i’m glad you finally have a diagnosis that takes you out of the dreaded “somatic zone”.

i’m w/ xibee on the idea of seeking out alterna-med info. chinese medicine is one such path, but i would suggest that you also look for online patient support and advocacy groups. i have an auto-immune thyroid condition. i’m finally on the road to recovering my health thanks to my yahoo group buddies who told me what tests and medications to ask for — and no thanks to multiple doctors, who first dismissed my symptoms, and then even post-diagnosis, denied that the symptoms were thyroid-related. funny, on the right thyroid meds, in the right dosage, those “unrelated” symptoms are all disappearing.

i’d be very surprised if your condition didn’t have some dietary component. i wouldn’t expect your tyical allopathic doctor to know anything about that, though. again, i’d seek out a patient group (or two). don’t be deterred by the wackiness you will likely encounter in these communities; just go with what sounds plausible to you. you may also find, as i did, that some concepts prove to be less wacky than they initially seem. of course, nothing beats the wackiness of the traditional mainstream md’s that repeatedly told us both that there was nothing medically wrong, right?!

Tai Chi is definitely something that’s recommended for those with ulcerative colitis, so I’m already on that path. I don’t believe there’s any specific food that can trigger a flare-up though, because it’s different for every person. I’ll have to figure this out on my own.

Unfortunately, there’s no cure for this disease, aside from removing the entire colon. The best I can hope for is time that the disease is in remission, which is what the pills are supposed to do. Remission can last years without flare-ups, so that’s my goal.