Customer Reviews

Self Healing Colitis & Crohn's, 2nd Edition

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I've come to learn that my story is not much different from that of other IBD sufferers. I was living a happy and healthy life, when one day, for no apparent reason, I suddenly began to experience abdominal cramps and loose stools. Over time, this progressed to debilitating abdominal pain and 20+ bloody and mucoid bowel movements each day. As I am training to be a medical doctor myself, I naturally turned to traditional medicine for answers. Definitive answers, though, were far from what I got. Nonetheless, traditional medicine was all I knew. So despite its obvious gaps in knowledge on this matter, I took a leap of faith and followed the directions given to me. I tried just about every anti-inflammatory, anti-spasmodic, and over-the-counter analgesic available. I went through numerous courses of steroids and even an immunosuppressant. For about a year, I let the doctors adjust and readjust medication dosages in the hopes that they would eventually find the key and would be able to protect me from having a colectomy. During this year, life as I knew it, was over. I had to take leave from school, lost about 60 pounds, spent 10 days in the hospital, experienced indescribable abdominal pain, became house-bound due to the frequency of bowel movements, took around 20+ pills daily, incurred numerous side effects to these various medications, and spent thousands of dollars on treatments that did not help.

My own observations led me to believe that the treatments I was being given were actually worsening my condition. But what could I do? After all, I had to follow the advice of my experienced doctors, right? Wrong. One day, I finally realized that if all these medications weren't helping, then how could I justify the side effects and expense. I understood what the doctors were saying when they strongly advised me not to stop my treatment, but I also realized that no study that they quoted could ever hold a candle to my own experiences. I was slowly and painfully dying at the age of 27, and nothing that they were doing for me was of any help at all. Traditional medicine has done wondrous things for many people, including myself, over the years, but in the case of IBD, it did not have answer for me and I needed to look elsewhere.

Everything changed for me when I MIRACULOUSLY found Dave's book online. I don't doubt that I likely would have dismissed his theories as nonsense if I came across them month 1. But I was now in month 11 and was meeting with a surgeon to discuss having a colectomy. So, I read his book and for the first time felt like someone else understood my predicament. The things he said were in direct agreement with my own experiences and observations. For the first time in a long time, I was filled with hope and felt as if this illness might be manageable. I am now at month 15 and have been free of medications and doctor visits. I've spoken to Dave numerous times over the telephone and through email. He has done nothing less than nurse me back to health. Dave has given me my life back. How do you repay someone for that?

Many of the doctors I work with are quite interested to hear my story. They are astonished that detox and diet have played such a crucial role in my treatment. Such a concept remains foreign to allopathic physicians. A few of these doctors tell me that they have heard similar stories from some of their own patients, but in the end, these doctors have no training or understanding of nutrition and natural healing and can do little more than simply listen to my story.

after being diagnosed with the onset of colitis and chrohn's disease and a series of upsetting symptoms, i used the principles of this book to completely transform my eating habits.
....it implemented a huge change in my eating and how i viewed nourishment and healing. my last colonoscopy showed that all signs of colitis and chrohn's disease are gone.
this book changed everything for me. it helped me to understand principles of health and nourishment that i never understood before.
it is about honoring ourselves and the natural world and the connectedness therein.
i cannot recommend this book enough. if you are ready for a change, buy the book and start tomorrow to change your life....

My son Byron (17 year old diagnosed with Crohns June 2006) has just confided in me that this time last year he wanted to commit suicide. At that time he was confined to bed with painful fissures (anal tears), mouth ulcers, stomach cramps, diarrhoea and bowel incontinence, hot & cold sweats and a host of other miserable complaints. He had already endured months of illness and hospitalization and despite drug treatments was no better. The doctors had abandoned us for an extended Xmas/New Year break and an increase in Prednisone dose did nothing to ease symptoms. Then your Self Healing Colitis & Crohn's book arrived. We started the diet straight away and in 3 days the pain from the fissures was gone and he was up and moving around.

