How to Stop Rheumatoid Arthritis Pain Naturally

Preface

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Dr. Richard Schulze, there is a very good reason he came to the above conclusion. His father died of a massive heart attack at age 55 when Dr. Schulze was 11 years old. Three years later his mother died at age 55, also, of a heart attack. At age 16 Dr. Schulze was diagnosed with a genetic, incurable heart deformity. He was not willing to accept the diagnosis and cured himself without surgery. He then made it his life's mission to help others who had been given an "incurable" diagnosis to recognize that incurable diseases simply do not exist.

In other words, there is no such thing as an incurable disease. I can say this with absolute certainty because there have been documented cases of remissions of every disease known. Diabetes, tuberculosis, cancer, malaria, multiple-sclerosis, HIV, Aids, etc. have documented reports of remissions. These reports can be found in medical journals and papers published by research institutions around the world. Although medical science often has no explanation for many of these recoveries and is not able to duplicate these results consistently, the fact remains that there is no disease that is completely incurable.

No matter what is attributed to the healing… whether by faith in religious beliefs, mystical incantations or scientific breakthrough, there is clear evidence that people have made dramatic and documented recoveries from every known disease. The next step toward healing is to adopt a confident frame of reference and accept that if anyone else can recover then it is possible that you can recover too!

This book was written to provide you with the information, strategies, and tools for you to use to shift yourself into the best possible position to be free of all illness. By becoming familiar with the contents of this book you will discover the amazing truth about the importance of developing and nourishing a positive mental attitude and how it relates directly to the speed, fullness, and effectiveness of your recovery. But, that’s not all… you will be also discover techniques which are often overlooked, because of their simplicity, that can put you on the road to rebuilding your health immediately.

Introduction

This book may be immensely valuable for anyone experiencing any type of pain or illness. I have used the information contained in this book to overcome:

         severe pain and arthritis (both osteo and rheumatoid arthritis)

         fibromyalgia

         severe leg and foot cramping

         migraine headaches

In the beginning

For me it all started 31 years ago at the age of 33. In those days, before the proliferation of personal computers, word processors dominated the market. I worked as a word process operator for a successful textile company, typing in a high-stress environment for up to eight hours every day. The constant strain was getting to me and before I knew it I was experiencing excruciating pain in my right hand—pain that just wouldn’t go away. As time passed, the pain only worsened and I found myself taking over-the-counter pain pills just to do my job.

But it didn't stop there. Within a few months the pain spread to my feet and knees. This was particularly distressful because my favorite pastime was ballroom dancing. It was a huge stress reliever for me and one of the few pleasures in my life. But as we know, illness has no regard for what you enjoy.  I found myself leaving the studio in tears knowing that I couldn't continue. The pain was simply more than I could bear and the over-the-counter pain killers were not enough.  Eventually the pain won and I quit dancing.

Doctors and diagnosis

At first, I thought the pain would go away. Or maybe I just hoped it would go away. But as the months passed with no relief, it became clear that a visit to my family doctor was inevitable. In retrospect, I already knew what was happening though I wanted to deny it.

Growing up, I watched my grandmother suffer from the pain of arthritis. I watched as her hands and feet became severely deformed. I watched her go from being a vibrant woman to being nearly crippled. I saw the pain she lived with every day and her constant struggle to accomplish even small tasks. It was a fate I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy let alone someone I loved as much as I did her. Fate, it seems is a cruel road as I stood there wondering if my path would be the same.

I remember sitting there as the rheumatologist delivered the news. I had tested positive for both osteo and rheumatoid arthritis. Both of them! It was even worse than I imagined. As I sat there in suspended disbelief, I remember thinking that my life as I knew it was over. A sense of despondency came over me, overshadowing the depression I had felt for much of my life, and I wondered if I could go on.

The thought of being crippled, not being able to care for myself and the possibility of being confined to a wheelchair sent me on a downward mental spiral. Visions of my grandmother’s crippled hands and feet haunted me. I began having recurring nightmares of being in a wheelchair and finally reached the point where I just wanted to die.

