Help with rheumatoid arthritis

[2bichons]

Hi does anyone know a diet for rheumatoid arthritis that can eliminate the need for drugs? my dr wants to put me on both methotrexate and hydroxychloroquin and I am really fighting to do that. would love love to hear anyone that has experience with this.

[Neonkittie17]

Much has been written about diet and RA elimination and you’d have to read it for yourself and make a decision if you want to really change your diet so drastically, if that would be the case. I would love to believe diet alone had put people in RA remission and there be no need for the medication, but I don’t believe diet alone can do so. If anyone tells me otherwise then I’m always going to be a somewhat a sceptic on this, sorry! I’ll listen to anyone and be happy if they feel diet has helped eliminate RA and I have read a lot on leaky gut and joint inflammation from food. I think it is a combo of diet adjustment of what foods you get to know can aggravate your RA condition as well as the RA med(s) that work best ....

I’d say to avoid things you know are triggers which I do and to take RA medication as prescribed by your rheumy which can put your RA on hold. I am cautious about using the word remission as most RA comes back at some level after a while once medication has stopped and RA inflammation has built back up in your body.

I was terrified of long term medication for RA and resisted for some months as my GP wasn’t sure I had a rheumatic post flu type virus, I hadn’t .. it was RA undiagnosed for nearly a year on my blood tests. I became so immobile and stiff and in constant pain I phoned the rheumy and said I am ready to take the med. Diet alone did not help me but I do think avoiding triggers is right to do and for me it’s foods known to be high histamine.

Have you had a discussion about this with your rheumy of rheumy nurse?

What should matter most is that you protect your joints by taking an RA med as people who are not taking meds for RA can have all sorts of other problems too. High levels of inflammation could be potentially coursing round the body which could affect your organs as well as joints and is not something anyone wants. I was told this in no uncertain terms when first diagnosed with RA. I was very reluctant as you are .. reluctant to take meds. I do understand. I took the meds after trying to hold out .. not my best idea to hold out. Good luck.

[Hidden]

From what I’ve seen, I think quite a few people here have probably tried to improve and/or control their RD symptoms via diet, but the unfortunate reality is that for most if not all, you simply can’t. If you could, there would be no need for hundreds of thousands of people to take these medications, particularly not in countries with socialised healthcare and a health service geared towards prevention wherever possible, rather than profit as is the case in some places. I’ve had active disease for 20 years, spent 10 years back and forth trying to convince someone there was a problem, but no one would take it seriously purely because I’m seroneg and all my bloods were completely normal even during major flares. Desperate and without any professional help, I tried anti-inflammatory diets, supplementation and CBD oil, read up on a number of programmes that claimed you could halt disease via nutrition, all of them costing a small fortune and incredibly restrictive. The general consensus, both from personal experience and that of other people, is that dietary control just doesn’t work. Not on its own. There may be a place for a modified diet alongside medication, and there are certainly members here that practice that, but I would be very surprised if anyone replied to this message saying they were completely well just via what they did or did not eat.

I realise this probably isn’t the response you wanted to hear, but having been left untreated for so long, and in spite of diets meant to curb inflammation, I can tell you firsthand that RD is not something you want active and unchecked for any real length of time. Pain and inflammation is joint destruction, and it’s permanent. At 36, I now have multiple wrecked joints that will never improve, and have to live with the consequences of that knowing much of the damage would have been entirely avoidable had I been appropriately diagnosed and given medication.

[AgedCrone]

I would listen to your rheumatologist ......when you are first diagnosed with RA it is understandable not to believe there is really no alternative to taking disease modifying anti rheumatic drugs to control the disease.

Eating healthily , taking the meds & listening to your medical team really is the most likely solution to getting RA under control,& going on to lead a good life.

Read through the posts here....you will see it is not plain sailing. Patience & perseverance are key. Having had RA for many years, I know the above can help you lead as good a life as possible.

