Jini,

Thank you for the useful book, "Listen to Your Gut"! I request your advice for my 16 yo son who has been following the guidance in your book, is also weaning Prednisone, but is starting to bleed again.

He was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis in 2003 (I have UC too, with one flare up that started it on 2001, and remission since), and was hospitalized in October due to a flare up that started in March and became severe. He has since been on Prednisone (and Colazal). Simultaneously I put him on the following regimen based on your book. His bleeding stopped and general health improved. The Prednisone will be completely weaned off next week. Colazal will continue. Unfortunately he has started seeing some blood in his stool for the past 2 days. His bowel movement is also increasing from once a day to two times a day.

What do we do next? (Seems to me that the Gastroenterologist will recommend Remicade.) I will appreciate your help. BTW I have also ordered "IBD Remission Diet".

Thanks,
Khushroo

Supplements etc. he is taking per day:

MucosaHeal (1 capsule 3 times a day)
CoQ10 (1 capsule, 30 mg 3 times a day)
Healthy Trinity (1 capsule 2 times a day)
Fish Oil (1 capsule, 1000 mg 2 times a day)
Boost (1 bottle 2 times a day based on the GE's advice)
Aloe Vera Juice (1/4 cup 2 times a day)
Multivitamin (1 capsule once a day)

Hi, Khushroo.

Of course, you and your son need to weigh things and follow your own gut feelings as far as making decisions about what to do next, but here are some suggestions.

I think the first thing that needs to be addressed is actually the emotional side of things. Bleeding is a scary and stressful symptom: I could be gassy for the rest of my life and not be frightened by it, but the same couldn't be said about bleeding. Addressing that fear and stress will help both you and your son to address the physical symptoms from a much more peaceful and confident place mentally/emotionally. Ask your son to look through the chapter in LTYG on mind/body therapies and see if any of them "click" with him. My own personal favorite is EFT. Don't forget yourself; I think the worry component is much larger if your child is sick versus you yourself being sick....at least it would be for me.

Now, the Boost. I looked up the nutrition label for vanilla-flavored Boost online and I would suggest stopping that product. (I assume the ingredient list will be very similar for the various flavors.) Ingredients number two and three are both forms of sugar (corn syrup solids and sugar), which won't help the body heal, and it also contains carrageenan (which has been used to induce ulcerative colitis in lab animals), artificial flavors and ferrous sulfate, a form of iron which is difficult for the body to absorb and tends to be irritating to the gut.

I have followed the IBD Remission Diet twice myself and I can tell you that Absorb Plus is a terrific product. If the bleeding is profuse, going on the IBD Remission Diet and using Jini's Healing Implant Enema (as long as your son is comfortable with it....I know there's an "ick" factor, but they do work), getting lots of rest and using EFT or another mind/body therapy for any negative emotions will almost certainly bring about major improvements in pretty short order.

Lastly, don't forget about the infectious component of IBD. As Jini says, whether an imbalance in the gut flora is the cause of IBD or a result of it, it is still a factor that needs to be addressed for healing to take place. How does your son feel about following Jini's Wild Oregano Protocol? This can be combined with the IBD Remission Diet or followed separately.

I hope these suggestions give you something to begin with. Let us know how things go....

Nicole

Hi Nicole,

Thanks for your prompt reply to my message dt. Dec 16th. My son has been fine since, except on two occassions when he saw slight blood in the stool. I have been following Jini's recommended diet and supplements for him. We stopped Boost as per your advice and I have ordered AbsorbPlus.

He is currently on a mix of Phase 1-4 diet (much reduced wheat, no dairy, but has ketchup sometimes), more towards Phase 2 (ref. "IBD Remission Diet", pg 100). I am planning to take him to more strict Phase 2, then 3 and 4.

Questions:
Can he eat the following, and in which phase?
- gram flour (i.e. the Indian channa dal = chana dal = gram dal), dal being split lentils)
- moong dal (mung beans that have been skinned and split)
- tur dal (toor dal = tuvar dal = arhar dal = yellow lentils = tur dal)

Also, does "self raising flour" have wheat in it? What phase can he eat that (we have assumed it has low wheat content and let him eat recipes made using it. He also eats whitbread under that assumption)?

