Has anyone tried or had luck with immune reset, extended fasting, juice fasting, or HRT?
Posted , 4 users are following.
I have reactive arthritis (diagnosed) in about 15 joints beginning last year after a GI infection and it lasted in a severe state for about 4 months. I was bedridden for a good portion of that time and still have joint stiffness and pain, and until a recent severe flare up most of the heat in my joints was gone. It’s not as bad as the first time, but following this trend of 2 flare ups per year and never having complete remission, I have dim prospects for my life and my longevity.
I tried corticosteroids, Methotrexate and couldn’t tolerate the SE. I refused a biologic for the risk of SE. I’ve spent years on a clean diet and intense research to filter out of food allergies. Now I’m looking for other options, as I cannot tolerate pharmaceuticals.
One treatment that was partially successful, and slacking off of it being one of the reasons for my recent relapse, is active (mostly methylated) B vitamin therapy. That being a personally adapted version of Freddd’s protocol on the phoenixrising site, based on my own genetic profile and nutrahacker analysis. This was the only tolerable thing that made a difference during my first attack.
In addition to the methylation therapy, 2 options I see are extended fasting or juice fasting to reset the immune system & Hormone Replacement Therapy, such as Testosterone, which tends to strengthen the immune system and calm autoimmune attacks. Cortisol may also be an option, based on some reseach I've seen, but it's not without long term SE.
I’m wondering if anyone else has tried these options, and if they could post their experience here to learn from.
0 likes, 5 replies
sparkle1 johnjohnS
Posted
Exclusion Diet has helped me enormously. I have not tried what you are suggesting but i cant imagine anything which strengthens the immune system is helpful - what biologics do is suppress the immune system as it is in overdrive and attacking you. i.e. opposite of what you are suggesting. If the doctors prescribed biologics (and they are generally very loathe so to do) it is because they could tell from your blood tests that inflammation was too high and that immune system in overdrive. The biologics and methotrexate are to suppress the system not to strengthen the immune response. It sounds like you may be in USA. Look up Seamus Mullen New York Chef and see what he did as his diet seemed to change his life round. I'd ask your rheumy before going ahead with anything that enhances your immune system - it is already in overdrive. Hope this helps
sparkle1 johnjohnS
Posted
Ive tried all sorts to try and give my immune system a shock to see if i can get it back to normal!! e.g. I had a yellow fever jab which is a live vaccine and i thought hey, maybe my body will go to work on that and it will realise what a real bug looks like and stop attacking me! I would not recommend this to anyone...
I didnt even get a sore arm for goodness sakes. I never get a cold. Nothing. Just stupid thing is attacking joints. Sometimes, you might need the biologics to stop it if the inflammation is too great in your blood tests as you need to stop the damage. You can perhaps then wean off it with the help of diet.
2 months ago i was on a plane sat next to a girl who had a spinal tumour which had nearly paralysed her. It took her a yar to recover from the op. It then came back and was not malignant but as it grew pressed on her spinal cord. Thus something had to be done. Bravely, she refused the second op temporarily whilst going on a total exclusion diet. No sugar, wheat, dairy, alcohol. Over the last 6 months she and her surgeon have watched the tumour shrink - all confirmed by her hubbie who is high up in the armed forces, sat next to her. Not gone yet but can alost not see it and she can walk again. Her belief was that sugar was the big issue as it feeds rogue cells, free radicals, tumours etc. She had a veggie salad but refused the dressing as it may contain sugar. Made me think and i;ve been very cautious about it ever since. She wasnt a nutter - just someone who was trying the best she could to help her body, but also under control of her surgeon, who was keeping a beady eye on her situation. I'd ask your rheumy and try and get them on your side as you try things. Some have long lost the scientific curiosity to be interested in unusual cases but others will be fascinated by your endeavours and will work with you if you ask them to. Try and find the latter rheumy who will come up with a plan to help you not get damaged whilst you try things out and can wean you off things but also know if you really do need e.g. a biologic for a period of time to stop damage.
Out of curiosity is your LDL level raised?
johnjohnS sparkle1
Posted
The problem with rheumys is they all have the same solution: sell you a drug. The last ones I went to promised me I wouldn't have SE, and low and behold, I've developed 2 permanant SE from the drugs they prescribed, which are as bad as joint damage itself. And to take a black box warning drug with death, cancer, and all sorts of other risks? Methinks not.
I've tried versions of Seamus's diet, but am way beyond what he includes in it. I have been wheat, sugar, dairy, alcohol, drug, nightshade, etc free for years. It also looks like he had worms in his intestines, which perforated them and would be causing the rheumathoid arthritis, which once killed makes sense that he improved. Thanks for sharing though, I'm going to forward this to someone else I know that has the Rheumatiod version!
I did see that recent study on MS patients. It's quite a harsh treatment, but hats off to their success. Hopefully with it, more research will be done into additional therapies that are more practical for everyone.
This isn't scientific curiosity - it's desperation. I'm trying to gain years of my life that will be gone if I do not succeed.
sparkle1 johnjohnS
Posted
However, i am interested in your comment as i went wheat, dairy, meat, alcohol, sugar free for 6 months and it geaty improved. Then i thought 'hey, i'm 95% ok' and started to add other things and lo and behold gets worse & flares. However, this flare-time round, havign researched more i decided maybe i was not eating enough protein to re-build the body so making concious effort to eat more protein now and it does seem to be slightly better. The $m question is what triggers the flare up. What are your blood tests saying? i.e. ESR levels, inflammation markers, CRP etc etc - are they getting better or worse? It took me ages but now have a rheumy who is more of a scientist and i suggest trying something and he tracks it so i can see if its getting better or worse - as difficult to see as things take a while to go one way or the other. He is more of a monitor now of things im trying to do as like you i gave up on a few of them to start with but then i went off and got one who was genuinely interested in trying different holistic things and monitoring them. Id be truly interested to know how you get on. Its great to try things under a rheumy though as then they can use you as a case study to help others. Makes me feel better anyway. fascinating stuff.
Chuuch11 johnjohnS
Posted
I'm sorry to hear about your experience. For me, I've had ReA for about 3 months. I've done so much research and I've cut out all junk foods, eating somewhat better. I made vegetable and fruit shakes daily for an anti inflammatory diet. I still need to get on track as far as dieting goes and working out. I feel great surprisingly, my swelling isn't bad at all and I can move normally. I take vitamins daily as well. These are fish oils, daily multi, cranberry, tumeric, and glucosamine sulfate.