Comments on: Rheumatoid Arthritis Requires Disease Treatment and Symptom Treatment

By: Ken

Ken — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 09:49:58 +0000

In the last 3 years I have done an enormous amount of reseach to help find some alternative to the drugs for my diagnosis of osteoporosis (bear with me-I believe strongly that there is a relation to RA here). I have reversed my osteoporosis (I don’t have it any more) by drastically altering my ‘normal’ style of eating. In this process I have also gotten rid of 95% of my arthritis to the point that when I get out of bed (for the last 7 months) nothing hurts – I haven’t felt this good since I was 29 years old (am now 64). My cholesterol went from 197 to 150. All of my blood work shows terrific improvement. I don’t take any prescription or OTC medication, but I do take quite a few vitamins and minerals – mostly aimed at my osteoporosis problem – I don’t want it back. I have basically changed my diet (gradually, not overnight – or you won’t stick with it) to a more vegetarian way of eating – 90 to 95% fruit, veggies, legumes, tubers, grains and 5 to 10% organic meat (wild meat is best, fish, some chicken). This is the way we have been genetically designed to eat, but especially in the last 200 years we have switched over to the convenience of mostly a protein based diet from chemically doped beef, pork, chicken, turkey, etc. and most of us don’t even eat 5 to 10% vegetarian. The results are apparent with the many diseases we have now, such as cancer, MS, RA, arthritis, osteoporosis, heart failure, clogged argeries – I could go on and on. Reading the following books (among the approximately 200+ over the last 3 yrs) have helped me come to the conclusion that most diseases can be reduced or even reversed by our diet: “I Cured My Arthritis You Can Too” by Margie Garrison — “A Doctor’s Proven New Home Cure for Arthritis” by Giraud W. Campbell, D.O. — “Preventing and Reversing Oseoporosis” by Alan R. Gaby, M.D. — “Dr. Dean Ornish’s Program for Reversing Heart Disease” — “The MS Recovery Diet” by Ann D. Sawyer & Judith E. Bacharach. I really believe that our diet can have a major effect on RA. Kelly, I hope you e-mail me so I can e-mail you my three years of research – maybe you can use it on your web site to help others

By: Kelly Young

Kelly Young — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 15:06:41 +0000

Vent anytime, wirechief. You’re right the prednisone can work very fast. Looks like you may also have some serious concerns with the prednisone and blood sugar though – I hope you get to a good doc who can help advise you with working with both diseases. Sometimes a very low dose of prednisone is effective too. Here’s an article about that – click here.

By: wirechief

wirechief — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 14:57:41 +0000

My RA has decided it likes to feed on me and continues to give me pain in both shoulders, elbows,wrists, hands,knees and ankles, I have been dealing with the latest flare up since at least June but without a diagnosis until Sept 2nd 2010, I was pretty certain with all the pain but blood tests showed positive, now for a plan on dealing with it, I will be seeing a Rheumatologist soon but have been using Asprin, celebrex (discontinued), Hydrocodein 5mg twice a day for pain and recently testing out prednison prednisone at 10mg the pain
dissappeared in about 1 hour, my bloodsugar shot up over 350 I got control back finally and this morning it was 130
(whew!) I have been on insulin for diabetese for 3 years now and gotten pretty good at keeping my al1c to 6.5 (recent test) but prednisone is not going to be in my tool bag for fighting this disease its too hard to control all the side affects, I will be off this in 10 more days and I know RA pain will return, I am 67 years old and consider myself very lucky not to have had flare ups since 1980 when my first flareup occurred and tested positive for RA, geeze I thought it just dissappeared but my reading on the disease has enlightend me, I am back in the fight…thanks for letting me vent my frustration with this …

By: Kelly Young

Kelly Young — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 14:18:42 +0000

I’m so glad your treatment is working. Sometimes a treatment works for many years, so lets hope so!! Like you said, the Biologics (like Humira) can stop working as well because from what I read the body develops immunity to it. Taking methotrexate is supposed to be the best way to prevent that from happening. So you’re doing all you can.

No one can know what future to expect. RA is very unpredicatable. What would I do if I were you? I’d stay with a treatment that works because going off & on it again can increase chances of the treatment not working.

I agree – never lose hope. Stories like yours give hope to some of us who haven’t found a treatment that works yet. Thanks.

By: La

La — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 13:49:05 +0000

I just wrote a long comment on another post but then signed in to google reader and it lost it. Doh! Anyway, I have RA, diagnosed a couple of years ago (aged 25), fast onset and severe (full health to hardly being able to walk within 6 months) but treated brilliantly by the NHS in the UK. I am one of the lucky few who’ve gone into remission. I was on all the DMARDs, none of them working, so Humira was introduced and it worked perfectly. I’ve gradually been taken off all of the DMARDs apart from Methotrexate. Reading this made me think about how the disease is only being subdued – it’s not cured. I feel completely well (and so grateful) but it’s easy to forget that I still have RA – I’m just on strong drugs that keep it at bay. I wanted to ask if you know whether it’s possible that the drugs that I’m on could stop working at some point? I’m sure that it is. I’m 27 and would like to know what kind of future I can expect. Any advice would be so helpful. Thank you for your wonderful site – I feel such empathy for all of the people suffering and know how awful and frightening this illness is. Never lose hope.

By: Kelly Young

Kelly Young — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 14:27:15 +0000

Thank you for sharing Pattie. Fifteen years of pain but only a year of diagnosis is frustrating, isn’t it? I hear that too often. I hate hearing that. How did you finally figure out what was wrong?

By: Pattie

Pattie — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 02:41:38 +0000

I have severe RA. Fifteen years of pain but only a year with diagnosis. I take 22.5 mg MTX weekly. Can’t take narcotics – can’t handle the memory issues so I deal with the pain for the most part. I have a wonderful anesthesiologist who helped me through stage 4 RSD following joint surgery. They tell me I also have fibromyalgia and I take Topomax 50mg. I have gastritis of long standing and use Bexium which us a wonder drug and is effective with the side effects of the MTX as well. I’ve had sone real problems following a fall with a herniated disc which has complicated my care.

MTX has helped me tremendously even though I lose a day a week to weakness (I take it at night and I’m wiped out the next day). I couldn’t get out of bed before I started. I was 55. It took me more than 2 hours just to get up. I’m still working thanks to my doctors and my treatment. I have my own business and I plan to work for several more years. I don’t plan to take the biologics because of the possibility of lung problems. I’m hoping researchers find the answer. I know I’m fortunate.

By: Marge

Marge — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 23:56:10 +0000

Thank you for clarification. It’s such a complex issue. But I’ve learned much here.

By: Rheumatologe

Rheumatologe — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 15:07:38 +0000

Marge, the decision, which DMARD to take first is made in the light of disease activity. Our approach is more hit hard and early. If the diagnosis is made, then establish an efficient DMARD therapy – and this would be methotrexate. Especially if there’s already “mild X-ray evidence of joint damage”.
But I wouldn’t call it a wrong approach. Plaquenil might also work on seronegative RA.

By: Marge

Marge — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 03:12:21 +0000

Very helpful & reassuring, Kelly. Thank you.