Re: Why, why, why...

[Guest guest]

Patty,

You are so right. There are definitely reasons to take medications. When I

had my first flare after was born, MTX and NSAIDS were a godsend. I

recovered and had an excellent quality of life. The same happened after

Danny was born, but my recovery was slower. Then, the downturn started and

four years later I am struggling to function--not because of pain or

swelling but because of fatigue. I only wish my doctor could help me find

the answers instead of stonewalling me just because I am questioning whether

the medications are contributing to this. I never told him I was going to

stop taking them! Fortunately for me the naturopath is helping me find

information so I can make the best choices possible.

It is known that sometimes for unknown reasons MTX just stops working. My

RD event told me that. It is also very probable that the long term use is

causing toxicity problems for me. It doesn't for everyone, but it can and I

need to determine if it is. Unfortunately for me my RD wasn't even willing

to discuss the subject. My naturopath is, so I am finding better care

there. And, many people do. Naturopathic medicine is not voodoo. It is

completely based in science. All remedies that Naturopaths use are

SCIENTIFICALLY studied and documented--they are not based on speculation or

anecdotal evidence. The only difference is that the remedies studied and

used are of natural origins.

In the US and Canada products can only be categorized in two ways--Drug and

food. Drugs are required to undergo rigid scientific studies to prove their

efficacy in order to be approved by the FDA. Food products do not have to

do this, hence they cannont advertise health benefit claims on their labels.

However, more and more supplement producers ARE putting their products to

the scientific and medical testing regimen like the drug companies. When

you find these products and read the research their claims are about as

accurate as the drug claims. (Afterall drugs don't have a 100% success

rate). But, because these companies can't make the health benefits claims

in their advertising, they must market solely through healthcare

professionals (such as naturopaths) or via Network Marketing Distribution

where they can communicate the research results one patient at at time. All

of this is leading, by the way, to the probable development (within the next

10 years) of a third category of products called " nutrocueticals " --nutro for

food, cuetical for scientifically developed. Hopefully we will then have

access to more, well-studied, options to chose from.

Sorry this is so long. I don't in any way mean to imply you should do

anything different. You are responding well to your treatment and you have

made educated choices. I just wanted to explain why Naturopathic medicine

isn't a crap shoot if you ever need more help than your doctor can provide!

Keep healthy!