realized that my better half hadn’t mentioned any symptoms in a relatively long time. When I asked her how she felt, she said she felt excellent and wasn’t really experiencing any symptoms. Hah!!
Many things went through my head: the length of time she had suffered, the study, the antibiotics… could it really be that we had more or less stumbled upon the correct treatment for ulcerative colitis by accident? Not much time had passed yet, better not to rejoice too early to avoid being disappointed later on. Did the time actually really correspond with when she had taken the antibiotics? We weren’t 100% sure.
As I am writing this story in Sept. 2014, however, about 11 months have passed and my fiancé continuous to be symptom-free. This is HUGE, given the regular issues over the past 10 years. Any niggling doubts about a clear correlation have gone. Out of interest I researched the topic again on the internet and located the original article. It mentions specifically that the penicillin Amoxicillin was one of the antibiotics given to the patients in the study. My fiancé distinctly remembered the name of the medication she had been prescribed: Augmentin, by the pharma company GlaxoSmithKline. And what does a quick search of Augmentin reveal almost immediately? Augmentin contains… exactly: Amoxicillin.
For me this is the ultimate proof – although I am not a doctor and my fiancé has not been conclusively examined yet – that this happy coincidence of the staphylococcus infection turned out to be a huge blessing.
I am very, very happy, because this whole issue has been extremely exhausting for us. This year we spent the first summer vacation not markedly affected by ulcerative colitis… 🙂
The ulcerative colitis seems to be healed… What now?
Ultimately, why do I bother to put this down ‚on paper‘, spend money on a webpage, on translation into English etc. ? It’s simple: We have gone through a lot of suffering, so I know first hand what it is like when someone is suffering from ulcerative colitis. Looking back, I would have appreciated it very much if someone (e.g. a doctor!) had suggested trying antibiotics as a possible treatment. If we had known that beforehand and thus had healed the ulcerative colitis right at the beginning – we could have saved ourselves so much!! Now that we have gone through all of this (and hopefully have left it behind us), it would be very bad to not share this with others who have experienced similar suffering in order to finally put an end to it. Ideally, my story might contribute to shorten the suffering of others, or even to avoid it altogether. An acquaintance commented as follows:
„Sometimes ‚coincidence‘ helps us, but in any case, one should never give up on principle.
Who knows the significance of those 10 years of your life?“
Maybe things really had to happen this way for me to be able to share my experience. I hope that I can help visitors to this website lead a life as normal as possible again. Of course I cannot guarantee that the treatment with Amoxicillin mentioned will ultimately work as well for others, but I absolutely think it is worth a try. However, please don’t try this on your own, but only together with a doctor/gastroenterologist that you trust. If the doctor does not agree to this, there is always the option of consulting a different doctor (provided there are no health problems in connection with taking Amoxicillin).
Life is too short to have all our fun spoiled by things which can be solved 🙂
One last thing: The purpose of this website is to inform the reader about my personal experiences. In no way whatsoever is it intended to give medical advice or to be a substitute for the advice of a professional doctor. I would ask all readers to always consult a doctor you trust and to never take any medications without the doctor’s approval.
UPDATE 11th of January, 2018
I wrote this article in 2016. It’s time for a short update.
It wasn’t all rosy after that – although I have to say that we had about 2 years of rest. Which is a great thing in itself, and I’m sure that many people with colitis ulcerosa would be extremely happy if they were symptom-free for at least 2 years. In this respect, I am certainly grateful for that.
In the summer of 2017, however, the time had come again: all symptoms were back. I personally attribute it to the stress my wife was under at that time, especially professionally, but also somehow family related issues. For about 4-5 months we were struggling with it again, or more precisely my wife.
In October I finally wanted to make a trip to the thermal springs on the Greek island of Evia. In the beautiful village of Aedipsós there is a very nice hotel in which we stayed. It’s called Thermae Sylla. It is not supposed to be advertising, and I am not getting paid for mentioning the hotel. But I want to describe it exactly as it was, in the hope that I can help other people. The special thing about this hotel: there are 2 pools with thermal water, of which one contains 50% seawater and 50% thermal water and has about 28 C / 82 F (if I remember correctly), the other one is 100% thermal water and has 35 C / 95 F.
