Arthritis Support Group

Listen to that little voice in your head. MTX is way too aggressive for what you have. I have been taking it for some time now, but I have had multiple replacement surgeries due to degerative arthritis, and I am in a constant state of immflamation.

jwm,

I was somewhat like you except that my Rheumatoid Arthritis was very severe. So yes, I went on methotrexate...a very toxic drug. Every day I had the reminder that I was sick between the fatigue and my hair falling out more than normal. My intuition kept telling me that there had to be something else out there that worked, something that didn't make me lose my hair or make me fear cancer.
For over a year and a half, I searched. I also tried god knows how many supplements, drinks, acupuncture, you name it. I was online constantly. I finally did come across a drug that was not like methotrexate...it healed your body and fought cancer, etc. etc. Sounded too good to be true but I found people on Daily Strength who were taking it. So I started.... It wasn't a cure all in the least, BUT it helped a great deal and I continue to take it. For people who have been on it for years, know that it continues to make very subtle changes to the body, helping it get better and better.

But of course the inflammation still needed to be in control so I continued to search. If you have RA, it's common to "stack" medications until a whole mix of them do the trick. I figured I could take this theory with how I took alternative medications. So I continued taking everything I thought might help...vitamin E, fish oil, etc.

Then one day my crazy neighbor told me to look up Serracor-NK. I looked it up and was surprised to see a case study on RA. I understand medicine and lab results well enough to know that even though this woman in the case study had less severe RA than me, still her results were pretty amazing. I decided to give this a shot too. Oh and I forgot the medication I mentioned earlier is called Low Dose Naltrexone.

Anyway, between the two my inflammation is completely under control and I feel great. Sure, I am still having some slight amount of inflammation in my hands but it's gone everywhere else...which is truly a miracle. It was really really bad and before medications I couldn't brush my teeth, let alone bathe, walk and cloth myself.

So yes, follow your gut. For me, it worked! it took time and I figure this may not be the end of my story...heck my body could potentially stop responding to this stuff, but on the other hand, isn't our body suppose to be able to heal itself? I feel like if it's possible, I should at least give it a chance.
I wish you luck and keep us posted!
Hugs,
Sarah

Thanks Sarah, I am getting desperate to get off mthx. I am going to investigate these drugs. I am in 2nd stage liver failure after 9 years on methx, and very scared. Besides a biologic, I have been on for 5 years which works very well with little damage, the mthx has caused fatty liver and now fibrosis. I keep trying to get off, but I can't take the pain, exhaustion and flares in my hands in particular of RA. I had surgery to reconstruct my foot, and can't even take anti-inflammatories like Omega Oils or Glucosamine, because the bone in the bunion has not fused. My foot was totally deformed, so I sympathesize with you jym2 - I had totally subluxed toes a giant bunion, fat pads on the bottom, big toe at almost right angles to the rest of the foot. You want to stop that. But not at the expense of killing your liver, nor the cancer risk I have lately heard about. If it is just in your feet, you might consider other options, although it has been 4 months from my surgery, and I am very tired of wearing a cast. Especially for cycling.

Thanks all - I really appreciate your help.

And Sarah, thanks so much for the two recommendations. I'm going to check those out and talk to my (new) doctor about low-dose naltrexone. I don't see (so far) how it can hurt me so its worth a try. I want to try everything I can before I consider drugs like MTX.

Thanks again.

Hey Guys,

Thanks so much. Just wanted to say....for those of you that want to try Low Dose Naltrexone, just know that most doctors will say no because it's not the standard medicine. If you come into too many problems, you can order it online without a prescription from Canada, or you can find a doctor who will prescribe it over the phone...there are always ways and the people in the Daily Strength LDN group can help you, including myself. Other options include homeopathic doctors as well as seeking out a different doctor to go to since it's a perfectly legal drug.
Hugs,
Sarah