Funny Rheumatoid Arthritis Remedies
When it comes to some Rheumatoid Arthritis remedies we can only laugh
In the last few days, I’ve received some great advice for my Rheumatoid Arthritis. It’s great to have a disease that is so easily cured by so many inexpensive and unexpected methods. What a lucky girl I am to have them arrive daily in my email, blog comments, and Facebook page.
Last week’s most interesting Rheumatoid Arthritis remedies were miracle gemstones, an anti-gravity machine for hanging upside-down by my feet in, and infrared rays to –well, I’m not sure how to describe what they do. Maybe you can figure it out. Here’s what they told me: “The small piece of material I would like to send you contains a natural, non-toxic, environmentally friendly, GREEN blend of natural minerals that once embedded into any material such as foam, plastic, textiles, coatings, etc., produces Far Infrared Rays that have the same wavelength of animals and people… You can put it any of your sore joints either directly on the skin or even on top of your clothing. It doesn’t matter.”
So far this week, there have been 3 different juices and some green lipped mussel lipid.
Loving offers of Rheumatoid Arthritis remedies
Edited to protect privacy, here is an example of an email this week about Rheumatoid Arthritis remedies:
Anyway, I have a well meaning friend who keeps finding all kinds of natural juices and cures. XXX sent me info on juices and pills containing glucosamine and chondroitin, each of course claiming to cure you or make you feel better in 7 days. I’ll try anything, but I’m also a skeptic when it comes to these quick fixes … What has your research shown as far as other helps other than meds for the effects of RA?
My reply, in part:
Your friend is wrong, even though she may love you dearly. I would definitely promote an RA cure like that to you with my whole heart. I have been there with well meaning friends & I have even drunk the juice to make them happy.
Yes, it’s all quite amusing. Or awkward when the offer is from a loved one. But, it’s also sad when you think of people w
ho are deceived into parting with their money or delaying treatment for Rheumatoid Arthritis.
Tell us your funniest Rheumatoid Arthritis remedies
What was the funniest Rheumatoid Arthritis remedy someone suggested to you? Until I started this site, I had no idea that there is still so much snake oil?
Recommended reading:
- Do Arthritis Treatments Like Synflex Work?
- Rheumatoid Arthritis Treatment: Are Natural Remedies for Rheumatoid Arthritis Better?
- Putting Faith in Rheumatoid Arthritis Natural Remedies
- Can I Delay Treatment for Rheumatoid Arthritis? part 2
- Rheumatoid Arthritis Pain Is Not Our Only Pain
The other day someone told me that I should eat celery and it would clear my arthritis right up. WHAT?
I was once told I should hunt, kill and eat a fox and then I would be cured of RA.
Pineapple juice lol.
I was told ‘mind over matter’ by quite a few people..
If I hear it’s “mind over matter” one more time, I’m going to smack them right upside the head with my arthritic hand. lol
I’m with you on that…”mind over matter” or “you just have to have a positive attitude!” is along the same lines. Infuriates me to no end.
I was told that Acai juice “cured” an acquaintance’s RA.
My sister still insists that a vegan diet will do the job!
That is a good one, I had been vegan (for compassionate resons, not health reasons) for 10 years when I was diagnosed! Great way of life, but def not a cure all *lol*
My favorite is that I need to eat more nutmeg because it is a natural anti-inflamatory! If that were the case, all those gingerbread cookies over the holidays would have counteracted the cold weather effects! And a friend of mine is dead convinced that its all attitude, which translates to it being my own fault I don’t get better >:( . I avoid the topic now but I get so angry when he sees me struggle and he makes those judgemental comments of “your doing this to yourself” and “its all in your mind”.
I have heard of a couple of people with that bad opinion finally getting the RA themselves. It was heartbreaking one man said that to his mom and she died of RA. Then he got it. How sad to hear how guilty he feels now that he did that to her. I hope we can put an end to this by educating! :rainbow:
LOL Ashley give ’em one for me would ya!