Soon, however, disbelief and despondency gave way to diligence as I decided that I was going to fight this thing. In a strange way, the diagnosis had been a relief. Once I knew what was happening, I could do something about it. Or so I believed.

In those days, before the internet, information was hard to come by and everything I found came from traditional medical sources. Ultimately, the information left me hopeless as everything I read led me to the same conclusion—besides medicine there was little I could do and I was doomed to a life of pain and crippling decay.

Now, unless you have personally experienced this type of pain and diagnosis at such a young age, this story might be lost on you and seem melodramatic. For me, it seemed like the end of the world and I couldn’t think of many illnesses more frightening than this one.

Finally, after months of trying, the doctor gave me a sample of Naprosin. Much to my surprise, it worked! This pill provided measurable relief from the pain and I felt alive again! The doctor explained that this was one of the last medications that he tried because it was so expensive (remember, this was 1980). Fortunately my employer provided medical insurance and the cost was of little concern.

While I was pleased to have the relief, I was far from excited about the prospects of taking any medication for the rest of my life. I read up on the side effects of Naprasin and they were alarming. To compound the problem even further, I was aware, from an early age that my mother had a problem with pills. She was dependent on Valium and took numerous other medications for a wide variety of ailments. I was already taking after my grandmother and the idea of taking after my mother as well was a bitter pill to swallow.

And now, here I was, taking a handful of pills that I was told I would probably have to take for the rest of my life and I was only 33 years old! In addition to the Naprasin, I was told that intermittent dosages of prednisone might also be required. It was one of the lowest points in my life and I sincerely didn’t know if I could go on. Looking back, I know that sometimes it takes “hitting bottom” to open us to answers we previously would never have considered, and I was very near to my bottom.

In my research, I did hear rumblings of different supplements and other natural remedies that might be helpful in my recovery. So, on my next visit to my rheumatologist I asked if there was anything I could do as far as diet, supplements, and exercise that could help me to get off the medication. His response is permanently imprinted in my mind. He turned to me, put his hand on his hip, and very condescendingly replied “If you want a holistic doctor you’ll have to go to the West Coast to find one!”

His response infuriated me to the point that I went home, emptied the bottle of Naprasin and flushed the contents down the toilet. (We now know that isn’t the correct way to dispose of unused medications.) I began to research natural remedies in earnest and never saw that doctor or any other rheumatologist again.

 

The road to healing begins

Sometimes anger is a blessing in disguise. It certainly felt better than the intense feelings of depression and despair which had become so familiar to me. It also served as the catalyst to begin a long journey to find answers that would enable me to overcome my pain and to help others overcome their own illnesses using these same principles.

My determination to take responsibility for my health led me to natural alternatives that allowed me to manage the pain that had previously interfered with my life for quite a while.

The natural alternatives I discovered at this point helped me tremendously. These alternatives helped me to “manage” the pain naturally. However, the ultimate answer did not surface until many years later. I realize that some people will not be able to overcome their past programming and accept the “ultimate answer” for all disease. I sincerely hope you are open-minded enough that you will be able to accept what I later discovered. In any event, what I’m going to share with you in this book has the potential to benefit everyone.  

It was time for me to take responsibility for my own health and so my journey began!

Skipping ahead

At the time of this writing the year is 2012 and I’m 64 years old. In 2008, at age 60, I accompanied my grandson’s 4th grade class as a chaperone on a trip to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. It was a trip of a little more than 300 miles. We left at 5 am on a Friday morning and returned at 11:30 pm on Saturday night. The trip consisted of the following:

1) A visit to The Wright Brother’s Museum and Monument at Kill Devil Hills, NC. It was quite a hike from the parking lot to the monument, including a climb up a steep hill.

2) A boat tour of the marshland waters of the Intercoastal Waterway where we looked for Dolphins. This was the only portion of the trip that wasn’t physically challenging.

3) A visit to Jockey's Ridge State Park where we climbed three massive sand dunes. The third dune was the tallest and stood 100 feet high. Then we had to make the trip back over the dunes to the visitor’s center. It's not easy climbing uphill in sand when your feet slide back down with each step you take.

