Hi i have been diganosed with RA in my left thumb joint which i manage with a steriod injection every 6-8 months but now seem to be having trouble in my right thumb joint and my feet. I dont like taking tablets and my mother had very bad RA and OA and was on a cocktail of drugs and infusions and i really dont want to go down the same route. Has anyone tried anything diet related that can help elevate the symptons ??
many thanks in advance
Blue
I'm so sorry but if diet really worked why would the NHS spend millions on medications? I'm not being facetious and my mum also had RA but the drugs now used are a world away from the ones in those days they didn't have. It's not just about pain and swelling, RA is systemic and affects everyone differently. I suggest you read about the medications and it is true some get side effects but they can be fleeting and is it worth the risk of not taking a prescribed medication until you're joints are damaged and you're in a lot of pain?
Of course being a healthy weight, exercise, not smoking etc all help in heath generally but can it hold back a condition caused by genetic or some other unknown fact I think it so unlikely that if someone did find a cure they'd share it with the world and earn millions. RA is present in the bones of ancient people who never had processed food so my advice to you would be to read up on the NRAS website, don't spend money on any internet diets and have a healthy scepticism on anyone who tells you that diet cured them as the question then should be asked did they have it in the first place medically diagnosed ? as I think a lot of people including me got the usual advice from a friend of a friend who swore by turmeric, or mushrooms or by eliminating gluten etc. That one really gets me as I've been Coeliac since I was 5 years old and got diagnosed with RA when about 40 some 30 years ago.
I wish you luck in your search and please don't be frightened of the medications now used as it's very different with medications, and could really help you. I promise you no one wants to take medications but if they allow you to lead a normal pain free life then it is surely a good thing and not something to overthink. You are not your mum and I wish my mum had had the access to the drugs I take as she would not have been in so much pain for so long. Good luck x
I eat no processed foods and started 6 weeks ago an intermittent system which works well For me. However no difference in my body re foods and now no medication for RA as my med does not play nice with my cardio issues everything is getting worse. Remember you can’t see joint erosion until it’s super painful or already at the point of no return.
As my consultant said I wish I could say take supplements and eat certain foods it might help weight etc. but it won’t stop RA.
Medway Lady took the words out of my mouth. We take the drugs because there is no easy drug free fix. The earlier you take the meds then the less damage you will incur. There are lots more and better Meds now than when your mum got RA so chances are you may only need to take one or two meds. Please seriously consider starting meds as believe me joint damage is no fun.
Can I also add your diagnosis is RA ? If so it won’t just be in your thumb it’ll be all over but your symptoms are showing in that joint. I’m afraid if it’s just being treated with a steroid injection into the joint then it’s very surprising that you’ve not been offered medications to hold back the disease which is a shame. I’d suggest you go back to your consultant and discuss your worries and consider that the longer you leave it the bigger the worries may seem and during that time your not getting any improvement so more pain and symptoms because it’s not going to go away.
If it could; we’d all be following it. Modern drugs have come a long way. Personally I’ve never been on more than one at once. I wish you luck.
I was diagnose when I was a couple of years older than you . You can read about all sorts of diets, supposedly helping rheumatoid arthritis on this forum, but unfortunately the only thing that works after years of research happens to be either in tablet, injection or Infusion form.
Obviously don’t live on junk food, but if you have a reasonably balanced diet together with the drugs prescribed by a rheumatologist, you are helping yourself as much as you can
Your mother’s generation was not fortunate enough to have all the drugs that we now have at our fingertips.
Nobody likes taking tablets, but if you want relief from rheumatoid arthritis ….taking a tablet an injection or an infusion is the most likely answer to relief these days.
If you read through the posts on here, we are all on one or the other. ..some of us are on all three, and we are all doing fine and very happy to be treated in the21st century.
You do have to take a deep breath……but look forward to the treatment you are on hopefully easing your pain. After all…..if diets worked for RA the NHS would have a lot more cash to treat cancer & other serious diseases.
Hi there Bluefairy, As others have rightly said, diet alone won’t reverse/eradicate your RA but what I do think is sensible is if you find anything is a trigger for a flare of your RA then try to have less of that food or none. I found as my RA got under control that fewer foods made my joints feel awful. I’m able to sin a little now and then and not feel any jumping joints. Less sugar and less processed food definitely helps with the reduction of general inflammation in the body though. Good luck with your treatment and please consider RA medication when offered to protect your joints and stop the rheumatoid disease activity. You’ll be well monitored and taken care of. 🩷
Hi! I switched to a whole food, plant based diet, with no oil and my crippling symptoms (have RA everywhere from jaw to baby toe) reduced about 90%. I wasn't even sleeping bc my shoulders were so bad....it took me about 4 months to get to this good point. I have had RA since 2017 and tried MTX (3 months), leflunomide (8 days, bad neuropathy!), sulfasalazine (2 months), Plaquenil (2 months), humira (3 months) ...stayed on prednisone for about 5 years out of the 7. No longer touch the stuff. As of now, this diet is working for me.
