My one year journey without medicines

[Padram]

Hi all,

Would like to share with you all my one year journey in self treating RA and ITP, without any meds , except for some supplements.

As you are all aware, not Only am I chemically very sensitive , I am also unable to take any meds as it interferes with my platelet count. Tried homeopathy, but ended up suffering more.

So I embarked on treating myself by avoiding certain foods and making some other changes in the way I consumed food.

I am very elated to say that in one year, my RA factor has reduced to 50 from 150.

My platelet count is steady at 70 k.

I now have very rare instances of gum bleed, no more purpura even if I walk a km or 2, every day.

I do not get low grade fevers any more. At one point of time, I had low grade fever for 3 consecutive months.

Though my joints never used to swell, all the small joints including the spine were painful 24/7. My fingers , 2 each in both hands are a bit off tangent, and my toes too are no more straight. I may or may not be able to stem that disfigurement.

But now except for very mild pain, now and then, I am totally pain free.

My eyes and mouth which started drying up were a constant source of irritation, have now become much better. I don't keep coughing any more, due to throat irritation.

Of course, if I veer away from the new diet, I do get flares. That helps to keep me in check, as I have now learnt that certain foods may never agree with me.

What has made me extremely happy is that I have begun cooking again . Can stand for half an hour and cook from scratch, making fresh food every time I eat. Of course, my husband cuts the veggies and helps with other things. I am not as dependent on others as I was earlier.

Well I am not following any magic diet.

I avoid the following:

Dairy

Gluten

Sugar

Processed foods

I regularly consume the following:

Veggie juices

Veggie soups

Lot of fruits

Lots of vegetables except cabbage, cauliflower, potatoes

Lot of leafy greens

Just 25 grams of cooked rice every day

sesame seeds, soaked overnight and eaten raw, the next day

Nuts like walnut -2, and almond -5

Only rice based foods for breakfast and dinner.

I get the required sugar from fruit, so no sugar cravings.

I take the following supplements

Vit d, if it goes below 30

B complex

Vit c

Calcium with k2 and magnesium

High dose steroids made my life miserable. It was tapered and re started, and then a maintenance dose, nothing made a difference to the destruction of platelets. So I searched for an alternative and found papaya leaf extract.

I also take papaya leaf extract in tablet form, for my platelets. This increases the platelet count, without any side effects. Without this, my platelet will be below 10 k and I will have internal bleeding too.

I undertook this self treatment, as no doctor was willing or able to help treat me without drugs. I was prepared to go ahead, come what may, as I was unable to withstand the pain, 24/7.

I am so glad that it has worked for me, so far. Sure, the disease has not been cured, it can never be, I am aware of that.

But the quality of my life has improved way beyond I thought it possible.

I have started my crochet again, and donated 10 sets of ponchos and Caps for needy children. It took me six months to make them, a looong time , I know, but I am overjoyed that I could make them, in the first place.

Maybe someone in this group will want to try the diet route to wellness. That is why I wanted to share my experience.

Thank you all for all your inputs, without which I could not have started this path.

[AgedCrone]

I love all your crochet Padram.....I remember my mother making similar garments many years ago.

I am so pleased your new eating regime has brought you such relief. It doesn't sound too awful either!

I hope as time goes on you continue to improve your quality of life with maybe some "treats" added to your Diet!

[Sandrajb]

Thanks for your post Padram. It is very inspiring to me to hear of dietary changes working in people with auto immune diseases. I changed to a largely vegan diet in October 2015 due to all the research I found online from Michael Gregor and so many other functional practitioners. I learnt all about leaky gut, molecular mimicry, how the immune system makes mistakes by attacking food particles in the system and how auto immune illnesses begin over a very long period of time before they become symptomatic. Am also so disheartened how so very little of the established medical profession know these things and if they do hold back from educating patients mostly I gather from my own GP and rheumatologist because they think dietary/lifestyle changes are beyond most people! I have recently been watching a series called "Betryal" by an American guy called Dr. Tom O'Brien who outlines the whole misunderstandings about medicalised treatments.

I still get a lot of GI symptoms, bloating and constipation so continue to plough through foods that work for me and those that do not because I know when my gut is healing, my rheumatoid disease is quiescent. As i am still on 17mg of Methotrexate and have normal blood tests after having high CRP and ESR readings it is difficult for me to differentiate whether it is diet or Methotrexate that keeps this status quo. My aim is to gradually reduce the Methotrexate to be drug free like yourself and am working towards that goal.

[Padram in reply to Sandrajb]

Hi Sandra, I completely agree with what you say. I kept ploughing through the net to find how auto immune disorders originate, whether there is any genetic link, ( there is. Check out aardaorg.org), how the gut plays a huge part, ( 70℅of Immune cells are in the gut), and so many other interconnected information. At one stage my husband began joking that I would go insane because I was searching for information like a maniac. But I did find out why the Yellow Fever Vaccine gave me ITP, while my husband didn't react negatively to the same. ( Genetic predisposition, my mom had RA, so a live vaccine can bring about a different auto immune disorder in such persons. ), The role of vit d in Auto Immune disorders ( vit d has an inverse relationship with RA).

I sincerely hope you will be able to be drug free. As for your bloating, too much fiber too may be one reason. When I took cooked leafy greens, I had bloating. But blanching and pureeing it doesn't lead to bloating. I feel I am unable to digest cooked greens because of too much fiber. Maybe this will give you some idea about changing the way we eat. I never have raw salad now. I just don't digest them.

Take care Sandra, all the very best.