Thanks,
Khushroo

Hi, khushroo.

I'm so glad to hear that your son has been doing much better!

You can certainly test the gram flour, etc. I'd say they correspond with Phase 4, which is where Jini places the type of legumes that are typically dried for storage. Depending on how he responds to the test, you'll know whether those are good foods for him to eat at the present time. (I say at the present time, because most people are able to expand their dietary choices as their guts heal.)

Self-rising flour is usually all-purpose wheat (white) flour with leavening added to it, to make it rise. White bread is also usually made with wheat flour.

If he's doing well with it, then you have the answer as far as him eating it right from his own body and that's really your best source of information. If there are symptoms, one way to check if wheat is the culprit is to entirely eliminate wheat products from his diet for a few weeks and then try adding them back in to see if the absense and then reintroduction makes any difference in symptoms.

I hope he continues to improve!

Nicole

Hi Nicole,

I have a question re. Wild Oregano Oil Protocol for my teenage son.

My son who had UC has been doing ok so far after he returned from the hospital last November (he had flare up's since last March and went worse then.) He seemed to be in remission for about a month after Prednisone was weaned off. Since February he started getting flare up's. We had been giving him Phase I diet (ref. "IBD Remission Diet") and continued him on the diet. With that I believe we have been able to avoid going to the GI (who we fear will put him back on Prednisone or more likely, Remicade.) Your replies have been very helpful. We have been following Jini's book, "Listen to Your Guts". So far, that has enabled him to lead an OK life (2-5 bowel movements, sometimes up to 6, sees some blood every day - 2-4 on a scale of 10 being all red.) He has lost weight and looks really thin and small for his age, but that seems to be due to the Phase I diet restricting his choices and appetite.

2 weeks back he got more bold and tried burgers and wheat based bread (Indian roti). Within 3 days he flared up more. Went back to quite strict Phase I diet.

During his Spring break now, we thought of trying the Wild Oregano Protocol. He started 5 drops a day about a week ago as suggested by Jini, to try it out. Since then he has had 3 accidents with mostly liquid stool like diarrhea. His school starts tomorrow. We have gotten him adult diapers, just in case. Should we continue the protocol? If we do, as per LTYG he will start the Wild Oregano Oil Protocol Phase I within a week. We are hoping that will help him get to remission and eventually move to more food. But we are scared whether the diahhrea accidents were caused by the protocol, and if so, how long would he take before he stabilizes.

Supplements etc. he is taking per day (along with 5 drops of Wild Oregano Oil per day):

MucosaHeal (1 capsule 3 times a day)
CoQ10 (1 capsule, 30 mg 3 times a day)
Healthy Trinity (1 capsule once a day - he refuses to take the 3 powders mixed in water since he feels like throwing up!)
Fish Oil (1 capsule, 1000 mg 2 times a day)
Aloe Vera Juice (1/4 cup 2 times a day)
Multivitamin (1 capsule once a day)

Thanks,
Khushroo

Hi, Khushroo.

Unfortunately, there is no way for me to tell you for sure whether his accidents are due to intolerance to the Wild Oregano Oil or due to die-off. Both can cause diarrhea. Die-off is obviously good, if unpleasant, while intolerance isn't.

I actually discussed this with someone else previously; following is a link to that discussion.

http://www.jinipatelthompson.com/bb2/vi ... .php?t=217

I really do sympathize with how hard it can be to live with restricted food choices while you're waiting for your gut to calm down. And even after the body is healed, there may be a few foods that a person is still intolerant to. It can be hard for an adult; I imagine that restriction must feel even worse for a teenager.

Still, it's obviously counterproductive to give in and eat trigger foods. My best advice there is to try EFT to reframe the desire for tasty but "unfriendly" foods as well as to deal with any resentment, frustration, etc. about diet.

Check out the link above and if it leaves your questions unanswered or gives rise to new ones, don't hesitate to write back. I'm glad to help however I can.

Sincerely,
Nicole