I know diet doesn't work for everyone, but I believe it's worth a try in case it does work.
I hope it doesn't stop working for me. I am so thankful at this point that I don't need to be on meds. I had a bunch of X-rays taken (started this diet Nov 2023 bc of a bad flare), around Jan 2024 and no damage as of yet. Some of us don't regress as fast as others. We're all so individual. Hope this gives you another perspective.
May I ask how you get diagnosed? Iv painful thumb joint but doc said about injection. This hand was hurt in a fall when ice skating
But I do have pain in groins and knee
I don't know whether it's OA or RA
My thumbs and fingers are a bit knobbly is this RA?
There are blood tests your GP can prescribe for you to take if he/she thinks you may have RA.
You will need to have a positive result before you will get a referral to a rheumatologist ….As you have no doubt seen, rheumy waiting lists can be very lengthy..so if your pain in your thumb continues much longer than usual after your fall….ask your GP to get blood tests taken.
Only Drs can diagnose, your symptoms could easily be OA not RA. A rheumatologist would take blood samples, X-rays and carry out a physical examination of joints in making a diagnosis. Many of the drugs for RA would not help OA.
Until you receive a proper diagnosis please don’t stress too much about RA. As other folk have said there are better drugs around now than in your mums day. These drugs tend to focus on reducing inflammation throughout your body and prevention of joint damage. People with RA can also develop OA.
If you only have OA your treatment plan would be very different, you cannot reverse joint damage caused by wear and tear and previous injuries. Treatment would focus on pain relief and joint replacement if necessary.
I had pain in almost every joint all over my body. It started out in one shoulder, then after a few months pain was everywhere. I was becoming completely crippled. I had high inflammation markers in blood work (ESR/Sed rate & CRP) even though I tested negative for RF and CCP. They call this seronegative RA.
Anyway, x-rays help determine if it's osteoarthritis or rheumatoid. RA likes to attack the joints that have been compromised, that is probably why your thumb was the first to feel pain. I'd see a rheumy as soon as possible to start your healing journey. In the meantime, if you want, you can begin a diet change and see if things improve, then at least you can get a headstart on whether you want to continue the course of just diet or also take meds, etc. Wishing you the best 
I am an advocate for a plant based eating plan to help the body. Many people claim that diet will cure RA. I am no doctor or scientist. I believe the body can be shocked into remission by fasting… a bit extreme. I also believe some foods are highly inflammatory, how can they be good when you have an inflammatory disease?
All that said, I personally think, a plant based, sugar free diet ALONG with medication, which is absolutely essential to control progression, gives us the best chance of a normal(ish) life.
We each choose our own path and there is a good deal of research and information available to assist with the choices we make.
My Rheumatologist, also advocates a holistic approach i.e. a healthy diet, exercise and medication.
Good luck
Exactly that re inflammatory foods. x
My RA begain when I was 29. I was slim, fit, and ate a healthy diet. A non smoker, drank very little alcohol and enjoyed sporting activities. The rheumatologist I saw said the best thing you can do for RA is to stay slim all your life, and eat a healthy diet, with lots of varied fresh fruit and vegetables. I eat a Mediterranean diet / anti inflammatory diet and stay as active as I can even with joint pain.I am now in my late 70s and the same weight as I was then. I have friends without RA who have had knee or hip replacements. I asked my rheumatologist why I didn't need a knee replacement and he said because you stay slim. Foods do not stop RA, but a healthy diet helps to keep your body in a better working order to fight inflammation.
With respect I know a few who needed knees who are slim so I don't think it's black and white. Also common in cyclists and athletes
Those slim people you know, could be suffering from Osteo Arthritis, which is a completely different disease from Rheumatoid arthritis,& needs different treatment….sometimes both types of arthritis need joint replacements.
I am slim,…weigh 50kgs,& without treatment since 1997, with DMards, (Disease Modifying Anti Rheumatic Drugs) and Biologics, I hate to think how many of my joints might have been damaged l
Do telephone the NRAS help line, or look up on line, the leaflets available which will answer everything that you are trying to find out.
Everybody on this site has rheumatoid arthritis and unfortunately as we age many of us develop osteoarthritis, but it really is essential to get RA sorted a soon as possible…if that is what you have got.
