Rheumatoid arthritis is a life altering disease.  The debilitating pain and eventual joint damage that many experience interferes with our ability to work, play, sleep, and basically do the things that we want to do.  The symptoms, the “treatments,” and often the rheumatologists themselves can leave those dealing with RA feeling very hopeless.  Current accepted medical treatments require regular doses of harsh immunosuppressants, anti-inflammatories, and steroids.  The problem is that none of these pharmaceuticals actually cure the disease.  They simply mitigate symptoms and slow its progression.  And the pain and eventual joint damage is just the most persistent of RA’s symptoms.  Rheumatoid arthritis is autoimmune in nature, so the symptoms felt by those diagnosed with it can be widespread and vary in severity from one person to the next.  You might also experience:

• Insomnia 
• Fatigue issues
• Swollen lymph nodes
• Low grade fever
• Heart problems with a higher risk of hardened arteries
• Impaired immune function
• Eye issues
• Liver function impairment

Having fought through the crippling pain of rheumatoid arthritis myself, I understand how daunting this disorder can be, both physically and emotionally.  Choosing natural therapies, as I did, can be even more challenging.  It’s empowering, but also pioneering, which can make you feel like you’re going it alone.  The information available online and in print is legion and not always right.  I can’t stress enough how essential is to have a coach to guide you through the most effective therapies, foods, and supplements for your unique self.
As some of you already know, I’m a clinical herbalist who specializes in helping those with chronic conditions.  Rheumatoid arthritis is especially meaningful for me, because of my own diagnosis and journey to heal from it naturally.  It’s a tough disease, requiring a lot of courage, power of will, and sometimes, hard decisions.  Finding the right therapies for RA can be challenging.  Investigation into what triggered the disease is key and is highly individual.  For this reason I want to share with you a few triggers that I find very helpful in self-analyzing the causes behind your rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis.  If you’re looking for natural pathways to help with rheumatoid arthritis, then it’s a good idea to look into how these contributing factors might be affecting you.  If present, they can certainly frustrate attempts to achieve your best health and drive back some of the symptoms of RA.

Leaky Gut

Hippocrates coined the now famous statement that all diseases begin in the gut.  These were wise words.  Research studies have definitively demonstrated the link between the intestinal hyperpermeability condition known as leaky gut and numerous autoimmune conditions, including rheumatoid arthritis.  Leaky gut in a nutshell is when the epithelial tight junctions in the intestinal wall, responsible for regulating movement of water, nutrients, and ions across into the circulatory system while also maintaining a barrier against unwanted pro-inflammatories like toxins or pathogens, become impaired, allowing pro-inflammatory agents through into the bloodstream.  This forces an immune response, driving up inflammation on a systemic level, and can lead to or aggravate autoimmune disorders.  Symptoms of leaky gut include chronic diarrhea, headaches, poor digestion, fatigue, and brain fog. 

Heavy Metal Toxicity

The thing to know about heavy metals is that prolonged exposure often causes immunological changes which drive up the inflammatory response to chronic levels.  This by the way is in addition to a host of other systemic issues, including hormone and neurological disruption.  Chronic inflammation has strong links to autoimmune disorders.  Both mercury and lead toxicity have been known to cause symptoms that mimic the joint pain experienced in rheumatoid arthritis, and research is continuing to establish a connection between heavy metal toxicity and onset of or aggravation of RA symptoms.  Heavy metals are an especially insidious factor to investigate, because the toxicity may have existed for years, even lifelong, before it builds up enough to show symptoms.  Those symptoms can even mimic other diseases, making it hard to detect unless you are specifically testing for metal toxicity.  Currently lead, cadmium, and mercury top the list of heavy metals linked to rheumatoid arthritis. 

Gum Disease

I know that this one sounds far fetched; however, research shows that the bacteria behind gingivitis and the more severe periodontitis, Porphyromonas gingivalis, has been linked to a subset of patients diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis.  This connection was first detected by practitioners, who noticed that their RA patients seemed to have a higher incidence of gum disease than their non-RA patients.  A causal relationship between the RA and the gum disease wasn’t adequate to explain the connection (as in, those with RA had too much pain to take proper care of their teeth).  Further studies have been able to show that for certain people with rheumatoid arthritis, P gingivalis infection is a significant contributing factor to their chronic inflammation and symptoms.  Researchers have even found P gingivalis in the synovial fluid of RA patients and in mice with induced RA.

Conclusion

As an herbal practitioner, my approach to coaching someone through handling their rheumatoid arthritis as naturally as possible is to remember always that RA is a symptom of larger issues in the body and with the cells of the body.  Every human is unique.  Finding the contributing factors to each person’s rheumatoid arthritis is key.  This article is by no means an exhaustive list of RA triggers.  It focuses instead on three that I have found to be heavy hitters and worth looking into. 

 

Editor's Note: The information in this article is not intended to diagnose or treat illness. Always do your research before using an herbal remedy to ensure that there are no allergy risks or cross indications with any prescription medications that you are taking. See your doctor before starting any new treatments or programs. Anything that you learn from Prairie Hawk Botanica, its blog, or Jennifer Capestany must be considered informational only. You own yourself.

Author: Jennifer Capestany

Jennifer is a clinical herbalist and health coach, specializing in autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis.  Her interest in plant medicine led Jennifer to spend years studying herbology, physiology, and nutrition.  She works one-on-one with her clients via her herbalist and health coaching business, Prairie Hawk Botanica.  Jennifer lives on a homestead in rural Texas with her husband, 2 children, and various animals.  In her spare time she loves to be in her large herb and vegetable garden.  Sharing herb knowledge and her love of natural healing with others is her calling.  Steem and Bitcoin accepted.