Hello! | Arthritis Information

 

I am new here but not new to RA. I was diagnosed 5 years ago. Let me tell you my story. My blood tests clearly confirm RA. Although it is mild to moderate but prognosis is bad based on my blood tests (positive RF, ANA, ETC.)My RD wanted to put me on serious drugs but I resisted because I feel OK most of the time. I do love red wine and I am not going to quit drinking it unless I really have too. To make a long story short: did anybody noticed that red wine helps to reduce pain, or Resveratrol-N0N-ALCOHOLIC concentrated red wine. I noticed that red wine helps me a lot. One glass before I go to bed and there is no pain in the morning. Resveratrol works even better. I even quit drugs. It is 17 days since I quit my medication. I may still have them in my system and that is why I may be still OK. Did anybody take resveratrol. I read some posts on different websites and some people noticed the same. But the others say it makes no difference or makes it worse. I really stopped trusting doctors. I wish it were as easy as drinking a glass of red wine or using Resveratrol.Welcome to AI Pepper. We're glad you're here.

Lovie's got it right..

Thank you everybody who responded.
I think you are right. So far I don't have any bone destruction acording to x-rays anyway(other tests were too expensive to do). My new doctor was surprised because I have been only on plaquinil all 5 years.I stopped seeing my previous RD because he kept telling me that 50% of people with RA will be in wheel chair in 10 years after the onset. It is may be true but I was tired of hearing about it. After I visited him I stayed upset for a few days. My new doctor added sulfasalazin and said that I could drink wine. She said this medication is popular in Europe exactly for this reason. I understand what you are saying and I will get back on drugs. The thing is that even when I took drugs I had bad days from time to time with severe pain (I am sure I don't have to describe it to you!)
My boyfriend and I love red wine. He has a celler and studies wines. We do go out or we just stay home and have a glass with dinner. Then he switched to whites because red started bothering his stomack. My pain came back. I should say I have wrist pain every day. It varies from mild to severe but never goes away 100%. The only change in my diet was wine. I opened a bottle of red instaed of white and had a glass before I went to bed. Guess, what? I woke up in great shape. We went on a trip and I didn't take Resveratrol with me, so I was getting by with just having 1-2 glasses of wine every day. Some fingers started hurting but overall I was OK. When I came home I COULD NOT EVEN LOOK AT RED WINE ANYMORE! I couldn't enjoy it! If you drink it every day you loose taste of it. I began taking Resveratrol. The swallowing got reduced on my fingers although I still feel pain if I touch and press joints. All these years I thought I felt good just because of my diet (fish mostly, veggies, elimination of milk, etc.)Now I think it was wine. I understand that it is not that simple. A friend of mine who has RA of slightly different type did not notice any relief neither from taking Resveratrol, not from red wine. I went on other websites and some people did notice that it helped them. Others say that alcohol makes their RA worse. I think some people drink when they have stress and it is stress that makes it worse not wine. Having said all that I think I will follow your advice. This experiment is not worth of loosing joints. I will go back on plaquinil before it wears out. It takes long time for it to kick in again. By the way, did anybody take Arthizen Relief? I don't take any supplements but may be I should. Thank you again for responding. All these years I was alone with my RA. No one in my family has it and no one among my friends does either. I learned not to talk about it and not to mention it to anybody even when I was hurting badly. People do not understand why it is so hard to turn a handle on the door or start the car. Thanks again and I am looking forward to hear from you. Pepper.
Hi Pepper, enjoyed reading your post, I too, have very painful wrists all the time. Do you have any certain foods that you stay away from. Rockin AnnieEven on MTX & Humira I still have some bad days; but they are not as bad and don't last as long as they would without the meds. My point is; don't expect to be 100% problem free even on the meds. Hi,Annie!
I am glad to meet you. I have been on healthy diet for years. When I met my boyfriend, we really became healthy diet freaks because he is worse than me. This is what I noticed over 5 years. If I eat salads and veggies and have very little to eat for dinner and not too late, I feel well. Yesterday we went to buffet in country club. I didn't eat much but eat a little of everything, had my 1,5 glass of red wine, but 2 !!!!(shame on me!)pieces of cake and it was around 8:30. This morning my left hand hurts! I noticed that I feel the best when I am kind of hungry. My boyfriend doesn't know anything about RA. He THINKS IT IS CURABLE if you eat right. He told me to eliminate milk. I did but I don't think it effected my RA. Besides, I got kidney stones(the lack of calcium!)I ABSOLUTELY! don't eat fried food, I like good bread, eat a lot of fish but not farm-raised (hard to find ), I eat stakes twice a month. By the way red meat doesn't seam effect my RA if consumed with wine of course. After those buffets I FEEL THE WORSE(a lot of pain)! I think because I EAT TOO MANY different kinds of food and my system gets confused with all this amino acids. I don't eat sugar, unless it is in cake, honey or fruit. I DO EXERCISE (HATE IT!),but it does helps with pain and moods. I wanted to have a diary and write everything down what I eat and how I feel but it is soooo time consuming, and I stopped. Took my meds this morning, so I am OK, guys. Thank you!The diet connection to this is huge and your diet sounds almost perfect hence maybe why you're mild.  Try elliminating gluten and see what happens.  And no, you can't cure RA with diet but you can really cut the inflammation which is what causes the damage.  Thanks for that Pepper, your boyfriend sounds like my hubby, he thinks you can cure RA with diet and hounds me to keep a food diary, which I do try but mostly forget!. You have given me motivation to once again stick to a strict diet, because no matter what the doc says a good diet does help with the inflammation.  Hi Pip, you might think this is a silly question but what is IMHO? you sound like you have a lot of knowledge re Ra and done a lot of ground work. I hear a lot about AP but my doc doesn't know anything about it.  Maybe its not big over hear in Aussie! thanks for you help.IMHO = in my honest opinion. Gee I am silly!, I am new to all this new lingo and still getting familiar with this forum and how it all works. I would be interested in locating aussie apers..thanks heaps.Hey, I just had a thought - go to www.roadback.org and post saying you're interested in talking to the Aussies!  You'll get a bunch of them right off the bat.  Don't forget to come back tho!  And say "Hi from Pip".

