Crohn's Disease & Ulcerative Colitis Support Group

Hi there,

If you’ve found your way to this journal, then you are probably suffering greatly with Ulcerative Colitis, as I once did.

This journal is the result of a promise I made to myself that, once I got well and was free of any sign UC or medication for more than 3 years, I would contribute whatever I could, in the hope that it might help others. I sincerely hope it sets you on the path to healing, and living a healthy, happy and normal life again.

So a little bit of my story first and then onto the process I followed to regain my health. I write this as a factual testimony of what happened to me. I hope it works for you but obviously, if you choose to try what I did, common sense is paramount on your path to recovery.

After 26 years of perfect health, I started with the symptoms of ulcerative colitis and was diagnosed after a colonoscopy shortly after turning 27. I suffered with severe UC for the next 13 years before being completely cured.

I had all the symptoms you are probably well familiar with. Bleeding, mucous, the sudden and urgent need to run to the bathroom, sometimes more than 20 times a day, excruciating pain, the inability to absorb any nutrients. For a 3 week period just after I turned 33, I was bedridden and as close to death as I have ever come in my life, my weight had dropped back to 38 kgs (around 84 lbs), the first time I had weighed this since I was a teenager. I would be seriously ill again, 4 years later.

Add to this the side effects of the combination of medications I was on. Mesasal (8 tablets a day), Prednisone tablets (25mg tabs, sometimes 6 a day), Prednisol (prednisone) enemas, when I could retain them, and Rhinocort nasal spray ( I ‘accidentally’ discovered that one of the ingredients –budesonide- helped my condition and was less battering to my system than prednisone) and Lomotil. Simultaneously!

The effects of all these medications as you are probably well aware are: bloating of the face and ankles (my weight went from a low of 38kgs (84 lbs) to 54 kgs (119 lbs), mood swings and aggression, headaches, oily skin, hot flushes – all resulting from the steroid prednisone. My long term use of this medication led to me losing my hair much sooner than I might have and at the age of 38, also, my eyesight had become so bad, I had to have surgery to remove cataracts from both eyes, something that would turn out to be a blessing actually. My eyesight is now better than at any time in my life.

By necessity I had to take all these medications to keep body and soul together to perform my job. I had just started a new job and a new career when I was first diagnosed and it necessitated me being at my desk constantly for 10-12 hour periods everyday as well as frequent entertaining and socializing with colleagues and clients. The stress caused by my illness certainly added to stress at work.

The inability to have a normal life – go to dinner, play golf, go to a movie, go for a drink, take long journeys, always living in fear that what I ate might have dire consequences – without knowing where the nearest bathroom was, put me in some pretty dark, depressing places.

I was particularly intolerant to anything with vinegar in it, citrus fruits and juices (I used to drink orange juice by the gallon before I got sick), and dairy products (no ice-cream or yoghurt which I used to love).

I picked up a horrible yeast infection which also lead to a horrible chronic sinus problem and an asthmatic condition – none of which I had before I got sick.

I spent thousands upon thousands of dollars on top of the medications I was on, traveling the world seeking doctors and also ordering natural remedies, experimenting with anything and everything to find a cure. Aloe vera juice and capsules, lactoferrin, raw turmeric, raw garlic, cinnamon, various other vitamins and supplements, acupuncture treatments and meditation. None of which hurt – but in truth, none of which helped. Once, I was so desperate, I considered swallowing an anti-biotic prescribed for my dog who was displaying similar symptoms (she was picking it up from me).

Throughout the entire 13 years of my illness, there was one thought only that guided me and kept me going. I had been perfectly healthy for 26 years and was not prepared to accept the opinions of the experts that my condition was genetic or ‘incurable’. If I was healthy once, I would get healthy again and something must have happened to send me into this vicious cycle. I wouldn’t work out what that something was till after I got well again and had the benefit of hindsight.

Crunch time came when I turned 39. I had to relocate to a new country and a new company for work. I didn’t think I’d have the luxury of an understanding new employer like I’d had at my previous workplace, having been there for 11 years. I HAD to get better and I had six weeks to do it. Along with preparing for my relocation, I spent every available second, Google searching anything random I could, anything just to find a clue. The proverbial needle in the haystack. By the grace of God I got lucky.

