This is a really challenging time for everyone needing diagnosis and treatment for chronic illnesses. RA in all it's forms is awful, but so many of the drugs used to treat it are dreadful too. The one thing which constantly surprises me is the that no cause seems to be identifiable (the root cause is "idiopathic") and no other treatment options ever seem to be mentioned. Well fo all of you, whether you've just been diagnosed or you've had it for years, please take a look at the the talks and podcasts in the links which follow and start to get an understanding of RA and how best to combat it.
The Paddison Program was what my wife followed to become drug and pain free, which she has now been for nearly five years! Here's the youtube link for his podcasts - so many thousands of people drug and/or pain free:
Do some research for yourselves - nobody should have to be shackled to the drug company waggon for the rest of their lives and the truth is that you may well not have to be.
Watch "Forks over Knives" and "What the Health" (Netflix) - they're real eye-openers!!
Good luck to everyone of you.
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paulipauli
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However, the drugs have given me back a normal life, and have kept it that way for 10+ years, so I personally don’t think they are dreadful.
And yes when first diagnosed I changed my lifestyle which helped my general health but did sweet nothing to control my RA. I believe that what you eat is hugely important, and there is a lot that anyone can do in terms of lifestyle to help their physical and mental well being, but not to cure auto-immune diseases.
I’m very pleased for your wife that she has found a way to control her disease, but perhaps the type of RA she has is susceptible to these interventions. It has never been shown to be widely reproducible, although it does work for the lucky few. And sadly there a lot of people who prey on the vulnerable who will do anything and pay anything to help their condition. Sometimes with very damaging effects as abandoning their drugs and embarking on restrictive programmes can harm health not heal it.
(By the way, Clint Paddison took methotrexate for about three years, and dropped it once he got into remission. It seems that particularly with younger men it is more common to be able to get into remission, and then taper off drugs and stay in remission. So perhaps that’s what helped him and not the programme he developed in parallel....)
I quite understand your sentiments. We wondered whether Paddison was a charlatan when the information first appeared. However, we did our research first and then took the plunge. Yes Clint Paddison took Methatrexate (amongst others!) and that's one of the reasons why he dug and dug and dug into the science and experimented with different regimens. He has given lectures about his RA journey and he is utterly open about his successes and failures along the route to where he is now.
Nowhere in my post did I say that everyone with an autoimmune condition would end up chucking their drugs in the bin! It is perfectly possible, yes, but for some they still need a little medication, but on a much reduced dosage - that in itself has to be a good thing, since none of the disease modifying drugs come without a price. Sulfasalazine certainly helped my wife, but that was a stepping stone to harsher stuff.
Nobody (least of all Clint Paddison or Dr. John McDougall) would advocate just stopping medication willy nilly and neither did I. The process is simple - alter the diet and after a while, if the condition allows (with medical supervision) slowly taper off the drugs to a point of balance. It may be that there is only a very little reduction whilst in others the reduction may be large or even 100%. Everyones journey is different.
In the end, where's the downside to eating the healthiest possible diet? The change costs nothing to try and you may reap a whole load of health side benefits.
I have no company and I'm not allied to any. As I said to Medway Lady, I am just one person at a computer, hoping that our experience may help others (even just one) with autoimmune diseases to return their lives to something close to normal - inflammation and pain free and a whole lot healthier all round.
Yes, act with benevolent skepticism, but do keep an open mind. We would never, ever have believed in the incredible power that the food we choose to eat has on our overall health had we not looked at the evidence. So, do your research - just watch out for those giving out good news about bad habits, since it rarely if ever correct!
Again, I wish everyone luck on their autoimmune journey.
Just take a punt on it and watch "What the Health" and or "Forks over Knives" (netflix) - what do you have to lose? If at the end you think they're rubbish then say so, but you'll never know unless you take a peek.
I think we all do our own research from day one....& choose our own ways to deal with this incurable disease.....without Mr Paddison’s help.
In case you had not realised ....there is no single cause that our immune systems go awry.....it’s a very individual set of diseases,
Believe me there have been huge advances in medication for rheumatoid diseases over the years.
I for one listened to my rheumatologist, took the medication he recommended and 20+ years on, I now lead a good life......some aren’t so lucky...but many are.....without unpalatable diets or expensive treatments.
Drugs do definitely help to alleviate our problems , however I do agree with you that in the long term they can induce other more serious consequences .
I'm glad your wife was helped by lifestyle changes. However I'm afraid they don't work for everyone. I followed the Paddison diet and all that happened was that I lost weight I couldn't afford to lose and my RA didn't improve at all. Of course a sensible healthy diet and exercise can make a lot of us feel better in general though.
Do your homework, but please, please don’t pay to join a programme or buy expensive supplements. Everything you need to learn about your nutrition is available for free, and much better to spend your money on fresh fruit and veg. And if you want to do something, just avoid all ultra-processed food (if you eat it now of course!)
