> Health and Disease > Bones, Joints, and Muscles > arthritis (rheumatoid)

In March of 1996, at the age of 53, I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). It hit me so hard that I was playing squash one week and flat on my back the next. It was severe onset–I could barely walk.

When I saw an RA specialist in May of 1996, he told me that if I didn’t go on his course of drugs that I would be in a wheel chair by Christmas! There was no mention of exercise or diet. I knew there had to be a better way.

Previous to my diagnosis, I had led a healthy life (I thought), but had been a highly allergic person all my life. I had constant asthma, sinus problems and various allergies. I experienced approximately 10 years of steroid therapy. My immune system was shot!

My husband and I are in the health field, so for the next two years I tried every treatment and remedy that we knew of, with marginal success. I still couldn’t work more than a few hours and had constantly swollen joints.

A trip to a naturopath helped. I had the Eliza-rast blood test done, which indicated my food allergies and I set about changing my diet by deleting gluten and dairy, foods to which I was allergic.

In the fall of 1998, over two years since my diagnosis, my husband and I were busy running a health food store. I was still struggling. I couldn’t work a full day and could not participate in any exercise without pain and swelling. At that time, my husband suggested that I add Moducare, a new product that had just come onto the market and that looked promising, to my already healthy intake of supplements. With some skepticism, I agreed.

After the first month I persisted with the encouragement of my husband and my friends. (Natural products seem to work slowly, in contrast to the immediate effects of drugs.) Gradually, as each month went by, I began to feel better. By the summer of 1999, my blood tested RA negative.

I can now work a full day, and I am starting to exercise and workout at the gym in ways that I never would have thought possible again. I believe that next to Moducare, my diet is very important, and I know that I must stay away from foods that trigger allergies in my body. Because of the severe onset of my arthritis, I have permanent damage to my joints and I still have flareups if I cheat on my diet. I am certain, with the extended use of Moducare, I may be able to eliminate my food allergies too!

I believe that my immune system is finally balancing out, and that I have control over this autoimmune disease–it does not have control over me! That is the best feeling in the world.

Source: alive #210, April 2000