Home | Disease & Illness | Treatment
If you are taking medicines for your Crones disease, you will probably recognize a lot of the symptoms and side effects mentioned in this article. After a summary of the most problematic sides of mainstream medication, a possible solution is given to improve life quality and health in the long run on a solid basis. Medicines are used to control the symptoms of Crones Disease. Whilst many of them actually will improve the situation in the short run, they have sometimes severe side effects, especially when used over a longer period of time. Medicines which are used to control the symptoms are, amongst others, aminosalicylates, corticosteroids, antibiotics, immunomodulators (to calm the immune system), and biologic therapies for moderate or severe Crones disease. Allopathic (mainstream) doctors rely on these medicines to control the symptoms of Crones disease although they know that none of these medicines will actually cure the underlying cause. If we read about the side effects these medicines have, we might want to give the whole matter another thought: Diarrhea Headache, dizziness Increased risk of bleeding in the gastrointestinal tract Indigestion, nausea, gas Hair loss Rash Decrease in white blood cells High blood pressure Mood swings, psychosis, insomnia Weight gain, moon facies Acne, increased facial hair, stretch marks Increased risk of infection Osteoporosis Vomiting Cough Sinus infections Sore throat Some of the therapies have other drawbacks as well. Biologic therapies need frequent injections, and other medicines have a better effect when taken as an enema or a suppository. Not very pleasant if done frequently. I want to make a special note on corticosteroids. Some corticosteroids can also be given intravenously. Corticosteroids can have severe side effects, like an increased risk of infection, so even the mainstream doctors will hesitate to prescribe them for a longer period of time. If you want to stop taking corticosteroids, make sure you taper off them gradually. Stopping them suddenly can worsen side effects. Antibiotics are used to "control the level of bacteria in your intestines". Now this is something I do not really understand. What I learned at school, is that our intestines functioning is based on good bacteria, which help to digest the food and eliminate the indigestible part. If I take antibiotics, they will kill, or at least diminish, ALL bacteria in my gut. If I have a very low level of good bacteria, doesn't that mean that any bad bacteria can take over very easily? Do antibiotics solve a problem on the short run, but create a problem on the long run? Injectable or oral immunomodulators are used if the patient did not react well on other medicines to reduce the swelling, or for patients which developed complications like fistulas. Often they are given in combination with corticosteroids, whereby you can take lower doses of the latter, because their effect is increased by the immunomodulators. Immunomodulators are more expensive than other medicines used for Crones Disease, and you are at higher risk to develop secondary infections or other illnesses because they suppress the immune system. Doctors advise you to have your blood monitored regularly to see the effect on your bone marrow, liver and kidneys. Biologic therapies are a new treatment for Crones Disease and they are also the most expensive. They are used for patients who do not respond to other treatments, but because of the possible severe side effects, doctors will be hesitant to apply them. Although the pharmaceutical industry tells us that the risks are small, they still warn for the effects of suppressing the immune response. There is some evidence that they increase the risk of conditions like blood infections, tuberculosis, and lymphoma. Apart from the above mentioned medicines, you will probably have to take medicines against diarrhea and fluid loss form time to time. Medications for Crones disease can interact with common drugs like birth control pills, antacids, and even vitamins. If we recap all the information in this article, it is clear that an alternative approach to Crones Disease is dearly wanted. Improving the natural balance of bacteria in our gut would be helpful to start with, and a general improvement of our overall immune system is vital. If we find a additional treatment which helps us to reach these goals, we could start to use it as a way to help our body to regain it's natural strength, and eventually the new approach could take over the treatment using medicines.
Article Source: http://www.mycontentbuilder.com
Crones Disease is bad enough, and you don't want even more pain and discomfort due to side effects of medicaments. Learn here how to avoid this and instead of worsening your Crones Disease, treat the underlying cause.
Please Rate this Article
5 out of 54 out of 53 out of 52 out of 51 out of 5
Not yet Rated
Full name
E-mail address
