21 Responses to “Putting Faith in Rheumatoid Arthritis Natural Remedies”
Rheumatoid Arthritis Warrior
Bringing information & encouragement to fight RA
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It truly hurts my heart that people would try and dissuade you from giving your children the gift of hearing. What kind of sadists are they?
I have come to the conclusion that all we can do- be it in our RA treatment or in other aspects of our lives is do what we feel is best for us and share our experiences. We have to leave the decision as to treatment up to the person. I only wish everyone could agree on that!
Jules, It was hard when you already have the trauma of the hearing loss. It was hard to defend the decision. Like we were weak or something for needing medical help.
I am truly shocked that it is the same with RA. Here we are disabled by a killer disease & there are family members who think we just need more faith or a better attitude. Then others with mild RA who critisize us for using medicine. It just surprises me that this is how people react. I guess I’ll get used to it like I did with my kids.
If many remedies are prescribed for an illness, you may be certain that the illness has no cure. – A.P. Chekhov, The Cherry Orchard
Why do those who say we are fearfully and wonderfully made often think remedies come in one size fits all? How arrogant we are to think we can define what faith means for another?
Your children are so fortunate to have you for a mom.
“How arrogant we are to think we can define what faith means for another?”
Truer words may never have been spoken, Anj! My faith lies in the belief that God will lead me to where I need to be . . . IF I let Him. No man (or woman!) can know from where my relief will come, and shame on he (or she) who has the audacity to think any different.
“If many remedies are prescribed for an illness, you may be certain that the illness has no cure.” Thanks, Anj. That is an amazing quote.
I thought you would like Kelly. I do!
I think you are very brave to post this… Alot of people wont answer the tough questions let alone talk about them freely. I too am brave that way.. Ive also heard many same things regarding my children. My son was born with Spina Bifida, and yet i chose to have another child after.. Then i was told i was seraching for the perfect child.. Would i not love her any less? Ive knocked out a few people whove told me things. I praise you for not knocking out anyone and handeling it with grace..
Shannon, Thank you so much! It was scary. I do get criticism & I’m sure I will. However, in the end, the only thing I can be is myself. And the only thing I can say is what I really believe. How old is your son?
JUST NOW got this in email!!!!! from someone I LOVE…..
> ARTHRITIS:
>
> Arthritis patients may take daily, morning and night, one cup of hot
> water with two spoons of honey and one small teaspoon of cinnamon
> powder. If taken regularly even chronic arthritis can be cured. In a
> recent research conducted at the Copenhagen University , it was found
> that when the doctors treated their patients with a mixture of one
> tablespoon Honey and half teaspoon Cinnamon powder before breakfast,
> they found that within a week, out of the 200 people so treated,
> practically 73 patients were totally relieved of pain, and within a
> month, mostly all the patients who could not walk or move around
> because of arthritis started walking without pain.
I must not have the cinnamon & honey type of RA… haha
Did your friend/relative really expect you to try this remedy? Just curious.
If that’s the cure, we can take down the rest of the website & just leave your comment…
I couldn’t be more appalled!!!!!! My mom gives me the same mixture when I feel iffy in my throat
and I am pretty sure I drank it for weeks together in last five years….sometimes just because I liked the taste 
To me faith is the absolute knowing that *in the end* things will work out as God intends. I have no expectation that the journey will be easy. I try to handle the things life throws at me in the best way I know how, always prayerfully. I don’t doubt His love, faithfulness or goodness though I sometimes get angry at Him for allowing the suffering in this world. It saddens me when people use their religious beliefs to pass judgement on others. It seems clear to me that our place is not to judge but to love. A wise gentleman on another RA board I frequent tells newcomers to remember that they don’t just have RA, they have “insert own name” RA. It’s a nebulous disease. Maybe my autoimmune system is reacting to a food or other environmental factor. Maybe I am genetically predisposed to RA. Who really knows? RA IS NOT UNDERSTOOD even by rheumatologists. I wish we could just support each other while we explore what makes sense in our own situation.
As you know, faith is the root of faithfulness. Trusting that we are all led as we need to be led, if we are open to the leading, might be the basis for a community that supports each other in faithfulness.
Well said! I would just add that love need be at the center of community.
Lori – great point. Love is the first motion.