Of course, it’s no big surprise that my wife enjoyed the thermal water very much, as it was a great opportunity for her to finally relax for at least 3 days (it was the end of October). Especially the pool with the 100% thermal water was her favourite one. Although the guidelines say that you should not stay in the water for more than 30 minutes, she did not stick to it, and simply enjoyed the water throughout the whole day.
We had booked the spa package, so we also included massages and peeling. All very relaxing. And I also gave her as a present the most exclusive massage on site (called Pantai Luar).
Long story short:
If I remember correctly, her ulcerative colitis symptoms were gone before we had finished the 3 days…. after 5 months, just gone…
We were there again over New Year’s Eve. Not because the symptoms have returned. No. Just because we liked it so much. A conversation with the hotel’s managing director during her second stay prompted me to tell her about our experience during our first stay in October. She showed great interest in this story, but was not surprised. She said that the ratio of magnesium to calcium in their thermal water is ideal for relaxation and, if I remember correctly, the skin (a ratio of 2:3). Also, the water in this hotel is not diluted water, but pure. Meaning: they don’t use chlorine to keep it clean. Instead, the water from both pools is exchanged every night and filled up again, freshly from the spring from which the hotel draws – including cleaning with the steam radiator, every night!
I don’t know what ultimately led to my wife being symptom-free again since the end of October 2017. The water, the massage (s),…. probably everything together. I was in any case surprised, but I am grateful that we have probably found another solution besides Amoxilin, which at least for us seems to have worked more than once. Will thermal water like the one in Aedipós also work for other people? I can’t tell you. But at least I wanted to add it here as an update.
UPDATE 12th of March, 2018
In the meantime, I have come to strongly believe that the intestinal flora also plays an important role. A sufficient supply of nutrients could be helpful here. Ideally, these can be secured by nutrition or alternatively by a high-quality supplement such as this one here (the name is misleading, and it’s really the ingredients that count).
UPDATE 19th of April, 2019
So, since several months we are back to the grindstone again, with heavy symptoms… 🙁
In my search for a remedy I just came across something that looks extremely promising: honey!
Well, not just any honey, but the so-called Manuka honey. It’s traditionally made in New Zealand, and it’s been in use in hospitals as an official medicine, esp. for wound healing. Without wanting to seem dramatic: it seems to have super powers, at least terms of how it works like an antibiotics.
Of course, Manuka honey is not cheap. If you look at it as honey, you’ll think it’s crazy expensive. But for us dealing with ulcerative colitis, it’s a medicine. So, from that point of view, the cost is justified – even more so if it can help to go into remission.
There are studies talking favourably about Manuka honey also in connection with ulcerative colitis! When I saw that, my heart leaped from excitement, as you can imagine.
I just heard and then read about Manuka honey a couple of days ago, and I immediately ordered one jar from Amazon, specifically this one here. It’s important to note that for the treatment of ulcerative colitis, it needs to have an MGO of 400+. This refers to how much mg of the particular helpful substance (called Methylglyoxal) it contains per 1000 milligrams, or 1 kg. And 400 mg seems to be the minimum amount needed for fighting ulcerative colitis.
The Manuka honey supposedly can help against Helicobacter Pylori, and my guess based on our experience with antibiotics is that in the case of my wife, this could e the trouble maker.
Anyway, as you can imagine, my excitement is rather large. As I wrote above, I have not yet tried the honey, it’s being shipped to me as I write this. You can be sure that I will write here as soon as I have more news about this promising honey called Manuka.
Please do leave a message in the comment section provided at the end of this article, to share your own thoughts, experiences etc. Maybe you have made good experience with other treatments? It’s been amazing so far to see how many people would visit this website and actually share their experiences. Wonderful! And if you know someone who can benefit from reading this article, it goes without saying that I’d appreciate it if you share this website with others.
Best regards from Greece, my adopted home,
David
P.S.: Please also read the comments from readers below, for further exchange.
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Amazing story..!
