My Own Story
Welcome to My Own Story. The following page is a detailed description of my life with Colitis. It's quite difficult to describe so much of the disease in just one page, but I hope I have condensed the emotions and feelings of the Colitis symptoms to a minimum. I hope you can gain some healing thoughts and comfort from my words.
I first noticed something wasn't quite right when I was about 17 years of age, I kept having repeated stomach cramps and bloody stools. As I was young, I shrugged off the idea of having any illness and presumed it would leave of it's own accord. I bought some haemorrhoid cream and hoped that would suffice. Needless to say it didn't help at all. I started to lose my appetite and the bloody stools got worse, I lost weight so fast I was down to six stone in a few weeks. It all happened so fast! I was so tired I couldn't last a full day without having a sleep. During the day I stayed in bed and tried to drink 'Build Ups' or electrolyte powders to regain my strength. I couldn't keep any food down and my stomach was extremely bloated. I was taken to hospital when I was going to the toilet about 15 times during the night and I couldn't process any foods at all.
I had a specialist see me, and he diagnosed me with Ulcerative Colitis. I had no idea what that was and it scared me half to death! I was 18 years old at the time. I was placed on a antibiotics drip and I had a blood transfusion too. The specialist performed an Endoscopy, which wasn't very nice at all. He blew so much air inside my anal passage I felt like the pain would rip me in two. The male nurse who held my hand throughout the entire session was grimacing with pain as I squeezed his hand so hard! Bless his heart, he was my tower of strength and I never did thank him for being there with me. We always have an angel by our side when we need one.
I was then placed in a separate room in the hospital ward and stayed there for about 2 weeks. I was put on the following medication; prednisolone (steroids) and sulphazalzine (pentasa). I wasn't very good at taking large tablets and the nurse had to crush the Pentasa into powder form. After many weeks in the hospital I was finally allowed out after my specialist gave me the final Colonoscopy examination. That, I'm glad to say wasn't too bad as I was under anesthetic. 
When I got home I was given a course of steroids, which began with 60mg to start, and then I had to decrease them in small increments over the following weeks. At first everything seemed fine and my body responded well to the treatment (apart from the horrible side effects of 'moon face', a hump on my shoulders and chronic tender skin). As the years proceeded I was stable on the steroids at a high dose, but the moment I tried to decrease from 20mg down to 15mg my Colitis would flare up again. The specialist said I could stay on the steroids at a high dose for a few months, but not for years at a time. My Colitis flared badly again after a year on steroids and I was back in hospital again. This time my specialist told me to start a new drug called 'Azathioprine' which he'd researched whilst being in Germany. Unfortunately, one of the main side effects was Cancer. He said it was a minimal risk, but it was up to me to decide whether to proceed or not. So, I said yes. I had no other option and I couldn't live a life being so ill all the time.
I began the Azathioprine immediately (alongside the steroids) and I saw a good improvement within weeks. Apparently, Azathioprine is an immunosuppresant used for people who've had a transplant, so the body won't reject the new organ. The specialist's believe that Colitis is a form of your own body 'attacking itself' and that the immune system is working on overdrive. Taking the Azathioprine would counteract this. I've been on the Azathioprine for 15 years now and over these past few years my Colitis has flared up periodically, about twice a year (or three times a year if I was having a stressful time). Fortunately, the flare ups weren't as bad as the hospital visits, and they could be kept 'under control' with added steroids alongside the Azathioprine.
As the years progressed, the flare ups became more of a regular occurrence and got quite bad again, and the steroids didn't seem to calm the Colitis as it did before. It all came to ahead in November of 2005 when I began flaring very badly. I was bleeding every time I went to the toilet, had an extreme loss of appetite, was as thin as a rake and had the most painful stomach/body cramps I'd ever experienced. I was very scared. I rang my specialist to be told that there was nothing more he could do for me but to operate. Operate? I asked, "yes" was his reply "a colostomy bag, Emma. There's nothing else we can do if the Azathioprine isn't working for you". I came off the phone and cried.
I was sad for a long time. But then, I began to wake up from my stupor. All these years I had put my faith in a guy who had seen tons of people every day with the same condition as me, and not one person had he cured. Because there is no cure, he'd say. Well, I'd like to find that out for myself thank you.