I was diagnosed last August and so far have mild symptoms, doctor says no meds just yet, but she tells me that because of my positive CCP and RF (both very low at 10 and 18) I will develop full-blown RA and the bad, erosive kind.

Thanks Pip, will do.I don't think I've ever come across such a diverse disease as RA! What works so well for one can be detrimental to another! I love wine and what I've found out for myself is that red wine will trigger a flare up within minutes but white wine does the complete opposite! One glass of white wine in the evening, and the next day is a pretty good one! I can feel it when I haven't had a glass within a week. Must be God's way of giving me a silver lining! Isn't that the truth! Hello,everybody!
I went to Barnes and Nobels with my son yesterday. I saw Arthritis for Dummies book. They mention Grapeseeds extract among the other supplements that help. They say it is unknown why it helps but they think it slows down the release of inflammatory enzymes. More studies need to be conducted. By the way, they don't know why plaquinil works, it is the drug for malaria but is prescribed for RA. I guess Grapeseed extract is the same as Resveratrol? I am going to try other supplements as well. I hate to take a lot of pills on the top of what I already take but I will. I do believe in diet! When I was first diagnosed it was said that the diet has no effect on RA. Now it is said everywhere that it does! The doctors just legally can't say much unless it is confirmed by official studies conducted on millions of RA patients. I think every case is so different and what works for one person will not work for the other. I wish I could come up with a selection of natural supplements for myself so I could stop taking real drugs!!!!! This disease is such a mistery but I believe it can be resolved.
Hello!
Isn't it strange! It is the opposite for me. Except white wine does not trigger my flare up,it just doesn't help. Have you tried Resveratrol? It seems to help me but I just started taking it. Without all of that I would have had to go on more serious drugs. I think my mild drugs are giving up after 5 years. If I don't drink wine or take resveratrol, I wake up in pain and feel like I am 100 years old. Nancy, I am surprised they didn't put you at least on mild meds. In my case it took them 3 years to come up with diagnosis. I had no swallowing for a long time. My doctor put me on plaquinil 6 weeks after my first symptoms appeared and I have been taking it ever since. He said even he was uncertain of what was going on but early treatment in RA (if it was RA) made all the difference in the world. I don't believe everything the doctors say though. One of them as I mentioned earlier kept promising me a wheel chair in the next 10 years if I don't take MXT and he implied that I was an alcoholic because I told him I did not want to give up wine (it was before I found out that it was red wine helping me- not fish or veggies- another reason not to give it up!)Rockin' Annie - it's black strap molassas that helps.  The other stuff just tastes good. Annie, What are malossas?Pip!
Your are right! By the way, I ate so much fish that my physician said she never saw such a perfect amount of vitamin D in anybody's tests. Not a bad thing! I am sure it all help! The reason that I emphasize red wine is that when I take it (or resveratrol) I feel no pain at all. And the whole day goes without any pain or discomfort. I don't even have stiffness after sitting still for a while. Why would not you try grape juice or grapes. Grape juice has sugar though- it is not too good. I have only one friend with RA, and wine did not help him. It varies I guess.
I am glad I joined this forum. I don't know how I lived without people's support for 5 years.   Pip!
