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This article is a transcribed edited summary of a video Bob and Brad recorded in May of 2018. For the original video go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9j0yDwhY0V8
Bob: We are most graciously joined today by Jody who is going to be our real patient today. We're going to talk about dramatic pain relief for rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia. Again we have a real patient’s story here. She’s going to talk about some of the things that worked for her and some of the things that didn't work.
Brad: I think the most amazing thing here is she had some really good success after going through a regimen of things that weren't working that were supposed to. She does a much better job so I'm going to let her finish up with that.
Jody: Thank you, so in about 2013 I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia and they did a rheumatoid arthritis test at the same time. Didn't think I had it and it came back with extremely high indicators. So, what happens usually when you're diagnosed with RA is they put you on two drugs usually to start. One actually is a cancer drug, a chemotherapy drug. One's called methotrexate and the other is Black Widow.
Bob: You got kind of a double whammy here. You got two major diagnoses in one settings. That must have been a little bit of a shock or were you suspecting?
Jody: No. My husband's an RN and he has some opinions about fibromyalgia, and so yeah, it was very shocking. And troublesome because it is a progressive non curable disease. You know I've had a lot of medical issues in my life and was very accustomed to having doctors tell me what to do following their instructions. So that was obviously what we were going to do. The trouble came after I was on methotrexate for about a year. I didn't know it but it can affect your liver functions and enzymes. So we had a test and I had to go off of it because my enzymes were up. So rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease which basically means your immune system is attacking itself. So you can go along and be perfectly okay and then you'll have a flare or you can live in a state of flare, I guess. So, I had had a couple of flares. They put me on steroids that dropped the flares down because it helps to reduce the inflammation.
Bob: Obviously you can’t stay on steroids very long at all.
Jody: The other thing that people take a lot to help with the pain and the inflammation is NSAIDs. That's not good to be on long term either. So a lot of these things that help manage the disease is not good for your body.
Bob: Right. Sometimes it can end up being worse.
Jody: Oh wait until you hear, it gets worse. So, I had to go off the one drug and when we started this because certain drugs are advertised a lot out there and they're called biologics for this type of a disease. I was adamant I was not going to go on one because they have a lot of side effects, however after two years and not being able to take the one drug I had a really bad flare and basically was convinced by the doctor to go on a biologic. A biologic is an inject every two weeks. So I was on that for about nine months had several flares.
Bob: Despite being on it, you were still having flares?
Jody: The reason that we decided to go on it though was because of the concern about long-term joint damage. At the time I was diagnosed, they took x-rays and I had no joint damage so they wanted to stave that off. I would say in about late summer of 2016 I had a flare that wouldn't go away. They put me back on steroids for an extended amount of time. That's when my body rebelled and I developed yeast all over my torso. I developed psoriasis and had never had it in my life. I still had my flare. I went to a dermatologist and they said until you have this under control, well I went to my doctor first obviously. But the dermatologist said, until you have this under control we want you off the biologic. It took months, they put me on a steroid cream which then created boils and pustules.
Bob: Oh my gosh things are just sliding the wrong way here.
Brad: Was the fibromyalgia a factor or was that just on the back burner, or just an irritant along with it?
Jody: Well that's a really good point, it seems they go hand in hand. It seems like when I have a flare of the RA, the fibromyalgia it's like a whole body thing. And my fibromyalgia manifests itself in different places than the RA. So at this point in time, I literally would limp out of bed limp to the kitchen, take my Advil and my prescription pain medicine daily and it would be hours before I could function. Move my fingers. I actually had a handicapped placard because I couldn't walk very well. It was awful and that was my future.
Bob: I'm sure it was not only the future but you were expecting it to get worse because it’s progressive. So what did you begin trying? What changed you?
Jody: Well that summer before, I had a really good friend who had some health issues and she went to a homeopathy. So, I went to a homeopathy to kind of talk about options and she informed me that the number one thing that causes inflammation in your body is your diet. So, she had me see one of her dieticians. I will tell you it scared me to death because I kind of like food. But she educated me on a lot of stuff and I had been you know really watching my weight for years and years and years and doing a lot of low-fat no-fat kind of thing. I found out that actually is very not good for a person. I had some dietary changes I needed to make, but in addition to that she does tinctures. These are drops that I put into water and one's an anti-inflammatory tincture and one's a pain relief.