I wonder if your girlfriend was to have her stool tested, would it show the typical characteristics of what Is nown to be as that of someone with UC. I’ve heard that it’s typical for all UC sufferers to have much smaller diversity of bacteria.
Hi Barry! Interesting thought. If it were me, I’d probably go for it, just out of curiosity. But I have my doubts that my fiancée is interested in it 🙂 Cheers! David
I thank you for your comments about how your fiance suffered and how you felt bad after for not realizing what she was going through. I too have suffered off and on for many years and it has cost me much in job security and being able to do things normally as others can. I find this article to be a bit confusing to me as I know in my case at least, I used to get a lot of bad chest colds and I know I was prescribed Amoxicillin and it actually tended to make things worse for me. I suppose it is possible there are different variations of how this disease affects people. I have also heard of a treatment where healthy bowel fical matter is injected into the diseased bowel and it introduces healthy bacteria. I was told by my doctor that this would not work for my type. I too have a connection with stress and anxiety to my colitis and I hope this „cure“ is a permanent one for her. I myself started taking a new medication called Mezavant. I used to be on Acacol which I thought helped quite a bit. I was on that medication for many years so it is maybe possible my body started to reject it’s effectiveness. I believe this medication is similar but somehow different. I only take two larger pills a day instead of 5-6. Hope this post helps.
Heather, thank you for your thoughts! Azacol was actually also the medicine that my fiancée took over the past 10 years. But as is the case with many pharmaceuticals, Azacol’s main purpose seems to have been to fight symptoms, rather than the root of the problem. I guess it indeed did do its work in terms of building a protective layer but it’s not a sustainable solution, as the antibiotics seem to be. I hope you will find a solution as well soon for Ulceratice Colitis. As written above in my story, we did experience some good first results from the Special Carbohydrate Diet according to Elaine Gottschall. The amount of positive feedback she and her book have received over the years is mind blowing. This can’t be by chance. If you haven’t done so, I’d suggest to read up on ‚Breaking the Vicious Cycle‘, Gotschall’s book. Take care, David
I happened on your webpage by accident. I work with people who are on the Paleo diet. I love vegetables, love salads, etc…. but because of my digestive problems, much like your fiance, I cannot eat what is good for you. The things I can eat, such as potatos, rice, etc… are what put weight on you. I have developed a rash over the last 3 years and have also fought with this. After much research on my own also, I truly believe the rash is stemming from the problems in my colon. I read about celiac disease which can cause a rash that looks much like mine. I have a doctors appointment next week and will very much talk to him about this possibility and I also need antibiotics. Thank you for sharing this story. Kelly
Hi Kelly
Thank you for your comment! I wish you all the best and hope that you will find a way to cure your own health issues. If you have people who suffer from Ulcerative Colitis and who could benefit from reading this story, please share the link with them. Thank you!
David
Thanks for writing your fiancee experience , my son only 3 years diagnosed with autism has a severe colon inflammation according to stool analsysis he may suffer from chron’s or or ulcerative-colitis can you remember for how many days she took Augmentin ?or how many weeks
I wish you read my comment i have a very bad mood
Hi Sally
Sorry for the late reply. My fiancee took Augmentin for 3 weeks.
I hope this will help you in any way. But I can only recommend to do this in cooperation with your medical doctor, not on your own.
Do keep me / the readers here updated.
Best regards from Greece,
David
Thanks David and your wife for sharing your story. I too have Ulcerative Colitis, going on 1 1/2 years. After one year of trying various drugs that did not work, 2 things happenned, pretty close to the same time: I started taking Remicade (luckily I’m getting help with costs and it’s shown to be very effective)) and I started to strickly follow the Carb Specific Diet that you mentioned in your article. Within a short amount of time, my midly-severe UC and its symptoms went away, and my life came back to me. And my smile also came back on my face. It was a long year, not just for myself, by my wife and 3 children. I truly belive that what we put in our bodies plays a huge role in how we feel and that our bodies do tell us when it’s had enough. I was never a poor eater, by I did not shy away from all carbs, and the processed stuff too…cereals, rice, bread, bread, bread, all the wheat products, potatoes, etc, etc…I really think it was time for a drastic change. I’ve now followed the SCD for 7-8 months, eating natural foods: chicken, fish, read meat, eggs, almond milk, coffee, fruit, vegetables, nuts, etc, etc. I now feel great, and really healthy. The energy is back (I’ve previously competed in 10 ironman triathlons),, the mind is clear, the motivation and confidence are up, the mood is top-notch and I don’t feel lethargic and do well on 6-7 hours of sleep per night. Anyway, just like David mentioned, do what you have to do to get your life back if you have UC or a loved one has UC, cause life is too short to be suffering like we have. Doctors do their jobs, but don’t hesitate one bit to do your research and seek other forms of advice and treatment. All the best, Charlie.