Thanks. I presume you know from blood tests
Mediterranean diet is good and obviously keeping an eye on weight helps but RA sufferers have an abundance of Tnf proteins so sooner on meds is better outcome.RA doesn't just effect joints ,the chronic inflammation effects other organs . Just research to then make an informed choice , the modern drugs now are so different to maybe the ones your Mum had
diet helps but agree with others that disease modifying drugs are a necessary evil. Be aware of the side effects of the drugs and ask for change of treatment if they are adding to your problems. Also agree with avoiding processed foods and I am only on weekly injections for my ra with occasional anti inflammatory meds.
So as others say, diet alone won’t stop or control RA. Obviously it helps to avoid processed foods, and foods that are inflammatory. It’s important to realise that being systemic means it’s not only affecting your joints, but can affect other organs like the heart and lungs. I have ankylosing spondylitis, which was late being diagnosed, and have heart and lung issues from years of uncontrolled inflammation. It’s good to take a healthy diet alongside your meds, but never instead of.
You could try blending or juicing fresh ginger, adding turmeric and black pepper. Black pepper helps the body to absorb the turmeric. Pop into little ice cube trays and freeze. Each morning take two out and add to hot water and drink on an empty stomach. It really helps to flush out toxins and can ease inflammation. Juicing once a day each week with celery and cucumber can also help. 😁
I think the answer is that yes it works for some people. I can't take any meds due to side effects. I've tried a significsnt amount! I gave up after the last lot caused blistering in my mouth. I cut out wheat, sugar, eggs and dairy and eat mostly meat with some home grown veg. I'm not pain free, but the pain is manageable with pacing and daily exercise...I have a small trampoline. I'm certainly not in as much agony as I was in the beginning.
The only way of knowing if it works for you is to try. I had no other choice. I went onto a full blown elimination diet and ate lamb only for a good few weeks. I just added things back in small stages until I found the foods causing most problems. Sadly chocolate, alcohol, wheat, dairy and sugar! Also to add...I have had no worsening of disease activity. No further damage to joints so far. It could change I suppose, but it often does on meds too. I'll deal with it as and when.
Since my diagnosis many have said " Are you sure it's not something you are eating?" Once, in a period of desperation, I asked my very experienced rheumy the same.I can hear his words now
" You can go and try some fad diets but you'll be back here and worse".
Don't get wrong I'm not ok on all the tablets and infusions but this is a disease and diet won't sort it out.
Many people mix RA and OA up, they have an ache in one or two areas and say things like it's my rheumatism when really it's not and for that reason it's not taken seriously. This is a miserable, debilitating condition for many of us and when people say to me have you tried this or cut out that it heaps guilt on my head that for some reason I'm not trying hard enough to cure myself. I struggle every day and the suggestion that some diet would sort this is demeaning..
Sorry, I needed a rant.
I'm delighted for you that so far your symptoms have been manageable without serious medication and long may it last.
I have diagnosed autoimmune arthritis and 2 knee replacements, and several jabs into joints to show for it etc etc. I am not OK on the drugs sadly. Many people are not. I could have curled up in a ball and just crumbled. It was depressing. I chose to try everything I could to improve things for myself. When drugs simply don't work, or make things worse there are 2 choices. Sink or doggy paddle! It's quite upsetting when people bang on about the efficacy of drugs, and assume one hasn't tried everything and failed (not saying that's what you are doing by the way!) It would be so much easier to inject or swallow a pill and be well. There is no one size fits all with drugs...I wish there was. It's tiresome when everything one does to help oneself is dismissed as kookie or new age clap trap (again not acusing you). Believe me, I've heard it a million times. But, I'm still here! A but wobbly on my pins, and cream crackered, but standing.
We all do what we can. ☺️
Absolutely agree, I've tried many drugs and still am trying and not great. I swim three times a week that definitely helps. I try to eat sensibly but I've been given such crap well meaning advice like cut out avocado (I'm a farmers wife in northern Ireland, avocado isn't on the menu) or go on a 50 day fast and drink bone broth. I have 5 children, a demanding job and a farmer husband to run after.
It would be great if there was a food trigger to just avoid but it's definitely not that handy.
It also really triggers me when people say"Have you tried.... As if they can cure me when the whole weight of the NHS can't.
Still we'll doggy paddle a while longer.
Thanks
You do a lot! Not sure I could manage half of that. The avocado story made me laugh. Funny how people think avocado's are local. I didn't know what an avocado was until my teens.
