★★★★★
I still eat meat and fish, but I eliminated grains, dairy, nightshades, beans and nuts. My labs are much better and my anemia is almost gone. My hemoglobin had been an 8 while on the awful RA medicines. Now my hemoglobin is 11.4, it is almost normal. The RA medicines make me anemic. When I am taken off of them for awhile my anemia goes away.
Eat a vegetable salad for a week with some fish or chicken if in a flare and see if your inflammation comes down, it helped my pain levels come down.The juicing of vegetables and fruit is good because more nutrients get into the bloodstream. Eating 2 apples and 5 carrots would be ac hore, but juicing them insures a lot of vitamins and minerals to heal from RA.
I have healed some frozen joints doing this. I had joints that had no range of motion for over a year and then SLOWLY they became loose and started to move again, it is wonderful to see healing, when it felt like there was little hope.
L-Lysine
You need to take at least 8 grams a day in the morning on an empty stomach if you want results. It should put it into remission within 2 months or less.
Chicken Cartilage
Can you please tell me what brand of Chicken Cartliage you ordered? I too was diagnosed with Rheumatoid and have had very bad reactions to the medicines. But am afraid of going back to the crippling state that I was in at the beginning. There are so many products out there that I just don't know which to choose from. I would greatly appreciate your input on this. Much thanks, Rose
Chicken Cartilage
Chicken Cartilage
★★★★★
By 2012 I was experiencing nausea for three to four days after taking the weekly dose of Methotrexate, which was simply just more impact on my life. I read on this site (I think) about a Harvard University trial of French Organic Chicken Cartilage tablets. There was success according to the study with some patients going into a kind of remission.
I immediately ordered several bottles from the supplier in the US (but now available now Perth, Australia) and started taking it. Within about 6 weeks I noticed my symptoms reducing enabling me to trial going off the Methotrexate. Today in 2015 I am virtually symptom free with returned use of my limbs, hands and no swelling in my feet and knees! The active ingredient in the Chicken Cartlage tablets apparently is type 2 collagen. I ran out of the Chicken Cartilage tablets about 6 months ago and haven't gotten around to ordering any more. I am largely still symptom free!
I stopped going to the Rhuematologist about 6 years ago as I didn't feel they were listening with regards to the moderate success of the fish oil...no point in spending $$ on someone who didn't appear to want to listen to how and what I was doing about the condition.
I would strongly recommend any sufferer of RA to give this a go! I have had my life returned to me!
Sorry to hear about your RA pain. I watched "Fat Sick and Nearly Dead" and it teaches how the body can heal itself if we stop poisoning it with sugar, processed junk and avoid dairy, grains and nightshades. My labs improve and my swollen joints improve when I stay on a raw food diet, not raw meat, raw fruits and vegetables.Try eating just raw fruits and vegetables for two weeks and you will see and feel an improvement. I like high dose of vitamin c for my choice of supplements. Hope you feel better.
Sesame Oil Massage
Turmeric
I have the same but it is very much in remission due to:
Organic black strap molasses up to two tblsp. a day diluted in very warm water and taken with a straw.
Very warm pure untreated sesame oil massaged into the painful knee. any time.
Turmeric, one teasp. twice daily in very warm milk on its own and turmeric in all cooking with coconut oil one half tsp.
This is my protocol which has always been very effective.
The dosages are normal and more is not better.
No white sugar and processed foods.
I hope it will help you as it is helping me.
The body is becoming more flexible and no pain gradually.
Namaste, Om
Turmeric
We have used turmeric with success for pain of many sorts. Turmeric is a wonderful anti-inflammatory. I wouldn't hesitate to try it for RA.
Reducing sugar and also drinking things that will help to alkalize your body may also help a surprising amount. I have found a lime-sodium bicarobonate drink to be especially helpful for pain. In a tall glass of water, add 1 Tablespoon of lime juice and 1/2 teaspoon baking soda. Sometimes I drink this several times a day.
I was recently reading of the importance of magnesium to people with RA. If you do not supplement with magnesium in some way, you may want to try that, too.
~Mama to Many~
Turmeric
Sesame Oil Massage
★★★★☆
Then she allowed me to rub her down with the sesame oil all over. No more pressure sores and gradually no prescription pain meds, then no over the counter pain meds. My mom had been taken off any RA meds in 2013 when she had a severe infection that kept her in the hospital from Feb 2013 to mid June 2013. I had no idea what all RA affects, its not just joints and you don't find all the info in one place or at least I haven't. Swallowing, the mind, blood vessels, lungs, heart, etc ... And the RA meds have their effects.