I was told to put WD-40 on all my joints and the pain would be gone just like that! Just like the pain they’d have in their head when that can hit them in it :rotfl:
I was told it might be psychosomatic and if I thought positively enough it would cure itself.
My husband is usually very helpful but he just doesn’t get it. He has basically told me the same thing to “just try to be positive” or “have faith”. It is basically implying that we are the cause of our illness or at least we are keeping ourselves from being cured. Sometimes the people that love us have the power to hurt us the most. After I exploded and then proceeded to educate him, I did get an apology. He is a great guy. He just hasn’t been sick much in his life. Friends and loved ones
sorry….my RA fingers accidentally hit post too soon. I meant to say that friends and loved ones could help us the most if they could just understand what we go through everyday. Since that isn’t possible, the least they could do is keep their mouths closed.
My mom told me on Monday that I just need to get out more! She tells me this everytime she sees me.
I would try it if I could drive a car, walk, use my hands, etc. without significantly increasing my pain for days after and ending up in bed.
I’ve been told to boil iceberg lettuce and drink the water it boiled in; I’ve been told that I should think more positively (even though I’m about the most optimistic person I know); and just recently, a friend told my all my RA symptoms could be directly attributed to toxic yeast in my body. I love her, but it hurt to realize she thinks I could easily heal myself if only I ate a yeast-inhibiting/free diet. I already eat more healthily that most of the people I know. I’m big on lots of veggies, whole grain breads and pastas, brown rice, no red meat (skinned chicken breasts, instead) and fish a couple of times a week. I don’t drink sodas; I avoid sugar wherever I can. But obviously I’m just not mindful enough. Sigh.
My first husband did the “mind over matter” line with me, failing to understand how severely my RA had onset and how much pain I was in. Many years later, well after our divorce, he ended up with bone cancer. In his dying days, on a morphine pump, he spontaneously apologized for not understanding my pain. I was floored. It was what I had yearned to hear for so many years. All I could think of to say was, “thanks, but at least I’m not dying”. Now, I know we RA’ers have to worry about complications etc. shortening our lives, but that was a really interesting turn around. I pray more people won’t have to get to that point in their lives before they understand what we go through every day.
I was told Cherries or raisins soaked in Rum will cure RA by someone who swore their OA was cured that way. Maybe all the rum just fogged their brain into thinking they were cured LOL
This will make you giggle!
Golden raisins soaked in Gin. Well I suppose a bowl or two might take the edge off. From the earliest days of my RA it was to go sit in the uranium mines in MT.
I’m also ready to smack the mind over matter group. Might even be able today, my Humira shot kicked in.
I wonder if diabetics, cancer victims etc, get as much unwanted advice for the quack fixes?
Urine, if you can believe it. I was stunned.
I read that eating seafood daily cures RA. So I’m doing that. Actually after one week I admit to feeling a whole lot better. could not breathe or move without pain previously, and was taking meds to get to sleep. I will keep eating seafood because I like it and it can’t hurt. I know it sounds nutty !
I was also told 20 cherries a day and gin soaked raisins. In fact, I even tried both. I could stomach each for only about 3 days. Needless to say, no change.
I was also told to remove any and all metal inside my body(including fillings if I had them.) Well, I don’t have fillings, but I do have a metal plate in my wrist. I have NOT tried removing that.
Kate: LOL, self surgery is probably not on the accepted list of even the quack cures. Thanks for the laugh. I’m about ready to get some fruit and booze though. I like the idea of cherries, but what would make the most interesting concoction?
Tom Collins or an Old Fashioned. Or a Tequila Sunrise!
My father forwarded a “cure” of all types of arthritis just last week. It seems you take asparagus, fresh or canned and puree it. Then eat 3 teaspoons of the gunk, 3 times a day that you will be “cured” of any and all types of arthritis. Of course you must continue to this forever or the arthritis will come back!!!
