I'm newly diagnosed with RA (June 2009). Have tried oral "meth" for 3 months and cannot deal with the extreme fatigue and mindlessness side effects, so have ceased. Am weaning from months of prednisone. Have gone one week with no "meth" with the injectable "meth" at the ready. However, I am giving serious thought to winging it on NO MEDS, to see if I can get this THING to go into remission via natural/alternative cures. Since June I have been on an aggressive journey to alleviate stress, am on daily supplements, and a very strict anti-inflammatory diet, which I believe helps (no cow dairy, gluten, wheat, sugar, nightshades, peppers, black pepper, soy, corn, or caffeine) dramatically. The question is: does anyone out there have any experience with a NO MEDS attack on RA? I'm reading Barbara Allan's "Conquering Arthritis" book. Her experience with RA and dealing with it without drugs is amazing.
Q: Natural/alternative/dietary RA treatments -- has anyone had any luck??
I have had RA for over 40 years and I use natural/alternative treatments to supplement the traditional Western approach - I imagine it as a sort of tool box with a number of tools that in combination prove more effective for my RA. However, although things like diet, supplements, herbal meds, etc. can be very helpful, I have never tried anything that did the trick as effectively as pharmaceuticals like methotrexate, Plaquenil and the Biologics. Keep in mind that herbal medications are also medications and can never interact with other things, so if you are considering going this route, I would recommend doing it while supervised by a licensed doctor of naturopathic medicine - recently, I wrote a post on alternative treatments and RA, including links to resources and you can read that here.
My general advice on going the "natural" route is if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Approach any treatment with a healthy skepticism, do your research - lots and lots of research - and keep in mind that in order to protect your future ability level and mobility, it's important to get your RA is suppressed as soon as possible. You may want to talk to your doctor about the Biologics - for many people, they have been a godsend and most only have very manageable side effects (for more on managing side effects, click here).
What hosting methotrexate, I had to switch from the pills to injectable because I couldn't handle the side effects. Injectable was definitely less intense in terms of side effects. And I know it you mean about not being able to afford to fuzzyheadedness - I'm a writer and if my brain doesn't work, neither do I. However, do keep in mind that side effects do tend to simmer down as your body get used to the medication. You may also want to try a very small dose to begin with, increasing when your body has gotten used to the medication. It's what I do and I find it diminishes the impact. I'm currently on Humira, which has been a godsend for me, but does tend to give me a day or two of slow brain. I try to organize my schedule around that, dealing with things that require less brain activity just following my shot. The good thing about it is that once that day or two is over, I have a couple of weeks of having my brain back - something I didn't when my RA wasn't treated properly. RA had a much bigger impact on my ability to think and create then the medications did.
Good luck on your journey. I would love to read more about how things go with you, so if you feel like a down the road, write a SharePosts or two?
Looks like you were diagnosed shortly before I was. :( No fun was it? I was lucky enough to find a doctor that believes that I can heal myself naturally. Plaquinel is waiting in the wings if anything worsens but I started the anti-inflammatory diet in January. I also got tested for food allergies, to my suprise I was allergic to so much that I was eating. Some reaserch I found strongly links auto-immune diseases and allergies. (It's not proven) My Natropath thinks that was realated to my pain level also. Anyway. I am on a VERY Strict Anti-inflammatory diet (like the one you mentioned), I take 4000 mg of omega 3 fish oil a day for inflamation and I cut my allergens (Eggs, Yeast and Cane Sugar) out of my life. I also take vitamin C 1000 mg & D 2000 mg for immune support and a good probiotic daily. I went from not being able to stand up off of the toilet or hold my baby or somedays get out of bed to having very little pain. I'm just starting a strength training routine. I'm starting slow but I'm getting there. From everything I read, strength training is VERY important. The more you move and the stronger you are, the better you will feel now and later.
I get blood tests every 2 months to check all of my levels and everything has been consistantly improving. I sometimes wonder if I am being stupid for not taking the harsh meds that everyone says to get on right away. But I have to believe, if I give my body what it needs, it can heal itself, at least to the point of remission. I know some people have much more advanced stages of the disease and a natural path might not be smart for everyone.
I know you posted this a while ago, I really hope you are feeling well and that the natural path is working for you. The things I know about taking this path is that it's not easy but it is so worth all the efforts. You have to be prepared with your food if you are not you will mess up or not eat and that is not good!I lost a lot of weight quickly on the diet. The longer I'm on the diet, the more things I find that I can eat that I like. My weight finally stopped dropping and I'm feeling great. Still some stiffness in the mornings but no where near how I was.
Hope to hear how your journey is going. Seems that while all my friends and family are supportive, few of them, if any, really understand.
I was diagnosed with severe RA ten years ago. After trying pharmaceuticals (plaquenil, prednisone, mtx and the biologics) and having no luck, just terrible side effects, I did a 360 with lifestyle and diet and within the year was in total remission. A big part of my program was cleasing, including fasting, combined with lots of exercise, even when it was extremely difficult, and rest. Non-toxic environment is also key. This past year I have had mild symptoms once again and know it is due to emotional stress I have been under. Any type of chronic stress (diet, environment, physical, emotional) will cause a RA flare for most people. I am addressing the cause of course. Dr. Richard Schulze's 30 day program is a great way to get started and learn a lot about true natural healing. I personally did not have much luck with any of the naturopaths I saw, probably because their suggestions were not intense enough for what my body needed.