So to answer your question honestly....you can try all the diets under the sun but up until now there is no clinically proven eating regime that will protect your joints & control RA without taking the medication prescribed by a rheumatologist.

[BoneyC]

I've had RA a lifetime (since age 6 now 56) and, unknowingly at the time, was one of the first to take MTX for RA, over 40 years ago. It has been the best drug for me and I hope to continue taking it for as long as I need it.

MTX has been around a long time and is well tested.

I've also taken HCQ for 11 years but am still undecided whether it helps as much.

Hopefully these drugs will give you the same benefit.

[2bichons in reply to BoneyC]

what sort of side effects have you had to deal with taking methrotrexate for so long. Having just recently started taking it, I have not noticed anything but of course when googling meds, they give you the worst of the worst possible side effects. So I'm bracing for the worst

[BoneyC in reply to 2bichons]

I haven't really had any side effects that I can say was definitely caused by MTX. I had neutropenia a couple of times (about 8-10 years ago) and stopped MTX for a while but went back on it and have been fine since. All other blood tests have been fine - kidney and liver function.

Hopefully you wont have any side effects either.

[2bichons in reply to BoneyC]

thank you so much for your reply

[helixhelix]

Like many others when I was first diagnosed I really didn’t want to take drugs, having hardly ever taken more than an aspirin before. So I tried loads of alternative things, none of which worked for me in controlling the disease.

However I believe that the changes I made to my lifestyle, which includes what I eat but also weight loss, exercise and so on, have helped my overall health. And also have helped me tolerate the drugs well, with practically no side effects.

So I wouldn’t dismiss making changes to what you eat, but just don’t expect it to take the RA away. And I would really recommend that you don’t go down the route of restrictive diets that ask you to cut out whole food groups, or buy expensive supplements. Instead just try to avoid ultra-processed food and increase the fresh fruit, veg and lean protein in your diet.

There are a very few people who report that they have had success with dietary approaches. There is no way to tell if this is true as this has never been proved by independent doctors. However, those who seem the most plausible are people who worked on their lifestyle alongside taking drugs. And when they got into remission they slowly tapered off the drugs and were able to stay off them. Of course, RA is so variable that this could have happened to them without the diet changes! It does happen for a lucky few.

Good luck, but don’t be afraid of the drugs. I really, really wouldn’t be without them as they have given me my life back.

[AgedCrone in reply to helixhelix]

I think I must buck the system....I didn’t change the food I eat at all...but I am one if these boring people who genuinely just don’t like junk food or chocolate....or in fact any of the foods that are mentioned as “bad for RA”....but the disease still developed with a vengeance in my late 50’

So I dutifully took the drugs, served my time with most of the symptoms attributed to the Dmards, came out the other side,& now lead a 90% painfree life.

I do drink wine, & eat the odd naughty...but I am 100% convinced the reasons I can lead a pretty good life for an old ‘un ...are the Dmards I took & the Biologic I now take.

[helixhelix in reply to AgedCrone]

I think that much depends on your baseline. If you eat very badly, are overweight and take no exercise then you are likely to get benefits from changing things. And if your overall health improves your ability to withstand RA improves.

[AgedCrone in reply to helixhelix]

I was a War Baby...no chance to eat other than healthily, walked or biked to school & no “excused sports” unless you had a limb in plaster...not appreciated at the time...but very glad now!

[Pythagorus in reply to AgedCrone]

Couldn’t agree with you more. Well stated.

[Cal48]

I think as RD has such an effect on the body,joints, eyes, that it is important to get it under control with drugs as soon as possible.

Many of us feel like you do re drugs but without them our lives would be difficult.

[Boxerlady]

I agree with all the previous posts; another thing to consider is that whilst the current thinking seems to be that rheumys like to hit the disease hard with aggressive drug treatment in order to get it under control, once some remission has been reached, they're then happy to try reducing doses to see if control can be maintained at lower levels. So logic tells me that if you also work to improve your diet and lifestyle while in the early stages of medication, you're more likely to be able to minimise medication later but hopefully avoid joint damage which might have otherwise occurred when unmedicated.

