Hello all,
New to the forum, so glad there is a place we can all come together to help each other. After being diagnosed with RA after years of OA I'm extremely worried about the side affects of the drugs I've been prescribed, especially on my liver, can anyone suggest natural alternatives that actually work?
Thanks,
Margaret
In a word. No. If there was the NHS could save £millions by getting those who have RA to use them rather than expensive drugs. Sorry 😁 There have been dozens of posts on here about 'alternative' therapies. Not a single clinical trial has proved them effective.
Hello.....great post I must say and a subject that I'm extremely interested in. I...like you, worry about the effects these extremely strong drugs we have to take have on our bodies BUT after severe flares with joint damage I realise that for now I must have them. Tonight I've been reading about Honeygar which I'm going to try but alongside my drugs...I'm up for and open to anything!! Good luck and if you search around on the site you will find many posts on the subject 😊 x
As others have said, the medicines are necessary. I think the best way to deal with the side effects of the medicines is to have the healthiest lifestyle possible with a healthy diet and exercising as best as one can. In addition, there are a variety of herbs and supplements that can help. For example, many people with autoimmune disease can have trouble assimilating certain vitamins and minerals. Vitamin D supplementation is important for many. Also, certain herbs can support internal organs and systems that might be under stress from the medicines. For instance, I use milk thistle to support my liver. The difficulty is that what works for one person may not work for someone else. I spent a lot of years studying and experimenting with alternative therapies and have found a number of things that help me. I might suggest that you study and explore, but would also suggest that you do so carefully and in concert with your doctor(s). I wish you all the best.
I have been researching like crazy since I was diagnosed a couple of weeks ago.
Didn't find anything concrete yet, I sure hope I find something. Don't want what drugs I've heard about either.
Have a Look into the Paddison program, I was at my end with the disease and in chronic pain in my knees I came across the Paddison Program I did think it was rather restrictive at first but at this stage I had nothing to lose. I said to myself I will stick out the 12 days and see what happens, I noticed some instant changes in my pain levels. My Doctor has seen my inflammatory markers come down, now I am in the normal range. My Doctor has reduced my medication. I have been now on the program for 7 months and I am pain free.
Over the program you re introduce foods but you soon find out which foods cause reaction to your body.
All the best in your research, search for Clint Paddison and look at his material and listen to some of his podcasts.
Not so much natural alternative but I've been visiting a herbalist for the last few months and been prescribed a herbal supplement/tonic to help support my liver and kidneys whilst I'm on the methotrexate (am on 20mg MTX mono). So more about finding a natural way to help my body deal with the toxic side effects of the MTX. My liver blood results have always been pretty low over the last 9 months since I started the MTX, but I can see that they have dropped even further since starting the herbal stuff. Not something you buy in a shop though - you need to find/ visit a registered herbalist and go through a full case history and then they make up a blend of herbal tinctures based on your own circumstances. My own herbalist coincidentally happens to be a RA sufferer of 40 years standing.
Thank you for all your replies, really appreciated, after reading through them and thinking over it I'm thinking medicines are a necessity and that I should probably just focus on trying to protect what liver I've got left. I have heard that there are natural anti-inflammatories that might help to ease the pain? That might be a good avenue to try as well...what do people think? I'll go to a herbalist and my local health shop and report back. Thanks again!
Seems I'm the odd one out again but I believe you can avoid taking the medication or at least 99% of the drugs they prescribe for RA. My mom flipped out when she heard all the side effects so drastically changing her diet was a no brainer. She rarely eats meat or dairy, we are strictly organic and I am gluten free, she is eating as raw as she can. Now the numbers....in 4 weeks she lost 14 pounds and weighs around 138...her blood pressure was 168/75 and after 4 weeks went to 139/72. She is off all RA prescription.drugs. My degree is in nutrition so I am not a doctor but I know her doctor is impressed with the change and wants to put some of his patients on the diet. Raw,organic, limit meat which includes chicken to maybe 3x.a month, no dairy...not good if you have inflammation. Just my thoughts but if u r really not wanting to take those meds and can re train yourself about eating why not try it? I think you might be surprised.
Hi. Jerikas I totally agree with you I have had great results going organic and dairy free. It will be great when I can start to reduce MTX.
Hello Jerika,
I am definitely of the same mind to you when it comes to how I'm going to approach this, is there a book that you can recommend for me to get started? Karen below suggested some links I might try, what do you think?
