My Winning Battle with Rheumatoid Arthritis
In 2005 I began having a problem with my feet. I tripped over a stationary bike in my bedroom and fractured my left foot. I was in a walking cast for 6 months and thought my problems would end there. After having my foot heal, I continued having sharp pains in my foot. My feet began to cramp and tighten. My foot doctor diagnosed my neuroma and began treating my foot with steroid injections. My right foot then began to have the same problems and got the same diagnoses.
I began seeing a series of different doctors. After getting the same diagnoses of neuroma in both feet, I began a year of monthly steroid injections in both feet along with physical therapy. After a year of no relief, I opted for my doctor’s recommendation to have my neuroma nerves removed in both feet. It took me 6 months to feel like my feet were recovered from this surgery. Disappointment met me at the end of the recovery period when I still was having pain in not only my feet but my shoulder as well. After much research, I found a doctor that diagnosed me with Rheumatoid arthritis.
I started fighting my RA with methotrexate, prednisone, and folic acid at the highest doses possible. I had several negative reactions to these medications including weight gain of 20 pounds, puffy skin, migraine headaches, body aches, feeling run down and tired at all times. My feet and other joints continued to decrease in mobility. I could not walk at all in the morning. I would have to crawl to even get to the bathroom and was able to walk for the first few hours each morning. Not only did my feet become worst, my hands became unusable. I was developing the “claw” hands that come from very stiff joints. I couldn’t open a jar of peanut butter or even spread it on a sandwich for my kids. My hands became so bad that getting dressed involved help daily.
After being on these medications for 1 year without seeing pain relief, my doctor started me on Enbrel, in conjunction with the other medications. After several months on Enbrel I began to see some relief and was able to function with some mobility. I continued to take this series of medications for a several years. I then developed a rheumatoid nodule on the bottom of both feet. After consulting with a doctor, he recommended steroid injections in my feet. I was not going to go down that path again.
After losing our health insurance, we were unable to afford Enbrel any longer. My doctor had me sign up for a hardship program thru the drug company, Humara. They only would provide the drug for 6 months so I knew I had to find some kind of alternative to help me. I began taking Auramin and Basic•IM on a daily basis. I after a few weeks of taking 4 Auramin and 30 drops of Basic•IM daily I began to notice my stiffness was decreasing. I also, decided to try to rub the Basic•IM on my nodules to see if anything would happen. I continued on this same path for 1 month and was noticing that my joints became more fluid and my nodules started to soften and decrease in size. My headaches that were a common everyday occurrence also diminished and my energy level increased.
I still was taking the Humara drug every 2 weeks in the beginning. I then decided to change my diet to the edensgate alkaline diet. I eliminated all soda, cut down on high sugar products and increased my dosage of both Auramin and Basic•IM. I have found, that not only have I had no joint pain or stiffness, I am able to go without my Humara injection. To date, I am taking 7 Auramin pills per day along with 40 drops of Basic•IM. I have not had an injection for over 2 months now and I’m still feeling great. My rheumatoid nodules have decrease in size by half and I’m able to walk barefoot again. These products have worked wonders for my arthritis.
Mendy Smith