Hi:

How are you doing? My daughter is 17 years old and has been diagnosed with UC since she was 14. Currently she is flaring. The doctor has put her on 40 mg of prednisone and she is also taking 15 asacols per day, she can't sleep and is nauseous and dizzy. She can hardly go to school. I have your books and I been giving her the shakes, the jello and chicken broth, also the healing enema and the fissureheal and Yummi Bears Multivitamin & Mineral. My biggest problem is that she wants to go to school but can't on the remission diet, so we will try it for the week-end and then go back to eating a bland diet during the week, egg whites, carrots, bread, raw cheddar cheese, rice cakes and turkey, fish, chicken. She uses the MucosaHeal, george's aloe vera, I have the Natren probiotics but I have stopped them because of the bleeding.

I am thinking of asking the doctor of weaning her off of the prednisone and just going of the shakes for a while. but like I said the biggest problem is going to school on this type of diet.

Any suggestions you have would be appreciated.

Thank you

I'm sorry to hear your daughter is having such a hard time. And yes, following the elemental diet can be very tough in the context of an active life.

Here's the way I get around that problem, FWIW. I realize there may be additional issues for your daughter, i.e. the social aspects of making/drinking an elemental shake while everyone else is eating normal food and the potential for a lot of questions, teasing, etc.

But from a straight logistical standpoint, it's possible to mix up two shakes before she leaves for school in a large 1 QT mason jar. Get one of those little cooler bags and some ice packs, the kind some people use when they get injured. Put the mason jar in the cooler bag with the ice pack and she can take it to school. I also carry a hand blender (normally used for soups, etc.) and the powders with me, along with a small container of Udo's Oil in the cooler bag and a bottle of water, so I can make fresh shakes in the afternoon if I willl be out all day. Perhaps she could use an outlet in the teacher's lounge or nurse's office for privacy from other kids to plug the blender in and make the shakes. I would hope the school staff would be accommodating if the circumstances were explained.

It's a pain in the $@#, but it's manageable and worth it if your daughter is seeing improvement on the diet.

Hope this helps,
Chris

Okay, couple of points (and thanks to Chris for the practical advice!):

I hope you're aware that the IBD Remission Diet is not something you can do part time. If you go on and off it, then it is not elemental and will not provide "bowel rest". Therefore, you cannot expect the same progression and results.

Also, if the bowel is bleeding, then you cannot go to school, work, etc. and expect to heal quickly. Blood clots best if you work with gravity and lie down as much as possible until bleeding has subsided. Get up only to perform neccessities and go for a gentle walk once per day.

Using the shakes in conjunction with regular foods to provide extra nutrients and less work for the beleagured digestive system is a good idea and will only help.

In LTYG, I do note that one of the listed "side effects" of Asacol is "bloody diarrhea". So, personally, I would wean off that first, before prednisone.

Natural healing does not work like drug treatment. You have to completely change your mindset, as supplements and other natural treatments do not work like drugs. They will not just suppress your symptoms so you can go about your day/life as usual. Natural healing requires a long-term committment and will always involve significant lifestyle changes. After all, if your lifestyle (emotional and physical) was healthy, you would not have gotten sick in the first place.

So, you and your daughter need to decide what she is willing to do for her health at this time and then work within the parameters of that. I think if you were to talk to the people who've been successful with natural healing, they would probably tell you that their healing required a lot of work, persistence and long-term committment.

Maybe your daughter would prefer to just get along as much as possible until the summer, and then go on the IBD Remission Diet.

all the best,
Jini