Keep swimming! 😊
I was diagnosed at 18 and all rheumatologists have always told me that diet has no effect. I have been on medication since then…initially sulphasalazine and methotrexate, then just methotrexate and now Humira. My RA has always been well controlled and I am grateful that I have had access to the necessary medication for that to be the case. I ski and have a relatively active life with 2 young children. When I feel a flare I have a depomedrone shot. I am 44 now.
However, diet (and sleep) absolutely does impact it. I was 40 before I experimented with diet and really wish I had realised before that gluten and sugar are very bad for my inflammation. I think it is worth following an anti inflammatory diet for a period of time and then monitoring your reactions as you reintroduce different foods. Lots of fresh fruit and vegetables and salad help me to feel my best.
It is a real shame that rheumatologists are not willing to countenance this. For me, knowing what foods to avoid (and managing sleep and stress) while also being on the medication is the best option.
Is that diagnosis RA or OA? They are very different and are treated differently. RA is autoimmune so generally needs treating with medication to suppress the immune system. I do think diet will help and keeping active but as all the other comments have said it’s cost the NHS a lot of money in medication the biologic I inject with is around £800 per month! I would also advise if you don’t take meds have regular checks as RA can also damage internal organs .
Hi. Hope you are well.
I was diagnosed with Sero positive poly inflammatory rheumatoid arthritis 20 years ago. I have taken most of the medications and biological treatments in that time. All have failed.
All failed after I ate potatoes. There is growing evidence potatoes (and other nightshades) can cause inflammatory diseases.
5 years ago I self tested. I was taking Humira, Naproxen, Amitriptyline, Dihydrocodeine plus morphine when necessary. My RA markers were very low. I had avoided potatoes for 6 months (after my previous meds had failed).
To test my theory I had a portion of roast potatoes. 10 days later my RA markers were through the roof. Crippled and bed ridden again I had an emergency appointment with my RA consult and was given large steroid injections for 12 months.
My RA consultant changed my meds to Enterncept injection plus hydroxychloroquine plus the others.
My RA is back under control and I will never, NEVER, eat a potato ever again. The pain is just not worth it.
It takes around three months removing potato from your diet for the benefits to be felt.
westonaprice.org/health-top...
orthomolecular.org/library/...
3 months wow thats really interesting im going to move over to sweet potatoes and going to push for the gp to refer me my markers are always low but when i do manage to get a blood test its never during a flare up so not sure if that makes a difference. I am also going to try to cut out sugar and processed foods and see if this helps thank you for your advice i hope you are managing your pain now 🐻
Hi
Thanks… I’m in remission at the moment.
When you start looking at the nightshade idea there’s page after page of scientific and anecdotal evidence. Weird connections. I’ve looked into this for over 10 years. I’ll give another couple of examples but I encourage you to read what you can.
There are pseudoscience articles which I ignore and kept to peer reviewed articles and research papers. They’re out there if you look.
Apparently there is zero evidence of Rheumatoid Arthritis in the old world until after the discovery of the Americas in 1492 and the import into Europe of nightshades; potatoes, tomatoes etc.
Do you remember your grandparents saying you should never eat green potatoes? That’s because they’ve been exposed to light. The green isn’t poisonous (it’s chlorophyll) When the potato is exposed to light it converts sugars into toxic glycoalkaloids.
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...
These glycoalkaloids are non-soluble and toxic. The immune system tries to flush them out. If there’s too many to handle the immune system moves them to somewhere they can’t do any damage (ie to the kidneys or heart). They’re stored in the soft tissue Ie; the gaps between the joints and within muscle. This causes a secondary reaction. Synovial inflammation. Hence pain, swelling, sickness, all the symptoms of RA.
I think the recent increase in inflammatory diseases is because supermarkets display potato in clear plastic bags or kept exposed under bright store lights all day. They used to be kept in sacks in the dark.
Don’t get me wrong. I yearn for a chip butty or even a packet of crisps. But for me it’s just not worth it.
my own experience is that I need the rheumatoid medication, HOWEVER for ME, avoidance of gluten makes me feel a whole lot better!
If I had my time again I would embark upon the recognised drug pathway for treating RA at the time my symptoms were diagnosed. I ignored it for years, trying all sorts of alternative treatments until I was at crisis point.
By all means try altering your diet to a more healthy one - you could remove processed foods and sugar and eat more veg. That would be good to do anyway - and if you feel better and more healthy, great - but I wouldn't ignore the advice of doctors who generally have a good overview about the progression of RA.
Modern treatments are usually effective and the certainly in my case, the side effects of the drugs are not noticeable. Without them my RA progressed to the point where I was in terrible pain and could not work. I too was scared of taking medication, the side effects, everything - but I made a poor decision not to take them.
