Hello,

Im 23 male and have got sero-negative RA for 1-2 years. The joints that are most effected are my knees; both of them. Recently, my finger joints have also bothering me.

Currently i am off drugs; all kinds of them. Trying homoeopathic medicine to stop the inflammation from growing. Have had mixed success. Was wondering if there exists any alternative cure to RA besides NSAIDS, steroids, etc? Do any specific type of exercises help?

Has anyone here tried Nutriflex by NakaHerbs? The person who sent me this swears by it.

Anyway please send me as much information on coping with RA as possible.

Also has anyone here tried AP (antibiotic protocol) here?

Thanks! :)

One thing you can try at least for your knees is to take 1200 mg of vitamin C daily, it is recommended by the Arthritis Org. It may bring you a little relief and it definately slows the damage down as they did a study on it.

One thing you can try at least for your knees is to take 1200 mg of vitamin C daily, it is recommended by the Arthritis Org. It may bring you a little relief and it definately slows the damage down as they did a study on it.

Well...i have heard that zinc helps fight inflammation. is it right?

Hi there! I am a 24 yearold female with RA. I just happened to be on the food some doctors suggest (lots of fruits, veggies, and seafood-I don't eat any meat), taking the Evening Primose Oil tablets, calcium, and Vit E and I have to say that I don't know if I believe it is helping much. I still take all of it but considering I could barely write or walk last week.....I had to turn to medications. To be able to function and to make sure I didn't do any permanent damage to my joints or have trouble in the future. Be careful when you do take vits and other herbal remedies as they can do damage. Too much Vitamin C can be a bad thing....people can OD on vitamins. I do know my Rheumy doctor suggested I take the Fish Oils.

I am going to try acupuncture on Sat and do that on a regular basis. I also practice Reiki and I believe that as cheezy as this may sound; how you feel within yourself mentally and spiritual ly(that doesn't have to mean religious) play a huge role in how you feel and how you cope.

Someone had told me zyflamend easycaps help reduce inflammation but I don't know if that is for just arthritis in general and if it will help with RA. I bought it but have not tried it.

Since I was recently diagnosed with RA within the last month I am trying to come to grips with it. I have bought lots of books on RA and if you would like the titles I can give them to you.

I do believe now...to not put off things. The thing with RA is you don't know how you will feel the next day so take one day at a time.

Take care everyone!:)

I just happened to be on the food some doctors suggest (lots of fruits, veggies, and seafood-I don't eat any meat), taking the Evening Primose Oil tablets, calcium, and Vit E and I have to say that I don't know if I believe it is helping much.
Hello scaredest! Well can u please tell me what foods the doc put u on? And what foods did they ask u to avoid? What is the evening promise oil tablets? And what quantities of calcium and Vit E?

Be careful when you do take vits and other herbal remedies as they can do damage. Too much Vitamin C can be a bad thing....people can OD on vitamins. I do know my Rheumy doctor suggested I take the Fish Oils.
Is there any medical evidence on this? I thought that overdoing vitamins was not harmful as the body would automatically excrete excess amounts. How much vitamin C is recommended? I have also heard about fish oils. But what type? And what quantity?

I am going to try acupuncture on Sat and do that on a regular basis. I also practice Reiki and I believe that as cheezy as this may sound; how you feel within yourself mentally and spiritual ly(that doesn't have to mean religious) play a huge role in how you feel and how you cope.
scaredest, is it accupunture or accupressure? I have heard that accupressure is more helpful and SAFE. Anyway what is REIKI and what does it do. At present emotionally and spiritually i am very down. Have undergone a few bouts of severe depression in the last few weeks. And currently have mild depression.

Someone had told me zyflamend easycaps help reduce inflammation but I don't know if that is for just arthritis in general and if it will help with RA. I bought it but have not tried it.
What is this? Please educate.

Since I was recently diagnosed with RA within the last month I am trying to come to grips with it. I have bought lots of books on RA and if you would like the titles I can give them to you.
Yeah sure. Please let me know.

fwa,

Who diagnosed your "sero-negative rhematoid arthritis? It can be a slippery term more precisely called, psoriatic arthritis, gout, osteoarthritis, SLE, scleroderma or even reactive arthritis due to things like strep and gonorrhea.
Was the diagnosis any more precise?