A vegetarian diet cures RA but you need to be on the diet for 36 years. I know because I’ve been a vegetarian for 35 years and I’m still a wreck. Surely next year….
Thanks, Jay. 😛
I was told it might be psychosomatic and if I thought positively enough it would cure itself.
I was once told soaking raisins in gin would cure my RA..I was probably about 15 or 16 when I was told this by an old family friend..I’m pretty sure all the gin had just gone to her head over the years 🙂
Haha. Probably. 🙂
While those ads are funny…..it also angers me to no end for people who are suffering so much that they literally buy into those deceiving adds. I saw an add on TV on monday while I was home sick from a bad cold (due to RA drugs) and saw some kind of miracle juice drink and they had a “doctor” who claimed that the drink restores joints!! and “heals” arthritis, including Rheumatoid Arthritis. I got so mad, and since I had some time on my hands so I called the FTC and filed a complaint.
Good for you. Their deception causes some patients to delay vital treatment. And for others, it creates a public relations nightmare from friends & relatives who keep insisting that the real treatments are “unnecessary.”
I was told that if I just lost weight, I would feel better…Of course, losing weight in my hands would be a tough proposition,so I guess I’ll never get rid of this darn RA!
“Losing weight in my hands” – hahaha! 😉
You know, Beth, I hate that some people think that. There are plenty of thin people w/RA & we don’t fare any better – often worse because of weaker bones, less muscle, and greater risk w/ things like anemia. It’s really not that relevant to RA. Yes, it is for heart disease & other related problems, I know, but the RA is a disease & it attacks people of all body weights.
My Rheummy has ‘raved on’ about me losing weight which is kinda hard when you can’t do that ‘all important’ exercise that I tire of hearing about.
I love your bit about losing weight in your hands – I’m going to try it with my toes now.
Time to find a new rheumy! Mine says, “People of all weights, shapes and sizes have RA.” When I complain that I need to lose weight he usually rolls his eyes and says “Anything else you’d like to beat yourself up about today? You can hardly move without pain. You can’t exercise enough.” Have I mentioned how blessed I feel to have such a compassionate caring rheumy?
Losing weight seems to be the first thing they tell you when you get the diagnosis. I only weighed 100 lbs at 5’4″ when it hit me. If I lost any more weight I would disappear. That would take care of the RA I guess.
Well today I received an email from a very close friend with a long list of cures for various ailments – with a note saying ‘Have a look at the last one for your arthritis’ (admittedly they haven’t seen me since my diagnosis and some time before) but wow I’m sure I mentioned this one somewhere before but it needs a mention on this page:
‘Put two cups of oats and one cup of water in the microwave for one minute and then put on your hands for relief of your arthritis pain’
Sorry if my typing is a bit rough – the keyboard is covered in porridge oats…………….. :sarcasm: Oh no it hasn’t helped!!
Someone told me to eat bananas for my RA…
Bananas are yummy & I’ve eaten thousands of them. Nope didn’t cure me yet. 😛
This is a message from a friend I met on the internet, she has had RA since she was 18 (now in her 50’s) and is in remission, although she still has doses of Rituximaub (sp) and prednisone monthly. She has also had numerous surgeries on various body parts :)…I don’t know what to make of this. I know she means well and having gone through it all, maybe it did work for her. I don’t want to be negative, but her comments kinda make me mad. Maybe it’s just me?? Please reply..someone.
“Raini, I changed my eatings patterns n used homeopathic remedies and they helped really! Ever lil thing u do for the better helps including a positive attitude! Otherwise I wud of never got out a wheelchair! I can get down n boogie now! Positive is the key word sis! Love u…”
Raini, I know people want homeopathics to work for RA but there is so far only proof they don’t affect the disease – Rituxan doses usually last 6 months for most RA patients. So, with prednisone to mask her symptoms & Rituxan to suppress disease activity, I’m wondering how she knows the juice and diet helps. I don’t mean to sound skeptical, but RA is a serious disease like cancer & I wouldn’t want anyone to give up treatment or delay it. I agree with her postitive attitude & healthy lifestyle. I just dont think it affects the disease. My lifestyle was extremely healthy – it did not make any difference whether I got RA. I don’t wanna make anyone mad either. It’s just what I know. Why is she telling you these things? Is she preaching to you?