I started on Methotrexate and Hydroxychloroquine and have recently added Sulfasalazine; I'm beginning to see real improvements and have had minimal side effects and am very pleased with my rheumy clinic's support and expertise. Personally I'm grateful that these medications are available.

[dippyd09]

I have read the replies you have had and I completely agree with those who say diet alone doesn’t halt RA. The diets I have looked into are extreme and I am not convinced they are nutritionally sound. I once asked my rheumatologist about diet, around 30 years ago, he said all he could ask was that I eat a healthy, well balanced diet but to stay away from anything which triggered a response. I found this to be good advice. It’s a scary time for you I know and like you I searched for alternatives unfortunately the simple truth is you have to listen to your rheumatologist.

[Neonkittie17 in reply to dippyd09]

Exactly .. don’t eat what triggers a response.

[allanah]

Look on nras.org.uk

Lots of advice on diet and other therapies. Xx

[Brychni]

Hi 2bichons - that'll be most of us here. I take it that you are newly diagnosed?

[Brychni]

Having just read all the other replies, I also agree that if a patient is overweight and/or inactive then modifying diet to lose weight will help enormously and there are many ways to achieve that but exercise is crucial. Doing what you can even if you can only manage walking up and downstairs a few times, will be beneficial.

However, there is no diet which magically get rid of an autoimmune condition such as RA.

[AgedCrone in reply to Brychni]

One thing that always puzzles me....is when you seeTV programmes these days about childhood obesity...when the little darlings appear...99% are followed by a 20 stone Mother!

Is that a coincidence, or do fat mothers have bad eyesight & can’t see their child is FAT?

[Hidden]

I was on hydroxy & then Sulfasalazine & am now in 2 yr meds free remission. I did alter my diet (was already vegetarian) to avoid dairy & gluten.

Agree totally with all the posts tho that not everybody is helped by diet & not to believe all the extreme programmes online. I actually gave up dairy for a month to help my bad eczema so looking back I was probably a bit dairy intolerant anyway. I remember being really surprised by how my RA was helped 🤔

[Hidden]

As so many others have said in reply, it's normal not to want to take these powerful drugs, but many of us have found that the side-effects were nowhere near as bad as we dreaded they would be and the benefits are often life-changing. I have posted previously about my experiences and I won't repeat that now. I will just say that I've been "in remission" for the past year after a truly dreadful time at the beginning. For most of the time, the only drug I've been taking is methotrexate and for the last 7 months I have only been taking 10mg weekly. I've had no side-effects at all from it.

I do believe that we all should try to eat healthily, but I don't think it's healthy to agonize over food. I can remember Dr Magnus Pyke (Ministry of Food and later a tv doctor) robustly declaring that what's really bad for people is not having enough food. We should eat good food for our general health and I don't think there's any harm in giving sensible diets a try either, so long as your rheumatologist agrees. It helps some people to feel they are taking a bit of control and doing everything possible, but at the end of it all, the only things that will give your RA the almighty wallop needed to kick it into touch are the drugs. Try them and don't be afraid. Your doctors will keep a close eye on you with regular tests and they will change your drugs or dosage as necessary. I wish you well.

[Hidden]

No because it really doesn't exist. A good well balanced diet will help but needs to be in conjunction with medications. While MTX and HDX may not work for you there are many other treatments that might. Do give the NRAS helpline a call 0800 298 7650 or order a Living Better with RA pack of information via [e-mail]

[Kalimers65]

Last August my CRP was 99 and with my consultant’s agreement I went 80% vegan ( I still had chicken and fish). I gave up coffee and alcohol and my CRP went down to 12 and I felt really well. I was on Sulphasalazine. I’ve had the occasional glass of wine and the odd coffee but they are acidic and can make inflammation. Coffee stops the body absorbing calcium too and as I’m 68 I need that to help my bones. Give it a try. If it helps you that’s great. You won’t know unless you give it a try. Good luck!