I read years ago about research done that I can no longer find it. The research showed that long term of some type of antibiotics that would rid the body of RA. Anyone know of this research done in the 50s or 60s? I have read a lot on Holy Basil, but not on any references to RA . Since I have read of the research, then recently on Holy basil and wondering if it could possibly help. Has anyone tried it? I did find it a few weeks ago and have it growing.
★☆☆☆☆
Haven't been here for a while. But noticed something to alert people about. At another site, Mercola.com they advised RA patients to take vitamin D. What? Seriously!
I hope nobody here ever does such a thing.
Yes, vitamin D is low in RA patients but that is not a cause, it is a symptom. The attacking bacteria destroy vitamin D receptors. And pumping up on vitamin D will not solve the problem. It's like seeing low air in a broken balllon and thinking you just have to keep pumping in more air and all will be well. Not so. The balloon will stay deflated because of the hole. So all that vitamin D goes to waste. So don't try to take vitamin D for RA.
But it could be much worse (maybe even worse than taking copper). Over the last few years I've noticed that every time my wife was pursuaded to go to vitamin D her RA flared up. Trying to stimulate a broken mechanism is a bad idea.
For further information try an article in:
Annals of NY Academy Science, 2009, Sept by Waterhouse and Perez aned ALbert on called "Reversing bacteria-induced vitamin D receptor dysfunction is key to autoimmune disease"
MSM
MSM
Art
MSM
MSM
★★★☆☆
BETTER BUT WITH SIDE EFFECTS
This is the first supplement that has helped my RA and I really do not want to go on the nasty drugs, so any help would be wonderful.
1) Massage of the inflamed joints with a warming oil, such as sesame oil, almond oil or castor oil, or even better, mahanarayan oil, which is a sesame oil loaded with beneficial herbs, but may be hard to find.
2) Formulas with Commiphora Mukul: yogaraj guggulu if your joints are cracking or kaishore guggulu if your joints are hot. If not available, you can try Boswellia.
Dietary Changes
★★★★☆
ALCAT Blood Test
★★★★★
Turmeric
Straub-Cutolo Remedy
Straub-Cutolo Remedy
★★★★★
Hydrogen Peroxide
Turmeric
★★★★★
EC: Hi Connie, can you please send us the recipe/measurements you used? Thank you!
★★★★★
Juicing fruits and veggies and eating them raw is key, and avoiding, wheat, corn , potatoes, and dairy was important for me. Also I eat meat once or twice a week because too much makes me feel unwell. Hope this helps someone, and remember don't lose hope.
Low Dose Naltrexone
I have been making my own Ldn for about 4 years since my doctor told me it should be helpful for autoimmune problems but also said her computer would reject any prescription she would write. I would love to be able to order from Skip's. I know many people who have great results making their own, but I have no noticeable benefit. It is possible that I don't have the receptor sites, but I do know Skip uses only pure naltrexone and adds a filler, usually Avicel, to the capsule. Would you please send me the contact information for your doctor? I would like to see firsthand if there is a difference for me. Thank you. I'm not sure how I can email you, but I am logged on right now and I give my permission for you to have my email.
EC: Hi Chip, can you please include your email address inside your post? Otherwise it's not visible. Thanks!
Low Dose Naltrexone
★★★★★
Last year I started LDN because I thought I had MS (actually was diagnosed with MS by several different neurologists-but it turned out to be aspartame poisoning) anyway I had been taking 1.5 mg LDN daily and after 4 months the pain and soreness that had been present in my hand joints for several years was gone. After 1 year it is still gone, however I have OA in my hips and the LDN has not done much. It is my understanding that everyone reacts a little differently to LDN and up to 65% of the people who take it get rid of RA symptoms within 6 months. I have a Dr. here in Costa Rica who was educated and did his residency in Houston, as such he writes prescriptions for people and will send them via email on his letterhead to the pharmacy. Skip's pharmacy accepts it. Email me and I will provide his contact info, he charges $40.
Dietary Changes
★★★★★
ACV worked for me for about 3 years and gave out. Auto immune diseases are due to bad gut flora which are highly adaptable like superbugs. The answer lies in the diet and not the bandaid solutions listed here to mask pain. For starters cut out white rice and bread and don't take antibiotics, your poisoning is at your grocery and your doctors' offices as revealed by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride who has determined the causes of autism and most chronic diseases are in the gut. This should be front page news and instead I have not seen a complete regimen anywhere to get healthy and had to develop my own. Good luck.
Juice Fasts
Juice Fasts
Black Cherry Juice
★★★★★
I have discovered that ham makes the joints in my fingers stiff, swell, and hurt. So, I threw what I had left in the garbage, never to buy it again. Good quality black cherry juice makes it go away. One to two tablespoons a day, but like certain supplements its not to be over done (like dont turn it up and drink half the bottle). Can be found in most healthfood stores and some grocerys where the vitamens are.