Well controlled does not mean cured or in remission. I have felt so well using Orencia that I think it is gone. Then I had to be off of it for 10 weeks for knee replacement, and guess what? It was not gone.
This is the other part of my friend’s message…
“My advice, don’t take somethin that makes u so sick n don’t work! Have u tried ant anti-inflammatories or hot n cold therapy! Gin soaked white raisins only 9 a day helped me greatly! Cherries, blueberriesacai berries, ginger, fish oil n Omega 3s help a lot too”
One thing I will point out is that your “friend” is still taking the Ritux and prednisone. If homeopathy was the answer she wouldn’t need those either. A healthy lifestyle is always a good thing. The berries and fish oil etc, do have some anti-inflammatory properties, it’s just impossible to eat enough of them to avoid modern medicine. If you like them include them in your diet, it wont hurt and might let you skip a dose of advil/tylenol. I do like to suck on candied ginger to help settle my stomach when the pain makes me nauseated.
Also, this disease changes frequently. I am glad that your friend is living the humeria commerical ( i know she isnt on humeria) It doesnt happen for most of us, but we have to keep fighting. Try the alternatives if you want, just don’t skip modern meds.
Has anyone mentioned the famed “windex” from My Big Fat Greek Wedding? Although I used to work house keeping in college and never noticed it benefits for anything else.
I agree with the others I like the Gin soaked cherries, blueberries, black, and golden raisins. Add a touch of rum to that mixture and I am sure I will feel nothing till the next morning! Whats the dosage on that?
Although this sounds more like the old Fruit cake recipe from my Aunt. Hmmm, anyone tried Fruit Cake? How about Figgy Pudding from England. I hear that has quite the kick to it. :giggle:
Once, when I was newly diagnosed, my rheumatologist was out of town and I called my primary care doctor to tell them that I needed something for pain, bad. I told the nurse that I was having to get someone to drag me to the bathroom. She suggested that I try aerobics. I told her, well, when I can walk, maybe I will try that. This was someone who had been a nurse for a long time. I realized then that people, even medical personel, do not understand.
great illustration of our situation, Deborah.
After Methotrexate nearly killed me I turned to some (not all) alternatives.
I believe VD3 has helped overall inflammation along with some extra VC and have not had a cold or flu in 2 yrs because of them.
Glucosamine Chond.MSM did nothing in over a year. Fish Oil – nothing, Tumeric – nothing, boswellia/frankinsense oil for joints – nothing. Black cherry juice concentrate – nothing. Best thing for arthritic joints was black label papaya ointment or just plain olive oil rubbed in.
SAMe helped my liver and inflammation rate went down to half what it was but expensive all the time.
In the 4 weeks on UC-II collagen have seen some improvement so will continue this. Am still on Pred. 5mgs and Orudis.
Just reading about friends with interesting remedies for RA – a dear friend of mine suggested, going on a vegetarian diet, coming off all my medication and then drinking your first mid stream urnine the next morning…….. I hasten to add I have not tried this, has anyone else been told to try this?
Asparagus is supposed to be a natural diuretic. Maybe it helps with some swelling, which in turn helps with some pain.
[[It seems you take asparagus, fresh or canned and puree it. Then eat 3 teaspoons of the gunk, 3 times a day that you will be “cured” of any and all types of arthritis. Of course you must continue to this forever or the arthritis will come back!!!]]
…brought to you by the Asparagus Council! lol
Raini, if your friend is still taking Rituxan and prednisone, she is most definitely NOT in remission. The prednisone is probably subduing her symptoms, and that’s taking a huge risk for long-term side effects. She’s fooling herself.
