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Rheumatoid Arthritis | ![]() |
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Recovery from Rheumatoid Arthritis My Story Now that I look back, it started in January of 1997. I was 39 at time and always kept myself in good shape. In addition to basketball and a little running, I jumped rope a couple of times a week. I noticed that the front of my ankles would hurt when I started jumping. This pain always went away after a couple of minutes, and I didn't think anymore about it. I just thought I was getting "old." I didn't know how wrong
I was.
He was also in favor of aggressively attacking the disease and started me on methotrexate, a chemotherapy drug commonly prescribed in low doses for RA, and indocin, an anti-inflammatory drug (he played down possible stomach problems though I now know they are pretty common with NSAIDS). Even though I had read about RA and its progression, I was still coming to grips with the full ramifications of what I was facing. In trying to console/counsel me at our appointment,
my rheumatologist told me something to the effect of "I can guarantee you
we can keep you out of a wheelchair as we can now replace almost any
joint." I was NOT
impressed.
As anyone with severe RA knows, I was living a nightmare. My
body, which I thought I had taken pretty good care of, was betraying
me.
In my research, I saw several people that had at least some degree of success against RA
by taking minocycline or other tetracycline derivatives. A colleague at work showed
me the results of a double-blind study which demonstrated the benefits of
minocycline. I wondered why my rheumatologist, who seemed so progressive, had not even mentioned this as a possibility.
I was frustrated, was rapidly deteriorating with the
best methods my rheumatologist could offer, and felt I could do no worse
to go elsewhere. I told my rheumatologist's assistant I was not coming
back. I didn't know it at the time, but except for the decision to marry
my wife, this was the BEST
decision I have ever made!
I kept my appointment with the previously mentioned
general practitioner. He filled my prescription for the minocycline, but
he also gave me the impression that mainstream
medicine did not have all the answers in this area. He had confidence RA
was treatable in the vast majority of cases and had experienced some
success in this regard.
This doctor had been threatened by the state
medical license board for using alternative methods for heart disease (he
showed me a copy of the document he had to sign stating he would refrain
from using specific remedies with his patients). Word like this
travels fast in the medical community, and I later heard some disparaging
remarks about this doctor.
What was I to think? Who was right here? I felt like
I was in the "twilight zone." Here I was seeing a doctor who was an
outcast in his profession and I had fired one of the most respected
physicians in my area. However, I was willing to listen to anything that
made sense and all the rheumatologist could offer me
was more drugs.
I was determined to follow through on the minocycline method as
it had at least some proof that it made a difference for some people. This held more promise for
me than the traditional drug-based approach. I was desperate not to become one of the
approximately 50% of people with RA that couldn't work after 10 years. I
have a family to support and care for. I'm no different from anyone else
who picks up this horrible disease, and I needed to find a
way to make things better.
It was a scary time for me in many ways and I knew if
things did not improve that I stood a VERY good chance of becoming a
cripple in the not too distant future. However, my thinking about long
term issues was pretty limited because of the level of pain I experienced.
I had difficulty just making it
THROUGH ONE DAY let
alone visualizing longer time periods.
If you read this and have RA, you very likely know what I'm
talking about.
As I read the manuscript, I thought it made more and more sense in relation
to RA. The work of several researchers from the 1920s forward was sited,
and I noted how different aspects of the research pointed toward
environmental causes (combined with the right genetics) for RA.
I decided to try this approach. It met my search criteria:
at least
some research/logic behind it, very low risk, cost was almost nothing to implement
(mainly my own time and effort). It didn't hurt that I also saw the
physical results with my own eyes. What did I have to lose?
Related to this approach,
are you familiar
with the work of John Mansfield, Hans Selye, Weston Price, George
Watson, Rudolph Wiley, Nancy Appleton and
Kenneth Pelletier? If you are not and you
have RA, you should be. Take a look at the
Books subpage
of the Supporting Info page to find out more about the work of these
people.
