Anyone here deal with rheumatoid arthritis?

[Flaxbee]

My brother-in-law was just diagnosed with some rare kind of rheumatoid arthritis (I don't know what kind, my sister hasn't felt like talking about it much) and he's going thru hell as they poke and prod him trying to find a treatment that eases his pain. Anyone have any "tricks" that have helped them? A friend of mine claims that his grandmother awoke every morning with swollen hands and other joints but after a glass of marijuana tea every morning, the swelling and pain would go away and she'd be pretty comfortable the rest of the day. Anyone ever hear of medical marijuana use for arthritis?

[Redstone]

1. "Anyone here deal with rheumatoid arthritis?"

Every day.

The granny with the herb tea is on the right track.

Redstone

[Flaxbee]

4. goddamn "herb tea" militant freaks...

this guy has a job that would make it very, very, very bad if he were to use it w/o proper 'permission' (why it's illegal is one of the monstrous stupidities of this culture, but I digress). I tried to find a medical marijuana trial somewhere for RA that he could try but no luck.

Thanks for the reply... I'll see what I can find out. He lives in a medically progressive town in a red state so perhaps he can suggest it to his drs.

[Redstone]

9. One other thing...

Even if your brother manages to work around the "monstrous stupidity" that prevents people in chrionic pain from getting the medication they need, the one thing he absolutely must do is keep moving!

At least in my experience, the longer you stay still, the more you lock up.

Redstone

[ScreamingMeemie]

2. I do. I use the magnet wraps and castor oil treatments. Please tell him

to exercise great hygiene (i.e. hand washing) I am severely immune deficient because of this...and it's no fun. Best of luck to him.

Laura

[Flaxbee]

7. pardon my ignorance... but

why are you immune deficient b/c of the treatments?

[yellowdogintexas]

8. RA is an autoimmune disorder

my brother in law has it bad, but now he is taking injections which are helping a lot.

He had a thyroid storm about 21 years ago ..that is also an autoimmune process...I have always thought the two were related

he's a farmer and of course has constant contact with fertilizers, pesticides, etc.

[tibbir]

3. I have a friend who has RA.

She goes through an awful lot trying to find something to ease her pain. She was taking something by injections but they compromised her immune system that she got several infections.

They took her off that medication and she's fever free for the first time in a while. Right now she's taking ocycontin but only by what the prescription says - or less - and only until she's been infection free for 30 days and they put her on another type of medicine that doesn't compromise her immune system.

The only really good news is that they're at work trying to come up with new medications.

I don't know of any home remedies that'd work. I wonder if adding Eastern medicine - such as accupuncture - would help any.

Best of luck with your brother-in-law and sister. If he gets the right medicine it seems to keep it from advancing.

[Digit]

5. Aren't some of these cases caused by Lyme Disease and the like?

I thought I heard that "some" cases could be taken care of by huge doses of antibiotics.
In the effort to alleviate the symptoms, don't stop trying to find the cause.
I hope he does well.

[chookie]

6. My limited personal experience

I was diagnosed at an early age - 21. Bummer. It comes and goes, but when it hits, it floors me. No analgesic comes close to stopping the pain -- which is not intense, but all pervasive. I can take it in most joints, but when it hits my hands, I can't stand it....

I took advice from one of Dr Weil's books -- which was to experiment with diet. He wrote that if one could isolate a food which triggered the agony, one could tell within a week.

I tried dairy. Gave it up. Within a week, symptoms gone. When I introduce dairy (milk butter cheese, etc) -- symptoms arise again.

I knew I had been diagnosed as allergic to milk products as a child; but it was only recently (and I am no spring chicken) that my Dad told me that I was seriously allergic to milk from infancy.... Not having discerning parents, they continued to feed me dairy, because they did not know better and it is an easy way to feed kids, and I can't help but wonder if this diet of irritating food contributed to my RA.

I LOVE cheese. I LOVE butter. When I avoid them, I feel great; when I imbide, I suffer (within days).

Experimentation with diet might be tried, in your case. Dairy is a good place to start -- as I said, a week -- which is not a long time -- will tell. If symptoms persist, the next 'suspect" to try is nightshade relatives -- tomatoes (tragically!), eggplant, etc.

RA SUCKS! SUCKS THE BIG WET ONE! I HATE IT!! IT'S BRUTAL! but, mercifully, in my case, I have discovered very obvious food triggers. When I avoid, or mininize, dairy, I am symptom free. Go figure....

One final note -- I have been extremely allergic since childhood. I was so bad as a kid I was studied by a major hospital as an extreme example, and to this day my picture appears in medical manuals as an example of "OH SHIT!" .

Weird thing is, I don't go sneezing through life any more -- but I have bad RA when I injest things I am allergic to....

Before your loved one starts taking drugs, IMHO, he might want to experiment with his diet, first. Relief will appear in days. It doesn't take long to finger triggers.

Good luck, my dears.