Re: Vitamin Minerals and drugs

[Guest guest]

Ruth,

It's good to see you posting. One thing to make sure of with the Remicade is that you drink plenty of fluids so that you don't have the toxicity to your liver.

I know that bone pain, and I'm sure that it is more from mineral deficiencies caused by the sarc than from the Remicade. If I do use the MSM powder 2-3x daily, it seems to help.

I forget-- but are you on prednisone also?

What are you taking to make sure you don't build up antibodies against the Remicade. As you know, the MTX is the choice drug to ward off this problem, but if that is one you can't use- then the other choices are prednisone, or Imuran, or Arava-- or any of the other immunosupressants.

I can truly tell when my body is getting into the place of mineral deficiency, as the first thing that comes back is the bone pain. I know on FSR, Dr. Sharma states that supplemental calcium magnesium is necessary for those of us that have and continue to be on prednisone, and for those of us that are in perimenopause and menopause-- we still need to supplement. It will be a fine line between getting to much calcium and not enough. Looking at www.arthritis.org-- their vitamin and mineral guide suggests calcium citrate with magnesium. Calcium cannot be absorbed without magnesium-- so make sure that you get a good combination of both.

Guys, you too need to protect yourself against osteoporosis from the prednisone.

What researchers are now finding is that if you are deficient in calcium, the body is going to leach it from your bones and deposit it where it doesn't belong. For me, this raises the question that if we are and have been long-term deficient in our calcium levels, is this why the body has decided to produce granulomas and store them in our organs?

If you take into consideration that many of us had office jobs where we were inside 8-10 hrs a day and rarely saw the sunlight, and weren't able to get that needed dose of sunlight to activate the Vit D correctly, (which also triggers the correct absorbation of calcium) and if we are Vit C deficient-- which also requires that calcium levels be correct-- then has this enviromental issue a part of the puzzle.

I truly believe it is.

The office building I worked in had dark ceilings, light blocking screens over the windows, and totally enclosed air conditioning systems. Even the windows of the lunchroom was tinted green, and the patio was a concrete partition that acted as an echo chamber-- and we were across the street from the airport-- so to sit out there on your lunch hour was more traumatizing than relaxing. When the jets would come in-- the windows shook.

So where the heck am I going with this? Diet plays a huge part in our health. Our MD's don't know crap about nutrition-- they had only a few hours of study-- so it's up to us to learn how to eat and vitamize!!!!!! ourself.

I invested in the book SUPERFOODS RX and it's wonderful to explain what food combinations go together so that your body can assimilate the vitamins and minerals we need-- and that the drugs we are all on end up being depleted.

Take care,

Tracie

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