Rheumatoid Arthritis: To medicate or not to medicate!

I was told that the best way to treat rheumatoid arthritis is to throw everything at it from the beginning. Shock it into remission and shorten the time inflammation will destroy joints.

I was given methotrexate, folate and prednisolone at the beginning.

Methotrexate I was told was a toxic substance and also used as a chemotherapy drug for leukemia patients. I later discovered that it was the cause of my gout problem.

Prednisolone took the edge off the pain whenever there was a flare-up, and daily doses were necessary to stop any ongoing joint damaging inflammation. But it eventually caused my immune system to weaken so much that I had a cough and cold for 6 months, till I cut back on the prednisolone.

Stopping those two drugs would cause more pain and flare-ups. I was in a dilemma… damned if I do, damned if I don’t continue taking them!

I was introduced to Humira, a biologic! It was supposed to be a wonder solution to my problems. The literature provided by the pharmaceutical company that produced it, listed the risk of developing cancers as a possible side effect. It also cost me close to $2,000 for 2 shots, to be injected 2 weeks apart. It didn’t work!

I got fed up with wasting money on things that didn’t work for me. Fed up with drugs that were exposing me to risks of developing new medical problems, as they were, supposedly, helping me with my rheumatoid arthritis.  

That’s when I started researching alternative medicines and other natural remedies. They worked! Were much cheaper on my pocket, and much cheaper on the risk front.

I hope my experience will be of help other rheumatoid arthritis sufferers like me.