Ok. So met a very nice doctor in the same practice as my GP. He has RA as well! So first he started to ask me what I understand by RA. And how did I know I had it?😂. So after I updated him on having been diagnosed by consultant who he knows well. He then asked me what drugs I was on. And then did I know what a dmard was. Lol. He finally realised he was talking to someone who knew what they were talking about 😂.
So then a bit of a bombshell as he asked me if I had ever read anything about the Clint Paddison programme! Shock horror lol. Bit give him his due, he has a medical background and scientific research knowledge as I do in dentistry. He did say it was a refreshing change to talk to someone who wasn't overweight and never exercised eating all the wrong food who didn't want him to give them a magic pill to cure them! . So he told me about the theories of diet controlled ra and also good for cholesterol. And how it effects the gut.
So bottom line is he gave me a printout with web sites to look at and a book to get called Food Rules by Michael Pollon.
So over to you lot 😃
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dtech
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Sounds quite like my first rheumy, who was really strong on the importance of diet , exercise and good lifestyle as essential for people with RA. But alongside conventional treatment, she felt lifestyle changes could rarely replace standard approaches.
She was why I did make major lifestyle changes, and try elimination diets etc etc. Which have made a positive difference, but sadly not to the extent of being able to live without the drugs.
Having read a couple of awful stories on here of people being denied conventional treatments, or not being referred to a rheumy to start with, I do sort of worry that if these ideas become more popular with GPs we could be heading towards an even more stringent limits. I can imagine a time when GPs hand you a diet sheet and tell you to get on with it - so it becomes your fault if that doesn't work for you.
If I hadn't just been reading through the adulatory accounts of the Lightning Process clinical trial that was run with children with ME/CFS, I'd have been reluctant to believe that this is the way some lamentably uninformed GPs might react but sadly it seems all too possible.
ETA: in case that read like a left field comment, I've been reading some accounts of the Lightning Process that claim it works for pretty much everything, including RA!
Dtech, would you mind sharing those "theories of diet controlled ra" the physician mentioned to you? 🤔
And, if possible, sharing the list 📄 (or even a photo snapshot 📷 of the list) of the "print out with websites to look at" that the physician gave you? 🤔
Thank you kindly for any information you're comfortable sharing, dtech. 🙏 🍀 🌺 🌞
[If you're uncomfortable (or deem it inappropriate) to share that information on the forum, would you mind PMing the info to me? 🤔 Again, thank you kindly for any information you're comfortable sharing. 😌 Much appreciated. 🙏 😌 ]
I like Michael Pollan and his most famous strap line. "Eat food, not too much, mostly plants."
Small confession.
I finally watched some of the Paddison videos. I'm very irritated by some of the conversations and assertions and there's a distinct lack of useful citation behind some claims and it's the more obvious when the video conversation guest is a medic like Dr John McDougall (the high starch diet chap) who should know far better.
I haven't checked through the programme but Paddison himself comes across as level-headed and is pro the use of conventional medications to get the disease under control and using the diet to support that and then a maintenance that might (or might not) see a step-wise reduction in drug use.
Paddison says that he regrets holding on to lower doses and refusing the recommended higher dosages of steroids, methotrexate (iirc) etc. than he actually needed because he thinks he needlessly extended his flare-ups and times of illness. He wishes he'd taken more aggressive medical action to get his disease under control so his own changes could take effect.
I don't know enough about the wider programme. I think that there is a need for a data release that extends beyond testimonials. I've no idea how an individual (in this case Paddison) could afford that data collection, verification, and release.
Overall - for people who can hack a mostly-plant based diet (I think fish etc. can be introduced at a later date) and no oils, then it might be interesting to explore.
I have just posted photos of the sheets my GP gave me. I am off to Scotland for a week soon. So your replies will give me something to read on the looooong train journey 😃
My hubby had swollen knees on Monday. Since I was at work the day before, he thought he might eat one of his "old favourites" for dinner. So he bought & microwaved 3 large cheddar & bacon filled smokies lathered with extra cheese.... The next day swollen knees.... silly man
You mentioned you were going to discuss statins with this new doctor. Has he recommended forgoing the statins also in favor of diet and lifestyle changes for you?
I am someone who wholeheartedly holds out on the hope that alternative treatment along with lifestyle changes can work in the management of RA and other auto immune diseases. I also very much like that traditional doctors are coming on board to help guide patients in the direction of a healthy lifestyle. I do, however, believe that its imperative they do this in conjunction with thoughtful, early, aggressive pharmaceutical treatment when they and the patient feel it is in their best interest to do so.
My reason is simply that they are now finding out through more and more clinical trials that there is a chance to halt the progression of full on auto immunity from breaking out. If there is a chance that initiating a Biologic or triple traditional DMARDs for 1-2 years can lead to tapering down to a maintenance dose all the while pursuing alternative lifestyle changes to see if one can get off all meds then count me in!
