I'm a Native woman in my early thirties of various tribes, but enrolled at Fort Berthold Reservation in North Dakota (home of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara people). I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis at age 21, and have been through a crapload of medications before trying out an alternative treatment that I didn't think would work: the Specific Carbohydrate Diet, developed by Elaine Gottschall. Although it has really worked wonders for me (I'm now able to eat fresh vegetables, go places in public without automatically hunting down the bathroom, and my joint pains have ceased), it may not work for everyone and I'm not advocating any kind of medical treatment that a person with IBD has not discussed with his or her doctor. Read more...