Yes, do lots of digging. Although helixhelix says that everything you need to know is available free, that is not always true. Some research papers sit behind a paywall. The main issue is that there is raft of nutrition research published every year, so sifting through it all can seem daunting.
Here's a great video about the good, the bad and the ugly in nutrition research - watch this first! youtube.com/watch?v=oFyrHYB...
Yes, Clint Paddison charges to join his program, but the work that he has put in and continues to put in is phenomenal and personally we wouldn't begrudge him a penny of it. He has thousands of success stories to his credit.
Dr John McDougall has a ton of free resources on his website, including dietary advice, hundreds of recipes, loads of videos and links to scientific studies.
Unfortunately, simply avoiding processed food is not usually enough to achieve lasting change - but if you've looked at FoK or WtH, you'll already know that! Good luck matey!
I’ve just looked at some of the forks over knives video’s. I have absolutely no problem with the basic premise that what you eat is the best medicine we have. It is so important, and can make such a change especially if you are starting from a very bad base. However, some of the scientific they are using is very flawed, and the evidence has been selectively used to make points to support a more extreme conclusions.
One example, showing a map that suggests RA only occurs in western populations where diet has changed dramatically. RA has actually been around for centuries, and maybe even millennia according to anthropologic evidence. And it occurs worldwide, in varying percentages, but the number of studies in less developed countries is very small and the ability to diagnose much more limited.
Very interesting Helix. A couple of years ago, my mother took a DNA test and her results showed that she had high Neanderthal DNA. I knew that Neanderthal DNA can be linked to several health issues, so I was curious if it was associated with RA. Apparently, it is!
Eating well and living well, for me definitely helps improve my wellbeing. But....and it is a big but, without meds the quality my life is very poor...and that's without finding the best medication for me yet.
More and more I realise that what we eat is important. The “an apple a day keeps the doctor away” is not that dumb as a saying, and I’ve always known that a diet of burgers and doughnuts is not a good idea! But there was far less ultra-processed food around when I was younger, so fewer temptations and I never really got the habit. So maybe younger people do need more guidance about what to eat.
I agree with you hh. I have always avoided processed foods in the main and being born in a time when food was not processed into oblivion and wasn't quite so abundant and available after the war, fresh meat from the butcher and seasonal vegetables from the greengrocer, not covered in pesticides, was the order of the day. No takeaways as they didn't exist. But hey it didn't stop me getting Type 1 diabetes at 21 and rheumatoid arthritis at 40. They were both caused by a faulty immune system, not a poor diet or lifestyle and no end of changes in diet could have changed that. The availability of insulin definitely saved my life and the many varied drugs to control the rheumatoid disease have also allowed me to continue living with less pain. They haven't all worked and some have had unpleasant side effects but some have been fantastic and for that I am grateful. I will always look at research and am interested in the benefits of certain foods but that's as far as it goes.
Hmm, we used to think the same - home cooked food, no takeaway or fast food rubbish and we'll be fine. Nothing could have been further from the truth - what we have been "taught" for decades as being healthy to eat is poles apart from reality. No, we didn't believe it either. However, RA entered our lives and forced us to look again at diet and lifestyle. The key thing is an open mind. Watching "What the Health" and or "Forks over Knives" helped us gain perspective.
By the way, since you have T1D, have a look at this chat with a couple of diabetes experts, both of whom are Type 1: youtube.com/watch?v=enIvfC9...
I have had type 1 diabetes for 42 years and I'm still here. Must be doing something right. The guys in this video are clearly promoting a book. By the way this forum is for people with rheumatoid arthritis and related conditions not diabetes. I just happen to have both.
I am really careful about what I eat but would never ditch the drugs. I stick to a healthy diet but just wish I didn't get tempted my adverts on TV for pizza or fast food that I do everything to stay away from.
I feel like I have a "food hangover" the following day if I give in.
Dear Medway Lady - I truly have no idea about any previous posts. I'm not sure why you should believe this to be spam. It is simply me putting some information up which may (and I emphasise MAY) help people. If you read what was written, you will hopefully notice that at no time did I state that anyone and everyone would be cured or throw away their medicines. However, this has been the case for very many suffers of RA in its various forms. As I said, we didn't believe something so simple as the food we consumed could have such a major effect. However, we were willing to try anything at that stage and we're so glad that we did. The enablers for my wife were; unbearable pain and depression coupled with an OPEN MIND.
Nobody is suggesting for an instant that the drugs should be just lobbed in the bin - I am simply suggesting that anyone with an autoimmune condition should take a look at dietary factors. It could possibly make a world of difference to their health and wellbeing. After all, where's the downside to eating a really healthy diet? It costs nothing to try it and there are a whole raft of potential added bonuses in terms of health. I don't own a company, I don't get commission and I don't post for financial gain. I am simply one person sitting in front of a computer wishing so desperately that others, even just one person, might truly get their life back the way my wife has. That's it.