I came across a book by David Klein called Self Healing Colitis & Crohns (www.colitis-crohns.com/). Now if you think this is a plug for David’s book, it is and it isn’t. Remember what I said at the start. This is a factual testimony of the process I followed to regain my health. It is a fact that David’s book began and was part of that process.

I went through David’s website thoroughly and what he had to say made so much sense to me.

The book based on a healing principle known as Natural Hygiene just resonated strongly with me.

What happened over the next 6 weeks was pretty much miraculous. 6 weeks, doesn’t sound like much does it? But in an age when we want instant results, if it wasn’t for the fact that I was just so sick of being sick and the belief I had in David’s philosophy towards healing and the fact that I just HAD TO, I wouldn’t have had the tenacity to stick with things until the results gradually came. Would you be prepared to do something for 6 weeks if you knew it was going to bring to an end a 13 year sentence in hell?

David’s philosophy for me seemed to be underpinned by one core principle. That the body, when ill, is always fighting to return to its natural state – health. It’s designed like that. What we call illness are the SYMPTOMS and doctors treat SYMPTOMS they never treat the CAUSE.

By assisting the body with appropriate amounts of rest, sunshine, fresh air and most importantly, diet – we can assist it to return to its natural state – health. In David’s book he recommends a largely fruit diet.

What I did next was pretty hardcore. I’m not suggesting you do it – I’m just factually stating what I did.

I took every single medication I was on and I stopped taking them – cold turkey! From what I read from David’s book and other sources, they were keeping me sick. The long term use of prednisone for example – was the reason I had developed a yeast infection! Inflammation was my body trying to heal. Taking something to stop the inflammatory process was just masking the symptom and not treating the cause.

So this is what I did. It is fact and I don’t care for the doubters because it worked for me.

Having stopped taking my medications (it’s what I did – I’m not saying that anyone else should) - On the diet front I completely STOPPED for a minimum 6 weeks (some for slightly longer):

ANYTHING with SUGAR in it. No sweets or soft drinks. Not even in tea or coffee. Nothing refined. The only sweetener I allowed myself was honey – natural.

NO CAFFEINE – no tea or coffee or soft drinks.

NO DIARY – except small portions of cheddar cheese.

NO VINEGAR or anything with vinegar in it. i.e. salad dressings, Tabasco sauce.

NOTHING with yeast in it – bread, beer – nothing.

NO wheat based products – i.e. spaghetti and bread.

Limited alcohol – ok I cheated here but the only thing that never seemed to effect my stomach was Gin & Tonic – but I stayed off alcohol for the first 3 weeks of my diet.

What I DID eat and the procedeure I followed was this (remember I said hardcore)

I ate BANANAS every meal of the day for around 3 weeks. Sometimes I would have a banana smoothie (banana and water and maybe honey to sweeten, nothing else).

I drank only water (this is going to sound strange but in the interests of truth I have to say it - only Evian water – other water seemed to not agree with me).

I also took an excellent soluble fibre supplement. The one I used I got from India and still use to this day. I will list it here for the record but I guess the thing is that you take a good sugar free soluble fibre supplement.

The product I used was called Isabgol and it consists of:

Isabgol Husk Powder (49%)
Amla Powder (1%)

I would take 2-3 teaspoons in a glassful of water and drink first thing in the morning. As well as drinking water steadily throughout the day.

Initially for the first week or so, I did get worse before I began to get better as my body began to eject 13 years of toxicity. But then it started to heal. By the end of 3-4 weeks, I had regained 80 percent of my health. And then I had to go to another country!

I arrived, not having anything in the place I was staying and not knowing where to shop to get my dietary requirements and this led to my next big discovery.

I was sticking to my fruit based diet – which largely was banana’s but I stumbled across, what in my experience was the most potent and turbocharged healer in my recovery process (perhaps this may have been because I had already started to heal) – BLUEBERRIES.

Upon my arrival in my new country, my diet for the next few weeks largely consisted of a banana/blueberry fruit salad. I also had some raspberries at times. Sometimes I would eat combinations, sometimes just the individual fruits. I also found I could tolerate cantaloupe/rockmelon quite well. To this I added a slice or two of cheddar cheese with each meal I had…and water (Evian). I would also have a portion of smoked salmon at the end of every day with the fruit salad and cheddar cheese.