I wasn't going to believe in the drugs or medication anymore, I wanted to heal myself, by myself. I wasn't going to have my body cut open and replaced with a bag. Goodness me, no thank you! I will research on the internet and find some other help. I had placed my faith in this man for far too long. Naively, I'd believed in him and only him, and I didn't question his judgement because he was the specialist. Time for me to move on. I began browsing the internet for books and Colitis advice when I stumbled upon a book on the Amazon web site. The Lord had guided me to a book about healing yourself through diet..... and my new life began :o)
Diet. It sounds so simple when you think about it really. What you put into your body must have an effect on your intestines and colon. My body had been crying out to me for years to stop eating badly, and yet, I still ate the same 'sugar laden' food and convenience food that's so accessible to us day after day. I asked the Lord for guidance and prayed for healing, and suddenly found a book by an American lady who had devoted her life to healing her daughter who was diagnosed with Colitis. Her name was Elaine Gloria Gottschall and the book was called 'Breaking the Vicious Cycle: Intestinal Health Through Diet.' I sent for the book straight away and looked forward to beginning my new journey of healing!
I started the book in March of 2006 (alongside my medication). I must admit that it's been one of the toughest things I've had to do so far in my life. Changing your lifestyle and diet sounds simple enough... until you begin doing it. The book basically tells you to remove most of the Carbohydrates from your diet as Colitis sufferer's can't process the complex structure of the food. Not eating bread, pasta or potatoes was a huge hurdle for me! Not to mention 'chocolate'. Yes, that's banned too. No sugar at all may pass your lips. Being a 'snacky' person myself and someone who could happily chomp her way through a packet of biscuits in 3 days, I had a real problem with having no sugar. For the first few weeks I was irritable and permanently hungry! Not a pleasant person to be around! The book mentioned that you should see an improvement after a month. I didn't.
But I didn't give up. I wanted to heal myself after having Colitis for so many years, and I thought, maybe a month wasn't long enough for me to see any improvement. So, I continued. Carried on regardless... as I knew the Lord had guided me to this book for a reason, and I shouldn't give up hope or lose my faith. And I'm so glad I didn't. I began to see a vast improvement after just 2 months, and then I had about 3 months of blood-free, mucus free, pain free bowel movements. Yippee! I was in awe! I danced around the room and felt amazingly stronger than I had in years. I began to feel as if the diet would help me and heal my Colon. Sticking to the diet and making everything from scratch can be very difficult, but the rewards are so gratifying.
I'm still on the diet, it's called the Specific Carbohydrate Diet™ (or SCD™ for short). There are many web sites in the U.K. and U.S.A that guide you through the diet and have some wonderful recipes to try. I'm still trying new things and enjoying eating new foods. I've had some major disasters too! I tried making some granola bars (fruit and nut bars) in the oven and burnt them to a crisp! I've also tried making a lemon meringue pie with honey and ground almonds, only to have a runny liquid lemon filling and a hard-bitter crunchy pastry. Nice! It's not plain sailing and sometimes you just want to pick up a packet of crisps and forget the rules. But, you don't. You remember how good the diet is for you and how your life is being healed by beautiful food. You don't risk having a flare up - just for one moment of weakness. To keep you strong I suggest joining a support group or SCDiet forum. There's a great one in the U.K. and the people are a good help when you're feeling low. You can find more information and the web site link here.
I truly believe that diet is the key to healing your body. Diet, but also faith too, a true belief that you can heal yourself. After being on the SCDiet for nearly 2 years (which the book says, after 2 years you see a vast improvement....yes, it does take a long time to heal!) I can honestly say, I've never felt so good. My mind, heart, body and soul feel stronger and calmer than ever before. Having faith or a sense of hope in something can be the greatest gift of all. I believe we all have the power within ourselves to heal, and beginning with the first few steps of eating right and thinking right, we can begin to heal our mind, body and soul.
I used to think that my Colitis was a burden, something cruel, painful and horrible. The fact is, I was mistreating my own body. Pouring junk food into a body that couldn't process the Carbohydrates that were contained within them. The 'Colitis' was my body's own way of telling me to stop. To regain control and eat healthy nutritious food. I'm still on my healing journey and I'm learning new things all the time. But I'm grateful to God for guiding me to a book that has changed my life forever and is healing my body from within. Elaine's book has been a Godsend for me, and even though I can't thank her in person, she will always be an angel to me. A beacon of hope in my journey of healing.
I hope you too, begin your journey of healing and find a book or diet that's right for you. You're not alone, you're strong and you can heal yourself. Believe, and all will be well.
God willing, one day I will be completely well and I pray too, that you feel healthy and well in years to come. May the Lord bless you and keep you in His love,
Blessings and healing light, Emma