Apple Cider Vinegar
Straub-Cutolo Remedy
Involvement of the Hypothalamic/Pituitary/Adrenal/Gonadal Axis and the Peripheral Nervous System in Rheumatoid Arthritis by Rainer H. Straub and Maurizio Cutolo
ARTHRITIS & RHEUMATISM, (Official Journal of the American College of Rheumatology) Vol. 44, No. 3, March 2001, pp 493-507
The idea is that the initial trigger (bacteria, virus etc infecting us) is met with by the usual reaction of our body, by our immune system attacking the microbes, as usual. But, in fact, these trigger microbes that set off the inflammation are usually eliminated by our powerful immune system and are long gone by the time that RA sets in. So in RA we are not interested in treating only that infection.
RA is a chronic condition, not a normal infection, where our own immune system does not want to shut down it's attack. (Like an army that has destroyed the enemy and has gone berserk, shooting at it's own ranks or at innocent civilians.) It is well known that RA is characterized by macrophage activity even though there is NO infection. The word macrophage just means "big eater" since they basically eat up the enemy bacteria and viruses. But in RA they eat our own cartilage.
Why does the army of our immune system not shut down the fight and realize the "war is over" and that the enemy bacteria are dead? Why does our immune system not just stop, stop attacking our innocent cartilage? Why does our gone-berserk immune system turn a short term fight against a short term infection, that ended long ago, into a long term, chronic battle against our own body? Because the local nerve supply has been affected.
Our nerves shrink away from the scene of the inflammation or are damaged in the battle. But they grow back. Nerve fibers of the Central Nervous System grow back FASTER than the nerve fibers of the Sympathetic Nervous System. There is then a long term imbalance, more CNS fibers than SNS nerve fibers in the joints of those with RA. So what? Lots of what.
Those CNS nerve fibers secrete Substance P, long recognized as the leading chemical that our body uses to continue the inflammation reaction, the fight against invading bacteria etc. The CNS fibers, with substance P, are the hawks of the immune system. It is like they shout out over and over again, "kill, kill, kill." The over supply of CNS fibers and Substance P means the macrophages are encouraged to go on with their berserk killing. They have only the hawks to lead them. And if some bacteria have learned to avoid destruction by looking like the body cells, then the marophages, in a reverse sense, think the body cells are enemy cells. And what can stop them. All they hear from headquartes if the CNS orders to "kill and fight."
All because the CNS fibers are there in greater supply than the SNS fibers. They grew back faster. If the Sympathetic Nerve System was there then the macrophage soldiers would get other orders from headquarters. The SNS fibers try to shut down the inflammation, to call an end to the war. They do this by secreting epinephrine and adenosine. But they have not grown back. So there is no epinephrine. But lots of Substance P. So the soldier Macrophages only hear the command of Substance P, to kill.
Of course the inflamed area (our joints) still sends out messages to the brain and the rest of the body. (Chemicals such as cytokines) These are known to circulate throughout the whole body. The inflamed area sends out the cytokines as urgent messages, "request for orders sir, request for orders, please send orders, Emergency. Hurry. Send orders urgently." But no orders come from the SNS. No epinephrine arrives with a message to "Stop fighting", the only orders that come are from the hawks of the CNS, the Substance P message to "kill and go on killing."
As well the Adrenal glands should send out Cortisol, and epi-nepherine, that should also inhibit the inflammation reaction. And the gonads should send out testosterone and DHEA that would inhibit the infection (Men have less chance of RA than women). But it doesn't happen. It is well known that Cortisol production by the Adrenal glands is low in RA. So the Adrenal glands should send out orders to stop the inflammation, stop the fight. But for some reason they don't (Maybe they are overwhelmed by the huge amount of cytokines etc. coming out of the joints, which imply that a huge battle is going on. If there is a huge battle then the Adrenals would be wrong to interfere. But unfortunately the Adrenals are a lone, and weakened, voice for peace. They have found no support from the Sympathetic Nervous System. They are alone and so keep quiet. The Hawks win the day.
Hence the diet,
(1) Do something to shut up that Substance P messenger. To shut up the CNS and it's hawkish commands to fight. The best way is by capsaicin. Apparently, the FDA has approved it's use. Capsaicin can be found in Cayenne Peppers. Of course eating lots of Cayenne Peppers means the drug circulates all over in the body. So if you get a real infection somewhere then what? Stop the pepper for a while. Yet even the FDA approved it as a cream. So rub the spice, cayenne pepper on your sore spots. Or get capsaicin creme prescribed by your doctor.
