El Diablo Rojo

So some of you may know that I suffer from a chronic intestinal problem called ulcerative colitis. Well about two weeks ago what I first thought was a stomach bug has turned out to be recurrence of my colitis. I've had a pretty good handle on this disease for the last 13 years so this caught me off guard. Needless to say that my big goal of the year, the Ft Davis stage race which starts April 21, is off the calender. I had really good form up to this point and was on my way to a strong peak and in turn a great race.

I'm starting to feel better and I'm hoping to get back to some serious training in the next couple of weeks. If I bounce back fast enough the Joe Martin stage race might be a possibility. Anyway thank god I have my Swissy rollers to spend some time on!

bdcheung

I'm getting over a few days of illness, and rollers are my friend, too Get better soon, and in the meantime keep turning those pedals in anger!

MDcatV

^^^and I'm feeling sorry for myself because I have the flu and have been off the bike and in bed since saturday. Be confident that you arent going to lose the all the fitness you spent months building by being off the bike for a week or 2, it'll just take some effort to get back and exceed the form you were carrying. Feel better.

Cromulent

And I was feeling sorry for myself and the entire Midwest for all this snow. Get better. Crush souls.

Stallionforce

That sounds really rough. Hang in there devil-man. You will shine at Joe Martin.

sverrefehn

Sorry to hear that EDR. Did something change regarding how you usually keep it under control and do you have a good handle on it now? I wish you the best of luck in getting that form back. I bet you get it back quicker than you might think.

Greg180

That is a shame Rojo. I know you have trained hard for your goals. Get you health back first then reset and look at a new timeline. Good luck.

DrPete 

You could greatly increase your power-to-weight ratio if you let me take out your colon. Several pounds right there.

Seriously, though, sorry to hear about it, and I hope you're back to your swissy self soon.

Namenda

Typical surgeon. Always jumping straight for the knife.

botto 

was not aware of your condition. sounds like a tough time. wtf are you doing in TX? it's either ass spackle or roto-router stuff down there.

now get fit and 'make 'em suffer daddy'.

DrPete 

Hey, it's tough to have ulcerative colitis if you gots no colon.

I mean, sure, the doctor books will tell you that surgery is reserved for severe bleeding or medically refractory ulcerative colitis, but we're talking watts per kilogram here.

Namenda

On the flipside, left untreated, marked weight loss will probably result anyway...

Best of luck, EDR. Hope you feel better real soon.

Chad's Colnago

I realize it doesn't help you now, but we are working on some promising drugs for UC. Still a few years out from the market though.

superdex

EDR, hope you get things back under control and are back in the races soon. Ex-girlfriend (years ago) had it pretty badly (days from exploding colon?), it's no fun.

Though I'm sure you're enjoying giving Ms. Diablo Rojo the worst dutch ovens evar!

mike9903

Sorry to hear that EDR, I was looking forward to seeing you rip up the field at Ft. Davis. I willl attempt to make up for you not being there and put the hurtin' on the 5's.

waterrockets 

Man, join me on the Tuesday Nighter. We can suffer out there together -- or crush souls in the Bs* together

I busted a kneecap back in 2000 (unpaid gambling debt), and was off the bike for 16 weeks. You would not believe how fast you bounce back when you're p!ssed about time off the bike!

* I really want to work on my breakaway tactics and strategies -- probably in the Bs since the As eject me when I try that crap...

El Diablo Rojo

Thanks guys..and Doc I'll keep the colon..I spent 12 weeks in Cedars Sinai in 94 fighting to keep the cutters from taking it out but thanks anyways

Well I've had a pretty stressful year this year due to a lack of work and stress is my trigger. I'm feeling better but to give you an idea of how much it's hurt my form I did 30 min on the rollers today at 140w and and was exhausted. I lost 4.5 pounds in three days, honestly thats 4.5 pounds that I couldn't afford to lose as I was at my ideal weight already. The last two days I've felt better and have been able to eat more or less normally with out any stomach cramps and the related trips to the head so I think I've got it on the run so to speak.