Thank you
Hi ive been diagnosed 6mths ago with RA. I take conventionl meds aswell as natural meds. Their is alot of sceptics in the natural side of things BUT my theory is i take it if it works great if it doesnt then it hasnt hurt anything. Ive checked everything with my gp and rhumey to make sure nothing contradicts. So i take mxt once a week, pred every day, also take fish oil and glucosomine to help support joints, tumeric has signs of helping arthritis so take tumeric and black pepper tabs black pepper helps absorb tumeric better, also take folic acid to help hair loss, mouth and skin with taking mxt. The latest thing iam also trying is water thats had celery soaked in it. Aparently when your body is in pain it increases acid in your blood the celery makes your blood more alkiline theoretically reducing some pain. Iam not saying natural meds work 100% but i find they do help with pain, joint lubrication. My suggestion is to find a health food shop you trust have a good chat and try it some things work others dont you never know if you never try.
Hi Margaret,
I can tell you that I felt the same way about starting and continuing on my current meds. Right now I am taking Methotrexate by injection weekly and Humira bi-weekly. I don't like taking them, but I can tell you with confidence now that they make a huge difference. When my RA was uncontrolled, I felt like I was spiralling into serious depression and agony from chronic pain, where every day seemed worse than the previous and each day was unbearable. People are simply not themselves when in chronic pain, especially when that reduces one's mobility and independence. In my darkest moments I thought of leaving my family so as not to burden them...
I have looked very closely into the gut connection. I've read a lot of books and followed several blogs. What I've come to realize is that you can HELP yourself by following a clean whole-foods diet (for me this is nutrient dense and dairy-free/grain-free). But for me this had to be a supplement to my medication. If you are interested in looking at "what else you can do," I would strongly suggest you check out thepaleomom.com, phoenixhelix.com, autoimmune-paleo.com, perfecthealthdiet.com.
I think an important element for me was giving myself back some control. I couldn't control whether or not I would be able to exercise, or even dress myself, but I could control what I put into my mouth, and certainly that made me feel better. Other things you can try that will help in their own way (even if only psychologically) is mindfulness meditation (check out Jon Kabat-Zinn), gentle yoga (just do as much as comfortable and you'll find your range of motion slowly improve over time), and pool time if you can manage it, particularly in warmer water.
I know we all have to figure this out for ourselves, and I think we often feel like our situation is different. Take the path that feels right for you, but don't feel ashamed or defeatist if you combine management of RA with drug therapy. There are many on this site who would have done anything to have the therapies available to us today when they were first diagnosed decades ago, and they've got the joint erosions, permanent deformities and surgery scars to prove it.
Karen thank you for your lovely reply, I'm so sorry to hear what you went through but am pleased to hear that you are, as you say which is so important, able to take control through your diet. I'm most definitely going to follow that path, if taking the drugs is a must then so be it but I'm going to do as much as I can to help myself remain healthy whilst doing so.
I can't agree more with Karen. I hate taking medications for my RA but I have come to accept over time that there is a place for everything, including medication. But there are also lots of things you can do to reduce the amount you need to take as well, or give you the energy you need to try to deal with chronic pain.
Mindfulness meditation is like a gift through this to me, as if before now I was asleep, and it helps you to feel calmer in those days where the pain is unbearable or the weight of carrying this disease with you is too much. Meditation is like medication for your soul. 
Juicing with natural anti inflammatorys like celery and pineapple really help and generally as raw a diet as you can will always help even if just to make you the healthiest you can be whilst managing life with this disease.
Just keep an open mind and make sure it's you that chooses how to manage your health, not anyone else.
Hello Izbot,
The pineapple idea is very interesting, especially as I love pineapple! I always think hat obviously the pharma companies want us to believe there are no natural treatments and so you're right, it's how we choose to manage our health, not them.
Thanks for the advice
There is lots of information and discussion about various alternative treatments - but please be careful.
Natural does not mean free from harm. Many alternative treatments also have side effects, the strength of the natural preparation may not be carefully regulated or monitored.
If you are going to use alternatives with conventional, check that they don't interact or negate each other.
Untreated RD can be extremely serious - for example it has affected my bone marrow and that while I had been off all medication as "in remission" for some ten years.
Remission does happen and it may not be due to the treatment whether conventional or alternative, so be careful of anecdotal evidence.
I use both conventional and alternative treatments but I do research them carefully both for benefits and harms (which includes ineffectiveness). It is possible to spend a lot of money and harm yourself by ignoring conventional treatment which would benefit you.
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