I got the “walk it off” lecture from my ex-husband who also told me, “If you walk like a cripple, you are one.” Apparently he applied what a basketball coach told him about not limping and walking off a slightly turned ankle to my RA. Jerk! Hence the ex is his title.
Even so, my loving current hubby asked me recently why I don’t add jogging to my workouts. Wha? Was it a brain fart or what? I don’t know. Perhaps it’s a sign I’m putting up too much of a brave front.
A well-meaning — aren’t they all? — friend/coworker gave me a list of honey recipes. The one for RA said to drink a tablespoon of honey with a half-teaspoon of cinnamon in hot water. The end result was a day home from work because I had a major bout of nausea (and its likely outcome) and learned my lesson not to try anything unless my doctor actually tells me to.
I love my mother to death but one day I may actually choke her(if I had the strength) for all the home remedies. Told the cherry one, told to take fish oil, told to take a silver supplement & now it’s vinegar! Drinking a cup of vinegar a day will help me loose weight, clear up my complexion, clean out the toxins, etc, etc.
And of course my father is “get off my lazy butt and do something because it’s all about your mindset.” And if you dont act sick you wont be sick. And don’t get me started on their cures & thoughts on depression!! lol
I am a 62,working hard on 63 yr old male, diagnosed with RA for almost three years now:<( I was told ,drink vinegar,problem solved, my RA would simply cease to be!! I said,dang,why didn't I think of that!! lmao
Actually I have two favotites.
First is to swallow just 1 ripe (purple) polk sallet berry with each meal and at bedtime. As I happen to know Polk Sallet berries and roots are toxic I left that one alone.
Second: If I would purposly expose myself to intestinal Round Worms it would cure me. I asked how I was to accomplish that. It appears you have to walk barefoot through fresh dog feces and keep doing this until you test positive. I passed on that particular cure too.
EW! That’s just…ew… LOL
The other day, another site, “Jennifer” said that her and her friend who both have arthritis suggest we switch to sea salt and drink more water because we are too dehydrated. She talked about how we need to keep the synovial fluid in our joints. That is the beginning to the cure! I believe it was on Rheum Arthritis Information on fb (you can probably check it out). I just about fell outta my chair and had a fit and so did alot of other people! Imagine, sea salt and water has been the cure all along and here we are, like idiots, putting CHEMO and biologics into our bodies for nothing! Hahaha! !!
Funny RA Story:
After I got severe RA (age 41), I couldn’t work, lost my house, my kids had to live with their alcoholic father, and I had to live with my dad for 4 1/2 years til I finally got my SSA benefits. I am with my kids again, and have a place of my own. The funny part is that when I first moved in with my Dad and told him that I had RA, I explained the disease to him. However, he went out and bought me a book called Arthritis for Dummies. After I cried, I started to laugh, gave it back to him and told him to get his money back. RA was only briefly explained on one page. (End of humor).
As time went on, and the RA started attacking my internal organs, my body was rejecting biologic modifiers, and I had vascular problems. I was hospitalized numerous times for various infections, and after I was diagnosed with copd, all I can take now is nsaids. I have a pain doctor of course. My father’s empathy and support each time was telling my other family members that I need to be in a nursing home, that I am just a pill popper, and that if I just exercise more I would feel better. I applied for jobs until I became more ill. Yet, he always left the sunday morning job section out in plain view.
Everytime he tried to get rid of me, I would always return. I found out last year when I went to one of my dad’s dr appts., that he carries the RH factor in his blood. So do I, but I’m the only one out of the two with full blown RA.
I just don’t understand why people downgrade RA. It has given me osteoarthritis, caused the advancement of my copd (age 45), pulmonary embolisms, blood clots and bruising in my skin vessels, ankloysing spondylitis, etc.
