From: Roger Jackson, MD
Date: Feb 1, 2004

CeCelia, my wife, has Ulcerative Colitis of 10 yrs. duration that has progressed from distal proctitis to near universal colitis on her last yearly colonoscopy. She was having flare ups several times yearly controlled with Prednisone. She usually was on Mesalamine or Azulfidine. Of course she had the usual cramps and urgency and chronic bleeding (for years) and iron deficiency.

In the Spring 2003 she had a flare despite just ending a 6 wk. Prednisone taper. She tried Molocure for 2 months but stated that it was ineffective and stopped it. She then found "The Breaking the Vicious Cycle" low (grain) carbohydrate diet, with homemade yogurt, and fruit. She has religiously stuck to the diet after reading the book.

Although the diet has been tough she has had a rather remarkable and sustained response for 6 months. No bleeding, slight urgency only and solid stools-- she takes Citrucel for the spastic colon now. She will have another colonoscopy in the next few months and it should be much less inflamed. She encourages everyone to read the book "Breaking the Vicious Cycle". Hope this helps.

Addendum 2/03/04: Today she had her follow up colonoscopy after ten months of the SCD diet (Breaking the Vicious Cycle). The colonoscopy was entirely NORMAL! The gastroenterologist was visibly surprised. He suggested a repeat colonoscopy in 5 yrs.

Best Regards,
Roger Jackson, MD
Nashville

From: Robyn B.
Date: Aug. 24, 2004

My 12 year old daughter more than a year ago went on SCD and she imediately had a remission of all symptoms of crohns. She could have taken lots of drugs, had side effects.

Thank goodness I found this diet as it has been a true lifestyle saver.. allowing her to be a pretty, happy, healthy teenaged girl. With popularity of no carbs it is not that hard to be on the diet these days, and I have made it a part of my life to bake with almond flour. With some recipes being easy, it is not a big deal.

You must try this diet if you are contemplating it.

From: Shelley D.
Date: Dec. 4, 2004

My story begins at the age of 22 when I was first diagnosed with Crohn's disease by the age of 31 the disease had progressed to the point that I had fistulas that would not close and my quality of life was very poor. I was newly married, interested in starting a family. My next step medically was to either have surgery or to begin an expensive and relatively new regime ofdrugs. We chose to try Elaine's diet and I have never looked back since. The fistula's have closed and if anything can be said it is that I am in remission. I cannot believe how well I feel. I want to tell everyone who looks like there is no hope and tell them that about this. If there is something that I can do please let me know.

From: John Byrne.
Date: Dec. 4, 2004

My name is John Byrne and I am a pharmacist with a graduate degree in immunopharmacology. I also have had Crohn's disease for the last 20 years. I am currently 54 and like most folks with IBD, believed diet was of little consequence to the real pathology of my disease. Afterall, this is the conventional wisdom and random attempts to limit various foods never proved effective.

Two months ago, a collegue with a gluten intolorance shared with me the SCD diet www.scdiet.org and suggested I try it. After some procrastination, I reviewed the information on the Web and figured I had little to lose. I was wrong!

In the last 2 months I have reduced my prednisone from 15 to 7.5mg and my gut has never felt better. I have been steroid dependent for 20 years and this is the lowest dose level I have yet to attain. This comes in light of also taking imuran and asacol and having tried remicade for 1 year with little improvement.
It is my sincere hope the CCF will promote this diet as a non-invasive, relatively safe plan to augment traditional medication therapy. I know this is not the cure and I am only a voice of one; yet, the diet makes a great deal of sense in giving the diseased gut a metabolic rest and promotes solid nutrition, two concepts that seem rational for those with IBD.

Yours truly,

John A. Byrne, M.S., Pharm.D
Monterey, CA 93940