I went for my 6 month visit to my regular rheumy about a week and a half ago. It was the usual...I just go there get my prescription for blood work, she says everything looks fine, do I want to change my mind and go on plaquenil? I say NO, and she says we need to continuously monitor your kidney function make sure you keep your appts with me every 6 months. And I leave happy that the disease hasn't progressed to horrible proportions....(of couse I use my healthy diet and lifestyle to combat the disease I am NOT just idly waiting for the disease to strike)
This time I decided to tell her that I have been having symptoms of Raynaud's (fingers gettting numb/losing color/turning white in the NY winter). She gave the answer that yes Raynaud's is a part of Lupus to be expected . I asked is there anything I can do about it? She said no and only worry about it if your fingers ulcer and start falling apart.
WELL WHEN did THAT become an answer of a knowledgeable physician? There HAS to be a reason for Raynauds..poor circulation, sticky blood, blood vessel issues(contracting) there has to be SOMETHING that I could try to help this? Well as usual I went on line and found information and things to try for Raynaud's help.
If you have poor circulation... get exercise ,eat less salt/saturated fats? If you have sticky blood(A blood type) ....eat natural blood thinning foods? If you have blood vessel issues(contracting)... take chamomile/magnesium or other relaxing natural foods? These are just my educated guesses..but WHY can't a doctor think like this???? Food matters...it matters what you put in your mouth and certain foods are better for certain health issues. Please read up at the library or on the internet, look up your problem, and when the doctor says there is nothing you can do.... either get ideas from somewhere else or switch doctors....
( I just get blood tests from this rheumy and I have my new Holistic MD and other doctors that I ask my REAL questions of ...my holistic chiropractor and my naturopath...you have helped me more than you know!)
I think that it is AWFUL that the doctors can tell patients there is nothing that you can do, and diet doesn't help.. eat what you like. In my opinion a doctor that gives answers like this is either dumb or lazy...if they had the issue you KNOW they would try to find a better answer than... there's nothing that can be done...BULL-- ONEY!
Diet and lifestyle changes to help calm your Lupus symptoms or even begin healing your body from the inside out.
Diet does help. Even on a whole foods cooked diet, the Raynaud's got better. Magnesium Glycinate helped the Raynauds - but I don't get charlie horses and stomach cramps at night anymore because of it (talk about a perk!). B6, vitamin A, and vitamin B12 also help. Always wear warm gloves (I found mittens over gloves with the hand warmers in between work best), but do not run hot water on your hands if you have symptoms. Warming up too quickly does damage to blood vessels. Raynaud's was the first thing I noticed when my health started going down hill and my doctor at the time didn't even know what it was LOL.
ReplyDeleteI'm just starting MSM with vitamin C and hoping that helps too. I only had a problem this year when the weather got down to 20 or if I'm carrying something heavy. It's gotten MUCH better with the diet changes!
Cami,
ReplyDeleteThank for the tips! I will try them!
I was just diagnosed with Raynaud's and am getting retested for Lupus (ANA and company were negative last year, but I now have what appears to be the butterfly rash showing up sporadically on my face among other symptoms; uh-oh).
ReplyDeleteI have "anti-spasm" gloves stashed everywhere *grin*, and I have learned to pay attention. When I feel my hands start to get just a little cold (grab the gloves, put 'em on and rub hands together like I'm putting on lotion to stimulate my circulation). It's a pain, but you can head off the full blown version for the most part if you react fast enough. Mine also effects my feet and nose underneath (the nose is seriously annoying ;o) I've also been wearing two pairs of gloves outside which seems to help.
I'm with you, I would MUCH rather go for the natural stuff instead of the prescription meds (relevant sidebar: D-Ribose and Co-Q10 are excellent for Fibromyalgia :o) Believe it or not, the first thing my Rhuematologist told me to do when he diagnosed me with Dermatomyositis was to start drinking green tea and eat pine nuts for a snack. Guess I'd better keep him, eh? *laugh*.
Nice blog. I agree with the ineptness of the Western med docs. I have to add that I suffered from Raynauds for over 10 years. I also started taking better nutrition 4 years ago and detoxing like a wild person. (Read Sherri Rodgers "Detoxify of Die") used a far infrared sauna and was symptom free for 3 years. Then darnit, I was exposed to mercury and some of the symptoms have returned... including hypothyroid. They are not as bad as they used to be, so hopefully with about a year of revving up the detox and sauning, I will be back to symptom free. Cheers!
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