Hi Charlie,
That is awesome news! Thank you so much for sharing your story with us!! It’s great to hear that you could solve your problem with Ulcerative Colitis with a mix of medication and the SCD. I hope it will stay away for good. But if it should flare up again, at least you know now what to do. I wish you all the best, and as an ultra marathon runner I wish you many more iron man triathlons! 🙂
Take care,
David
Hello
You may be interested in watching this easily understood program in two parts from the public broadcaster in Australia. It refers to issues mentioned in many of the posts in response to your webpage. (If you are blocked by region from viewing, try searching on YouTube under „Gut Reaction Catalyst“ to see if its upload remains accessible.)
http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/gut_reaction_part_1/
http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/4070977.htm
Also, „The Monash Department of Gastroenterology is researching the impact of a high fibre and high natural prebiotic diet. This diet is designed to establish a healthy balance of gut bacteria, needed for optimal health. While it is essentially a high fibre diet, the consumption of foods that are high in prebiotic fibres is emphasised. Trish Veitch is undertaking research on the impact of a prebiotic diet.“ See:
http://www.med.monash.edu.au/cecs/gastro/prebiotic/resources/video-gallery.html
Thank you for your participation, Gemma.
I’m glad she is better now. I have suffered with Colitis for 5 years now, I always go to the doctors when it’s really bad. You mentioned that the cure was augmentin. That’s strange as, I’m on that for a kidney infection and it is making the Colitis a whole lot worse, I’ve spent most of the time on the toilet – supposed to be working 🙁 and from what I’ve been reading about it, it can CAUSE Colitis and Chron’s. I’ve read on almost every webpage that it does cause a flare up so I’m unsure how it cured your wife.
Hi!
I am really sorry to hear about your own experiences with Ulcerative Colitis… 🙁 But thank you very much for your thoughts.
Regarding Augmentin, pease have in mind:
The info I shared here is not the be all end all solution, and I can’t even be sure that the Augmentin (or rather the Amoxicillin the meds contained) was the actual reason. It could be, but it could be something totally different. I just wanted to share this story, hoping that maybe it can help others as well. As can be seen with your own experience, it might not be the solution for everyone…
I hope you will find a solution soon. Have you tried the Special Carbohydrate Diet by Elaine Gottschall that I mentioned in my text?
Regards
David
I’ve been miserable for a year. Same symptoms as your significant other. I’ve had tests done (colonoscopy,edg,CT scan, X-ray’s, and scheduled for another one in a few days). All tests that have been done showed nothing too abnormal. I do have an ulcer in my stomach just got diagnosed with colitis also. I got treated with 2 types of antibiotics for colitis. While on antibiotics I started vomiting blood. I passed out in the bath just in so much pain. My pulse rate resting is staying around 115. It’s hard to even move. I have a husband and 3 children that are suffering due to whatever I have. It hurts when you tell family you hurt and have to lie down and they look at you like what’s new. I’m getting so depressed over it.
Just wanted to say my heart felt heavy reading this. I’m so happy to have stumbled upon this.I’m allergic to amoxicillan. I hope I get help soon. Thank you for hope.
Hi Tiffanie
Oh my… that’s quite the torture you seem to be going through… 🙁 I hope you soon can find something that at least eases the pain and symptoms, maybe even in the comments from others here on this page.
They say hope dies last. I say hope never dies.
All the best
David
Hi,
Combine the anti-biotic with pro-biotic (chose something that is strong like http://www.vsl3.com/) and you are not going to have a bad time. Taking pro-biotic with UC helps a lot btw.
