One thing is for sure, they don’t teach you how to talk about your ulcerative colitis symptoms and how to explain it to others when

fishing during a recent camping trip

you are in a doctor appointment.  So, I thought I’d share some ideas on how I have approached the situation on explaining my disease (UC) to other people either when they have asked me what is wrong with me, or have wondered how my health is.

First of all, back in the days when my colitis was very severe and I was very symptomatic, I was explaining my disease much more often than I am now.  Since I’m in remission due to my diet changes, the need to explain myself does not come up nearly as often anymore.

Here is how I would go about explaining colitis to friends and family and even just acquaintances:

“I have a disease called ulcerative colitis.  Have you heard of it? It is similar to a disease that you might have heard of called Crohn’s Disease.  They are very similar in terms of the symptoms.  Anyways, what is happening is that inside of my colon, there are all kinds of reactions taking place and my immune system is actually attacking itself even which is causing it to cut open the colon’s walls and creating bleeding and cramping and all sorts of bad things.  In my own opinion, I am having these symptoms because there is an im-balance in my gut bacteria.  Too much “bad bacteria” exists which is causing the immune system to respond all the time.  Everybody on this planet has gut bacteria, and most people don’t have any issues like I do because their system is in balance.  But that’s not the case with people who have ulcerative colitis.”
That would be my typical response to people who asked about my disease.  Then of course they would go on to ask, how do you treat your disease Adam…  And I would give them the rundown on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet that I follow which has been working well to treat my colitis.

I hope this story helps you out if you are also asked this same question, and I hope you can adapt the story to fit your situation if you like.  Hang in there if you are struggling with your colitis symptoms, it sure can get better, and remission is not impossible.

Whenever I hear of someone who is starting the SCD diet with the goal of putting their colitis symptoms into remission, I get really excited.  And the reason for this is I hope that whoever it is that’s in pain with UC will find relief with this type of treatment like I have.  Unfortunately, I am learning that it doesn’t always work out this way for the other person.  And this is frustrating for me.  And I’m sure it is super frustrating for the person who is dealing with bleeding and pain, and cramping and different medications, and everything else that comes along with active ulcerative colitis.

It’s been almost two years now that I have been following the SCD diet, and not only have I seen its benefits, I have reduced pretty much down to nothing my health costs associated with my colitis.  I don’t count my annual physical exam into a colitis related cost, and that’s pretty much all I have done this year.  I know it’s not easy being on this diet for new people who are starting it for the first time, but with feeling better and getting back to my normal self, it sure has been easy to get used to it once I saw the results.  And, since the results don’t always come right away, and it often takes time, I believe that is where the real issue lies for the majority of people who are not successful with the Specific Carbohydrate Diet.

People Who Follow SCD But Fail:

Now I don’t know all the details, but I have heard from quite a few people who have failed the SCD.  And it bothers me, I’ve said that before in this post.  But what is the reason for the failure?  Is it that they have symptoms which are too severe that any diet even SCD can’t fix?  Is it because they have something different with them genetically that prevents the diet from helping them?  Or is it something totally different?  I don’t know.

One thing that is for certain is that many of the people who fail to see colitis symptom relief from the SCD diet have not followed the diet during their trial period.  By this, I mean, STRICTLY FOLLOWED the SCD diet rules.  Does this bother me and make me angry, no… well actually YES it does.  I know it doesn’t hurt my physically, but mentally it bugs the crap out of me because by breaking the rules of the diet, or following it only 90% ESPECIALLY when you are starting it is almost like you are NOT doing the SCD diet at all.

Let’s come up with some rules:

#1  The diet is NOT EASY for people who are not used to following a diet.  If you’ve had problems following a diet before, you might not want to attempt this.

#2  If you can’t live without desserts and sweets, and you would rather eat those foods and live with colitis symptoms, don’t attempt this diet

#3  If you have a very hard time controlling yourself when you see a fast food restaurant, of if you LOVE friend food and can’t live without it, again, don’t try this diet

BUT

If you are at rock bottom with your UC, and are facing surgery or other medicine treatments as your next step and you don’t want to do that.  This might be something for you to consider.  Even if you are just dealing with minor colitis symptoms, and are sick and tired of the disease jumping into and out of your life constantly for no reason, this as well might be something for you to try.    Either way, the SCD diet requires 100% attention for quite some time, ESPECIALLY during the early introductory phases.

Well, this is enough of my ramblings, I just wanted to let it out that I’m frustrated when I see people trying SCD and failing intially, and then I learn that they are eating all sorts of foods that are NOT allowed.  And of course then wondering why they are not seeing great results.  I mean come one, you are either following the diet(and that means 100%) or you are not.  End of story.

If after reading all of this you are ready to begin SCD, you can do that:

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