With McFerran’s generous free guidance, I started on this
approach within a few hours of my Thanksgiving dinner, still in 1997. I
knew I had some major changes in front of me, but I was more than willing to try this as I now had
RA in most of my major joints and a few others (feet, ankles, knees, hips, shoulders,
elbows, wrists, hands, neck, jaw). I couldn't even eat in comfort.
I kept going downhill for a while. I experienced
severe
withdrawal during the middle of
my elimination diet. By elimination diet, I’m not talking about taking out
just one food or food group like milk or nightshades.
This is not a scientific approach as it leaves too many
variables (everything else being eaten) unaccounted for.
You must consume a small group of foods that have
proven to be non-allergenic for 6-7 days. This is not something to start
casually – preparation, research, and guidance from an expert if possible
are highly recommended.
My e-diet withdrawal symptoms
told me I had food
allergies related to intestinal permeability, or "leaky gut." Do you know
about this term? Reference the
Websites subpage of the Supporting Info
page for more information. I recall listening to books on tape because
it was just about the ONLY thing I could accomplish. During this time (a
few days) I got up (actually was helped up) to eat and go to the bathroom
and was in bed the rest of the time.
I don't honestly know if the methotexate helped or not as I
was doing multiple things at once (eating a whole foods, metabolic diet and
methotrexate), but I wasn't willing to change to find out.
This was a difficult period as I didn't see much in
the way of results yet. Below are some of the things I can remember about
this time. I'm sure if you have RA you can relate to this.
After the elimination diet, I started on a whole foods
diet designed to match my inherited metabolism. In my case, this turned
out to be a high protein, low carbohydrate diet. If this sounds strange
and "way out there" to you, take a look at
BIOBALANCE
subpage of the
Supporting Info
page. When I started this I
had no idea about it either but it made enough sense to me and there was
enough evidence out there for me to try it. The basics
here are that you inherit the way you metabolize foods in same way you
inherit your skin, hair, and eye color. This helps explain why no
two people respond exactly the same to every food.
The way you react to the elimination diet will help
to determine the diet variation you should try. I would recommend consulting with an
expert in the field at this stage.
Contrary to much of today's
nutrition theory, there
is not a single diet that will work for everyone. Each of us comes from different backgrounds. I'm sure we would all agree with that statement. If you really look, people around the world eat drastically different foods - some heavily meat-based, some with very little meat - and achieve the SAME level of health. Their bodies are ADAPTED to this way of eating because their ancestors have eaten this way for centuries. For MANY examples of this, read Weston Price’s book, NUTRITION AND PHYSICAL DEGENERATION. Sound far fetched? It may not after you see the multitude of photos in Price's book. This book really made an impression on me as it clearly shows the consequences (including arthritis) of changing to a modern, refined food diet. It didn't matter where in the world this happened - the results were the same. Implementation of this way of eating means approximating, as much as possible in today's world, the diet of our ancestors. By no means is this an easy task. Today we have removed much of the value of foods (vitamins, minerals) in the name of preserving them and creating artificial tastes. In order to metabolize these foods, our bodies must supply the missing ingredients from reserves. Over time, these reserves become depleted and often we break down in many different, chronic ways. Think about the percentage of these processed foods we eat today versus at the beginning of last century. There is a BIG difference. It's a physical impossibility for our bodies to adapt to these new types of foods in this relatively short time period. Yes we do live longer today, and I'm sure that more chronic disease appears as we age. However, we also are seeing an increase in chronic disease (such as type II diabetes) at young ages. Though I haven't seen the confirmaton, I would be willing to bet that little progress has been made in the last century, after adjusting for the reduction in infectious disease deaths to infants and young children, in extending the human lifespan. Add to this the stress of living today. Things change faster, and there is MUCH more stimulation of all types. I personally have at last 10 userid/password sets to remember, multiple email addresses (home and work), morning and evening commitments to make, etc. Add in media bombardment from all angles, the expectation to "have it all," and sleep deprivation and