I read your message again. Well, I moved from very cold climate to Texas and nobody told me to drink a lot of water. Texas is known for kidney stones because of dehydration. Local people grew up holding a cup of liquid in their hand. I force myself to drink more now.Pip, my RD has me baffled.  She believes that I will progress to full-blown RA but has not yet prescribed medication.  When I point out my low RF and anti-CCP numbers, she says "we were taught that any positive reading will result in erosive RA".  Taught?    She is very young and I may be one of her first patients.  I don't think she has experienced a variety of cases ranging from mild to severe. Nancy,
I asked my RD about antibiotics and received the same answer. I personally got rid of the doctor who tried to scare me. The tests will vary over time. I had negative ANA and then it turned positive in 2-3 years,my marker of inflammation varies all the time and is normal or very low most of the time. It was only high when I had severe pain, and it happened 3-4 times in 5 years. RF is a variable marker as well. I know what you are going through, but believe me the devil is not as black as he is painted. You have been through it for a year. One of the oldest and best RD in our city told me that the severe case is usually announce itself right away. What she is trying to tell you that people with positive RF have worse prognosis and she forgot to tell you that there are people with positive RF and they never even develop RA. Its all so relative! Severe cases are rare!!!!And now with all the drugs they have everybody has a good prognosis. Good luck!Thanks, Pepper.  I truly appreciate the information regarding severe cases showing up early in the disease process, especially coming from an experienced and well-respected RD.   Mine seems to be an alarmist.   Pepper -

Hi Nancy, I am sorry to read about your struggles with arthritis. I work for Corbett Accel Healthcare Group in Chicago, IL and my team is conducting a research project (no sales involved) on new therapies for RA. We would like to get the opinions of people who have been diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis or Undifferentiated (Inflammatory) Arthritis in the past year.

I have read through your postings and would like to ask if you would participate in a 1-hour phone interview. If you qualify you would receive for your time.

To find out if you qualify, please call me at 312-475-7857.

The deadline for responses is Friday, October 24.  Thanks for your consideration.

http://www.corbettaccel.com/clients/

Hi all, I am sorry to read about everyone’s struggles with arthritis – my team and I have read a number of your postings. I work for Corbett Accel Healthcare Group in Chicago, IL and my team is conducting a research project (no sales involved) on new therapies for Rheumatoid Arthritis. We would like to get the opinions of people who have been diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis or Undifferentiated (Inflammatory) Arthritis in the past year.

If you have seen or been referred to a rheumatologist and been diagnosed with either Rheumatoid or Undifferentiated (Inflammatory) Arthritis in the past year and would like to participate in a 20-minute phone interview at your convenience, please call me at 312.475.7830 to find out if you qualify.

Qualifying participants will receive 0 for their time/opinions.

The deadline for responses is Friday, November 7. Thanks for your consideration.

Brooke Miller

Account Executive

 

Corbett Worldwide Healthcare Communications

211 E. Chicago Avenue

Chicago, IL 60611

[QUOTE=tom_buhrmann]

Hi Nancy, I am sorry to read about your struggles with arthritis. I work for Corbett Accel Healthcare Group in Chicago, IL and my team is conducting a research project (no sales involved) on new therapies for RA. We would like to get the opinions of people who have been diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis or Undifferentiated (Inflammatory) Arthritis in the past year.

I have read through your postings and would like to ask if you would participate in a 1-hour phone interview. If you qualify you would receive for your time.

To find out if you qualify, please call me at 312-475-7857.

The deadline for responses is Friday, October 24.  Thanks for your consideration.

[/QUOTE]