God finally gave me release from that daily hell of being made to feel guilty because I could not contribute anything other than food stamps, or that I needed to take naps, and that I was depressed. My children visiting me every weekend was a blessing, and it opened my dad’s eyes to the importance of spending time with his grandchildren.
Now that I live on my own, he says he misses me terribly. I don’t miss feeling 2 ft tall, walking on egg shells, and hearing about how proud he is of my brothers and sister. What about me? He still makes comments in front of my kids sometimes, but since I found RA Warrior and I’ve been sending him some of your articles (: I know I’m an RA warrior, and I’m not alone!
I live with my kids again, and I handle tasks one day at a time. My ex husband has cut back on his drinking, so, I hope for the kids sake that he quits all together. He told the kids there was nothing wrong with me at first, but that seems to have changed a little bit(maybe it was those 10 hospitalizations,and almost dying a few times). God has kept me here for two very important reasons: my daughter and son.
Thank you for everything you do RA Warrior! Thanks for reading my story and God Bless everyone who has RA, or takes care of someone that has RA!
Funny or not, I am growing tired of these “friendly” suggestions… Especially when people insist on an emotional disease rather than a physical one. While i understand the need for people to try to find an explanation for disease (meanwhile telling you it cannot happen to them, since they followed this or that therapy), can’t they understand that as much as you cannot cure cancer with therapy alone, same is true with rhumatoid disease… Or any serious disease, for that matter! And YES, these meds I take are dangerous and potent; and NO, I do not take them for fun: only, they are the only ones (mtx, Orencia, etc) that provide some relief.
I was lying awake, in pain, last night at about 2:30 AM. Since I couldn’t sleep, I turned on the TV and saw a presentation (read infomercial) for a drink called “Supple”. It was presented as a cure for bone and joint pain, and stated it could cure arthritis in a week (no matter what type of arthritis you have). As I lay there in pain, it made me angry thinking of all the desperate people who might waste their money on what I am sure is a snake oil scheme.
My first cure suggested was to eat two teaspoons of strawberry jelly for breakfast. Then I was given a book on how several teaspoons of vinegar and honey would cure me. Next came a fish diet book and finally every holiday and birthday I inherited a new copper/magnetic bracelet.
One thing that truly did help me was psychotherapy and support groups through the Arthritis Foundation.
I was pretty angry when I was diagnosed at 17 and the mind body connection was an obvious affect. Dealing with my family estrangement helped me to control my inflamation greatly.
Ha at the strawberry jelly one. I love strawberry jelly/jam/preserves and plain ol’ strawberries — I still developed RA. Guess my strawberry plants didn’t get the message that they’re an Official Miracle Cure.
Remicade put me back to work. Also it was crucial that Ifocused on getting my education while I was suffering. Reading obnoxiously especially funny books like Erma Bombeck, SINBAD, Dave Barry and writing my own funny prose and poetry saved my life.
my dear mother-in-laws favorite cure for everything is vinegar and honey mixed in water drank as tea. This miracle cure takes care of everything from a sore throat to muscle and joint pain. Of course I would be much better if I would just drink it like she does. YUCK
What a giggle – thanks for the time out from my daily pain and misery with all these anecdotes 🙂 The latest thing in our little village even “cures cancer”!! It’s a herb called “cancer bush” (Really), scientific name “Sutherlandia Microphylla”. Boil in water and strain. Drink after refrigerated overnight. It’s so vile I thought it might just scare my RA and Lupus away!!! it hasn’t…Anyone get the “your faith should be stronger then you’d be cured” bit???
I have several friends who sell products which they are sure will cure me… one is a rare (sure that’s why it’s being packaged and sold) type of sage for only $68 per bottle, but I would probably need to take more. Or my good friend who is sure her naturopathic “healer” who only charges $85 per hour could cure me in the first 4 hour visit. It amazes me that people really believe the ridiculous things I have heard!
Kelly, I miss you on FaceBook!