Note: cayenne peppers are in the biological genus of "Capsicum" and related to bell peppers. So some "health stores" sell you stuff with "Capsicum" as an ingredient. That only means it has pepper in it. Bell pepper. Black pepper. Capsicum is not Capsaicin, the active ingredient. (Some say even black pepper is helpful with RA) It's worth a try to use the Cap-si-cum stuff, but just don't think you have Cap-sai-cin, the active concentrate. (note the spelling difference). Save your money and just buy peppers or ground cayenne spice at the grocery store.
(2) Do something to increase the low cortisol levels in RA. Increase cortisol so the areas affected by RA can get the message to shut down the fight. Where to get cortisol? Licorice (real licorice, please, not that junk they sell in candy stores that's made of flour and molasses) and coffee and grapefruit (also other citrus like lemon). It's easy to drink coffee.
(3) Do something to increase the low epinephrine levels in RA joints. A good source is the peel of a banana, though a banana pulp isn't bad. I wash the banana peel and blend the whole banana up and eat it. Another good places to get it is chocolate. Also helpful in building epinephrine is avocado, nuts, chicken, eggs, wheat germ. Of course this is not a local supply, where it is needed in the RA joint, but hopefully the extra supply in the whole body should allow more than usual to seep to the affected area.
(4) Cortisol and epinephrine work even better when taken together. Yummy, chocolate covered licorice (real licorice please) or chocolate in coffee. Or licorice mixed with banana.
(5) Some other substances the body needs to help build epinephrine are lysine, methionine, tyrosine, vitamin C, vitamin B6, manganese and MAGNESIUM.
This diet above is based on recent scientific observations, but has never gone to clinical trial. So it is "not scientifically proven" but personally I try everything I find on earthclinic. My initial results from this remedy are good. Hopefully it will continue for more than just a few weeks and is not just a placebo effect. Hope you find hope in it.
★★★★☆
When I eat dairy products especially milk and ice cream, I notice my RA DOES act up. When I eat the dairy with one tablet of CLA, my RA DOES NOT seem to act up.
I have found a supporting study that relates my personal experience
--------------
Milk has been anecdotally associated with an exacerbation of arthritic symptoms. A case study presented in the Arthritis and Rheumatism Journal found that some patients have an allergic response to milk that creates inflammation in the joints. Another study published in Arthritis Today magazine found that one compound in milk called conjugated linoleic acid actually reduced inflammation. Patients are advised to eliminate milk for one week to monitor symptom relief. In addition, milk and dairy products are rich sources of calcium and vitamin D which strengthen bones and prevent fractures and other bone concerns for those with osteoarthritis.
--------------
For people whose RA acts up but may desire to eat dairy products, this may be something to experiment with.
As an aside, CLA also does wonders for body fat management but each person is different in when they will respond. It took me nearly 7 months and others respond more very quick.
CLA got removed from the diet when they stopped using grass fed animals.
MSM, Magnesium, Vitamin D
MSM, Magnesium, Vitamin D
You ask about how to take DMSO. If my hands are aching and feeling stiff, then I take about one tablespoon of DMSO and rub into hands making sure nuckles and joints in wrist are covered. The DMSO is watery so you want to do this over the sink. In a minute the solvent will absorb into the skin. I have a great acecdotal story besides myself; it was my father, about 20 years ago, and he was complaining of the cramping in the hands I described above. Got him on the DMSO immediately and the next day, no problem. So in his case, the result was nearly immediate. I've found I have to use the DMSO every six months or so to ward off the condition.
If I use the DMSO on knees or ankles, I water down the DMSO by about half purified water because the DMSO can sting a bit without dilution. DMSO is a solvent and a penetrant and your breath will be garlic like for a day afterward.
I once had a nutritionally oriented MD who would give me IVs for nutrition and he would cap off the IV bag with 25 cc of DMSO, so as to rush the nutrients past the blood brain barrier. Thus the nutrients got to all organs including brain.
The point is in answering your questions: DMSO can be used topically or internally. I'm not suggesting you take a large dose orally. I have taken a tablespoon in a large glass of purified water.
Normally I used it topically.
I use 99.9 percent pure food grade and you can get the best from googling "Dr. Jacobs DMSO" and don't forget to google the you tube on DMSO I mentioned in the prior post: "Youtube Dr Jacobs 60 minutes"
Did I answer all your questions?
Best ....dave
MSM, Magnesium, Vitamin D
MSM, Magnesium, Vitamin D
MSM, Magnesium, Vitamin D
MSM, Magnesium, Vitamin D
On your RA problem: Absolutely, you must try DMSO topically. Has worked wonders on me with same issues as you. Google, "DMSO Dr Jacobs Youtube 60 minutes". That's a three part series on the miracle of DMSO.
Best, Dave
MSM, Magnesium, Vitamin D
MSM, Magnesium, Vitamin D
★☆☆☆☆