David, we have since proved every single word of your book to be true. Byron's recovery went exactly as you described it would. We followed the steps carefully, reducing drugs as we went, we made mistakes but corrected them within 3 days of returning to the diet and we pressed on. We know your work has saved Byron from a life of hell. Today, one year after receiving your book, he is entirely drug free and has been for 5 months. He is 62kg (up from 45kg at diagnosis). He is an active young man looking and feeling great and as a fabulous sidekick benefit, now has a really cool Vegan girlfriend. He lives by the diet and finds it easy, we spend less on good food than we did on the SAD diet and we now spend absolutely nothing on drugs, supplements or consultations. The doctor called Byron's excellent condition "clinical remission", which we confidently told him will last for around 75 years!!!!! Byron and I believe you have provided us with the "cure". Treatments in the 6 months prior to receiving your book cost around AUS$15,000. Your regimen was the cost of the book and one consult fee to meet you (a meeting I am eternally grateful for and was pre-ordained after a surprise opportunity to travel to California last year). We owe you so much and we thank you so much. Please add our story to your list of successes. I am happy to have my email address posted on your site as a contact for those still reading your "Are You Skeptical" link and would be pleased to share our story and discuss.
Julie Smith
Coffs Harbour, Australia

I ordered the book about a year an a half ago. Prior to receiving the book, I had been diagnosed with colitis, which I had been suffering from for about a year, which included bleeding, pain diarrhea and interrupted sleep. The medication prescribed worked initially, but ceased to work after the next flare-up, 2 months later. I followed the diet for about a week, at which time my symptoms subsided. I've been normal ever since. I can't say that I've followed the diet whole-heartedly. I eat what would be considered a "normal" diet by most, with the incorporation of the diet plan outlined in the book, which includes a lot of fresh fruits and vegatables. I can honestly say that I haven't had any indication of a flare-up. Some might say that I'm in remission, but from everything I've read, most people only stay in remission up to a year with medication only. I believe the information David shares has saved me from an incredible amount of physical and emotional pain. He does a fantastic job of explaining the cause and the cure in a simple to understand manner. At one time, I looked at eating raw fruits and vegetables as a chore. I now see them as pleasurable medicine for my body. I know that it's added years to my life. I realize that I might be the exception to the rule as far as the short length of time my body took to heal, but I'm sure that I would still be suffering if I hadn't gotten this book. I am now gradually transitioning to a vegan lifestyle. I tell everyone about your book.

I have been suffering with symptoms of Crohn's since 1999 and in 2005 was officially diagnosed with Crohn's. I have seen an endless array of medical doctors' and I was told early on in life they wouldn't know what I had unless they "cut me open". I have consulted many MD's and they all said that stomach problems, whether it is as serious as Crohn's or something less severe, were not related to diet. Using my common sense and feeling the difference in my body relative to the foods I ate, I knew this could not possibly be true.



When I went away to college I focused on Finance but minored in food science and human nutrition, and although I did not take courses on physiology, I learned more about the body, how different foods affect the body, and took better care of myself. Although I still ate meat and cooked foods at the time, I did feel better and attribute that to overall better fitness and a healthier, cleaner lifestyle.


When I returned from college I began a really high stress job and continued to eat foods that weren't optimal and every day my energy levels would decrease. I even began eating processed junk foods that I had sworn off in college. My energy levels dropped so much that I had to quit working. I went back to see a gastroenterologist and although years ago I was told that I didn't have Crohn's, it was now obvious that I did. I was devastated and was told I would have to take drugs that would not cure me, just potentially alleviate my symptoms, for the rest of my life. I found it dangerously odd that the doctor's told me flat out that they diagnosed me with a medical condition (Crohn's) where they did not understand the origin or how to cure it, but were willing to give me numerous amounts of highly lethal drugs. It seems the only thing that was certain were the devastating side effects of these drugs. I took the drugs very short term and did not notice any improvements, so without telling my doctor I stopped taking all drugs and to the best of my ability at the time, ate a more healthful diet and exercised. When I went back to see my doctor a few months later, he said I seemed to be doing better and he attributed it to the drugs that I was supposed to be taking, and said there was no way I would be doing better if it weren't for the drugs. Little did he know that I hadn't been taking the drugs for a few months. Had I continued down the path the gastroenterologist wanted me to stay on, by now I am sure I would have had a surgery or two (as he recommended) and my body would have been a lot weaker due to the drugs. I decided not to return to these doctors and had to find another way.