4) A walking tour of Roanoke Island and the museum located there.

5) A visit to Cape Hatteras Lighthouse where we climbed 248 steps to its top. Here is what one website says about the climb:

“The climb is strenuous! The 248 iron spiral stairs to the top equal climbing a 12 story building. The stairs have a handrail only on one side and a landing every 31 steps. There is no air conditioning. It may be noisy, humid, hot and dim inside the lighthouse and there is two-way traffic on the narrow stairs.”

I accompanied the boys and girls on every excursion and was the only grandparent on the trip who was physically able to do that. One of the teachers commented that every time she turned around I was right there. I think they were amazed at my ability to keep up with them.

Well, that’s enough about me. It’s time to share with you what I discovered that can help you!

About this book

Holistic health is based on the concept that the quest for health should take into account all aspects of a person's life, including physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual, or in other words, the whole person. When I say "spiritual" aspect, I don’t mean an association with any religion. Traditional western medicine focuses primarily on the physical body and in some instances on the mind/body connection, but not the totality of who we truly are

When I began my journey to find a way to stop the pain of RA naturally, I began with the most logical aspect...my physical body. The first section of this book describes what I discovered during this phase of my journey. I did manage to find relief from the pain, but only as long as I stuck to the things I had identified that proved beneficial. Section I of this book describes the changes I made that primarily addressed my physical health as it related to RA along with the practice of meditation.

Viewing this book as a whole, it may seem that the practice of meditation should be included in Section II. However, the first three chapters are devoted to what I initially discovered that gave me complete pain relief without medication. Meditation was a big part of this early phase of my journey. As I was employing these techniques and living pain free I was not yet aware of much of what I’ve written about in Section II.

It was several years later, when I embarked on my journey to find a natural way to overcome depression, that I discovered the holistic approach that I write about in Section II. Not only did I overcome my depression, I also accomplished something I did not intend when I began this second journey. I discovered that I could eat foods that had previously caused flare-ups and pain without any such consequences. Then I began to experiment with eliminating many of the supplements I was taking and was still pain free. At the time of writing this book I have been pain free for the past 10 years without strictly adhering to what I write about in Section I.

Eventually everything fell into place for me and I discovered that balance in all areas of our being, with an emphasis on the tips covered in Section II was the answer to overcome not only RA and depression, but any disease known to man.

However, don't assume that I have ignored my physical body. I still eat a healthy diet, get fairly regular exercise and sufficient sleep, continue to take a quality multi-vitamin/mineral supplement each day, and continue my daily practice of meditation.

 

Anti-Inflammatory Dietary Guidelines

Be aware of additional stress caused by rheumatoid arthritis…

If you have rheumatoid arthritis, your body is under stress due to this disease. If you are overweight, the extra weight increases the amount of stress placed on your joints.

When the body experiences stress of this magnitude, it will burn its own protein. For this reason, it’s important to eat more protein than healthy individuals. It is recommended that you consume no less than 75 grams of protein each day. This figure is calculated for an average size male or female. If you have a large frame and/or are overweight, you will need to add more protein accordingly. When consuming this amount of protein, it’s extremely important to find a source of protein other than animal protein.

This presents another challenge because eating more protein will not increase stores of protein in your body. The body will convert protein to fat and store it as fat without exercise that builds muscle. This makes some form of weight resistance exercise very important and we will cover this topic in a later chapter.

Two important food groups that combat inflammation

Two food groups that are important to include plenty of are fresh fruits and vegetables, as they are an excellent source of antioxidants. Usually the more brilliantly colored ones contain higher levels of antioxidants. Leafy green vegetables, peppers, carrots, winter squash, sweet potatoes, melons, berries and citrus fruits are always good choices. Try to incorporate a wide variety to maximize your chance of getting the full spectrum of antioxidants.
Increasing the amount of fruits and vegetables you consume will increase your fiber intake. It probably isn’t an accident that researchers have found that people who consume sufficient fiber tend to have less inflammation present in their bodies. Whole grains, bran, beans and legumes are other important sources of fiber.