Posted 11/7/2011 6:54 AM (GMT 0)
warning...this is long...but finding a real, natural, drug free treatment is important to me and i felt the long explanation was necessary for anyone interested in how the immune system works, and someone who could let me know if they have any knowledge on the subject or had any similiar experiences and or thoughts! I wont be offended if no one is interested lol ;)
I posted a couple times a few years back when i suspected lyme disease after having bullseye rash after a day of floating down a river in the mountains, followed by the ensuing typical array of symptoms. clinically i was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, and when you cant walk or sleep or hold your children because of pain you tend to give in to whatever a dr tells you. the meds seemed to help (methotrexate, sulphasalazine, plaquinel, oxycontin) i think they calmed the initial onset...but who knows if thats a good thing in the long run, lowering your immune system when your body could possibly need to be fighting bacteria (lyme) as the real cause? the frustrating and mind boggling thing to me is the lack of interest in finding out WHY youre body is suddenly inflamed and painful and attacking its own tissues??? instead you are given drugs to change your bodies response to the problem....doesnt make sense.
I was on meds for maybe 4/5 months tops, felt like i was poisoning my body and as well they made me extremely nauseous 24/7. I stayed on the oxycontin for about a year, but i felt like they kept me from really taking action to heal...a psuedo contentment to just literally do nothing, eat bad, and eventually have it consume me. ANYway, I'm off all RA meds for about 5 months now, oxycontin now for about 3 months (thank the lord). basically ive always just tried to be positive, and KNOW that whatever im going through is a learning experience, as i believe everything happens for a reason. From a natural healing perspective, i always resigned to the fact that as they say...any disease doesnt happen over night, so with perseverance it will take a while to reverse (thats mostly pertains to having rheumatoid arthritis, and knowing that my crappy diet and extreme emotional stress could have been triggers, but who knows, maybe all those factors could come into play and make you more susceptible to lyme disease as well).
so anyway, i wanted to share how ive been since going off all my meds, i do think its relevant! Basically Ive formulated a few theories lol. After feeling so hopeless with drs and not being able to get a proper lyme diagnosis, always doubting the RA label ...and knowing that even if i did get a positive test that things dont necessarily get easier from there money wise and treatment wise.... so I took a different approach and looked at all my symptoms as having no title...no diagnosis. Instead of "naming" all my symptoms into one category, like RA or lupus or whatever else medical drs can make up, (im not saying ra or lupus is made up, but i just believe all these immune diseases are one in the same, just different reactions for different ppl) I just viewed them as the symptoms of the cause, whatever a dr chose to label the symptoms was irrelevant, because i wanted to wipe out the cause, not tone down the symptoms. I found the only way to really do this was naturally, ei. elminiate STRESS (almost impossible without drastic changes) positivity, a change in negative environment (i even moved to get rid of stress) time...more time....change in negative or self depreciating attitude....DEFINITELY a change in diet helped...i wish i could say i have sucessfully eaten perfectly for such and such a time but that for me is an ongoing battle, but i definitely notice a difference from healthy eating to loading the body with refined sugars. im slowly trying to go diary and sugar free. (i want to add i cant really specifically point to any one thing that may have aided in any improvements ive made, thats why im posting, to see if any others have simliar experiences, so dont think im pushing any one thing or the other, personally i believe it has been a combination of all)
After going off my RA meds, (keep in mind i never tested positive for the RA factor...somehow you can clinically diagnose rheumatoid arthritis without a positive blood test but when it comes to lyme disease a negative is the final answer! the only thing showing up in my blood was lots of inflamation..which we already knew obviously by just looking at me) I figured the oxycontin was the only thing keeping me from feeling the painful effects of stopping the methotrexate etc, so i was worried about quitting oxycontin. But, surprisingly, after some ups and downs...things started to even out and i was consistently better and better. (still not great or near 100..or even 75%...but better, u know what i mean)
Heres the real kicker, after a few months off opiates, I started eating Kratom powder as an alternative to pain meds. I felt like all the the tylenol and anti inflamatories i was downing were affecting my stomach. Kratom really works, it dulls the pain! But, i noticed after a few hours when it would wear off, i would be in SEVERE pain, and after a few days of taking it, it was worse and worse. I figured that because kratom is a immune booster, that maybe it was a bad idea. as much as i enjoyed the temporary pain relief, if it was stimulating my immune system thats a no no for RA sufferers. I ended up taking it for about 4 days after even so because I had to take kids out for halloween etc and needed the pain relief, and decided id stop taking it afterwards and just deal with the rebound pain when i had nothing that i had to do for a few days. I even broke out in hives and was like ok..I need to stop taking it casue it doing SOMETHING strange to my body.
so, crazily enough, after taking it for about 2 weeks everyday.. and stopping taking it the day after halloween....ive had THEE greatest, painfree week I have had in 2 years. which was extremely confusing. upon researching, i realized that it contains alkaloids, much like the bacteria/virus killing alkaloids in garlic etc. perhaps....the rebound pain and overall sickness i was feeling while taking it when it would start to wear off was a bit of a herxheimer reaction (sorry for spelling)??? i'm feeling not so great tonight i think becuase of all the halloween candy and junkfood ive eaten this weekend BUT, its still better than i felt before my 2 weeks of taking kratom. anyway, its all so confusing. i stopped going to drs a long time ago. sometimes i get scared that im hurting myself by not being on medication but at the same time, i KNOW the medication will eventually hurt me too. Its scary but every once in a while i feel affirmations one way or another that im doing the right thing so, I just wanted to know if anyone else who suspects lyme disease has had an RA diagnosis and their experience, as well as if anyone who might have tried kratom. thanks :)