Maintenance Meds

Well, I thought I'd post my views on this subject as it's something I've seen referenced in some colitis forums recently.

I hope my views don't offend anyone. I say this because some UCers have no choice but to use man-made meds, which have helped them to get their life back. I'd like to state that I would not argue against anyone making that choice and I completely understand why they would continue with the meds. I've used mesalazine many times over the years to help me out of flare-ups.

Actually, my views are on the 'maintenance' aspect of meds as opposed to the meds themselves.

Last week I read a post by a UCer who questioned maintenance meds - they asked whether taking meds and keeping the inflammation down whilst in remission was better than not taking them and avoiding the side effects of the medication?

This is an interesting point and a question that can only be answered in the long term on an individual basis, after all, who knows how long term meds are going to effect them? I guess my angle is that once you manage to calm your Colitis symptoms down and regain control of your life, isn't it a good idea to start looking for natural equivalents to replace the man-made meds?

I'm not talking about making drastic changes, I mean experimenting slowly and cautiously to see if there are any adverse effects as you taper meds down and replace them with natural supplements/diet etc.

To follow on from this, and relevant to maintenance meds is a question I ask myself concerning diminishing returns. That is, does the body adapt to meds over a period of time, thus making them less effective? If so, surely it's another good reason to attempt to replace man-made meds with a natural equivalent where possible?  Then, if there is a time when you need to use the same meds again, the body will get a benefit from them because there has been a period without usage.

These two points are the reason I continue to look into natural replacements for Colitis meds and why I'm always pleased to see a post by someone who has managed to achieve a positive result using natural remedies.