Hi everyone. I am wondering if anyone tried alternatives to medication. My aunt was really trying to convince me to stop taking my medications ( all, not just for RA , ie nexium) and take different supplements instead.Does anyone ever question which is best? Traditional medicine or herbal supplements along with properly combining food ( Fit For Life)? Or has anyone tried it the natural way before going to traditional medicine? I am tring to eat prperly combined meals but I'm not going crazy with it.After reading so much about the new way to treat RA, I feel like I lost time. I see that now dr's try to treat the disease aggressively in the beginning to try to prevent damage to joints later on. If I sound a little anxious and confused, it's because I am : ) I am new to all this and a little overwhelmed by all that is out there. SuzqFor what it's worth, I have questioned which route is best myself a time or two. I had been on Methotrexate and was eating natural foods and was feeling so good I decided to go off my meds and just rely on eating healthier and taking some vitamins. That ended up being a huge mistake in my case. All the symptoms came back and with a vengance too. The medications were working better than I had thought. So now I am trying to go back to both and I'm starting to feel so much better. I'm actually afraid to go off some of my meds now.
I also need to get my weight down some. I'm sure that losing weight will help and eating healthier is always good for the body anyway.
So bottom line...I'm sticking to my meds and also looking for ways to be healthier too.
If one does start using supplements/alternative options, you would want to GRADUALLY reduce your medications with the advice of your doctor. Also you should really research what you are doing, what you should take and make sure you are taking high quality products.
Medications have one thing going for them-they reduce symptoms and make life easier for the sufferer. Natural products if they work only do so very gradually (I have taken glucosamine for years and am still waiting for any improvement) so it is foolish to suddenly give up medication on trying natural therapies unless you are prepared to wear the discomfort of all the symptoms the arthritis medication suppresses coming back.
Surely natural therapies and traditional drug treatments can be done at the same time and if the natural therapy works (I don't know of any natural therapies that are proven to work by the way although some may help a little) then you should be able to reduce your medication as your body heals.