Rheumatoid Arthritis Symptoms Don't Rule My Aud Life

I have 2 strikes going against me when it comes to the health of my heart.

Strike one- Marfans Syndrome, a condition that causes my connective tissue to be defective and not act the way it should. It affects my skin, bones, eyes and my heart. At present, I only have a heart murmur, but more severe cases include aortic dilation, leakage, tearing or rupture.

Strike Two- I have Rheumatoid Arthritis which can cause inflammation of the membranes surrounding the heart. Thank goodness this isn’t baseball or I’d be out next strike!! I don’t like baseball and haven’t watched it since the Jay’s won the pennant in ’92. I’m a hockey fan!

OK, back on track… heart disease and Rheumatoid Arthritis. A study done by Mayo Clinic researchers uncovered some results that would suggest Rheumatoid Arthritis sufferers have a higher risk of heart attacks and sudden cardiac deaths. They studied 1206 people over a period of 26 years. 603 people had RA the other half did not. The entire grouped was matched in age, gender and location. Conclusions were made that people with Rheumatoid Arthritis are 3 times more likely to have been hospitalized for an acute heart attack, less likely to have a history of chest pains and 5 times more likely to have an unrecognized heart attack because of pain medications masking pain, and twice as likely to die from sudden cardiac death.

Fortunately for me, I’m on a pretty hefty dose of blood thinners because of a blood clotting disorder so I don’t have to worry about that kind of blockage. I’m not overweight at all, and that eliminates some stress on my heart. I do however need to be vigilant about how Marfans affects my aorta and that Rheumatoid Arthritis can cause membrane inflammation. Keeping my doctors informed, educating myself on what to watch for, new possible treatments, and keeping myself fit will all be beneficial to the wellbeing of my ticker.

Is your RA affecting your heart? Got some experience you’d like to share? By all means, send me a comment!

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I really do not have a tremendous amount of content today either in my blog or my stomach. Yesterday morning I awoke with a sore throat and painful joints, the painful joints are usual, but the throat thing was new. At the office I was chilled and not my usual happy self, but I forced myself to perk up for lunch because I was meeting two of my closest girlfriends for lunch at my favorite restaurant. I was hungry and figured that maybe that was my problem. But after lunch I knew there was more to this story.

On the way home I had to stop at my mother’s to use her bathroom, all that nice sesame crusted chicken and raspberry creme brule- gone in a flush! But I felt a little better and made it home in time for the girls coming in from school. I was able to finish preparing supper (good thing I started it the day before) but I couldn’t stand to look at it! And smells…gag! I was steam cleaning the living room when my husband came home because I could “smell” something in that room and I had to get rid of it! No body else could smell it- but I knew it was there!

My husband took the steam cleaner from my hands and guided me off to bed. I took my usual meds, plus some anti-nauseate pills and nodded off to sleep fairly early.

This morning was worse than the morning before with a pounding   head and joints a flaming. I was “Monster Mommy”, stumbling around and moaning like Frankenstein’s monster- I also noticed a similar green tinge to my skin as well! Putting lunches together, while trying not to barf, was my skilled talent for the day and I quickly bolted for the bathroom as soon as I could.

Three hours later, after crying “Why me?” to ‘Ralph’ on the gigantic porcelain phone I emerged and dragged myself to bed with a cold cloth and bowl to hug. After a few hours of sleep with nightmares of having my stomach given as an offering to the giant toilet god, I feel pretty good! Fever has broken and so far some water and cereal has been kept in place. My joints are very, very sore still and usually they stay painful for a few days until the virus is completely gone. But, hey!! I’m no longer staring down a toilet and that’s always a good thing.

I hope everyone else is germ free and enjoying their food!

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Wow, say that 5 times fast! Paying the pain price for peppers. On Saturday evening, our family went for dinner to our friends’ home and had a great time! Played board games, ‘rock band’, laughed and ate. I was having so much fun that I didn’t notice that the nachos had huge amounts of red peppers, an hour later my knuckles and elbows felt like each joint had been stung by bees, some of them even looked like it. Red bell peppers are one of the worst things I can eat regarding my Rheumatoid Arthritis, they trigger a flare up within minutes.

I know that I have talked about food triggers on past posts, but since it’s been a bother the past 48 hours I thought I’d chat about it again. I’m always amazed and sometimes bewildered by the human body and how one part will cause another part to react. What I’m talking about is the digestive system and inflammation of joints.

When I was first diagnosed with RA, a Nurse Practitioner advised me to stay away from night shade vegetables such as tomatoes, potatoes, egg plant, paprika and red peppers. When I asked why, I was just told that they’re known to cause inflammation, but I wasn’t given any further explanation. I did notice that red peppers, shell fish and red meat made me feel a lot worse but it wasn’t until this past February that I found out the reason why. I was really sick this past winter, and decided to go to a Naturopath to give it a shot. She got out this chart and went through this whole lesson on how our body reacts to certain foods, and it made sense!

