Thank you for joining us and sharing your story with other IBD patients in the community. Could you tell us a bit about yourself?
I am a personal trainer here in Charleston, South Carolina. I would say my biggest passion is my dogs. I have two shepherds, one German shepherd and one Belgian Malinois! That passion is followed closely by my passion for being outdoors and moving my body! My husband and I love to kayak, hike, or just walk on the beach for hours with the dogs. Usually, when it rains we will hit the beach (don’t steal my secret ;)) with the dogs because no one is on it and we just walk for miles!
When were you first diagnosed with ulcerative colitis?
When I was first diagnosed with UC, it was around spring/summer of 2020. So there were a lot of feelings, to say the least. I had been really ill for a long time and just wasn’t sure what was going on. I don’t have any family history of the disease so this was all new. Everything was shut down and my husband and I both didn’t have work – so I think the stress really exasperated my symptoms. I was in a tough spot, I was stressed and the world was a little crazy. It wasn’t a great combo.
How did your life change after your diagnosis?
When I was diagnosed it was honestly really scary. I was terrified. What if I have to take meds for the rest of my life? And my meds were at the time $300 a month, and we were in the middle of a pandemic with no work! Emotionally I was not great for the first week, but then we found some health insurance that covered the medication I needed a little bit better and I realized this was not the end of the world. I started feeling a little bit better and thought I was getting out of the woods. Little did I know it was just the beginning.
Can you share a bit about your treatment journey before finding Evinature?
I started out on mesalamine delayed-release tablets. My doctor had me taking it twice a day, and I did actually start to feel better. Then I started feeling much worse out of nowhere. I had been on my medication for a month or two and started vomiting every day, I was having a lot of abdominal pain and had massive amounts of fatigue. They decided to put me on prednisone, (at one point I was up to 60mg a day), and let me tell you that was my least favorite time throughout my treatment journey. I had horrible insomnia, my skin felt like it was coming off my body. I started dry brushing every day which helped a lot and finally was able to taper down off the prednisone but it took a little while for all my side effects to go away.
I also worked with a naturopath for a while on the diet side of things. I went on a VERY strict diet, basically eating fruits and vegetables and some meat. I think I dropped 10 or 15 lbs during that time and still just felt worse and worse. I’ll never forget the day I said “I just can’t do this anymore,” and got a bacon egg, and cheese at a local deli, it was amazing! So that was really when I found that for me my IBD is mostly affected by my sleep (if I get under 8-9 hours a night I start feeling worse) and my stress levels. Which, let’s be real, I’m still working on. I tried a few other medications after that, I had suppositories and enemas, and I got bloodwork done ALL the time. One week I had blood drawn three times. At the end of the day, nothing seemed to be helping. My fatigue was really high, my pain was really high and I was still having all the GI issues I had before on and off. It was really frustrating.
When and how did you find out about Evinature?
I found Evinature about a year ago. I had just gotten my third colonoscopy and my doctor told me that I still had inflammation and we needed to talk about biologics because I was not responding to the current medication enough. At that point, I kind of freaked out. Every time I get put on new medication it just feels like I’m failing, or I guess my body is failing. Which, yes I know is not true, but that is how it felt to me. So I decided I needed to try one more time to find an alternative. Something that could help me make a dent in this frustrating disease. So I started googling. I had done this when I was first diagnosed and the information I found was both overwhelming and unhelpful. I finally had given up on finding the perfect supplement to “fix” me until this day when I started searching again. I found an ad that said something along the lines of “find remission in 6 weeks,” and I thought “This has got to be a joke, or a scam…” but I was desperate. So I clicked on that ad and it led me to the Evinature site. I ordered my protocol that day and I honestly haven’t looked back since. It changed my actual life.
Did you have any skepticism regarding natural medicine?
I grew up in a family that accepted natural medicine, usually over modern medicine. We rarely went to the doctor if we could help it. I try to have a really balanced view of it. I think it’s amazing and I try and do the most with what I can find, but I also realize sometimes you need the medication too. That was a hard thing to come to terms with honestly. I feel like I’ve finally found a good balance now though.
How did CurQD® change your condition?
CurQD® changed EVERYTHING for me. My symptoms started going away within about 6 weeks. I had gotten to the point before trying it where I had to race to the bathroom the 2-3 minutes I had in between clients (I was a personal trainer at a gym at that time) and just hoped I made it and could get out fast enough. It was horrific. Once I started my protocol though everything started getting better. My fatigue went away, I didn’t have to race to the bathroom anymore and I could do things with my family where before I couldn’t. I still have a week every so often where I don’t feel my best but honestly, those days are far and few between. I had a really stressful week about a month ago and thought I was getting sick, and my husband had to tell me, “Actually I think you might be flaring”. I had forgotten what it feels like to be in a flare! Which sounds silly but honestly that’s a huge win for me. So I just went on the Evinature website and took an assessment, started a higher protocol, and within a week I’m feeling 100 times better.
After being on CurQD® for a while now, have you felt any difference in quality of life or emotional well-being?
I feel ALL the differences from being on CurQD®. My life literally did a 180. I honestly couldn’t be happier with how this product has worked for me.
What treatments do you take now to maintain remission?
Currently, I am on CurQD®, and then Mesalamine tablets and Mesalamine suppositories. I was able to not start biologics after I talked to my doctor and explained how much better I was feeling. So that was a huge relief.
What advice would you give to someone recently diagnosed with IBD?
I think the biggest advice I would give is, “It’s not the end of the world, even though it feels like it.” And don’t let some of the Facebook groups for our disease freak you out! A lot of the time people only post about the really horrific symptoms, so don’t let it scare you! But seriously, I thought my life would never be the same after my diagnosis. I was really scared. Then I figured out that actually, my life is better. Because I was always sick, I just didn’t know it! Now I have the tools to deal with it and my quality of life has improved by leaps and bounds. So you’re gonna be just fine, you just have to find what works for you!
Evinature
