Day 6- Part 2 Crohns Disease Symptoms Diet Treatment Colitis IBS

Daily Management of Crohn’s Disease

Crohn’s Disease is a chronic illness that is rarely if ever fatal. The side effects of the illness and resulting complications can be deadly if left untreated. Crohn’s sufferers go through long periods of remission with infrequent flare ups if the illness is properly managed. Many doctors think the Crohn’s can actually be cured with the correct diet and right lifestyle changes. Approaching those changes practically with a little prior planning will go a long way in controlling the illness while improving quality of life.

After your illness is diagnosed, then it is time to begin learning all that you can about how to manage your condition. Your physician is the perfect source for specific information concerning support resource groups as well as information about the illness itself. In addition the internet makes it a snap to fin local support groups in your town as well as a host of library resources for learning about Crohn’s management and control.

The exact cause of Crohn’s is still not known, and most in the medical community resort to conventional measures for dealing with the chronic disease. These include relying on minor lifestyle changes such as eliminating certain foods from your diet and prescribed medications for the various symptoms of the condition. Food triggers include dairy products, spicy foods, as well as foods high in fat and sometimes even high in fiber. Crohn’s sufferers can identify these triggers because they cause discomfort and pain shortly after consumption.

If you do feel pain after eating, take that food out of your diet. You can reintroduce it later in smaller quantities. Some sufferers of Crohn’s Disease turn to a raw food diet of organic produce. Juicing their fruits and vegetables to encourage faster and easier digestion. Other concerns are malnutrition because with this type illness, the body loses its ability to absorb the right amount of nutrients. Couple this with loss of appetite and you have a real problem that could lead to malnutrition. Ask your doctor to refer you to a dietitian who can create a diet that will sustain you complete with foods, supplements and and vitamins.

Planning your social activities ahead of time will control those unpredictable symptoms that make most people want to stay home in the first place. Side effects such as diarrhea, gas and stomach pain tend to discourage social activities, mainly out of fear of embarrassment. But it is important to make an effort to take part in activities that you enjoy if only to maintain a normal life. One way to do this is to choose destinations close to home and where you feel comfortably in control. Upon arrival make note of the all restroom locations as a way to relieve anxiety or stress should an outbreak occur. To lessen worry, travel with extra toilet tissue and or undergarments.

Stress plays a big role in the outbreak of symptoms associated with Crohn’s Disease. Controlling stress and anxiety goes a long way in handling flare-ups. Some of the more popular ways to alleviate stress is to take a yoga class or a tai chi course while learning how to meditate along with working deep breathing techniques. A regular exercise program helps normal bowel function. It is wise to consult your doctor before beginning an exercise program of any kind.

Finally, build a support system of friends, family, and medical care providers. Honest and open relationships with these people or groups will enable you to function normally ensuring that you receiving the best care and support.

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Day 0- Part 1 Colitis Diet Symptoms Disease IBS Crohns Treatment

Can Diet Change Alone Cure Crohn’s Disease

The chronic infection known as Crohn’s Disease is a very painful disease of the gastrointestinal tract. While not fatal the pain and discomfort can come and go over the course of a lifetime. Some doctors and researchers have come to the conclusion that all this life long suffering may not be necessary. They feel that a change in diet is the ticket to a life free of Crohn’s related symptoms and side effects.
Conventional wisdom in the medical community follows a regimen of drugs, minor life change and possibly surgery as a means of managing the illness. Patients diagnosed with Crohn’s are told the best they can hope for is occasional remission from the disease until a cure is found. The damage done to the intestinal tract continues unabated masked over by the medications, which often come with insidious side effects of their own. The patient, meantime, gets weaker and weaker.
Many researchers believe the culprit behind Crohn’s and many other chronic ailments is the Western or American diet which is loaded with processed foods, fats and sugar. These researchers favor changing the diet altogether by going back to a simpler, unprocessed way of eating that is also free from excess sugar. The argument for changing diet is a sound one given the epidemics of obesity, cancer, heart disease as well as other illnesses along with Crohn’s Disease. Crohn’s is in fact just one of a number of illnesses that chronically affect all or part of the gastrointestinal tract. These ailments begin to appear in other cultures when Americanized eating and preparing food is introduced. People get fatter and start suffering and dying in similar fashion to Americans.
Scientists and researchers recommend removing all meat, dairy, eggs and other processed foods. Some mandate switching to a raw food diet of only organically grown produce to circumvent the heavy use of pesticides and other chemicals that coat typical American produce. Raw food proponents maintain that a raw food diet will cure Crohn’s Disease completely. This way of eating is not new, having been around for hundreds of years. It consists mainly of whole, raw or juiced fruits and organic vegetables with added portions of nuts, seeds and some fatty fruits. Those who are dealing with a chronic illness should first talk to a doctor before switching to a new eating regimen. If you wish to go it alone then start out with non acidic raw fruits like bananas. Simple fruits are the easiest to digest.
On the other hand, vegetables may prove difficult in the very beginning for your system to handle. Eating vegetables right away may even exacerbate your situation worsening your symptoms for a while. Go slow adding foods gradually will allow your system to adapt more easily. Spread the conversion over a months time for best effects. Just be consistent. It is not uncommon to feel worse before you feel better. Know that healing is happening and better health is right around the corner.

