Ulcerative Colitis?

[lonewolf 0]

My 14 year old son just had an endoscopy and colonoscopy this morning. The only problem that showed up is damage in his colon - he definitely has Ulcerative Colitis. It's better than Crohn's, which is what we thought it would be. He has to take Asacol "indefinitely" according to the GI doc.

My son is already gluten-free, and has been for several years. We're eliminating dairy again starting today. I was diagnosed with colitis way back in college, and then IBS and all my symptoms disappeared when I went gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free and egg free. I'm still fine now and have reintroduced eggs and occasionally cheat with small amounts of dairy and soy. I've heard that Ulcerative Colitis is worse than just Colitis or IBS.

I've been doing a ton of research and can't get much good information. I think we're going to try probiotics, aloe vera, L-Glutamine and going dairy free for now.

Does anyone have any "real" experience with this? I would love to know some personal experience with what works and what doesn't. Doing research has been very frustrating - everthing just says that there's no cure and that alternative therapies and diets won't help. But I also read that the medications don't work well either. It's tricky when it's your child. I have to give him the medication for a while at least - until he's in remission. If it were just me I would try dietary changes first.

Any ideas?

[ravenwoodglass 1,350]

I wish I had some advice for you but I did want you to know how sorry I am that this has happened to your son. I think your plan is sound and I do hope he is feeling better soon.

[ksymonds84 9]

Liz, you may want to pop over to the perskyfarms.com colitis boards. Most have MC colitis but others have general colitis, celiac etc. Almost all of them are gluten free, dairyfree, and soy free and that it DOES help their colitis. Tex and Polly (a pediatrician) are the moderators and I bet they would have some fantastic advice for your son!

[Michi8 1]

The Specific Carbohydrate Diet was developed for treating IBD such as Chron's and Colitis. It may be worth checking out:

http://www.breakingtheviciouscycle.info/

Michelle

[lonewolf 0]

Thanks for the responses!

I'll pop over to the perskyfarms board very soon.

I actually came on here just now to ask a question about the SCD. This is WAY harder than if it were me. My son doesn't want to talk about it and is only willing to stay gluten-free and go dairy free. At least he's willing to do that much! I'm not sure if I can swing doing the SCD for him (and I'd do it with him) with a husband and 3 other kids in the house. I like to cook, but once school starts I work too and I can't imagine having enough time to make 2 sets of meals most days.