So after 6 weeks with me back to 95% health my diet had consisted of:
Banana’s, Blueberries, Raspberries, Cheddar Cheese, Smoked Salmon, Water and my fibre supplement to start the day. Sometimes cantaloupe but absolutely NOTHING else.

I stuck to this because, without being on medication, I was feeling better and I was able to function normally. I didn’t need to take medicine anymore. I didn’t feel sick anymore and my life had returned almost to normal.

8 weeks in and I felt brave enough to (slowly) return to a normal diet. I ate curries (not excessively spicy), chicken – basically everything I wanted – but I restricted dairy (I reintroduced yoghurt), I restricted vinegar or anything with vinegar in it, I’d have very limited amounts of brown or wholemeal breads, no caffeine still and definitely veered away from processed and refined sugars and meats.

Eventually, in a pretty short time I was so convinced of my return to health that I put myself to the test with tea, coca-cola, pizza. I ate all with no return of my colitis.

Since April 2006, I have not been to a doctor for ANYTHNG. I have not taken any medications other than cold & flu capsules when I have had the flu and needed to be confined to bed for a few days.

You see, what I learnt from this whole experience was what David had said. The body is always trying to return to a state of health. But almost as if I had recovered from amnesia, I remembered what triggered my descent into this hell and then all the WRONG things I had done to perpetuate it for the next 13 years.

At 26, prior to being diagnosed with UC, I picked up a nasty case of bronchial asthma. I had never had asthma before. This took 6 months to get rid of. In that 6 months I loaded up with over the counter medicines as well as anti-biotics and that was what sealed my fate. Long term use of an anti-biotics without taking an accompanying pro-biotic.

In my ignorance, I had not known that anti-biotic means anti-life. Anti-biotics kill EVERYTHING. They can’t discriminate between good and bad. By not replacing the good flora in my guts, I slowly turned my body into a toxic waste dump and once I started the vicious cycle, I couldn’t reverse it.

The yeast infection from the prednisone was fed by my love of pizza and Bacardi and cokes. Just about everything I ate, good or bad was toxic to my system – even when I was being good.

Once I regained my health in 2006, every single other illness that had developed went away – the asthma and the sinus infection. I re-iterate again, I have not visited a doctor or taken anything other than over the counter cold and flu capsules in 3.5 years!

Yes, I do eat better now, Fruit and vegetables and all that. But I can also eat ANYTHING I want with no side effects. I’ll even have a few pints of Guinness if the urge takes me. I live a fully normal life. The life I had before I got sick.


So what I would say is this. Investigate for yourself. Don’t take my word for it. Look at my pictures – they don’t lie. Read David’s book and understand the philosophy behind what he is saying. Take time and be patient and never EVER give up (I went 13 years truly believing I would be healthy again) and I am certain that you can start to heal within 4-8 weeks and regain your health. Don’t be discouraged.

I was as ill as you are now, once. I was desperate and afraid. I almost died. On a a couple of occasions I was unable to control my functions. So I know the despair, the humiliation and the depression that comes along with this illness and all I can say is that, if I made it through – so can you! I've stood in your shoes. I've been where you are.

Listen to your body and use common sense. I am happy to answer anyone’s questions about anything on this matter. If just one person can heal by learning from where I have been, then I have in some small way, repaid my God for the grace He showed me curing my ‘incurable’ illness.

Believe. You will regain your health. It won’t happen instantly but if you help your body, your body will take care of everything and it will happen.

I wrote this to fulfill my promise to myself and for my Mum, who worried about me and prayed for me for 13 long years but never stopped looking after me, loving me, getting me the things I needed as well as dealing with my anger when I had the strength to be angry. Subconsciously or otherwise, it was probably her belief in natural cures and healing, as well as her faith, that got me to my destination.

To the doctors who couldn’t help me and prescribed me all those medications - they did their best with what they knew. I’m not angry at them. At the time, before I got my answer, I needed those medications.

It goes without saying that David Klein is my hero.

I hope this helps someone, anyone. I am free of UC and I don’t need any doctor to tell me that. April 2006 was when I began my journey and I have been symptom and medication free and living a normal life in all ways and its now December 2009. That’s long enough to claim victory even by a skeptics’ standards.

I send you my best wishes and hope that you remain patient and never give up, in your journey back to health.

Andre.
December 15th, 2009.
Posted on 12/15/09, 03:28 pm