I have been taking MucosaHeal at the strong support level for a week. I am also taking the recommended aloe vera juice and drinking the absorb plus shakes as often as possible (usually 4 per day). I am still eating some solid foods but minimal. I have also used Jini's healing implant enema twice to date.

I have been dealing with lots of urgent watery diarrhea. I've looked into the ingredients in MucosaHeal and found that Slippery Elm Bark and Marshmallow root have diuretic/laxative properties. Has this been a problem for anyone? Is MucosaHeal known to exacerbate diarrhea?

I've also been using L-Glutamine (1/2 tsp daily) and Psyllium powder with little positive results.

I was diagnosed with ulcerative proctictis in March of 2008. Around November of 2008 I began a slowly worsening flair that included debilitating painful lower abdominal cramping/burning, loose but still somewhat formed stools with an increasing presence of blood and puss. Since that time I was put on Prednisone (started at 40 mg) and have been decreasing the dose ever since. I am now down to 10 mg and will start 5 mg tomorrow. This is going against what my doctor wants me to do. Today he has told me to increase to 40 mg again. I do not want to. The Prednisone, even at the highest dosage, seemed to do very little. It did considerably help the cramping but the bleeding did not seem to change much and has stayed about the same through my dosage decrease.

I have also been working with a naturopath who has been great. Although I've seen improvement with him, he did put me through a fairly rough detox which I think prolonged the healing process. In the last week of following Jini's suggestions I have seen a clear decrease in bleeding. The pain and cramping is better (I can eat a meal without immediately cramping up now). However, the urgent diarrhea has kept me in the house for weeks with only a few short trips out. Is there anything that can help with or is there something I'm doing wrong?

Thank you for your guidance.

Hi, turtledove.

I can't honestly say I've heard of slippery elm or marshmallow root having a laxative effect. They're often used to treat diarrhea, actually. I did a quick Internet search, looking for reports of anyone who's noticed a laxative effect from either of these herbs, as well, but didn't find anything.

On the other hand, not every substance is good for every person. So I don't want to discount your concerns. I wasn't entirely clear from your post, though: Did your diarrhea *increase* upon using the MucosaHeal? Did your starting the MucosaHeal coincide with a decrease in your prednisone?

Note that it's often the last bit of prednisone that people have the hardest time weaning from, so that's another possibility to consider.

I remember being stuck in the house like that, as well. The combination that really gave me a jump start in healing was combining Jini's Wild Oregano Oil with the IBD Remission Diet (a complete program based around an elemental diet). This accomplishes three key things, among others:

Gives your bowel a complete rest to facilitate healing of the mucosal lining
Addresses any pathogenic flora in the gut
Rebalances the gut flora, so you have a healthy population of beneficial bacteria(

Remember, too, if your food source is Absorb Plus only, you will have liquid stools; this is normal. Taking probiotics at the same time tends to calm this down somewhat, though, and helps with the urgency (liquid stool is obviously harder to "hold").

There's a long section about natural antimicrobials and probiotics in Chapter Two of Listen to Your Gut.

Hope that helps...

Nicole