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Deme210
Posted Sunday, August 13, 2006 1:22 AM


 

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Let's start a thread for those of us who have found solutions! I am back to 99% of a normal life, from being at about 20% due to moderate to severe osteoarthrits in one hip. My limp is gone, the severe pain is gone, and my range of motion is almost back to normal. What worked for me is the following:
-treatment by a homeopathic doctor (not holistic; this is a very specific form of treatment, inexpensive, and usually involves only a few visits, in my case only one.)
-glucosamine, chondroitin, + MSM
-hyaluronic acid (enteric coated to make it to the bloodstream).
-fish oil capsule
-regular excercise
I had been told I would continue to get worse until I got a hip replacement. Instead, I have steadily improved. Wanted to pass on the information; hope it helps someone.
Post #4082722
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Eileen169
Posted Monday, September 04, 2006 10:40 AM


 

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That's so great! I am taking some glucosamine, vit e, flax seed oil and physical therapy which I have shown a significant improvement. I hope I continue, however my frustration is with the insurance and the perception of what arthritis is as for me I think phsycial therapy has greatly helped me and my insurance company seems to be more willing to advice me to have surgery then to continue with Physical therapy.
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Barbara62
Posted Thursday, November 16, 2006 3:15 PM


 

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I love the idea of sharing what's worked versus complaining about what doesn't.

I've done pretty much what others have done, I'd guess: pain meds, PT, OT, various doctors.

What's working best for me is one piece of advice that an OT (after 3 years of seeing various ones) gave me recently: sleep on your back on a shaped neck pillow. Since I have OA in my cervical spine, this was a Godsend. From the very next morning, my pain was at least 75% less.

I've been able to stop NSAIDS and muscle relaxants and I'd say the pain is at least 80% less--and I'm not groggy now.

I also go to water aerobics at a local PT pool. I feel confident there because I know the staff are PTs and PT aides who know what they are doing. The warm water lets me get a good workout. I am feeling stronger and more confident.

Also, I've learned to use tools. Seriously, I now use jar openers, an electric can opener, various lever-like instruments when my fingers hurt. I use a chopstick to press the buttons on my microwave, for example. So I'm taking care not to increase my pain by overuse.

I do take glucosamine/chondroitin with MSM for my knee. I have seen a definite improvement. I am now careful not to extend my knees past my toes--and I stop when anything hurts.

Forget "no pain, no gain." My gain comes from having no pain.

I have also consulted an ergonomics specialist about my computer use, since I am a part-time writer. We're still working on that.

My next endeavor will be to learn to pace myself better. I tend to overdo on "good" days and then pay for it later.

All in all, life is looking up.
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michael0
Posted Monday, November 27, 2006 8:51 AM


 

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Recently I had begun to experience pain in my ankles and knees. The pain was keeping me from sleeping and as a result I never had enough energy. My neighbor across the street suggested I try MonaVie. He said that it had helped him and that he had never felt better. I started taking the MonaVie and after 10 days of only 2 ounces twice a day they pain started to minimalize. By the end of the of the second week it was completely gone. I was so excited by what the MonsVie did that I decided to become a distributor, so that I could help others as my neighbor helped me. you can go to www.mymonavie.com/mb137115 for more info. God Bless, Michael
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breezybrenda
Posted Thursday, November 30, 2006 10:48 PM


 

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I've had rheumatoid arthritis since 1989 and am on humira (for 18 months ) and placquenel (for 13 years.) Humira was great for a few months and then I went downhill quickly. Doctors wanted to put me on many more drugs. I got desperate and started changing my diet.