I began reading books of healing or managing Crohn's and all the books I read until "Self healing Colitis and Crohn's" were diets that worked for the author, but it also stated that "this diet may not work for you". Also common amongst these books were all the products that these authors were pushing on the consumers. I questioned how and why a diet would work for one person, but "may not work for you". Although I did not like the fact that these diets may not work for me, I was in so much pain and so sick I tried many of these diets. I was hopeful and willing to try anything and although I did not get better from these diets, I did learn a thing or two from each of these books. Most importantly, every one of these books stated that diet did have a big relation to the development and continued symptoms of Crohn's, and this was different than what allopathic doctors said. I also find it interesting that these authors went on to make tremendous amounts of money on the products they are selling, but are not readily available to help people back to health. When I came across Dr. Klein's book, everything made sense from the start. Some of the other authors would tell you to eat a certain food, but make sure to take supplement x (which they happened to sell as well) in order to help with digestion.



I am learning that when it comes to food and nutrition, what we eat is both nourishing and good for us or our bodies recognize it as poison and acts accordingly. When it comes to food, there really is no middle of the road, neutral ground. I challenge anyone to really stop and pay attention to what many "experts" say on tv, the internet, health magazines, etc, when it comes to health, and I find that most will tell you to "eat food x that is not all that good for you, but make sure to eat a fruit or a vegetable with it" to counter it's effects.



Just 5 short months ago, I was in so much pain I remember not being able to walk for 20 yards without doubling over and having truly excruciating stomach pains. I remember being at Disney, "The happiest place on Earth" as they call it, and feeling like if I would die. For close to a year I could not sleep on my right side because it felt like I had a baseball in my lower intestines. Every time I ate, I would feel and hear the food scraping through every part of my stomach and intestines. If I would lay down I could literally see my stomach expanding as the food would move through it. This was very painful and embarrassing. One day I would have non-stop diarrhea and the next day I would be so constipated I couldn't move due to the pain. This went on for close to 2 years and it was a real hell on earth. Since I have been healing myself, my stomach is flat, my stools are normal as Dr. Klein described they would be in his book (for the first time in 8 years), my energy level has soared, and most importantly I know I am healing as the pain is almost non-existent. I could write a book detailing the pain, symptoms, and suffering I have endured, but I chose to focus more on the fact that I am feeling better and for the first time in my life I feel that I am truly taking care of my body from the inside out.





I feel that through Dr. Klein's work I literally view the world through a new pair of eyes than I did even 5 short months ago. I truly thank you for your help, generosity, and time. I have given your book to friends and family of mine who do not suffer with digestive problems but who suffer with an array of different problems, and although your book is titled "Self Healing Colitis and Crohn's", it can easily be titled "Your body's Operating Manual" and should be a gift given to everyone so they can truly understand health and how their body operates.



If anyone is interested in learning how their body operates, than this is it. This book holds a plethora of information. I have read it 4 times already and will read it a few more times to truly understand the gems this book teaches. Best of all, Dr. Klein is available for counseling and continues to clarify areas that I either don't understand at first, or how and why my body reacts to the things I expose it to.



I have taken on a different path in life and I am currently going to paramedic school. I am learning a lot and I get hands on experience with people who suffer all types of really debilitating diseases and it is sad to know that many people could really improve the quality of their lives by changing small but significant dietary habits. As a paramedic student, we learn a lot about different drugs and most diseases, but nothing about a cure or prevention. In my opinion, from the amount of suffering I see, it is worth it to have an all around healthy lifestyle, as sooner or later the pain and agony of disease will affect us if we don't.


The physical pain that I felt for years with Crohn's was devastating but I feel that anyone who suffers can relate to the fact that the pain is twofold....physical as well as mental. This is due it having a life shattering affect on ones dreams. Since I have had the good fortune to get counseling with Dr. Klein, not only do I find more energy and vitality every day, but I also have a renewed sense of life and happiness that I thought I had lost for good.