Day 0- Part 2 Crohns Diet Symptoms Disease Treatment Colitis IBS

Conventional Treatment for Crohn’s Disease

Conventional wisdom has doctors and researchers treating Crohn’s Disease as well as other gastrointestinal illnesses with medication. Once a diagnosis is made then doctors tailor the medications based on the type of symptoms seen in the sufferer. Since each patient is different, no one specific type of regimen is available to treat all Crohn’s sufferers. However, doctors resort to medications in four different categories for treating their patients.

The conventional medications used are plentiful and fall into four categories including drugs to relieve the symptoms of Crohn’s, anti-inflammatory drugs, medications that suppress the immune system and antibiotics. Some or all of these types of medications are used in varying combinations. Symptom relief drugs allow sufferers to tolerate the illness, but not cure it. This category of medication does nothing to deal with the underlying cause of the disease, which in most cases, is digestive tract inflammation.

Several over the counter drugs are used including anti-diarrhea medications, laxatives, pain pills, as well as iron and nutritional supplements. Sometimes doctors will prescribe more potent forms of these OTC drugs. On the other hand, blockages of the bowel system may be caused by inflammation and the buildup of scar tissue. Doctors will then resort the use of laxatives to aide elimination. Joint and stomach pain are usually treated with acetaminophen because aspirin and other anti inflammatory drugs will exacerbate the problem making the symptoms worse. Vitamin and mineral supplements are used to offset the possibility of malnutrition caused by the body’s inability to absorb the right kind of nutrients.

However, in order to reduce the inflammation, doctors depend on anti inflammatory drugs to reduce the swelling, as well as other negative side effects. Sulfasalazine is the drug most commonly used for this purpose. Its usage does come with side effects including nausea, vomiting and headaches. Other drugs are used with fewer side effects, however they are not as effective in handling the effects of Crohn’s Disease on the body.

Some doctors believe that Crohn’s results from the inability of the immune system to turn off once it activates. Therefore these doctors rely on immune system suppressors to treat the illness. The most common immuno-suppressor used is Azathioprine. Mercaptopurine is also used. But these two drugs come with some ugly and potentially dangerous side effects the include liver damage, high blood pressure, cancer and an increased risk of infection.

Antibiotics are used to heal fistulas abscesses and ulcers, which contribute to infection in the body. The negative side effects are very dangerous for Crohn’s sufferers. However it is a case of which may harm you more, the medication used to treat the illness or the illness itself. There is no good answer to that question except to change what you are doing.

Day 7 Part 2- Crohns Diet Symptoms Disease Treatment Colitis IBS

Getting Right in the Head

Having the right motivation is the key to success, whether you’re writing a paper or attempting to cure your body of a chronic disease such as Crohn’s disease. Many doctors believe that diet and lifestyle changes will actually cure Crohn’s, which is generally considered incurable by most in the medical community. But it takes more than simple change to make it happen. To make change happen the mind and body must be completely in tune.

So the first step is to decide on the person you eventually want to be. In other words, do you want to be well? Do you want to simply maintain what health you have now, or do you want to be completely cured of all symptoms and problems related to your illness? Honestly, pain is a great motivator. Ask yourself, if you want to be free of pain as well as the underlying causes? Answering this question in the affirmative will set you on your way to better health.

The next hurdle is to sit down and write out your goals for good health. Simply craft a list of what it takes for you to be healthy. Doing this allows your mind to wrap itself around the goals and to begin the healing process. Set small goals, ones that are attainable and easily reached in order to keep propelling yourself forward, while remaining engaged. You don’t want to make it too difficult for yourself. Conceiving the plan is the first step, while believing is the next. It would be wise to find a doctor at this point, however it is not necessary. If you choose to go it alone, then adding a little organization will enable to you to proceed toward your goals, keeping your mind headed in the right direction.

Make the choice to switch to organic fruits and vegetables immediately. This switch will start you on the way to better health right out of the box. Organic foods are better for you. Look at this switch as a way to train your mind. In fact, statistics show organic foods have as much as 50% more antioxidants in them, which researchers believe cut down on the risk of heart disease, cancers and chronic disease such as Crohn’s Disease. Organics also contain more vitamins and minerals, and no added pesticides, irradiation or other carcinogens.

It is thought that people can lengthen their lives, and prevent disease by consuming organic foods. Most people find that organic foods taste better, sleep improves and excess weight is jettisoned, and this is just by switching from non organic to organic food. Your mind, driven by the better taste, will automatically force you to continue eating organically, dragging your body into a healthier lifestyle and way of eating.

Once you’ve made the switch from non organic to organic foods, then going a step further into eating a raw food diet for your health is much easier. Your mind is ready for the change and your body and digestive system will welcome it. Bear in mind, that these changes are not easy and will take time. If you’re attempting to rid yourself of a chronic disease such as Crohn’s Disease, then some symptoms can be eliminated in as little as a month’s time. However a complete cure can take more than a year to accomplish.