The point was our digestive system is crucial to our body’s good health, if we’re ingesting something we may have an allergic reaction to, our body’s going to react. I had always thought that an allergic reaction was a rash, a drippy nose or swelling of the eyelids, throat or lips, but there’s also fatigue, nausea, inflammation of joints, muscle pain and headaches as well, maybe even more symptoms.

Having an immune disease that attacks the body’s connective tissue, such as Rheumatoid Arthritis, is going to cause it’s symptoms to escalate when the body encounters something it’s allergic to. To find out my food triggers, I went on a cleansing diet. Ugh! I NEVER want to have to do that again. I had to cut out sugar, caffeine, deliciousness, salt, anything worth while eating, wheat, eggs, corn, fun, dairy, taste, starch and happiness. It was the longest 4 weeks of my life, but I did it and then I was able to slowly re-introduce things back in, one by one to test which ones gave me trouble. I was so nervous with the sugar and caffeine and cried tears of joy when I didn’t react to them! Hallelujah! But, there was a black day when it came to red meat, no more tasty, marbled, prefectly grilled rib-eyes for this gal! But I can drown my sorrows in chocolate. The additions to my ‘bye bye’ list are red wine, shell fish and pork. Oh, and liver! (well, I didn’t really test it out, but I hate it so I’m putting it on there!)

Now I’ve been feeling a lot better since I’ve been avoiding my ‘bye bye’ foods as much as possible, unless they’re cleverly disguised in delicious nachos!

Have there been foods causing you grief? I’m interested to hear what they are, how you’ve discovered them and how you deal with it.

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A frustrating aspect of arthritis is the fact that what might work and relieve pain for one sufferer may not do the same for another. There is no one remedy for this condition, especially the auto immune disease Rheumatoid Arthritis. But many with osteo-arthritis have found chondroitin to be helpful.

Chrondroitin, along with glucosamine, plays a  part in normal, healthy cartilage. Also known as chondroitin sulfate (chondroitin with mineral salt), chondroitin sulfuric acid or chonsurical; it can be made from natural sources such as shark cartilage, pig or cow cartilage or it can synthetically be made in a laboratory.

Taken together with glucosamine can help restore the cartilage in the damaged joint, therefore possibly relieving pain for the sufferer. With fewer side effects than ibuprofen, this may be a good avenue to take for many arthritis patients.

Like glucosamine, chondroitin comes in tablet, capsule, liquid or powder and sometimes may be already combined as one form instead of taking them separately.

In the research that I have done on chondroitin there have been 2 sides, some sing it’s praises and some say it’s no better than a placebo.

Since I need to be on high amounts of blood thinners, I’ve been strongly advised not to take chondroitin because of possible interactions, but I would love to hear from someone who has experience with this supplement.

I’m very interested if anyone who has rheumatoid or osteo arthritis and has taken chondroitin and/or glucosamine and what they thought of it. Drop me a line!

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When it comes to rheumatoid arthritis, the main item on the table is the joints the disease affects. This auto immune disease attacks the body’s own tissues primarily in the lining of the joints and causes a lot of painful damage. Repairing the joint and maintaining healthy movement can be done through taking supplements of glucosamine.

Glucosamine, also called chitosamine, is a natural substance that is found in the covering of shellfish. It is simply a molecule containing glucose and can be in two forms, glucosamine sulphate (mineral salt) and N-acetyl-glucosamine (NAG). The body uses these glucose molecules to form larger molecules that aide in connective tissue and cartilage maintenance and repair.

The primary use for glucosamine is for arthritis; both osteo and rheumatoid arthritis. To treat the affected joints, reducing pain and inflammation and improving mobility. The secondary use is for preventative measures against arthritis or age related joint conditions. It is also helpful in quickening the recovery of a sprained or strained joint such as a finger, ankle or wrist.

Taking glucosamine for arthritis can be simply done by taking 1500mg daily and splitting it into three doses. Take it with food or it may upset your stomach and be prepared to take it for a long period of time. It may take 3 to 8 weeks before it starts to show signs of working. Generally, this supplement is safe to take with other supplements but always consult a qualified heath-care practitioner.

There have been no reported side effects aside from nausea if taken on empty stomach; but if you react negatively to shellfish you may not be able to take glucosamine because it is harvested from shellfish. This supplement comes in tablet, capsule, liquid or powder form and can be found at most pharmacies. Once again, before starting any new treatment for arthritis, be sure to consult your health care provider.

Next post I’ll chat about chondroitin, but for now I want to know what opinion is on glucosamine. Do you take it? Has it worked for you?

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