Let’s start out with discussing what episodes an autoimmune prescription would NOT help. Chief among them are candida dumps, adrenal spikes and subsequent overshots. As stated earlier, I had debilitating abdominal pain with zero energy or appetite on my 2nd full day in New York City. An autoimmune prescription would do absolutely nothing for that. I still would have been laid up for half a day and would not recover my strength for at least 3 days. Symptoms were due to a candida dump, not an inflammatory autoimmune reaction.
Shortly after solving a major problem, my adrenals tend to spike, which necessitates a temporary increase in my Thym-Adren dosage. Lately, these episodes only last a day or so. I will experience symptoms if I don’t take enough pills during the spike and autoimmune treatments won’t help. By the same token, if I continue to take mega doses after the spike goes down, I will be stiff and sluggish. Again, autoimmune treatment won’t help. It’s an adrenal imbalance. In the same way, heart medication won’t help a cancer patient. It’s just common sense.
Now, here’s where I could have benefited from autoimmune treatment:
-1. Inexplicable reactions to Candida treatments such as Probiotics or Apple Cider Vinegar and having to take Probiotics and Taurine together. Either one without the other is a NO.
-2. Inexplicable reactions to a B-Vitamin complex in which stand alone testing revealed just 2 specific vitamins that were the culprit.
-3 . Intolerance to Magnesium Malate or even foods such as strawberries that contain Malic acid when taking Glycine products.
-4. Intolerance to Thym-Adren or other adrenal support because the ratio of Zinc/Copper is less than ideal for me.
-5. Intolerance to Magnesium when consuming dairy products.
-6. Intolerance to Taurine, which is necessary to resolve other issues that will be discussed later.
Cases 1 and 2:
Cured with Cytokine suppressants and Lactoferrin. I’ll have to look back but there was one B-Vitamin that I can’t tolerate without the Cytokine suppressants and one that I could not tolerate without Lactoferrin. However, as long as I take both products at least semi-regularly, PROBLEM SOLVED! If I had relied on a prescription drug, I may get relief from the symptoms, but my Cytokines would have remained elevated. Who knows what problems that can cause?
Case 3:
Cured with Intrinsic Factor and B-12. It should be obvious that something is badly wrong with my immune system if simply eating a couple of strawberries triggers an inflammatory response. Again, if I had used a prescription, that reaction would likely have been reduced or eliminated but I would have remained deficient in B-12 and Intrinsic Factor, which is referred to as Pernicious Anemia. I did test myself for that out of pocket and my results came back borderline. Without treatment, it surely would have been flagged.
Cases 4 and 5:
Manageable with Taurine, which helps with mineral transport into the cells. Like case 3, case 5 was scary but such reactions can probably be avoided by eliminating dairy from my diet or possibly reducing the Magnesium. With Case 4, I NEED adrenal support! Without it, I am screwed. No other way to put it. Being unable to tolerate a treatment that I need because of autoimmune issues is the ultimate in cruelty. The jury is still out as whether or not Taurine will be completely effective. I would certainly prefer that to the alternative, in which mineral transport issues remain unresolved.
Case 6:
Intolerance to Taurine would be double cruelty. Fortunately, Colostrum has prevented any reactions to Taurine. I’m still not entirely sure how it works but it does. Since it also contains Lactoferrin, I may no longer need that pill. Time will tell. It would be nice to take fewer pills but it’s not a big deal.
Now, if I do have to see the Rheumatologist, what treatments would they prescribe?
A conservative treatment would be an NSAID such as Ibuprofen or Naproxen. I recently popped 2 Tylenol pills during one of my worst flare ups. My pace improved by 36 seconds per mile. I’d classify that as enough to be considered significant but not enough to be a game changer. Prescription Ibuprofen would likely be more effective but probably not enough.
My “BARE minimum standard for racing is a 60:00 10K (6.2 miles @ 9:39 pace). If relatively healthy, I have no doubt that I can achieve that standard on a volume as low as 15 MPW. On my worst days, I cannot even run 1 mile in 12 minutes. Can Ibuprofen really take me all the way to the standard? I doubt it. If I do go this route, the autoimmune reactions will still happen, and the underlying causes will be unresolved but at least the symptoms will be less severe. If this is not effective enough, corticosteroid treatment such as Prednisone could be considered. I’d REALLY PREFER TO AVOID THAT ROUTE! It can mess with adrenal balance and cause emotional outbursts as well. In my line of work, that will not be tolerated.
Immunosuppressants:
Needless to say, I’d prefer not to go down this road either. Though my symptoms may be reduced, it will cause problems that others say are “worse than the disease itself.” During the worst of COVID, I went more than 2 years without getting so much as a common cold. For the record, I am proudly unvacksinated. For obvious reasons, if I react badly to a strawberry or a glass of milk, what could an mRNA jab do to me? I don’t want to know. On this treatment, I can expect to be down with serious infections multiple times every year, which will be more difficult to treat. A simple course of antibiotics may not be enough. There may be other side effects too. It could alter the adrenal balance and worsen the candida infection. I’ve heard these drugs can also cause severe dental issues and even tooth loss. Obviously, I want to do everything in my power to avoid that. If you’ve seen my smile, you know why.
DMARDS:
Disease Modifying Anti-Rheumatic Drugs are probably my best bet to be effective. Again, they work by weakening your immune system, so the side effects will be similar to what was described above. If I go this route without addressing the underlying causes, my symptoms will likely be reduced but I will still have the following issues:
Elevated cytokines, Pernicious Anemia and Mineral imbalances. Now, throw in reduced ability to fight off infections and possibly more. If at all possible, I want to avoid this scenario.
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