Great, thank you for the suggestions, l1x!
How is the fiancee doing now? Any symptoms? Is she taking her normal medication still? I am starting the Auto Immune Paleo diet ( I love food so this is hard)
Hi melt.
Thank you for asking. Indeed my fiancee has had some flare ups again recently, i.e. about 1.5 years after the symptoms stopped completely. Although it’s not clear what caused it, in my opinion it’s the additional amount of stress she underwent and before the flare ups started again…
Right now I am trying to get her to talk with her gastroenterologist to get some treatment with amoxicillin again, hoping that we can ‚prove‘ that this is the right treatment for her.
Never a dull moment… :/
I have to do some reading up on the Auto Immune Paleo diet. Or is that the same as the regular ‚Paleo diet‘? I am very familiar with the Paleo diet itself, love the concept. My fiancee on the other side… she’s too much ‚in love‘ with pasta and all that stuff you might want to cut in case of Ulcerative Colitis. As mentioned in my article, the Special Carbohydrate Diet is also very close to the Paleo diet and has had tremendous effects on the lifes of people with UC.
I’ll keep you guys updated here, as soon as I have more news.
Regards
David
hello David, i hope you can still read my message , , first of all, how is she doing so far? second , i am proud of you to be that supporting boyfriend to her,.. happy to hear that you’re there for her all the way and because i am happy to know that she felt better after that augmentin medication in by accident 🙂 , because her situation was very similar to mine.I haVe ulcerative colitis in me too. but i was diagnosed with staphylococcus on my face at first before i was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, my gastroenterologist said the cause of my ulcerative is because of taking too much antibiotic, anyway, i had also an infection on my right ankle which the doctor said it was like an insect bite but unfortunately it got worse to the point that i ve gone under operation and yes i had an open wound that time on my ankle. but it’s a scar now and still from time to time i have UC flare ups, i have a medication that i maintain which is Salofalk . i take twice a day and 3 times a day when UC is flaring up . well, i hope and pray that this UC will leave me and your gf forever…
have a beautiful day to both of you:)
Very interesting. I’ve read that a fecal microbiome transplant, or FMT, has reversed UC. With that in mind, and also a very good understanding of the Human Microbiome, I would have to speculate that the antibiotic did in fact change the microbiome which resulted in reversal of the UC. Though I think you were very lucky, as most antibiotic use damages our microbiomes, and reduces our species of the good, helpful bacteria that we want.
Thank you so much for this. People can now understand what I go through when I give them this article….will get amoxicillin asap
You’re welcome, She. Please let me clarify again that I am not a medical doctor and that the experience with amoxicillin may not work in your case, or that our own experience was mistakenly interpreted by us. Please make sure you talk with your doctor first 🙂
I have got very simillar experience with Augmentin (not sure that amoxicillin will do the same). After ten years of colitis, I had to go for a small surgery last year. I was given Augmentin because of the surgery. Symptoms improved almost immediately. After seven days of taking Augmentin, the symptoms were practically gone. The most obious change was in the range of food I was suddenly able to digest without any problem. Normally, I would not be able to eat bread with honey without getting seriously worse (almost anything sweet makes me worse). After taking Augmentin this was not a problem. The improvement lasted for about two weeks, than it fade it away.
Thank you for that insight, Pavel! Did you try again then with Augmentin, to see if it helps again?
Hello.. I’ve suffered from UC for around 4-5 years. Recently I had a bad chest flue and was put on Amoxycillin. Within days I experienced a massive improvement in my UC symptoms. I went looking for some medical references online and found this – thank you. I would like to conform the correlation between this use of this specific antibiotic and UC relief.
Keith, this is awesome! I am very happy for you.
Hello. This is probably a elated question but I am wondering if this diet will work for a vegetarian.
Hi Rainrain. Are you referring to the Special Carbohydrate Diet? Hmm… I am not sure, but I guess it could work. You’d need to investigate this further, though. All the best! David
Hi David. Thanks for your prompt response. Yes, SCD is what I had in mind. I guess I will have to order the book to find out!