Personally, I would find it negligent on the part of the physician if they were to only rely on handing out diet recommendations when there is clearly a chance to stop irreversible damage from happening with modern medicine because for some that can happen very quickly! There simply isn't enough data to prove what subtype of patient responds to diet change.
My rheumatologist is on board with me trying any and all methods of treatment and is working with me to try to reduce my meds and has an interest in diet. He and his cohorts monitor who has been able to come off their meds due to a variety of means and he conveyed to me that two of his patients have come off meds and remained in remission now for several years from early treatment and from stopping smoking. Three of his patients have done very well with diet changes and are now on very low maintenance doses but surprisingly to him they are all males. Two other females are in the process of stopping their Biologic and maintaining remission only on MTX but started very early treatment.
More biomarkers, more research trials and more data needs to be collected to continue to piece together who can go on which diet, which DMARD or which Biologic. Devoid of that information we are left with trial and error so why not try both; lifestyle changes along with traditional meds so you cover all your bases?
So very true that so many things to learn about how diet affects our immune system in sickness as well as in health. There is however already a lot of information on how different foods in fact support different functions in our metabolism. We know that certain foods increase estrogen for example and should be avoided since estrogen dominance is seen as very inflammatory ( perhaps a reason why men react better to RA meds, they have much less estrogen receptors, even though the problem may exist in men as well) Paddison diet as well as AIP do take down estrogen levels. This is ofcourse just one factor but perhaps one very central effect of these diets.
The main purpose and goal of a certain diet is to make us feel as good as possible which on a cellular level means that the cell metabolism is working optimally, that energy is produced to different processes in our organism in an optimal level. We know that in RA there are problems in cell respiration. Glucose metabolism isn't obviously working as it should, the mitochondria that supply us with energy has seen to be dysfunctional, the adrenals are overstressed and thyroid function under optimal. These are all interconnected and can be treated to a certain point at least with diets and supplements. What meds would be suitable and effective to support this quest of getting the body and immune system to work optimally, without working against the healing process, I see as the most important thing. True that we do not know enough about diets but the same goes for the meds used. More knowledge is needed in order to combine these often neccessary treatments in a holistic, innovative way.
Sounds pretty pejorative to me. Smoking is a risk factor. Being overweight hasn't been proven to be. Just another chance to condemn overweight people. Had enough of it. I'm very pleased that people have found they can control their RA with diet. Congratulations!
Thank you for this post. Really interesting. I will look up the book.
Simba1992 , think this addresses concerns about 'Paddison Program' data release/ clinical trials, etc.:
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From transcript"Ruben turns his life around with the Paddison Program for RA" ( paddisonprogram.com/ruben-t... ) / video minute 16:18:
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" . . . Clint: Go ahead and tell her the same thing.
What I'm about to say applies to anyone listening or watching our video.
If your rheumatologist wants to speak with me then I will personally have a conversation with them on Skype or phone and they can contact me and I will pick up the phone and I will spend as long as they want over the phone talking about this.
I know that not many rheumatologist will probably accept that invitation because they would consider that to be insulting to their own intelligence perhaps or maybe they're shut down to ideas that aren't presented to them at the conferences that they pay a lot of money to attend every year or the scientific papers that they read maybe aren't addressing this as the primary path forward.
However what I want you to do is to pass on that invitation and anyone please pass the invitation.
I can be contacted.
My team pick up my emails that info@paddisonprogram.com.
So whenever there's something that needs my attention it comes to me and I will happily follow up on that in the interim what we can do is we can direct them to my TED talk which was the talk that you mentioned in your earlier and also I have the Guide for Rheumatologists and I'll put the download link on the show notes of this episode so anyone who's listening to this can jump onto our website, grab the guide for rheumatologist and it includes all of the scientific studies that show the link between not just the gut and how it interacts with the immune system and gut bacteria and how they influence the decisions that our gut lining has as to what should be passed through the gut wall and what should be withheld into the intestine but also all the studies that have been done with people following a diet that's somewhat similar to what I recommend.
Low fat plant based diet and how the tremendous improvements that they have made.
So when people say to me why don't you go ahead and do a clinical trial.
Well yes we have that in the pipelines but it's a lot of money to do and it's very hard to organize and requires a collaboration that requires me to hire staff to become research assistants and all of this work that needs to be done.
And in the interim, I can present a very very comprehensive compilation in a document called The Guide for Rheumatologist that people can read and say well there you go look there's the there's overwhelming evidence here.
Do we really need Clint to run this clinical trial.
And yes I will do it because I think that that loop needs to be closed.
But in the meantime we're kind of like 90 percent there with this document that I already have put together. . . . "
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Video minute 16:18: "Ruben turns his life around with the Paddison Program for RA":
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"Eat food, not too much, mostly plants."
Stupid stupid doctor.....
Hi, I'm new to this!
I was refered by GP to rheumatologist sept 3rd and I just had my second appointment on tuesday.
SCREAM, SHOUT, SWEAR AND STAMP MY FEET.
Some thoughts - a new type of courage is required for RA?
