Great article!

I have found that the right adaptogens can have a huge impact on RA and IBS problems.

Good info is at:   www.miracleadaptogens.com

My 3 year elbow paines stopped after drinking Mangosteen fuit juice. Blueberry and Cherry may also help with inflamation.

Take al these reports of harmful drug side effects and summarize it all into this blanketing statement:

ALL drugs are poisons.

Enbrel's label does indeed warn of a cancer danger.

I have had RA for over 15 years now.  I find that getting my mouth healthy with good teeth/gum cleaning and seeing biologic dentist is very helpful.  I hadn't had my teeth cleaned in 8 years and the inflammation was climbing higher and higher.  My dentist believes that a healthy or unhealthy mouth is the root to all diseases.  Now my inflammation rate is much lower.  I have also been on Methotrexate and Enbrel for over a year.  After two cleanings my inflammation was way down.  My last arthritis labs from three months ago showed huge improvements.

I went to have my teeth cleaned today and my hygienist says I no longer have any pockets and that I was back to normal.  Tomorrow I see the Rheumatologist for a three month visit and to get my labs.  I hope to see improvements to my labs.  If that is the case, the Rheumy will likely lower the RA meds that I will not have to take so much of.  I hope so.

I also recently began with supplements such as the greens and using vegetables and fruits to help me together with the multivitamins and the oils I take occasionally.  I have been a lifetime of a health nut.  So I work on balancing myself and if it has to be helped with using the meds as well as supplements, so be it.  I do agree that Lymphoma cancer rates are higher for those people who do not use any meds to ease the RA symptoms.  It's better if people on RA drugs can try to get by with less medicine than having to take more so it's not so toxic on their bodies.      

hi to all those who suffer from RA, i also have it. ten years ago they gave me 2 weeks to live, well i am here and sort of remitted i still live in fear of it coming back. from being so ill i could hardly breathe, sheets touching me causing agony, and unable to sleep for more than brief snatches, to wake in agony as you try and move a bit. and this hit me in a matter of weeks. age 38. i am 48 in a couple of weeks. so glad my refusal to believe the specialists got me through. yes i also took what i was asured was helpful, and i do love prednisalone.  well i did. sulphasalazime ,methotrexate pills, plaquenil, and naproxen 1000s almost knocked me off for good. amazing how a supposed specialist can not even allow a wash out time between such heavy duty meds. what "cured me" was good old gold jabs. 6  yrs worth. now i use melaleucas ProvexCV and it reduced the swollen hands that gold couldn,t it is grape and ginko and bioflavinoids and for me it helps, i find the vioxx and talam etc all cause way many bad effects and don,t dull pain better than a simple panadiene forte does.. Yes i know the codiene isnt great, but long term in moderation it is the lesser evil i think. no one here has mentioned the TENS machines? and i would now really go find a rife of holt type device if it flared badly again. i and others who share the same trait ie the RH factor does NOT show in our bloods , all seem to also have issues with the chondroitin...it either makes it worse or does no good we can feel, any others with this similarity out there?? as for support groups, i did find one among ebay groups a while back. the hospitals in aust at least, do not have much, and that is where you really need the help, especially as the docs do not really do much more than say , you have ra, heres a pill whatever, and you are on your own to come to grips with it. there is an Arthritis assoc in sth aust. but it seems to be for calls and to sell massively overpriced "aids" my sincere sympathy to all

I tried 3 or 4 chiropractors with different modalities.  3 had no effect, NUCCA did help and I still go to her for my neck.  It's very gentle and non-invasive, I haven't been on muscle relaxants for my neck in years because of the NUCCA.  

She also tried the little pen like ejector that does very small adjustments on the rest of the body, but my arthritis got worse each time, there is very little that doesn't set it off.  So I just have her do NUCCA on my neck, I'm happy with that.  Not sure if it affects my fibromyalgia positively, because I don't really notice the fibro; it's the mouse compared to the rheumtoid elephant.

I follow the various autoimmune and allergy diets pretty much, that helps alot.   The hardest thing when I was in so much pain for years was that I couldn't exercise at all.  The pool gave me bronchitis, and my joints were too swollen for anything else.  The doctor used to ask what time of day my stiffness & pain went away, and my response was that I've been waiting 8 years now for that to happen. Now I'm able to work out on the machines.  I also use the AYR sinus rinses twice daily, so I can go into the cool pool.  I love being able to exercise again!

The strongest drug I've taken was megadose of prednisone (steroid) for over a year for lungs, it was that or death.  Gave me cataracts, bone loss and teeth wearing away, and severe infections from the slightest cold.  Much stronger than Enbrel or Humira, or even infusions.  That's why I do juicing to build up immunity and calcium.

Non many support groups out there for arthritis, wish there was.

I've had rheumatoid arthritis for 10 yrs.  Very severe RA without the meds(!!) gives you 70 times the chance of getting lymphoma.  After trying all the alternative cures, I found only the strong drugs have significant positive effect. I was on Enbrel, am now on Orencia infusions and have taken large doses of prednisone for rheumatoid lung for a year.  I also altered my diet drastically, while it helps slightly, it doesn't begin to address the condition significantly.  Some supplements help, some make me worse.  Fish oil made me feel better, but caused large rheumtoid nodules as well, which is worse.  I even juice greens, ginger, etc daily, and take tart cherry juice for inflammation, the works.

I tried Dr. brown's antibiotic cure and found it has caused liver problems, something I never got even from Orencia infusions, Enbrel injections or large doses of prednisone.

The alternative stuff may work for some RA, but it doesn't touch very severe RA.  I say that as someone that never took even an aspirin before I got the RA.  The death rate for RA is pretty close to the same as it was in 1950.  30% die the first 10 years w/the illness.  Before these drugs came out, the average life expentancy for someone like me with very aggressive RA was 4 years.  

People don't take these meds because they don't know any better.  We take them because we want quality of life in the shortened time that we have, and nothing else we've tried has helped.  We know there is a trade off.  

My experience over the past 20 years is that almost every person with an autoimmune disease like rheumatoid arthritis suffers from heavy metal and chemical toxicity, usually both, which cause mitochondrial dysfunction  and free radical production leading to severe inflammation.  Autoimmune disorders are produced experimentally by injecting mercury into anumals.  Hair analysis is very effective at revealing the presence of heavy metals and is readily available.  Subsequent chelation plus natural herbal anti-inflammatory agents are almost invariably helpful.  Replacement of amalgam fillings is often necessary to achieve the best results.  Check out www.scienceformulas.com.

RA is an auto immune disease. As such, it is most often caused by leaky gut. My protocol for ending food cravings and flattening your tummy effortlessly applies equally to RA, with the addition of fish oil to help balance the metabolism.

Here's the link: www.squidoo.com/foodcravings

The best to you.

Kelley Eidem