Certainly agree that there is no downside to eating a good diet, and preferably also adopting other positive lifestyle changes. The trouble is that a lot of this is presented in a very dogmatic way that can often read that it is our fault that we are not well as we have not eaten enough leaves. This does get people quite angry. Having RA that is hard to control is not our fault!
(And I am not saying that you have done this as you worded your post calmly).
Sadly success stories like your wife's are very rare. I think the last research study I read suggested about 2% of patients could achieve sustained non-medical remission. It might be hard for you to accept, but for most people this just doesn’t work however much you, and we, might wish it to.
Hello again - I'd very much like to take a look at the paper concerned (2% etc). Again, it very much depends upon exactly what was being consumed and how the diet was controlled. A link would be great. Thanks.
I can’t find what I read preciously, which was a few years back now. But the picture seems even more positive now:
“Among ACPA-positive patients, drug-free remission was more frequently achieved after DAS-driven than after non-DAS-driven therapy, 5.4% versus 2.1% of patients. This observation suggests that early-targeted treatment strategy may indeed modify the disease course.”
And for ACPA negative even better if treated early, before the RA becomes persistent. The evidence seems to support that treating early arthritis quickly in a targeted fashion makes a difference. So basically some of the success stories of people working on diet in parallel with drugs may well have happened anyway...like Mr P.
Here’s the link to one paper, there are many more.
I'd be more open to the hypothesis if your wife posted and you or she gave some documented proof. Otherwise it's just your heresy. Medications in my experience are not awful, and actually you it appears have never taken for RA anyway ! so its all so is all so much in my view, well tosh. I wish you well but in your previous post you say that HU or was it the NRAS refused you permission to put up these so called helpful posts. In my view it's not helpful to imply that anyone who eats a normal sensible and healthy diet is somehow not eating correctly to relieve the symptoms of RA. I could add a lot more but simply say ask your wife to post up about her journey with RA. I'm sure I've read this story before so am surprised at your response , my memory is extremely good and I'm wondering if this is old and a revisited story to promote the Paddison programme.
I tried the pattison diet and done nothing for my RA and I’m glad I kept taking the drugs as they’ve certainly helped my RA and kept it under control after 5 years and stopped further damage and a sensible way off eating also helps
Not mine it doesn't. What does is an implied imposition that somehow if I have RA I don't eat healthily. Well that does make me cross and just think how did a chap who sells this idea convince people to part with money to achieve a promised remission ? my guess is by people saying how well it worked for them. I reported it as no one should feel guilty for taking a medication to ease a physical problem, no different from paracetamol for a headache or B12 for PA. But it could do a great deal of harm if someone with uncontrolled RA incurs severe damage and ends up in a wheelchair or disabled with a stroke, or dead with RA related blood clots or RA induced lung damage. Its not for nothing does the NHS give us the opportunity to access expensive medications, it's to help us lead the best we can normal healthy lives without pain and preventable damage.
I agree with others: most of us have looked into diet as soon as we got the first twinges and learned very quickly that most of it can be dismissed. Making sure you're a healthy weight through eating a well balanced diet without highly processed junk food + exercising to your own individual ability is pretty much all anyone needs to stay healthy.
and another thing: it's so patronising to assume that people with illnesses aren't already eating healthily or that through poor eating they have somehow caused their illness and are perpetuating it through not eating properly. Do you think we are all stupid and uninformed?
The amount of times family, friends have suggested ' have you tried to change your diet, try this, try that, take these vitamins ...... I've always been keen to try anything that might help my RA symptoms I'm literally rattling inside! But to no avail! We are all aware that there are varying degrees of how aggressive our own personal journey is with RA. But from my experience living with RA, unfortunately drugs are the only answer to controlling my debilitating pain . What a wonderful life we would all have if changes to diet and vitamins alone could keep the monster away! My diet is healthy, I exercise regularly, I take my vitamins but I also have no choice but to take the toxic drugs. You've done well pushing your point, but I think the general consensus is, that whilst it has been exellent for your wife we choose to take professional advice concerning this debilitating disease.
Sorry bit late to reply to this, but I was on the paddison program, followed it religiously for 3 years and it made me more unwell. Terribly unwell. I think everybody is different but the primary issue for me turned out to be high oxalate food, and the PP is pretty much ALL high oxalate. I thought it was working initially because my inflammation was lower for a couple of months when I first started, but then things started getting out of control.
Now I'm leaning more and more towards the carnivore diet. I don't intend to eat this way forever, but I'm trying to speed up the oxalate dumping process so that I can lead a normal life again. Thankfully I seem to be over the worst of it now and I'm feeling better than I have in a very long time. My menstrual cycle is back after losing it for the whole 3 years. Hair growing again, gaining weight again. I think its important that people know it doesn't work for everyone and can be dangerous for some.
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Drugs changed from methotrexate to sulphasalazine! 
Physical Therapy Treatments : How to Relieve Rheumatoid Arthritis Pain
Drugs 