I have found being on a no gluten diet helps. After having done some research into allergies and arthritis I decided to try a non dairy diet too. My son convinced me to try the no dairy because he claims the casein in milk affects a lot of people badly including him. It gives him migraines. I also was having some hoarseness problems last winter and a top throat specialist said it was due to acid reflux and put me on a low acid diet. I also read about supplements in the magazine from the Arthritis Foundation and decided to take some fish oil, eveing primrose oil, ginger as well as the glucosamine chointroiten that I have taken for years

After being on the no gluten, no dairy and low acid diet for a month, I started feeling much better. The humira started lasting 2 weeks again (after only working for 4 days) and I am able to work out at the gym 5 to 6 days a week. I don't take any pain killers. When I cheat and eat some bread or a little dairy, I start feeling pain within a couple of days. I also lost the 20 pounds I haven't been able to lose for years. This diet sounds hard to do but it isn't so bad once you figure out what you can replace the missing foods with.


I just want to tell people that this diet seems to have helped me greatly. I feel so much better, I can hardly believe it. No one I know with rheumatoid arthritis would even consider trying this diet for a month because they say they can't live without bread and dairy. No one likes bread and dairy more than I do but I am now having no trouble doing it. You can supplement the calcium with other foods and pills. Not eating gluten and dairy makes it so much easier to lose weight I just wish someone else with try it for about 6 weeks and see if they feel better. Even if they don't feel better, at least they'll be a little thinner.

So if anyone is getting desperate to feel better without taking even more drugs and wants to try the diet, let me know and I'll help you anyway I can. Maybe my remission after being on the diet for about a month is a coincidence. But maybe not. I'm not suggesting anyone stop taking any medicines for their arthritis.The medicines definitely help. I'm not saying diet is a cure. Most doctors though, just throw more and more medicine at us, no matter how tough it is on bodies since that is what the read about in materials written by the drug companies. There is no money for research into treating arthritis in other ways such as diet. Just look up what research has been done, and it is incredibly scarce. I think a combination of drugs, diet, supplements and exercise is healthiest compared to just piling up more and more toxicity.

Brenda
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Kim610
Posted Thursday, December 14, 2006 4:45 PM


 

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Hi Brenda,

Thank you for your post. I am 26 years old and was just diagnosed with RA. I too have heard about the correlation between RA and food intolerance. I was curious if you ever had any tests done to confirm that you were intolerant to gluten or dairy? I would like to approach my RA in the least invasive way possible. I have not started treatment yet and I thought that maybe I would start with this diet first.

Do you still take any medication for your RA?

Thanks,

Kim
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Andrew0
Posted Saturday, January 20, 2007 3:24 PM


 

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Are there any other diets people have tried that have helped with RA pain? I have heard that low protein diets can also help, but I wondered if anyone had any success with any other dietary changes?
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Andrea70
Posted Tuesday, January 23, 2007 7:00 PM


 

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My grandmother had pretty bad arthritis for years and tried an elimination diet suggested by a doctor friend I believe. This dr. was really into "food" therapy I guess I would call it. Anyway after doing this elimination diet, she found out that her "triggers" were beans and poultry and some different nuts. And as long as she stayed away from those foods, she was pain free.
I tried the diet a few years ago (I have had RA for about 13 years) but did not have much luck.
You have to do like 5 days of water and lemon only (lemons have carbs, believe it or not, and that sustains you)until you are pain free because you are free of the toxins and then you do like 5 days of just fruits, then 5 days of just vegetables. I was hungriest on the fruits more than even the water and lemons! Supposedly throughout this you are supposed to be pain free because you have been detoxed of the toxins in your body causing the pain and inflammation, and then little by little you start adding proteins and see which ones affect you adversely.

I was never pain free, so it was really hard to find out what I was "allergic" to.

But she swears by it. I have the exact instructions for the diet somewhere if anybody is interested.

An interesting side note though, several people in my family did the diet (for grins, I guess, because they did not have RA)and they all lost a little weight and several found that some foods caused their headaches and upset stomachs. Some had had those problems for years. So this isn't just for arthritis.

Just recently my husband found out he was allergic to milk. His allergist suggested cutting it out because of severe allergies, upset stomach, sinus infections, etc. After cutting out dairy for a month now, he noticed a HUGE change. No more migraines, upset stomach, allergy symptoms, etc.

