Pallavi is a Bangalore-based ecommerce professional who was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis 4 years ago. She shares how she made diet and lifestyle changes to manage the condition.
Last month, I went to my friend's son's birthday party; he was turning 8. After the cake was cut, when we all sat down to eat, all the kids were served pizza and garlic bread with cheese dip. I sat among the kids and took out my tiffin from my bag and started eating my millets upma. All the kids stared at me as if I was some alien. "Why would anyone give up pizza for some brown mush?" Well, it's a long story…
4 years ago, I was diagnosed with an aggressive form of Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) after a bout of viral fever. At the time, I had severe joint pain and stiffness and migrating pains. My jaw hurt so much, I couldn’t eat hard food. My sleep was very disturbed. When I received the diagnosis and read about it, it was like receiving a death sentence, given my mindset at the time. I couldn’t get some of the stats out of my head - about 50% of people who get diagnosed with RA leave the workplace within 5 years, allopathy effectiveness (remission) is only about 20-30%, the medication itself can cause hair loss and loss of vision, no body part is spared in RA - kidneys, lungs, eyes, muscles, all are at risk. As I kept reading more and more about RA on the internet, the prognosis in my head kept getting worse. After exhausting the mainstream articles online, I then started coming across the blogs and personal accounts. I saw that many people had turned to diet as a solution for living a symptom free life. However, I was conditioned to think of medicines as the only solution for illness. I consulted some good allopathic doctors and they said that I needed to make peace with lifelong medication and the disease would keep progressing nevertheless.
After a few months, my husband connected me to an Ayurvedic doctor in Thrissur, who had helped few of his relatives recover from osteoarthritis. This was my first experience of a holistic doctor. It was very different compared to an allopathic consultation. A normal allopathic consultation is typically very rushed, you are conscious that you're not going to get more than a few minutes with the doctor. Secondly, they ask you about the symptoms and address them specifically. For instance, if I complain about stiffness of fingers, they examine and touch the fingers, then order tests related to the fingers. In my case it was an ultrasound of my hands. If I complain about a cough to the same doctor, for instance, they refer me to a pulmonologist, saying it requires a specialist. In Ayurveda everything is related. All aspects of your mental and physical health are considered. During my first meeting with my Ayurvedic doctor, he checked my pulse, my hands, my tongue, asked me about my diet and work. He then asked me whether I sleep well and whether I have bad dreams at night. He asked me if I have appetite during the day. He told me Ayurveda knows why rheumatoid arthritis occurs. I strongly believe that if you know the ‘why’ of a problem, then you can come up with the right solution.
With a lot of doubts in my mind, I started my Ayurvedic treatment. At the time two support systems really helped me - first and foremost my husband and parents from both sides, who patiently stood by me during this very difficult phase; and my boss and colleagues, who supported me and gave me more than a month's leave during a very critical phase in my work.
I went for a month-long Panchkarma treatment, which is a controlled detoxification of the body. At the end of the treatment, I was told to give up non veg, alcohol, smoking completely' get 8 hours of sleep every day and eat at the same time every day. I was also advised to give up maida completely, reduce atta, dairy and soya from my diet. I felt much better after panchkarma. My joint pains, jaw pain persistent cough and sleep issues were almost gone. My hair had grown a lot, skin glowed and I had lost about 6 kg.
PatientsEngage Tip: Panchkarma can be harmful and is known to also cause kidney damage. Please choose your ayurveda specialist carefully.
Lifestyle Changes I Made
I was a little afraid to resume my normal life and sure enough, when I went back home from the hospital, I relapsed a little in terms of pain. Then all the articles on diet that I had read, came back to me. I decided to try a complete gluten-free and dairy-free diet. It was hard because initially it’s difficult to find replacements, and eating out is nearly impossible. But my fear of a lifelong illness fuelled my willpower, and I went for it. Along with diet, I also ensured I slept for 8 hours every day, exercised and meditated. I got tremendous relief from all symptoms after that. My joint pain was completely gone and so were all other symptoms. My blood work stopped showing signs of inflammation altogether. My mental outlook and mood also improved. I could clearly notice the correlation of diet and symptoms. If I broke my diet and had gluten or dairy, then on the same day or next day, I would immediately have joint pain and/or indigestion.
Lakshmi, Vidya and Jacqueline share their experience of managing Rheumatoid Arthritis
Over the next three years, I had a couple of flares and had to see the doctor again for medication. But it subsided with medication and discipline every time. Eventually, my Ayurvedic medication was weaned off and for past year and a half, I’m living a completely medication-free and symptom-free life. I know that if any of my basic principles of diet and lifestyle deviates – if I have too much stress; if I break my diet during travel; if I don’t get enough sleep or if I miss my exercises for too long - I will have a minor flare up. However, with a couple of days of kanji (watery rice) and strict discipline, I will be back to normal.
Diet-based and lifestyle-based disease management is hard. All outings require planning, including travel, birthday parties and movies. I always carry my tiffin at movie theatres and birthday parties. (Yes, movie theatres allow your own food if you tell them it is for medical reasons). A few times, I had to cancel trips when I didn’t feel confident of my health. I also found a person in Mumbai, who dehydrates home-cooked food into meal sized packets. Whenever I travel for work or leisure, I carry a food cooker and these packets so that I can have my home food anywhere. For long trips, I also carry lots of dry snacks and grains to cook.
Thanks to my understanding colleagues, I also avoid extreme early morning flights which disrupt sleep schedules significantly. In the long run, having to carry food everywhere and following a rigid schedule is a small price to pay for a medication-free, healthy life. I’m happy to eat tiffins in public and endure stares of kids and adults if it helps me keep the RA monster at bay.
Disclaimer All opinions and medical observations are based on her personal experience and are not medical advice.
