Recently, a 23-year-old mom of a 6-month-old, nursing infant called my office in desperation: “Please help me, the surgeon is going to remove my colon in a week because I have ulcerative colitis and no treatment is working. I don’t want to lose my colon. Can you do anything to help me? The surgery is already scheduled…I’ll do whatever is necessary to get better.”

Obviously, she had arrived at dire circumstances. Ulcerative colitis is a serious illness that can cause bowel ulceration, bleeding and blood loss, fluid and electrolyte loss, pain, and inflammation. If left untreated, the bowel constricts causing blockages and infection that spread to other portions of the colon along with adjacent muscle and connective tissue.

This woman had been doing pretty well for several years managing her ulcerative colitis with traditional meds – an oral steroid and an anti-inflammatory. But about 3 months into her pregnancy she cut back on her medications, concerned that they could adversely affect the baby.

Now she was in a full, raging flare-up of her disease — frequent bloody stool, painful spasmodic abdominal pain, mild anemia (due to the blood loss) and unrelenting, intense fatigue. Worst of all, she was faced with the daunting imminent prospect of having her colon removed within a week!

Not surprisingly, this woman’s doctor was not trained in integrative medicine. When traditional medical treatment failed to arrest her deteriorating condition he believed the only viable solution was the most radical one — removing her colon. I immediately decided to assist her in recovery, provided she was willing and able to follow my instructions diligently and completely.

She began following the Medical Wellness Protocol™ for ulcerative colitis, an integrative treatment plan that combines dietary modifications, nutritional supplements, and healthier living practices with traditional medications.

The following list briefly summarizes the action plan she followed:

1. Eating guidelines: Avoid dairy products, gluten, and other foods that worsen symptoms for 3-4 weeks. Eat fresh (and canned) organic vegetables of all types including beans, peas and legumes. Eat fresh fruit — primarily apples, pears, blueberries, papaya, and pineapple. Eat small amounts of chicken (remove skin) and generous portions of oily, free-swimming (not farmed) ocean fish. (These foods are considered non-inflammatory.) Drink only water or green tea without sugar or sweetener. The bulk of beverage intake should be between meals to avoid diluting desirable stomach acid.
2. Conventional medicines: Begin antibiotic (antibacterial)¹ treatment with ciprofloxacin. (Many of the inflammatory bowel disease flare-ups I have seen over the past 20 years are associated with a large increase of pathogenic microbes — especially “unfriendly or bad bacteria.”)
3. Natural Supplements: Begin taking glutamine³ powder, fish oil,⁴ curcumin capsules, oregano capsules, probiotics, garlic tablets, and borage capsules. These supplements will help to heal the mucosal lining, reduce inflammation, add friendly bacteria to the gut,² and improve intestinal immunity.
4. Physical Activity: Maintain normal daily activities and attempt 5-10 minutes of gentle stretching of legs and core muscles and joints.
5. Mental Emotional Spiritual: Practice breathing relaxation time, twice daily. Each 5-minute “relaxation imagery” session assists in becoming more aware of bodily sensations and the sensory experience of voluntarily relaxing mind and body.
6. Special Products and Procedures: Use only natural dishwashing liquid and make sure that all dishes and cookware are thoroughly rinsed of residual soap that can irritate the intestinal lining. Use castor oil packs on the abdomen for symptomatic relief. Avoid lipstick, lip balm, and fluoride toothpaste.

Within four days all bleeding and diarrhea stopped. By the next day her pain stopped. In another two days, the stools were well-formed and regular. She required no surgery and remains symptom free except for the times she eats foods that cause inflammation. We have not abandoned her steroid medications, we merely leave them on the shelf for times she may actually need them.

References

1. Ewaschuk JB, et al. Curr Gastroenterol Rep. 2006 Dec;8(6):486-98.
2. Mitsuyama K, et al. Expert Opin Ther Targets. 2008 Mar;12(3):301-12.
3. Lai YN, et al., Nutrition. 2004 Mar;20(3):286-91.
4. Lin MT, et al. Nutrition. 2007 Feb;23(2):179-86.

[Ed. Note: J. William LaValley, MD is a physician in Nova Scotia, Canada and Austin, Texas. He practices Integrative and Complementary Medicine as a member of the Canadian Medical Association, serving as the Chairperson of the Complementary Medicine Section of Doctors Nova Scotia. He is also a member of the American Medical Association, Texas Medical Association, and Travis County Medical Society in Austin.]

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