Natural remedies

The people I've known to come off their medication and go the natural route, didn't fair well after some time being off of the meds. It can be risky especially if you have an aggressive moderate to severe form. If your bloodtests are showing high disease activity coming off meds without being under a doctor's watch may not be the best idea. But everyone is different and RA affects all of us in various ways...and I've heard of people being successful at what you're asking but it wasn't with only natural remedies i.e. they dug deeper to learn root causes, heal trauma, nervous desregulation etc. Here are some articles below about natural therapies written by people in our community. Hope this helps and offers some insight. -Effie, team member

https://rheumatoidarthritis.net/mental-health/coping-complementary-alternative-therapies

https://rheumatoidarthritis.net/natural-remedies

https://rheumatoidarthritis.net/living/complementary-remedies-natural-relief

Thank you for your advice

Hi . I know that many here have either considered or actually tried the medication break. It is good that you are seeking out information and experiences from others. On top of the excellent information from Effie, I want to share with you this article from our patient leader Leanne: https://rheumatoidarthritis.net/living/overcome-treatment-hurdles and this one from Kat: https://rheumatoidarthritis.net/living/expert-medical-treatment. They both discuss their reasons for taking a break and their experiences.
I have to admit that I'm a fan of modern treatments and the potential to slow the damage from active RA. My wife, Kelly Mack (a contributor here), was diagnosed with a severe case at age two, 45 years ago - before modern treatments with the damage to show for it. She had bilateral hip and knee replacements at the almost unheard of ages of 15 and 16 respectively and has used a wheelchair since childhood. Several years ago now she finally started a treatment that brought her inflammation numbers into the normal range for the first time. On more than one occasion we have discussed with her rheumatologist the hope that children today won't suffer the same level of damage. That said, every case is different. What works for one may not for another. The potential side effects of medications are real. One of our patient leaders referred to the decision to take meds as the risk to risk ratio. Every person needs to make the best decision for them based on their individual circumstances. Hopefully others will chime in with their experiences. Best, Richard (Team Member)