Living with Ulcerative Colitis: How I Cope, and How Others Can, Too

It is not easy living with ulcerative colitis. Although you can lead a deceptively normal life, in realty, it is anything but normal. I have had this disease since 2000. In the beginning, I had no idea what was wrong with me, I just knew that I was experiencing some symptoms that quite frankly were very scary to me, and I am sure, to every sufferer of this disease. The symptoms, of course, came on slowly so at first I did not really think there may something serious lurking within me. My opinion is that ulcerative colitis is a very sneaky disease because of the way it creeps into your life. It happens so slowly that in the beginning stages there are no noticeable symptoms at all.

I was a cigarette smoker for most of my adult life, and as it turns out there is a substance or a chemical in cigarettes that masks symptoms of ulcerative colitis. I probably had the disease years before I knew it but didn't feel any symptoms because I was a smoker. Let me say here and now I do not condone smoking in any way whatsoever. To be perfectly honest I would rather deal with the symptoms of colitis than go back to smoking. Smoking is bad no matter how you look at it and there are proven medical treatments to help you control your colitis.

One of the first symptoms I noticed was a change in my stools. In my experience and I am sure most sufferers realize different levels of the disease was I began to notice my stools were softer than they used to be. Another thing that I noticed was I had more trouble flushing them down the toilet because they wanted to float on top and just didn't seem to want to flush very easy. I also saw my stools were thin and ribbon like. I can also add that the smell was becoming very strong and almost unbearable at times. I still experience that symptom to this day when I experience and outbreak. You get to a point where you do not even want to use the bathroom at your office because you for one don't want to subject anyone else to that horrible smell bu t mostly you don't want anyone to know that smell came from you.

When I finally decided to go to the doctor to see what was going on, the first thing they decided to do was a colon-oscopy. As reluctant as I was to do that I knew I had to find out what was going on. I was set up for the procedure and went through the bowel cleansing which I might add was not what I would call a pleasant experience, but I knew after sitting on the toilet most of the night, my colon was clean and ready for the scope. I went in, got through the procedure and at my next visit to the doctor was told I had ulcerative colitis, had a polyp removed that tested benign, and was prescribed Asacol which was an anti-inflammatory pill that was supposed to alleviate the symptoms I was experiencing.

I began taking the pills as prescribed, but after about three weeks decided they were not doing me any good as far as giving me relief. Being the inquisitive guy I am and I am a believer in alternative medicine, I started looking on the Internet for alternative treatments. I finally chose an herb that I decided to try and see what would happen. I purchased a bottle of Cats Claw which is the inner bark of a vine that grows in the South American rain forest. To the natives this is a tried and true remedy for everything from inflammation to being a great immune builder. To others it is a relatively new treatment for a variety of ailments.

Within the first week of taking this herb, I noticed some of my symptoms start to lessen and eventually some of them went away. Within the first week there was not more blood on the toilet paper I used. To me this was a huge first step in the right direction. I started becoming regular with my stools again, and the odor I mentioned earlier began to lessen again. As far as I was and am to this day am concerned, Cat's Claw for the treatment of colitis is a wonderful thing. Two years after my first scope, I went in for another and this time there were no polyp's and even more important than that, the inflammation in my colon was reduced considerably.

I still take Cat's Claw to this day, and although I do experience an occasional minor period of an onset of colitis about once a year, I am convinced that the symptoms would be far more severe if I were not taking this herb. Cat's Claw by the way is available at any GNC store and is very reasonably priced at under $10 a bottle for 90 500 milligram capsules. I checked with my doctor and he said he see's nothing wrong with me taking this herb, but if anyone were to consider using this, I need to say please check with your own doctor first. Personally, I am glad I did some research and found this great herb.