So it is amazing how much diet is a culprit in so many things.

I think I will retry that elimination diet that I tried many years ago.

Thanks guys for making me re-analyze what might be right under my nose!
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Laura8
Posted Tuesday, February 13, 2007 1:09 AM


 

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I am 28 years old and was diagnosed with RA when I was 7. For most of the 21 years my RA was managable with various drugs and exercise but over the past year my health has gone into a down hill spiral.

I do not have health insurance which makes it impossible for me to receive care (when did Rheumatalogist stop caring about their patients condition and started being money hungry-$400 for a visit-that includes magic fairy dust, right)Im so angry because my situation didnt have to end up like this but thanks to one of the worst health care systems in the world, I am now 28, crippled, and applying for disability bennefits to surrvive on the rest of my painful life. Sorry for the pitty party, just needed to vent for a minute.

Over the last 2 years I have looked for other alternatives. After researching several natural alternatives, all the books were saying the same thing, that arthritis can be caused by metal poisening or mercury fillings in your mouth. Many books suggested (insisted) that a person with arthritis should have all metal removed from their mouth and then proceed with metal detoxification cleanses. After 2 decades of being a lab rat to conventional medicine I was ready to try something different, so I went all natural. I cut several things out of my diet and consumed only organic foods. Over an 8 week process I had my teeth re-done, taking out all metal fillingsand then detoxing. I had prepared myself for no change at all so I wouldnt be dissapointed, but what I didnt expect was for the whole process to send my body into an uncontrolable flare up that has and is still at war with my body. In the last 8 months I have become crippled in my legs, and the disease has rappidly spread to other parts of my body not previously effected. I had heard soooooo many positive stories of people who had very successful results with this process but not one like my experience. I was just wondering if there was anyone else out there who had a bad (life changing 4ever) experience surronding mercury fillings.

I am now at a loss and ready to throw in the towel, I just dont have the energy to fight with this disease anymore. It would just be nice to be able to know a life without this disease.
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Sue20
Posted Tuesday, February 13, 2007 4:57 PM


 

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LAura, You certainly deserve a pity party once in awhile, we all do but ultimately you have to keep fighting. I too get so discouraged and then I'll read something and get hopeful only to be crushed again. But we must fight on, my new hope is in a book called The New Arthritis Breakthrough by Henry Scammel, please get a copy from the library, it is so interesting. Anyway I have an appointment to start this ap treatment 2/22/07 and I am so hopeful, I hope not to get let down again. Please read it and see what you think.

Sue
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Pretz
Posted Saturday, February 24, 2007 3:03 AM


 

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Hi Laura. Like you, I didn't have an insurance to pay for the biologics which my rheumy wants me to take. I can afford the other generic medicines he prescribed but while it helps, I'm still in so much pain and fatigued all the time. Unfortunately, my rheumy said there's really nothing more he can do for me that my PCP can't do if I don't take the biologic. So, after reading the book by Henry Scammel on Antibiotic Protocol, I talked to my PCP and asked if I can be on it. I was given doxycycline (generic) and been taking it in the last 3 months along with methotrexate, plaquenil and sulfasalazine (all generic as well) and it's been very very helpful to me. AS of now, I no longer have any pain in my jaws, neck, shoulder, hips and knees. My hands and my feet are still a bit swollen and painful but the pain is getting less and less. But this is not the whole of the story. You see, I promised that I'll take care of myself better so as not to complicate RA more. So, I make sure that I also exercise (even if I'm in pain), adopted a strictly healthy diet (low fat, low sugar, low salt, more fiber, no red meat, more veggies and fruits), sleep well and drink more water.

AP is very controversial right now and for sure there will be some (including doctors) who will discourage you. In fact, maybe someone reading this may not believe that I have RA and I'm just promoting this protocol for financial gain(although, for the life of me, I don't know how I will earn from this considering that I'm using all generic medication, but, well, you'll never know how the mind of others work). Given your situation, though, that you have no insurance and very little options (but in so much pain), I think you may want to consider this as an alternative, or at least try it and see if it will work for you. I can't guarantee you that you will respond to this treatment but I think it's worth a try.