Joe Martin is definately a race I'll do if I can get healthy in time, and we have big crit here in June called the AMLI Criterium that drew almost 50k spectators last year to down town Austin. Then there are the state RR and TT coming at the end of summer so I've got stuff to shoot for. The killer is that I left Ft Davis last year vowing to win it this year, and honestly I feel like I had a ligit shot at it. That's really the only thing thats got me crying in my soup.

DocRay

That is a nasty disease, but there are some potent drugs coming down the FDA pipe.

It sounds silly, but that new age stress relief regimen really does work for some.

El Diablo Rojo

Not silly at all, I was very fortunate to have some very open minded docs taking care of me. I'm on a combination of herbal and traditional meds and the herbal treatments are really what got this under control. I do some yoga and other non-traditional methods for stress release. To be honest the best stress reliever I've got is my bike. When I'm on it I truly don't have a problem in the world.

sverrefehn

So true.

sounddevisor

Hey, EDR,

I'm a fellow sufferer of UC (had it for 17 years now,) curious what herbal treatment has been effective for you? I'm happy to say mine is pretty much under control, but I'm always interested in non-Western approaches to dealing with it.

Good luck getting things back under control - I can definitely relate to what you're going through!

Enthalpic

I too am interested in your treatments, if you don't mind sharing.

So much junk surfaces related to nutritionally treating bowel problems (Fish oil, Glutamine, gluten/lactose free diets, etc) that it’s hard to tell what is really helping people. It would be nice to hear about what stuff works for you, mainstream or otherwise.

Are you, or have you ever been, an alcoholic? Do you suffer from depression?

El Diablo Rojo

Although I did drink a lot in the past I was able to take it or leave it so I would say no to the alcoholic question. Alcohol is a trigger for me though so I rarely drink. I do not suffer from depression either.

The really good thing is UC only strikes 1% of 1% of Latins...lucky me.

The herbal treatments come in pill form and are three products:
RF Plus made by NF Formulas Inc
Isatis Cooling made by Health Concerns
Flavonex also made by Health Concerns

I was diagnosed in 82 and for about 11 years pretty much suffered non stop. I was on the standard sulfa drugs and it really didn't help much. My doctors really didn't give me much advice either. I drank and smoked and partied which didn't help at all but nobody really told me not to. In late 93 (about a year from when I got hit by the car) I got really sick, I kinda ignored it but it got very bad and by Jan of 94 I was hospitalized. I had numerous blood transfusions and at one point was on a morphine drip because of the pain. I was at hospital in Thousand Oaks for 3 weeks and all they preached was removing my colon. I wasn't getting any better so my best friend moved me to Cedars.

While I was there I got hooked up with a great group of doctors. It took another 8-9 weeks but they saved my colon and got me back to a decent level of health. Unfortunately the meds they put on only worked for a short time and I started to relapse. About this time a woman from Canada moved to L.A. and started to see my docs. She was on an herbal treatment that had some pretty amazing results. My docs had kinda reached a dead end with me and decided they would use me as a case study for the herbs. Within three weeks I was virtually non-symptomatic.

Since then I've had a couple of very minor flair ups but nothing I'd call life changing...that is until this one. I'm pretty wiped out by this one but I've upped my doses and I'm seeing some recovery so hopefully this will be a short, if not harsh, episode. BTW I'm on Asacol as my traditional med.

garysol1 

I have had UC for going on 20 years now as well. I have kept it under control the past few years non-medicated with my fingers crossed. The biggest issue UC causes me is with early mornings. It takes my body at least 2 to 3 hours to be ready to be out of the house for the rest of the day. A 7:00 am group ride for me starts with a 5:00am wake up just to be safe. Asacol worked well for me for a few years then my body just adapted to it. Maybe it is time to try it again.....

El Diablo Rojo

This disease is more common than I thought! Well I guess it could be worse we could have Crohns. Gary you should try the herbal stuff, it really changed my life.