Rheumatoid Arthritis Support Group
Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic, inflammatory, multisystem, autoimmune disorder. It is a disabling and painful condition which can lead to substantial loss of mobility due to pain and joint destruction. The disease is also systemic in that it often also affects many extra-articular tissues throughout the body including the skin, blood vessels, heart, lungs, and...
I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis about 10 years ago, it quickly got very bad (as it usually does).
Was put on methotrexate which worked fine for a year or so then basically my immune system shut down (as this is what Methotrexate does/works).
I then researched other methods of self medication & came off the Methotrexate, my consultant warned me that this was not a good thing to do & that eventually I'd be back to get more drugs.
Since then I've been drug free for over 18 months, my health is great, as is my immune system.
I do have to follow quite a strict diet regime but after the first six months you can slack off a bit from time to time (as long as you stick with the basics).
Here are a few tips for you guying suffering from RA:
No citrus fruits - cut out the oranges etc (buy vintage C tabs to replace this in your diet), I also take multivitams, Vitamin D & Cod Liver oil tabs
Cut out the Red Meat - NO RED MEAT - !!
Exercise - when at all possible - get off your back side, you know it makes sense.
CIDER VINGER (organic if you can get it) with honey & hot water twice a day - EVERY DAY !!
Black Mollasis - as much as you can stand
Eat fresh fruit & Veg (but no citrus)
Take hot baths with sea salt in it.
Cut back on the caffine (just for the first few months then limit your intake)
Cut out the alcohol for the first 6 months then try to limit as much as possible.
Following these few recommedations will not cure RA but it will stop it getting any worse & will in time get you back to normal.
Unfortunately if you stop the diet the RA will rerturn.
I'm 49 years old, I now go to the gym 3 time s a week, walk the dog twice a day, go to work all week, do the garden etc, life is good again :-)
This diet works, so get off the drugs now & get your life back.
You do need to stick at it though, if not then stay on those crappy crippling drugs, they may work for a while but eventually they'll take their toll on your body.
TAKE RESPONSIBILTY FOR YOUR OWN BODY.
I was diaged in 2009. Took Mxt and it worked but I also had adrenal gland problems. I went to a nutritionist for a year. I did Everything he said to do and never cheated once. The RA did NOT go away. I was a little better but still housebound, recliner bound, and bed bound. I did not even go to a movie or restaurant for over a year.... I had NO life. And I refused to take the "poison"...
Then I saw a friend's husband who refused RA meds .... I hadn't seen him in 3 years. He had crippled so badly in those 3 years that his wife has to bath him,, dress him,, comb his hair (bc he can't reach the top of his head), and he would be in a nursing home without her.
A neighbor of mine has had RA just a few more years than me. She REFUSES the drugs as well... especially mtx. She is already in a motorized wheelchair and can't walk more than ten feet. She refuses all RA drugs because they are "bad".
I understood bc I was scared and refused the drugs for the first 3 years of my diagnosis.
BUT after talking to both of these people, I began to "rethink" my future w/ RA.
My husband works w/ 3 people that have RA... all three of them take biologics.... they are still working, they are not crippled, they do not walk with canes, they are older than me..... What? I began to rethink... I began to realize the crippling effects of RA....
I couldn't call my doctor back fast enough. My pain was manageable but I was not working, exercising, going any where, vacationing, nothing....
I got back on the drugs and now take Humira/ plaquenil combo and can do more NOW than ever since 2009. I am not crippled... and not crippling.
So... with all this said.... EACH person must review their own situation. Look at their own options.... and make their own journey choices.
Going clean with eating left me still unable to do what I wanted to do..... LIVE.
I still eat very very clean... that's bc I lift weights, walk / jog, and keep my weight in check at age 54.
I pray for each one us find what works for each one individually. If you are not eating "clean", I suggest that you try cutting out processed foods and sugar. If you are refusing RA meds, I suggest you keep an open mind.
We are all looking for what works. This is a life long process for most of us.
I hold each one of you in my thoughts.
Namaste , Sun
I deeply resent posts like this. The implication that if you're not doing well, it's your fault is complete BS. RA is NOT a lifestyle disease. The implication that if something works for one person it must work for everyone else and that they're sick because they're too lazy, ignorant, or want to be ... well, that's just BS and it's mean spirited.
These "all natural cures" are not supported by research and the claim that these changes will stop the disease are not only false, but dangerous. My belief that if I just took better care of myself, I'd be fine, is what got me where I am today. It is very important to understand that there is NO CURE for this progressive disease. Lifestyles changes are nice and they may help relieve some people's symptoms, but they are not a replacement for treatment. To say otherwise is irresponsible.
I, too, dislike posts like this because they give a newly diagnosed person the idea that controlling the diet will help the disease. It won't. And while the newly diagnosed is busy doing a clean diet, he typically is not on the appropriate DMARDS that are essential for preventing further destruction.
There is no research at all from any credible source that says that diet or supplements .....or "woo" as many people call this stuff.....works.
It's your body. Time to get educated. And remember this: If it sounds too easy or too good to be true......it probably is.
You know nothing about me, my medical history, how I live my life, and how I am treating my disease. Yet you feel free to tell me that I am, in effect, irresponsible for not making the same choices you have. Glad I don't have to live inside your head.
It did not stop me from getting RA. It did not stop me from becoming worse rapidly. It did not stop deformities. Lifestyle had nothing to do with getting RA, and it didn't help treating it.
The only thing that helped was meds, DMARDS and biologics. And the biologics not nearly soon enough! In 2005, after finally complaining quietly to my then rheumatologist, I was put on Kineret in addition to mthx. And I pretty much got my life back. I started working out - I was riding my bike up to 35 km every second day alternating with weights- 15 lb free weights! I did stretches daily. I went back and got a Master's degree, because I could think again (RA really hits my brain hard!). I became active, and even considered returning to teaching, but the health officer seemed to think that my drugs could fail any day, and it wouldn't be fair to the students if I missed a lot of time.
Well, that person was right, and mthx failed only a month later, after 9 years on it. My liver enzymes went sky high. The sores in my mouth were horrendous. But, I recovered and had no lasting side effects. Well, except for the fact that I have never been able to find a 100% combo like that again.
Last year, Simponi failed, and I was left bed ridden, in agony. I could not walk, dress myself, feed myself.... etc. I finally went back on prednisone. At least my poor husband didn't have to be my nurse 24/7. And now feeling better, still hand flares, tendonitis (which I never had before) on Arava/Orencia!
But so much better than no meds at all!
What people have to realize is that there are different families of RA. Most are familiar with sero-positive and sero-negative. But researchers think there are many families, which is why different meds work for different people. And occasionally, diet works for a very few people. Not that I have met any!
Please take your posts to some kind of health nut forum, and let the people encourage you in your nonsense. Sorry, I just don't need this and neither does anyone else.