Finding Ulcerative Colitis Support in New York City

New York City never sleeps, which means that you can find just about anything you need at any hour of the day. This also means that ulcerative colitis sufferers have a wealth of support at their fingertips, from counseling services to physicians, to gut-friendly restaurants, to support groups. If you have ulcerative colitis and live in or near New York City, following are some of the best support resources you can find.

CCFA Support Group

The Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA.org) has several chapters in New York state, including the Greater New York Chapter headquartered at 386 Park Avenue. The regular support groups meets the first Tuesday of every month from 6:30pm-8:00pm. You don't have to sign a list or even talk if you aren't comfortable, but it sometimes helps to sit among people who also have ulcerative colitis.

You can also meet at this same chapter for the Parents support group, which is geared toward parents with children who have ulcerative colitis. Their meetings aren't as regular as the other groups, so call (212) 679-1570 to request more information. I've also heard that the New York chapter is considering a Women's support group as a new addition, and you can join the Buddy Program for those times in between meetings when you need to talk to someone.

Medical Supply

I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis during my college years in New York City, and finding an appropriate medical supply store wasn't easy. One would think that you could round just about any corner and Manhattan and find what you're looking for, but most medical supply stores in NYC are geared more toward diabetes and respiratory diseases. The two best locations I found (and are still around today) were Claddagh Medical Supply in Manhattan and Neighborhood Medical Supply in Brooklyn.

Claddagh is the best place to go when you're looking for ostomy supplies, while Neighborhood is better for comfort products such as doughnut pillows. You'll find the most reasonably prices there in all of New York City, and you'll find that a large percentage of the clientele has ulcerative colitis or some other IBD disease.

Restaurants

If there is one thing that New York City has no shortgage of, it's restaurants, but diet is important for ulcerative colitis sufferers. Although what you eat doesn't directly impact the disease, it can mean the difference between a painful flare-up and a mild one, so where you choose to pick up a fork makes a difference. Luckily, you have plenty of options in New York City.

For the purposes of this article, we'll concentrate on Manhattan, but many of these restaurants have locations in the other four boroughs. If you're interested in French cuisine, I highly recommend La Sirene, which is located west of 6th Avenue on Broome Street. They have some of the mildest dishes in all of Manhattan, and I especially love their pasta dishes, none of which contain much fiber.

If you're more in the mood for steak in New York City, check out Talia's, which is located south of 95th on Amsterdam. They have mild steak sauce and potatos to die for, and you can request that your steak be prepared with less seasoning to avoid upsetting your stomach. And for barbeque, I recommend RUB on West 23rd, which has some of the best pork in the world, but you can order everything dry.