Brad: What is a tincture?
Jody: A tincture is just basically something that's like in liquid, it's not even an oil. I'm not an expert here so you might want to google what it is but basically it's a way of distilling plant.
Brad: So you're doing this with the diet?
Jody: Right and this was like my first step was to go to her. In addition, I had during the previous two years started massage therapy and acupuncture which actually did help quite a bit. So I was using those in conjunction to going but when my body rebelled like that I was like, I've got to do something else. I made the decision that I would never be back on any RA drugs because of what happened. So I said I've got to find something else that's going to help me. So I went to the homeopathy and started that regimen. At the same time, I was introduced to essential oils. My thinking was two-pronged I need to manage the pain so I could function because I literally I couldn't work, I couldn't walk. So I needed to manage the pain and then I needed to find out the underlining cause and handle that. So the oils absolutely helped my pain as did the tincture. Then the diet and the things underneath the inflammation, understanding what's going on in your body is the key obviously to solving the issue. I will tell you that biologics suppress the immune system and because an autoimmune disease is the immune system kind of going haywire. They suppress it so it doesn't do that.
Brad: So biologics, you're saying the medication that the doctor prescribed.
Jody: Right. One of the cautions with that is you know you can get sick very easily because your immune system is compromised. That also is a not a great thing. The analogy that I used earlier was it's like if you don't address the underlining causes which is inflammation in your body, it's systemic inflammation, then it's like stepping on a tack and taking an aspirin but not getting off the tack. You're not actually even treating anything, it's a Band-Aid.
Brad: Then the diet, you started looking into that and making changes?
Jody: Yes, and I will tell you, I remember the first week I said to somebody “I haven't taken a Vicodin for a week. I haven't taken an Advil for a week.” I mean, everything was what I hadn't taken and how I was increasing my mobility and my feeling. So when I started making changes to the diet I ended up being pain-free for over eight months.
Brad: Without medication?
Jody: Without medication or pain meds! But here's what makes me really sad and this is why I wanted to come on the show. I really want people to understand. When I went back to my rheumatologist because you have like six month appointments, I said to her I've been pain-free. I think this was about four months in. I was very excited I wanted to tell her what I was doing and all she said was I really want you to go back on a medication.
Brad: So she did not acknowledge your success. She did ask how did you do it?
Jody: Nothing and all I could think it was you have other patients this could help. And it made me very sad So I was talking to my chiropractor and she said start spreading the word yourself. Get it out there. Tell your story.
Bob: This is no surprise to me at all. I've been reading a lot on diet lately and just the inflammatory process. The nature of a lot of foods. This does not surprise me at all. I'll tell you; we’re going to do another video where just going talking about diet. Is there anything else here that you want to mention that you're using?
Jody: Well one of the things that I had started using was the Dr. Axe collagen or bone broth. When I first went to my dietitian, she said I could make my own homemade bone broth, but I do not do that. The bone broth helps, it helps with the inflammation. I would recommend absolutely finding a homeopath, a good massage therapist, a good chiropractor, a good acupuncturist. These are all tools that you can use in your arsenal to help manage the pain, but to also reduce the inflammation so that your joint damage is reduced.
Brad: I'm still curious, the big picture of the diet. What did you do? Give me one sentence.
Jody: I use coconut oil now. That's one thing.
Bob: That’s just one thing. Did we talk about pretty much everything?
Jody: Yeah, the other thing, very quickly; anything that you use that I mentioned, like the essential oils be very, very, very careful to make sure you get it from a professional. Big-box stores and even a co-op there is no regulations on what is in an essential oil. They have done independent testing and some of them have like nothing in them.
Bob: I’ve heard the same thing.
Jody: If you're going to go a natural route, which I totally recommend find a practitioner that can guide you.
Bob: Someone that you can trust.
Jody: Right, exactly.
Bob: Alright well you're going to stay tuned for the next episode because that's where we get into the meat and potatoes of what you should eat. We want to thank Jody, our guests for coming and for sharing her knowledge and we'll see you next time.
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