I hope this helps.

Pretz

________________________________________

"We can't change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand" - Randy Pausch

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karin68
Posted Wednesday, February 28, 2007 11:27 PM


 

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Hi, Laura. I, like Pretz, also take generic antibiotics. I am doing very well-- almost in remission! Glad you are doing so well, Pretz. Hooray!! ~Karin
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Sherrelyn19
Posted Monday, March 19, 2007 8:38 PM


 

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I would like to try your diet. I am looking for some type of alternitive to more medication. Thank you.
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brandon2184
Posted Wednesday, April 04, 2007 5:34 PM


 

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Laura, please don't give up you're on the right track. By switching to the organic diet you've already eliminated a lot of the toxins/metals that are going into your body. But theres a good chance that your diet itself is playing a key role in your flare ups. A good diet that i've seen produce results is the "Eat right 4 your blood type" diet. You can find the book at books-a-million it was written by Peter D'Adamo. It's based on years of study that indicated that people who shared a common blood type also had common food allergies/intolerances. I was CRIPPLED. And by using that diet, and some of the dietary guidelines that Dr. Bernard Jensen suggests. I've cured myself. Not only my arthritis, but my acne, acid reflux, stomach problems, energy level. Everything has gotten better. A website that I recommend looking at would be http://www.naturalhealthtechniques.com some of the therapies are kinda out there, but I've tried them all and most of them work to an extent. There is a lot of good free information on that website. I hope you get to feeling better and good luck. If you need anything email me at bmcd@otelco.net
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christy8
Posted Wednesday, April 11, 2007 4:48 PM


 

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What has worked for me, and made me the best that I've felt since diagnosed 7 years ago, is a strict diet as prescribed by a Chinese herbalist. I have been other avenues and it's taken me a while to find her through reserch and pressing on to find what worked for me. Everyone is different, and everyone's treatment is different. Please keep searching for your answer and your path.
The diet I do is no dairy (or casein), no gluten, nightshades, sugar, or alcohol, to name a few At this point, I've been pain and inflammation free for almost two months. And I'm so thankful!!!!!
Post #4096896
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christy8
Posted Wednesday, April 11, 2007 4:57 PM


 

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Laura, I'm so sorry for the pain you've had to endure in your life.
I'm 24 and was diagnosed w/ RA when I was 18.
I now see a Chinese Herbalist that has made the most difference. I just always felt there was another way and now, with change in my diet, I think I've found it.
Please don't give up.
You'll find your way.
Please let me know if you want any info on my diet, or if you'd like me to recommend some books that helped me get started on my path.
Christy
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starzshine
Posted Friday, June 01, 2007 9:55 PM


 

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Hi, Andrea

I would love to try the elimnation diet, can you forward it to alisrus@msn.com? Thank you so much
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starzshine
Posted Friday, June 01, 2007 10:06 PM


 

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Hi, Brenda

I would love to try the no gluten, no dairy and low acid diet. Can you forward it to me at alisrus@msn.com? Thank you so much
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starzshine
Posted Friday, June 01, 2007 10:15 PM


 

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Hi, Michael

Just last week I was researching this website and read through the testimonials. I am buying it! Do I have to purchase it online or can I purchase through a local store such as a health food store or Super Supplments? I have arthritis in both of my ankles and can barely walk at times because of the pain and inflammation. I am so glad to hear that it worked for you! I can't wait to start taking it. Doyou take one ounce in the morning and one ounce before bed daily for two ounces total daily? How long does one bottle last? Thank you
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starzshine
Posted Saturday, June 02, 2007 12:49 AM


 

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Hi, Sue

I tried searching for this book with my library and it is not found in the search. Is it brand new? Thank you. May I ask where you purchased it? I would really like to read it.
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