When I was first diagnosed with PA, my husband was in the military, and we had no choices in health care. You had to go to the doctor they assigned you. The rheumy that I saw was very religious, and made a point of telling me that he felt that faith played a big part in healing. He also made it very clear that he did not approve of my choice in religion, and even went so far as to ask me to come to his church and see the people there that had been healed. He was also doing a study on faith and arthritis, and each patient was asked to fill out a questionnaire with very personal questions about our faith and home life. I was very active in my church and very offended by this man. I was already depressed because I had 3 small children at home, the youngest just 6 months old, and I wasn’t able to be the kind of mother I wanted to be. He made me feel like I didn’t have enough faith, or I would’ve been healed.
That was 20 yrs ago, since then I have experienced many losses, including divorce, career and financial security. I was always very active in my own church, which teaches healing thru faith as well, and finally, a few yrs ago, I just couldn’t take it anymore. I felt that either God didn’t love me or care about me, or that there is no God. THIS IS THE DANGER IN TELLING PEOPLE THAT IF THEY HAVE ENOUGH FAITH THEY WILL BE HEALED. I don’t know how much more faithful I could’ve been. There is no rhyme or reason for remissions with this disease, it just is. Going to church become the most emotionally painful thing I did each week, and I had to stop going. I still don’t know where I’m at as far as belief in God.
I’m tired of hearing from ‘experts’ who have never had RA, or who have a mild case(for now), tell me to exercise more, take these magical herbs, pray harder (RLY?), etc. We all have to function as best we can in this world, and there should be no judgemnts made on what we have to do in order to work, raise our children and just plain Live. Thank you so much for this post, sorry I ran on for so long, but I feel very strongly about this.
I find it hard to tell you how angry it makes me that a man, that was being paid with taxpayer money, brought faith in that judgmental way into his medical practice. I’m sorry for that, and I am sorry for how THAT LIE impacted your faith and that going to church became so emotionally painful.
Holding a container of grace to allow us all to do what we need to without judgment is something I feel very strongly about too.
If God did not want us to go to doctors and use medications developed by man, then why did He give us the knowledge to become doctors and scientists that develop new meds.? Many medications are made from things found in nature such as tree bark, plant roots and leaves, etc. Other medications are developed to mimic already existing natural chemicals in the body. Yet other medications are derived from human cells. How much closer to nature do these people want us to get?
Dear Kelly,I love your website/blog,and follow it “religiously” every day..My mother had Rheumatoid Arthritis,and died when she was just 50 years old..I was diagnosed last summer with RA,and am on Methotrexate,medrol,and Enbrel…In my mother’s life she gave birth to 3 children,a daughter that she had before the RA,and then my brother and I after she got Rheumatoid Arthritis,at the age of 23..To make a long story short,both my brother and I were born with problems..I had severe hearing loss,which required all the normal classes,speech therapy,etc..I grew up,married,had children of my own,and became a nurse,and practiced for 30 years…My brother was born with Cerebral Palsey,went to special schools all his life,and still managed to graduate from Berkeley with honors,and work as a social worker for 35 years helping the homeless in San francisco…I don’t know how anybody else feels about this but I think even with our disabilities,we managed to live very productive lives,and be good citizens of our society..Which I can say,is more than some people I’ve met along the way…My mother and father always taught us,that each life has a purpose,and that we are all leaving imprints on each other’s lives,and that was believing in God.God provided all things,even medicine,hearing aides,and imperfection in our lives to learn,and love…Above all,to love!!..Thankyou for allowing me to share this….
Linda,
If your story breaks my heart, how much more it must sadden the Lord who is the definition of love. If Christ were here in bodily form He would be ministering to your needs instead of measuring your faith. Remember that Paul had a thorn in his side that he prayed repeatedly would be taken away and it never was. Surely he had enough faith. Christ died so we could be saved by grace and to take the condemnation away. In spite of the poor representation that we believers sometimes are, please see how much you are loved by Christ and don’t go through all this without Him.
Kelly,
First I love your website! Thanks for posting this, I think it’s great! I was born at home as well, so I totally understand why your choices and if I ever have children, I will choose to use a midwife also.
I get the same sort of reaction coming to me, from the other end. I am on both medications and supplemental therapy for rheumatoid arthritis, but because I’m not taking the “normal medications”, I get lots of people who get really upset when someone asks about alternative treatments and I say what has worked for me. For instance, people will post that you HAVE to go on conventional RA meds or you are really doing yourself a disservice… and I think that kind of advice is close-minded since we don’t know what’s best for any one individual. But I totally get that on the flipside, like you said in your post, there are just as many and more that scream natural is the way to go. I would never claim that any one way is best…my only intention ever is to say what has worked for me. I’ve even encouraged people to stay on their meds at different times rather than going the holistic route. I know my body better than anyone else and I hope for us all to make our own choices, not someone else’s!
thanks again for the great website!
hugs,
Sarah