A couple of years ago, before my Crohn’s diagnosis, I tried traditional Chinese medicine at my local branch of Dr and Herbs.

They used to give me some herbs to boil up and drink. They tasted rank and stunk the house out. I’m still undecided if they helped or not.

I also used to visit them for acupuncture, which I found very relaxing.

I stopped after my diagnosis, partly because the prescription meds seemed to help and partly because of the cost of treatment

I was just wondering if anyone else has tried traditional Chinese medicine and if they rate it as a treatment for Crohn’s.

i've never tried chinese medicine, but i have had acupuncture to help stop me smoking...

ummm.... i am still smoking, so i dont really think it was very effective lol

seriously, i found it painful, stressful, and had no effect on my smoking whatsover.

I've never tried it. Doubt I would either.

Acupuncture? Having a laugh   I have enough needles stabbed into me as it is.

Shane

Sorry,havnt heard anything positive about this one,gps turn their noses up,and i wouldnt mix
concoctions up with medication anyway.Proberly do more harm than good.

Hi, I just posted a new thread about Roacctutane and IBD and this was a relevant part of it:

The Crohn's has been very painful sometimes feeling like broken glass ripping through my lower abdomen, and just wont go away for days sometimes weeks at a time. I tried using Pentasa, Prednisolone, Azathiaprine, Mecaptipurane 6, and Budesonide to stop the pain but all with little success. The biggest help to me that saved me from surgery for almost 2 years was Chinese medicen that I had specifically made for me after talking with the practitioner ever couple of weeks. It was very expensive £200-300 every 2 to 3 weeks, but it was that only thing that would 'put out the fire' as the guy would say.  They have herbs, some know for thousands of years that are just as powerful if not more so than even immune suppressant drugs like Azathiaprine. For the near on two years I was takine the medicen I was doing great only relitivly small amount of pain now and again and ussually related to poor diet.

I did eventually have to have an operation that has mostly stopped the pain for now, but if it comes back which there is a strong chance I will definitely go back to the Chinese clinic and get stait back on the herbs. Maybe if I catch it earlier next time the results would be even better and indefinite.  That said i'm sure a lot depends on the clinic or person that you see, there's prob a lot of under qualified and somewhat illigitimate people that do not know what they are doing.

Acupuncture is helpful for pain management and inflammation reduction. You need to have several treatments, and then go back maybe once a month for 'top ups'.  It is very relaxing, and the needles do not hurt at all !  Once they are in place you don't notice they are there, you just lie back and relax to soothing music for half an hour.

For most people raised in the West it is best to choose an acupuncturist who has been trained using western methods, as the effects are more gentle and gradual than Chinese acupuncture, which can be very powerful and a bit of a shock to the system if you are not used to it.

I have tried Western Herbal Medicine, and did not find it helped at all. I have heard some good things about Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine,  but have also been warned off because there have been instances of it making people ill if their health is already fragile.  The herbs that are used are very powerful.  

I have never taken Chinese herbal medicines, but have heard through much research that it should be as a very last resort.  They can harm you instead of helping.

It's probably less dodgy going to somewhere like a branch of Dr and Herbs, I guess they mustn't be doing wrong otherwise they wouldn't have branches all over the place.

Acupuncture can be great, I had total remission of migraines for 6 months at a time when I was getting 2-3 a week.  Not cheap but worth it if you need it.

I take a combination of prescription and complementary medicines, and feel I'm pretty well covered and controlling my symptoms.

I have tried acupuncture and it didn't really help me much, but there are people who respond well to it and it can be a great help to put their Crohn's in to remission. The traditional herbs didn't do much to help me either, I was unable to stay on them for a great period of time as where I was a the time it was very expensive. I didn't stick with it cos it didn't make a difference for me, but if you can find someone that will do it at a reasonable price it maybe well worth a go to see what effect it has on you. If you do try something like this it is always good to make sure the person you are seeing is qualified and has done their training to make sure that they won't do you any harm.

Andrew

I also tried this route when I thought I had IBS and found it did help at first but then they started to alter the herbs (wow they were foul) and the symptoms came back.  Not sure if it was me not responding to the herbs or them changing the herbs so I would sign up for more treatment. Accupunture I always find very relaxing to I suppose that would always be helpfull except the stress of paying for it !

I'm totally against any form of chinese medicine. These people are completely unregulated and you have no way of finding out where the herbs have come from and what effects or side effects they may have.

We all have a very serious condition and whilst a glimmer of hope is often all it takes for common sense to go out the window please please STEER CLEAR of these places!

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After my re-section,i "contracted" brachial plexus neutritus, i had acupuncture twice a week for a month,and once a week for six months !
Didnt do a thing,except empty my bank account !!
When your down you will try anything,trust me save your money

"Traditional Chinese Medicine: A Practitioner's Guide", This is a awesome guide for Traditional Chinese Medicare. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has a serious interest in bringing the energy of East and West into their herbal practice. . . . Garran was a student of mine for many years and went on to study with outstanding Chinese herbalists in the U.S. and China. He took the direction I pointed out in Planetary Herbology a few steps further with a book that gives extensive descriptions of 58 important North American herbs so that their use will be practically available to TCM [traditional Chinese medicine] clinical practice.

Source : http://bit.ly/q5SMqB