you greatly increase the odds that a person's health will falter at some point. For most people, a whole foods diet means making a drastic change in eating habits. Take out sugar, most grains (I do rotate them, but some cannot tolerate them at all), and take out as many processed foods as possible. As you may have noticed by now, this method is not a "magic bullet" in that you take a pill and your arthritis is gone the next day. This is a very gradual process of making yourself healthy again from the digestive tract out. After about 4 months, I started to notice some slight improvements in how I felt (although blood tests did not reflect this). I knew from the experience of others that it would take at least 3 months to start to reverse the intestinal permeability, which was letting partially digested food particles into my bloodstream. This situation did not happen overnight, and it wasn't going to go away quickly either. I was still very swollen (couldn't see my wrist bones at this point), but I did feel less ill. I started back to work on a part time basis (I was pretty wiped out almost every day). The inflammation was noticeably better, in fact mostly gone, after 6 months. I went on a vacation and drove about 700 miles – something that would have been impossible only a few months before. I could only drive for about an hour at a time before I would have to get out and walk (actually hobble) off the pain that would develop in my hip. There was still some pretty severe pain, but I KNEW I was improving. Blood test results were a little better as well. When I started adding back foods one at a time right after the elimination diet, I noticed that some foods caused arthritic symptoms. During this period (mid 1998) I noticed that when I consumed one of these foods (either intentionally or by accident), I would have increased arthritic symptoms. Every time (more than 10) the symptoms resided 2-3 days after onset – just the amount of time for the food to leave my system. I could create joint pain ON DEMAND. My attitude was SO much better now as I had some CONTROL over my RA. I continued to feel better throughout the summer of 1998. I was still taking methotrexate (10mg per week). One week I forgot to refill my prescription, and went without the methotrexate. It made no difference. My doctor agreed to have me wean from it. I did with no problems. That was August of 1998 and was the last time I have taken ANY arthritis medicine. Improvement has steadily continued since then. See the Timelines page. ALL of this has been accomplished by RAISING (not supressing as the traditional approach recommends) my immunity through diet, supplements (customized to my diet), and exercise. In August of 1999, I was able to start RUNNING short distances. By December I could run A COUPLE OF MILES on a treadmill. Now I regularly run 1-2 miles on varying surfaces. I have also had multiple x-rays of my feet (both before and long after I dropped methotrexate) which showed the REVERSAL (increased joint spaces) of my RA. Any traditional rheumatologist will have difficulty explaining this. I now have NO PAIN and basically NO ARTHRITIS SYMPTOMS. Am I just lucky or is this a method that can work for many people? Is the 85% improvement rate for 3,000 arthritis patients after a week of a strict elimination diet (as stated by Dr. John Mansfield in his book ARTHRITIS: THE ALLERGY CONNECTION ) a hoax? Is it worth the trouble or the effort for you to investigate this to find out? I’ve talked with quite a few people with active RA that don’t think so. Of course they still have RA and I am living a NORMAL LIFE. I have been VERY fortunate to have found the method I have used only a month after my RA diagnosis. I have taken the effort to put this information on the internet to help those who don’t have knowledge of this type of approach or who need to see a success story to get motivated to try something like this. REMEMBER: If you have food sensitivities, with this method you will know within A WEEK whether you can improve your arthritis. Sound unbelievable? Only if you have a closed mind to the subject. There are quite a few studies out there that point toward environmental links to arthritis. (reference the Studies subpage of the Supporting Info page). There are numerous physicians that practice this way, although they are in the distinct minority. This was enough evidence for me to try this method. I am living proof that it is possible to reverse and recover from this dreaded disease. And I am NOT the only one. Do you want to live out your life in pain, give up many/most physical activities, take numerous immune system suppressing drugs, and most likely have a shorter lifespan than normal? Or are you willing to take the time and energy to learn and try something out of your comfort zone that is helping many people? It’s your choice. Questions? Comments? Send me an email |
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