Please help:My daughter has ulcerative colitis for 15 years.

Anon,

How insistent is your daughter's doctor that she go on this medicine? Does she or he also believe in dietary and natural solutions? Is her current flare-up something that is being controlled by steroids or another medication? Was the recommendation for Remecaid to be temporary or ongoing? And did the doctor address the side effects with your daughter? Because clearly the doctor believes that in your daughter's case, the benefits of the medicine must outweigh the risk. I'm interested in what your doctor told your daughter about the risks.

In the meantime, since there were references to diet above, I wanted to provide you with a couple links you could check out. Here's a link to "The Specific Carbohydrate Diet:"

http://www.breakingtheviciouscycle.info/

Here are the Mayo Clinic's recommendations:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/ulcerative-colitis/DS00598/DSECTION=lifestyle-and-home-remedies

And here are a couple of diet-related pages:

http://colitis.emedtv.com/ulcerative-colitis/ulcerative-colitis-diet.html

http://www.naturesintentionsnaturopathy.com/ulcerative-colitis.htm

Is any of this helpful? Please write back and update us on your daughter's condition and treatment.

HI,
I have had ulcerative colitis for 11 years, I was never on remicade, but it does sound scary. I personally found a way to help my symptoms through diet. You can give it a try and see if it helps her any. Look up "The Specific Carbohydrate Diet". I have been following this diet for 3 years and feel better than ever.
Everything will be okay,
Denell

Hi,

I just looked up the information about Remicade at MedlinePlus, and it is alarming how many warnings and side effects are associated with this drug.

Has her doctor discussed alternatives with your daughter? I assume your daughter is having severe-enough symptoms from her ulcerative colitis that it warrants some treatment, where the doctor (presumably) is thinking the pros of the drug outweigh the risks.

Has your daughter received a second opinion? Has her doctor discussed alternatives for treatment? Did she feel as though she received enough information to make an informed decision about taking this drug, and that it could benefit her?

Please let us know what information you are looking for.