I will always be thankful and am amazed at just how knowledgeable Dr. Klein is when it comes to human health.





Thank you!!!


George G.

I ordered this book for my mother who has been suffering from colitis for 25 years. She is able to really apply the diet and advice in this book to her daily lifestyle. I have been a vegan for years and it has been hard to get her to stay consistent with any advice I have given her regarding her condition. This book is literally a life saver. It has given her an alternative to having her intestine removed. I even ordered a second book to give to someone who may be interested in an alternative to conventional medicine for this type of condition.

I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis in 2004. After the doctor told me I would have to take medication everyday for the rest of my life I began searching for a natural alternative. I found David Klein's "Self-Healing Ulcerative Colitis & Crohn's" in 2006 and have found the guidance within to be helpful. When I am following the guidelines within I am symptom-free without drugs.

The author, David Klein, is very thorough in his approach to teaching the reader about our colon, why we get sick, and how to heal ourselves. He takes a no-nonsense, matter-of-fact approach that assumes everyone suffering from ulcerative colitis or crohn's will, at this knowledge, lay off that which makes us sick and fully embrace health. The biggest problem with David is that he is right. Eating a 100% vegan diet, following food combining practices, and eating a diet consisting of at least 75% raw fruits WILL result in a healthy colon. I am never healthier than when I am following his Natural Hygiene Self-Healing System. The problem is, unless one has a supportive group of family and friends, it is almost impossible to follow 100%. I usually can maintain health following his Vegan Diet Healing Plan for breakfast, lunch, and all snacks, while for dinner, preparing the cooked food my family and friends expect; but I am also fortunate enough to be a stay-at-home mother. I cannot imagine following this diet while having to work a normal job. Though this is true, there is no book I recommend more to people suffering from Ulcerative Colitis or Crohn's. When the cooked food becomes too much, the only way I can stop a flare-up is by returning to David's guidelines.

Another helpful book is "Crazy Sexy Diet" by Kris Carr. Kris's diet is easier to follow because it allows more normalcy. She seems to understand that not everyone has the mental fortitude -- or desire -- to go completely counter-culture; however, I am more likely to have a flare-up on Kris's diet. While following David Klein's guidelines I am always symptom-free and full of vitality. As such, if I allow myself the freedom of Kris's diet, I always return to David's to fix what's broken when it breaks. Between these two books I find a healthy balance that allows me to have family and friends who do not ascribe to my dietary practices while maintaining health.

After 13 years of severe ulcerative between the ages of 27 and 40 and one near death experience at age 33, I consider myself fortunate to have stumbled across David's wonderful work.

I can only speak for myself and from MY experience with David's work and say that, by fully understanding and implementing David's philosophy and dietary recommendations contained in his book and with immense patience and a fervent desire to heal, I was able within 2 months to completely restore my health (where literally everything else had failed over 13 long, excruciating years). I have been symptom free and free of all medications for over 4 years now (I have not been to a doctor or taken any medication for any ailment in four years).

I owe David Klein an immense debt of gratitude for saving and giving me back my life and I can't recommend this book highly enough.

Dr. Klein's book has given my family hope and better than that: results. My four-year-old daughter, who was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis at the age of two, is enjoying radiant health without drugs or supplements of any kind. I too have experienced miraculous healing of eczema on his plan and know that it can help anyone wanting to improve his/her health. I'm deeply grateful for his passion for raw foods and their healing power.

I found this book after a particularly dispiriting encounter with my GI specialist and resolved to do anything to be able to manage my ulcerative colitis without taking prescription anti-inflammatory drugs for the rest of my life. To that end it was very successful, in that under the personal guidance of David Klein (a very positive and zealous voice for the vegan raw food movement and for taking responsibility for ones own health) I weaned myself off mesalazine and underwent a profound detoxification. I did not, however, achieve the symptom free status I expected and lost a lot of weight in the process. I am still underweight, but regaining it with a different dietary approach, which, with probiotic food supplements and Boswellia, has allowed me to continue virtually symptom free without prescription medication.

I think this book and the raw food approach is the answer for some people and that the book contains some dietary and lifestyle advice that would benefit all colitis sufferers, but I don't believe it to be a panacea.