Bad knees progressing to sore hands in the absence of a positive RA factor can be SO many things and the term "sero negative arthritis" is so broad a term.
"Rheumatoid" almost implies the need for some "rheumatoid blood factors." It's an autoimmune process with some fairly distinctive markers.

fwa,

Who diagnosed your "sero-negative rhematoid arthritis? It can be a slippery term more precisely called, psoriatic arthritis, gout, osteoarthritis, SLE, scleroderma or even reactive arthritis due to things like strep and gonorrhea.
Was the diagnosis any more precise?

Bad knees progressing to sore hands in the absence of a positive RA factor can be SO many things and the term "sero negative arthritis" is so broad a term.
"Rheumatoid" almost implies the need for some "rheumatoid blood factors." It's an autoimmune process with some fairly distinctive markers.


Zip2play,

One rheumatologists and one ortho to be precise. Though my RA factor is negative but still my condition is very similar to RA. And so according to the rheumatologist i have sero-negative RA. But surprisingly he didnt give me any NSAIDS, or any medication for that matter.

Well, i have been in pain for 2 years now. First it was only the knees. They used to get swollen and pain. There was also this click click sound. At that time i went to an ortho he diagnosed chondromalacia patellae. But then when i went for second opinion, the other doc said that this pain was due to the misalignment of my legs. He gave some other medicines and asked me to go for physiotherapy. I was still not satisfied so i went to another doc, he asked me for all the blood tests like RA factor etc to rule out the various types of arthritis. All of them came negative. The only blood test that was a little eyebrow raising was the uric acid test; it was on the higher side (it has remained on the higher side of the normal range eversince). Also my ALT and Cholesterol figures were elevated (and have remained so eversince), but i dont think they have anything to do with my pain. Anyhow that doc prescribed some NSAIDS (which shot my ALT levels to the sky!), general precautions and physiotherapy. I followed all but no relief. Then i went to another ortho. He first diagnosed me with chondromalacia. But on second visit he changed his mind and said that my problem was that of a rheumatologist and thus referred me to one. I went to that doc he ruled out chondromalacia, knock knees and instead said that i had sero-negative arthropathy. He didnt give me any medicine but asked me to strenghten my quads and hamstrings, exercise and lose weight. Recently i went to another ortho he confirmed the rheumatologist's diagnosis and referred me to another rheumatologist. I must add here that now i not only have knee pain but also pain in the finger joints of both hands and also sometimes in the finger joints of my feet.

I will go to the second rheumatologist in the coming week. Lets see what he says.

Hello

Thanks for the reply and the offer!

Hey there...well FW1981 to answer some of your questions......

Reiki is energy healing. I would suggest to type it into goggle or something and see....it is hard to type right here.

I went to the Chinese medicine doctor and he said that with RA sometimes acupuncture isn't the best thing to do right away. Instead he wants me to try herbel remidies. But he also suggest I get completely off prescriptions and just do herbs. So...I have the herbel mix he suggest but don't know yet if that is the route I want to go. I am also making an appoitment to see someone in homeopathy. There are so many options...and I need to do some research to figure out what route to try first. I am trying to tell my self I have to focus not only on how I feel today and tomorrow but what my body may be like in 10-30 years from now. So, it gets complicated but that is why there are boards like this.

All the books I have read say that Fish Oils are good for you. RA or not they are good for you. One book that I have read says GLA oils (Evening Primose OIl) but there is no proof for sure. It is important to stay healthy and live a healthy life so taking a multi-vitamin is great and having good nutrition.

As for vitamin C...who knows. I have read articles that if you take too much for a long period of time it can be bad. But I don't remember much more than that. I do know if you check the Arthritis Foundation out it has an article in June 2004 about Vit. C and arthtitis actually.

I can't give you any amounts of anything because as you can tell I am learning this all myself and I am in no position to tell others what, how much, or how often. But the second anything works I will share it with everyone!

try 3000 mgs of fish oil tablets a day. Get them at gnc stores.