Question
QUESTION: I have recently went to my rheumatologist and I left his
office totally confused. I would appreciate your help!
He diagnosed me with Fibromyalgia and not Rheumatoid or
Sjogrens.....He said I don't have enough inflammation to
support the diagnosis because my CRP is low - yet my Sedrate
is elevated! He prescribed me Lyrica and B12 and Vit D.
Below are my lab test results. Do I not need some
medication for the arthritis and inflammation to keep from
getting worse?

My blood test show RA Latex 42.0 High
Sjogrens Anti SSA-A >8.0 and Sjogrens Anti SSA-B 2.7 High
Vitamin D 11.5 Low
Vitamin B12 151 Low
CRP 5.0 Low
Sedrate 58 High



ANSWER: Thank you so much for bringing me your question.

Your question is about whether you need medications to control symptoms and not allow them to get worse. Hopefully I can encompass enough in this answer to make it clear; however, if you need further explanation please work with me and keep the dialogue open as there are multiple factors to consider.

Do you need medication? Yes and no, that answer never works though does it? The truth is that if your lifestyle habits (diet, exercise, stress levels, emotional patterns) are the cause of your arthritis, which is the case 9/10 times, then you can completely reverse the disease without medication and literally remove the pain and any other symptoms. Your blood tests would come back to a normal range and you would feel amazing. This can be accomplished in as little as a few weeks, we treat this way all the time.

If those aspects of your life are in harmony, then there may be a need for medication, though I would opt to use alternative healing remedies rather than prescription drugs. The same toxins that most people get sick from are going to be created within the body by use of medications. Anything that is NOT naturally occurring to earth or the human body will cause some sort of chaos in one way or another. Take a look at most drug side effects; so many drugs need a secondary prescription to rid the side effects of the first. Yet, I work with people all the time who simply make the shift in their lifestyle; that requires them to truly get honest and acknowledge where they are not in harmony and adjusting those areas, resulting in relief and optimal health.

I have not met one person who is diagnosed with a chronic illness such as fibro that has a terrific diet, great exercise and has their emotional patterns in alignment. So, with that said, the need for medication comes when the body is out of balance biochemically. Negative emotions cause disturbance in the body, diet contributes next and the lack of physical exercise continues the path to a poor health situation.

If you would like more information about any of these lifestyle habits mentioned, please let me know. I would be more than happy to help any way that I can. You may also reach me via my website in the Ask Joe section at http://vibrantlifehcg.com.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I have had a positive RA test for 20 years. So I guess I
managed to stay in pretty good shape for many years. However
my immune system has weakened and about 6 months ago I
suffered with viral meningitis. I thought at first it was
just a stiff neck but the pain was too severe to handle at
home. I ended up at the ER with a lumbar puncture. Since
then I have had the chronic fatigue etc. At that point all
my lab test were showing extremely high amounts of
inflammation. By the time I felt better and was able to get
an appointment with my rheumatoid doctor my levels had
decreased to what I told you earlier. My doctor does not
like "self diagnosing." He is like "lets deal with what we
know and treat what we know." I don't want band-aids. I want
to get to the source!

So what herbs and natural remedies do you recommend? I
understand that exercise and diet are important. My life
also is stressful.  

Answer
Thanks for the follow-up question, there are a few things that could be successful in helping your symptoms. Now, once again I would advise you not to feel bitterness towards the doctor for treating how he does, their license depends on their ability to treat as accurately as possible and if they treat for something that is "self-diagnosed" they could get in trouble for malpractice. So, keep that in mind and also, your doctor will only be able to work and treat what he knows and nothing more. I have a short video on my blog http://vibrantlifeblog.com that explains precisely this... if you go see a surgeon about a symptom he will want to cut you, a dentist will want to work on your teeth, a nutritionist on your diet; a specialist is good at what he knows. It is your job as a patient to seek further and different options by seeking different expertise.

For your symptoms now, it would be extremely helpful if we could have a conversation via phone so I can keep asking questions and digging to the deeper matters. There are so many questions and variables to figure out which symptom is caused by what and how to heal it. I agree that band-aids are not the right way to go...there is always a cause, it just sometimes take a bit of digging to figure it out.

If you would like to explore this further, you can reach me via phone at 916-412-5081 anytime Monday - Friday 9am-7pm PST.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Joe