Hi - I have to tell you about an alternative treatment for the symptoms of auto-immune diseases. I have Rheumatoid Arthritis. I was diagnosed about 4 years ago and have been on powerful immune suppressing drugs for the last 3 years. Remicade and methotrexate (also used in cancer treatment :shock: ).

Last summer I started looking for a good alternative treatment for my symptoms, because I was not at all happy with what I was getting...toxic stuff causing some of the same symptoms they were supposed to be treating, and the added "bonus" of a suppressed immune system allowing some kind of nasty infections, bad reactions to viruses, etc.

What I found is a drug called Naltrexone. It was developed in early 1980's and used for alcoholics to suppress their cravings for alcohol. It is used at high doses for them...50-300 mg. One pioneering doctor tried Low Dose Naltrexone at 2-4.5 mg to help "quiet" the immune system. Guess what...it works!!! I started taking it on January 28, 2011, and 4 days later I stopped taking Ibuprophen for the pain in my joints. I was taking 800 mg ibuprophen twice a day for pain...I stopped on that day. All my inflammation is nearly gone..all the swelling in my hands and feet. I am completely off all the toxic drugs I was being treated with previously.

Here is the website: www.lowdosenaltrexone.org It is a very "benign" drug...it does no harm to your body. There is lots of information there on how it works.

I work with doctors, and one of them has written me the prescription. My primary care doctor looked up the information and is wholly supportive of this.

I just hope this information helps someone here who may need it!!

Thanks going to check it out tired of hurting (arthritis).

thanks, DH has had dermatomyositis, in remission now. He took MTX and prednisone too.

There are people all over the world using this for fibromyalgia, MS, rheumatoid arthritis, and on and on. Even for some cancers.

I am feeling better than I have for more than 4 years. I still have little aches, but nothing like before. This is NOT a cure, but is a way to manage symptoms until a cure is found.

What were your side effects when taking Remicaid? I have ulcerative colitis and my gastro doctor is thinking about putting me on that. He keeps giving me new things to try before putting me on Remicaid because of harsh side effects and I'm still young (23 yrs old).

thank you so much for this information I will be talking to my Dr about it.

Interesting, I will speak to my specialist about this when I see him next. We have a doctor here in Perth who uses Naltrexone to help people with addiction to opiates. He funds this service almost singlehandedly, and it seems to get good results.

I currently take Plaquenil and Cyclosporine (plus a bunch of others) - Methotrexate was not recommended for me. You are right, some of the drugs we take for our illness are actually very toxic!

I do know Naltrexone is metabolised in the liver, so as with many drugs an initial liver function test plus monthly follow ups for the first 3-6 months are recommended.

I have been on a heavy drug regime for some years now...I have full blood work ups every 2 months and more blood testing/urinalysis every time I see my specialist, which thankfully is now every 4 months. This seems a lot, but when I started seeing him it was every month....which was tiring to say the least!

I did get quite excited about the new drug Benlysta, but my specialist was fairly dismissive. He said he had his doubts about it's efficacy. I think also, there have been some questions raised about some of the side-effects.

Thanks for starting this discussion, it is always interesting to hear what works for others....education is so important when you are battling such chronic diseases and if we can help others through our experiences all the better.

Hope Naltrexone continues to be of help to you, and you continue to be inflammation and pain free. Happy quilting.

The Naltrexone at low dose of 4.5 mg is metabolized very fast through your system. It actually is only in there for about 3 hours, but you have the benefits of it for the next 18-20 hours. You take it at bedtime and let it do it's work while you are sleeping. Some people have reported sleep disturbances (short duration, resolving and not returning) but I didn't have any side effects from it at all.

The side effects I have had from methotrexate and remicade were fatigue (one thing it is supposed to help!) and a chemical smell in my skin. Overall that mixture just did not do a lot for my symptoms...I had a lot of inflammation and joint pain, plus the fatigue, even while on those drugs. Plus the Remicade is soooo expensive...I was getting it every 6 weeks, and my insurance was paying $2700 every time!! Outrageous.

One wonderful thing about the Low Dose Naltrexone...in my town it costs only $10.76 for a whole month of capsules...$5 I pay after my insurance. It has to be compounded down to 4.5 mg from 50 mg tabs, which is the lowest dose it is manufactured.

Thank you for posting this.

I have a friend who has managed to control her RA by means of diet for 20 years. When she was initially diagnosed, the doctor wanted to put her on medication that had the rare side-effect of blindness. She didn't want to take any chances with her vision, so she sought out a naturopath who put her on an elimination diet. Within a few days she had improved.

Currently her biggest problem is with iritis, plus her diet has become increasingly constricted over the years. (However, she has a fabulous figure because of it!) I am going to forward the website you posted to her in case it might help her. Thanks!