I so wish my doctor had set me aside and told me more forcefully that I had RA, a lifelong disease which would probably get worse. If he had said very clearly that the earlier I started the treatment the more successful it would be, and that DMARDS were nothing to fear and would probably halt the progression of the disease, I might have listened.
My advice would be to consult your GP, and get an appointment with rheumatology. Alter your diet, keep active, avoid stress if possible - and take the drugs!
That is exactly what happened to me, I thought because of my mum I’d be in a wheelchair and life was over. Career ended, small child and crippled. And old long before my time. My consultant laughed and said, “ those days are over for the huge majority, We treat aggressively and aim for remission” And so I took the medications and life continued exactly as before. I’ve been in remission for a long time, rarely had a flare and last one was so long ago I can’t remember when it was. But I’ve taken medications that worked and I’m grateful that we have to access to them without worrying about cost.
I don't have arthritis, but I did have myalgia pain for a while. Eating dairy can cause inflammation, and it sure helped me to stop eating dairy. My myalgia eventually went away (about 6 months to be completely gone). But cutting out dairy is a BIG take. It means no milk, cream (including sour cream) cheeses, yogurt, kefir and any processed foods or supplements (or anything) that contain dairy (and there are a lot). I started using goat cheese, and that was very good, but then i started having issues with it too, and stopped eating it.
Can i ask has anyone tried ginger shots to help with RA, I have found some with turmeric and black pepper in and was just wondering if anyone has had any joy with ginger
Ginger can lower blood sugar levels so diabetics gave to be careful if taking regular ginger. It can give some people gastric irritation and diarrhoea. It is also thought to cause excess bleeding. I recall reading it when I was looking at ginger myself. I have it in hot lemon sometimes but not daily and use it in casseroles and curries but that’s not daily or even weekly. I’m not sure what quantities are deemed safe.
I did try it but it was awful on my gut. I have a miserable stomach! 😆🤢
personally my experience has been no. I spent 6 months experimenting with suggested food elimination strategies. I went with natural inflammatory herbs, still no relief. After 2 years of trying to treat it by myself … I went the physician route. I must of been over the top in pain. It’s taken a full year of infusions every eight weeks to get it manageable enough to function. I still have to take prednisone at times.
I would say to anyone…. It is worth a try to do alternate methods. You have nothing to loose.
I was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis rather than RA purely based on the fact that i was not affected symmetrically, ie different fingers were affected on each hand. My rheumatologist said not everyone's inflammatory markers will indicate presence of RA/PsA. I do feel i had lots of inflammation, due to a bad diet, and it was bound to come out someway. I'm sometimes fearful that we're boxed into certain groups by how that inflammation happened to manifest itself in each of us, and no attention paid to treating the cause rather than the symptoms. I was on Methotrexate, Humira and Orencia but was never entirely ache-free. I hated the vicious mouth ulcers so i researched papers on inflammation ( I'm a scientist) and gave up all dairy and red meat. I take a lot of turmeric and omega 3 and spirulina and mild symptoms come back if I run out of any of these. Or straight away if I have even a trace of dairy. I'm symptom-free and drug-free now. At my worst i could not use my fingers and was strapping them together to avoid bending them. HOWEVER you must get the flare under control fast to avoid bone damage, diet is not fast, so start the meds and taper off when its under control, if you want to try diet. A friend had no success on this diet, we all have different triggers and genetics that lead to inflammation. This diet is very restrictive and difficult to keep up- if you are on the biologics I am not aware of any long term health effects, they're antibodies, not "drugs" in the traditional sense. It would be a much easier path. For me I was just never as well on them as I am now, and got bad side-effects.It seems odd to be told you have RA based on one joint, which has been injured. I would have thought that sounded more like OA/wear-and-tear arthritis. I always feel if heat helps the pain its that, but if heat hurts it and cold eases it its inflammation ie PsA/RA? Best of luck
Agree about getting inflammation in check first. I think steroids helped to calm things down. Took 8yrs though!
I have experimented with diet, excluding nightshades, gluten, dairy and alcohol but sadly no real changes to my symptoms. However it's probably worth trying as everyone is different. The things that help me most are regular mobility exercises. Even when my joints are painful I try to keep as much nobility as I can. I exercise daily and some days are very different to others but overall it helps me. I have hot and cold showers too. Despite this I take medication but it helps me to know I am doing all I can to help myself. Meditation also helps relieve stress which I believe has an adverse affect. Good luck
I am new to this site and RA. For years I have suffered phases of extreme pain in my feet, hands and elbows.
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