Suggestions to help with flare (RA)

[Mary]

Hi folks,
What is your favorite remedy to help relieve pain and swelling? Today my left wrist and hand are so inflamed I can hardly use them (hurts to type-- but at least I still can!). I don't want to take pain meds (and usually they hardly help anyway). 
TIA!

[TamarE]

Hi Mary, I am moving this to general AIP so that one of the mods there can hopefully help.

[joromero]

I don't have any experience with RA but I know that ginger and turmeric are considered quite anti-inflammatory. I know that Mickey Trescott mentions a turmeric tea: autoimmune-paleo.com/anti-inflammatory-turmeric-tea/ but does caution on using turmeric 'if your autoimmune disease is Th2 dominant'. I hope that someone with more experience with RA will step in and offer some help.

[octobergirl]

Hi Mary,

Sorry to hear about your flare. I don't have RA, but I have IBD-related arthralgia, and it's probably the worst of the extra-intestinal symptoms that I have. I also don't take pain pills, so I've just dealt with pain which is hard sometimes. My problem areas usually in my lower body, so I take epsom salt baths which temporarily seems to help. I think just heat helps, but it is temporary relief.

I have read about castor oil helping to relieve arthritis pain, but I haven't tried it myself. As joromero said, ginger and turmeric are supposed to help, also Boswellia, which I believe is related to turmeric is supposed to help as well, a Crohn's board I visit has suggested I try that, but you have to take a pretty substantial dose, so a supplement would be necessary. I've read it can be ask helpful as Sulfasalazine, so it's worth looking into. I tried it and didn't notice much difference, but I don't know if my dose was high enough.

I hope you find some relief soon.

[jillh]

May 16, 2014 7:30:49 GMT -5 Mary said:

Hi folks,
What is your favorite remedy to help relieve pain and swelling? Today my left wrist and hand are so inflamed I can hardly use them (hurts to type-- but at least I still can!). I don't want to take pain meds (and usually they hardly help anyway). 
TIA!

Hi Mary,
I'm sorry I missed this on the other board! I recently had an RA flare as well and found that Curcumin helped. I notice my swelling as tingly hands and feet from carpal and tarsal tunnel. My Naturopath prescribed Thorne Meriva-500 (Curcumin Phytosome) and within a day or so I noticed a big difference - not quite as immediate as a dose of NSAIDS I know!

[Mary]

Hi everyone. Thanks for the responses.

I have been doing AIP for over 6 months, and if it's helped, it's been very slow. I managed to lower my daily dose of Prednisone from 9 mg to 5 mg during those 6 months (most of it happening during the 4th and 5th month on AIP). I've also seen a nutritionist who has prescribed supplements. Then today I called my rhuematologist, and she said to take 10 mg for one week, then 7.5 for one week for the increased swelling/pain. Prednisone is the most powerful and effective thing I've ever taken for the pain/swelling. It's just amazing. I feel so discouraged to increase my Prednisone dose again (it took so long to get down to 5 mg), but not being in pain for even a week sounds so wonderful. Today I'm just feeling so weary of trying diet and supplements (and spending loads of money on it), but seeing very little results. Anyway, I'm sure when I'm feeling better this will all look brighter.

[jillh]

Hang in there Mary! It's hard not to get discouraged sometimes - I think we have all been there. I hope you can get back on track once you have dealt with this flare. I try to think of AIP more as my way of giving my body the best tools I know of to combat the disfunction!

[Mary]

I haven't stopped AIP. I'm still doing it, though maybe not quite as well as I did earlier (probably consuming less veggies and more fructose). I don't want to stop it, because I think it's helped in some ways even if it's not as dramatic of improvement as I would wish for. And, I know enough about the science of it to believe/hope that it's helping even if results are slow. It sure is a healing journey with ups and downs, but as long as the overall trend is up, I try to be encouraged with that.

Thanks for the encouraging words.

[amandabs66]

Not sure if this is the right board but I'm also experiencing increased pain and inflammation in both my hands with my RA. Have been gluten and lactose free for 2 years, full paleo for a year now and just over a month AIP. Have only been taking 5mg Pred but my symptoms are slowly getting worse so I've increased to 10mg. Hoping this kicks in pretty quick as it's very hard to function when neither hand is working properly. Can't say I've seen any improvement at all since going AIP

[EJ]

amandabs66, I'm sorry you haven't seen results yet But these things take time! It can be discouraging (I know it is for me) to hear stories about people whose symptoms are gone within a week of starting AIP. For the rest of us, that's just not how it works. If you've been dealing with your symptoms for a long time, it makes sense that it will take longer than a month to heal. My doctor originally said 6-12 months on AIP...well I'm at 8 months and now she's saying some people take up to 2 years to see improvement. It's super frustrating, but then again I can't think of anything I could do that would be better for my body than to continue this lifestyle!

You might want to check out The Paleo Approach and look at Sarah's troubleshooting checklist to see if there's anything you're missing. And it's not just food Sleep & stress & hormones all come into play.

Hope you find relief soon!

[amandabs66]

Thanks EJ for encouragement. I know this is all about the journey and I have seen some major improvements in my body since going paleo just not with my RA! I just have to accept that I cannot do this in the meantime without the meds (been off them 9 months because of side effects) to keep the RA under control - right now it's spiralling well and truly out of control I've been following Sarah for over a year which is how I learned about AIP and have the cookbook but not the original book, probably need to invest in that. I live a pretty stress free life, luckily, but sleep is a major factor as the pain keeps me from getting solid sleep.
I have every intention of continuing with the AIP I think I just need a little extra help along the way! And my family have benefitted from paleo too so there's no way that will change now.
Thanks for the support

[memmistubbs]

Do any of you live in the Atlanta area? I would love to meet others who have RA and are following the paleo AIP. I am also looking for weekly cooking help since I have limited mobility in my elbows and hands (due to RA for 35 years) and am a terrible cook anyway lol! Thanks!