I had some improvement with the anti-inflammatory diet regime. However, I still had severe flares and desired additional relief. As mentioned in my earlier posting I was not pleased with the "meth" - tried the injections, and that was worse. Sooooo, went months on the alternative methods. Finally caved, and started on 50mg Enbrel injections, 1x/week. Relief was almost instant! The Enbrel serves me well. I've been on it now for 4 months - have had a couple ugly injection site reactions (however, icing the spot before injecting has improved that); am feeling much better with the Enbrel.....although I certainly do not feel as I did pre-RA. Fatigue and flares still rear their ugly heads, but are less frequent, and minimized to some degree. I would prefer to be drug-free......but am grateful for the improvement Enbrel provides, so will stick with it as long as it is effective. (By the way, I continue to avoid the inflammatory foods as much as possible.......for moi, a combo of natural/alternative and the Western meds seems to be the best approach)
Best of healthy to all!
JC
I had some improvement with the anti-inflammatory diet regime. However, I still had severe flares and desired additional relief. As mentioned in my earlier posting I was not pleased with the "meth" - tried the injections, and that was worse. Sooooo, went months on the alternative methods. Finally caved, and started on 50mg Enbrel injections, 1x/week. Relief was almost instant! The Enbrel serves me well. I've been on it now for 4 months - have had a couple ugly injection site reactions (however, icing the spot before injecting has improved that); am feeling much better with the Enbrel.....although I certainly do not feel as I did pre-RA. Fatigue and flares still rear their ugly heads, but are less frequent, and minimized to some degree. I would prefer to be drug-free......but am grateful for the improvement Enbrel provides, so will stick with it as long as it is effective. (By the way, I continue to avoid the inflammatory foods as much as possible.......for moi, a combo of natural/alternative and the Western meds seems to be the best approach)
Best of healthy to all!
JC
I my 10 years as an alternative practitioner, all dis-ease and illness have their origin in, OXIDATIVE STRESS (i.e. metal toxicity, acidity from incorrect diet, food preservatives and food allergies). This is how i have treated all my patients suffering from bone and joints disease and any other illnesses for the past 10 years. Therefore, the following procedures is what I follow with my patients:
Step-1: Ascertain your metal toxicity with a hair trace mineral analysis. Depending on your level of toxicity you may want to use EDTA, lipoic acid or Zeolite powder to eliminate all toxic metals, food preservatives, insecticides, pesticides, fungacides and herbacides for 3 months period
Step-2: Go for a food allergy test, and certain food (e.g. nightshade vegetables do cause allergic reaction that cause inflammation)
Step-3: Organic vegetable diet. Eliminate ALL artificial foods. You may think this is a drag, but if you want to get well, you will agree that tis is a minor effort to pay to regain your bone health and overall health...
Step-4: Re-establish the alkaline balance in your body. The more acidic you are the more water (in all its many forms) is needed to bio-chemially re-balanced the body. the water i talk about includes sinovial fluid that is found in between bones and joints. An alkanizing base powder is very good to take in between meals once per day to ensure optimum alkalinity. The body has about 8 buffer systems against acidity and if 2 of these systems are out of balance, then the entire body is out of balance (these are: saliva, gastric juice, pancreatic, gallbladder, blood, vaginal secretions, seminal fluid, urine).
Step-5: Supplementation (e.g. Vitamin-D, Alkanizing base powder, Fish oils)
Step-6: Maintenance Program.
Regards
Mark B. Zuhrbrigghen
Solutions4health Cape town South Africa
+27 21 426 5000
+27 82 440 4146
+27 87 575 2777
I my 10 years as an alternative practitioner, all dis-ease and illness have their origin in, OXIDATIVE STRESS (i.e. metal toxicity, acidity from incorrect diet, food preservatives and food allergies). This is how i have treated all my patients suffering from bone and joints disease and any other illnesses for the past 10 years. Therefore, the following procedures is what I follow with my patients:
Step-1: Ascertain your metal toxicity with a hair trace mineral analysis. Depending on your level of toxicity you may want to use EDTA, lipoic acid or Zeolite powder to eliminate all toxic metals, food preservatives, insecticides, pesticides, fungacides and herbacides for 3 months period
Step-2: Go for a food allergy test, and certain food (e.g. nightshade vegetables do cause allergic reaction that cause inflammation)
Step-3: Organic vegetable diet. Eliminate ALL artificial foods. You may think this is a drag, but if you want to get well, you will agree that tis is a minor effort to pay to regain your bone health and overall health...
Step-4: Re-establish the alkaline balance in your body. The more acidic you are the more water (in all its many forms) is needed to bio-chemially re-balanced the body. the water i talk about includes sinovial fluid that is found in between bones and joints. An alkanizing base powder is very good to take in between meals once per day to ensure optimum alkalinity. The body has about 8 buffer systems against acidity and if 2 of these systems are out of balance, then the entire body is out of balance (these are: saliva, gastric juice, pancreatic, gallbladder, blood, vaginal secretions, seminal fluid, urine).
Step-5: Supplementation (e.g. Vitamin-D, Alkanizing base powder, Fish oils)
Step-6: Maintenance Program.
Regards
Mark B. Zuhrbrigghen
Solutions4health Cape town South Africa
+27 21 426 5000
+27 82 440 4146
+27 87 575 2777
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Thank you Lene. I am obviously overwhelmed with "what path to take" decisions; and I would love to avoid pharmaceuticals. I've learned taking methotrexate orally is not for me. No nausea (whew!) but severe fatigue, depression and mental blandness resulted. I'm an artist, and cannot live that way. With my doctor's blessings I ceased that dosing. Injected "meth" is what my rheumy now suggests. I've put it off for 3 weeks, as I fear the return of the same side-effects, even though I hear these may not present with the injections. I suppose I must (?) try the injections to see what happens. If not tolerable I can continue the search for something that works better for moi. Clearly the anti-inflammatory diet is part of my plan. It has helped immensely.