We discuss in this podcast:
- The state of absolute pain she had at the start of the process
- Stressful lifestyle as a turning point
- The first approach with sulfasalazine, methotrexate and Plaquenil at the same time
- Allergic reactions, rash and other side effects
- Prednisone and short-term effects
- How she turned to dietary approaches after these experiences
- Vegetarian diets and the effects of different types of foods
- The choice of the Paddison Program and how it finally gave her consistent results
Clint My beautiful guest today is Sara, and she is in Adelaide, which is a city in a central southern part of Australia. And today we’re going to talk about persistence. That’s the underlying theme of this conversation. She has had a lot of experience in the last five years of challenges with not just inflammation and battling the condition, but also with various medications and the side effects that she’s experienced with those. And so today we’re going to talk about various medications that she’s been on and how that worked out or didn’t work out. A couple of different diets that she’s tried and what worked and what didn’t work. And then how she now feels today, which is the best that she has felt with rheumatoid arthritis. Since she was diagnosed five years ago by being persistent with Paddison Program and all aspects of the program, not just the dietary component, but exercise as well. So with that, thank you so much Sara for joining me.
Sara Thanks, Clint and I’m very excited to be here to talk about my story. Yeah.
Clint Yeah, it’s gonna be great. We’ve tried to set this up many months ago. But things got in the way just various timings and so forth. So I’m really excited too that we finally made this happen. So why don’t you take us through, first of all, how you feel today? Like what’s you generally how do you wake up? What sort of level of discomfort do you have?
Sara I was just talking to my husband earlier and I said I still feel a bit sore in the morning. And I’m a bit stiff and balking at getting out of bed. And he said, look, we’re in our 50’s we are the same and don’t worry. And I suddenly look back before I did this podcast with you and I looked at what I’ve achieved in five years. And when I wake up with a little bit of stiff fingers and that’s probably about it in the morning, I’m thinking, wow, I’ve come such a long way from lying in bed in absolute agony with probably the biggest pain I had was the (inaudible) in my shoulders. And it was like someone is stabbing me in the shoulders at night. And I’d have to get up at 3:00 in the morning, take a couple of Nurofen or Panadol to get me back to sleep. So I was really struggling and I had lots of injections in my shoulders to deal with that. My feet were so swollen, and I couldn’t walk to the bathroom. And my husband he said, I watched you just practically crawl to the bathroom. And then even picking up a hairbrush, I couldn’t clean my teeth because I couldn’t wrap my fingers around the toothbrush. And I had to get in a hot shower almost every morning just to loosen up the body before even getting going. So that was sort of perhaps five years ago, the start of it and the process. Yeah, it’s been quite the journey. Looking back now, going, I’m feeling great.
Clint Wow, what a transformation. So you’ve seen your fist making ability completely transform your ability to walk on your feet without that horrible swelling and pain. Those shoulders obviously keeping you awake at night. So like a massive turn around?
Sara Huge, just writing my story is suddenly going through it again. Looking back to do this I’m like, this is great and I feel good. So probably five years ago, I think what’s happened it was I think probably 10 years ago, a doctor said to me, your white blood cells are very low and your neutrophils are very low. Have you had an infection or something? And I said, oh, well, I don’t think so. And they continued to be really low for a very long time. So I’m not sure if that’s the kind of thing that could have been an infection. The other thing I had was the Bay 27 parvovirus in my blood from quite a long time ago. And I thought, oh that could be something I don’t know. But about five years ago, I just got a lot of wrist pain and I did a lot of pilates. I was very fit and healthy, not really healthy. But looking back that my wrists were terrible and I went saw a resurgent. I had braces on my wrist.
Sara And at that time, I was studying nutritional medicine, and I was doing my health science degree. I thought I’ve got to get a degree before I’m 50, quick get a degree. And so I was studying, studying three kids at school, moving house, renovating a house, and I think that is the catalyst, as you have discussed a lot with people, where was the turning point? And then I’m at my daughter’s Christmas concert and at school and, sitting down and I know, like you said when you sit down for a long time when your knees are in that position. And you’ve got no way to stretch your legs out. I got up and I fell over and my knees just didn’t hold me up. And that was like terrifying because I’m like, something’s really bad. And I almost had to get my knees lubricated again to be able to walk again. And that was the day after that I called the rheumatologist who actually knew gave her. But I just told her my symptoms and she said, come in and see me. That’s when I had all the tests, and she said you’ve got rheumatoid arthritis. So it wasn’t like her. It was a sort of a long looking back. And the rash, that’s what I was going to say. I had this rash that had started and I went to see dermatologists, what is this rash? And I think I had a biopsy and they said, you’ve got Granuloma Annular, don’t know if you’ve heard of that. I know, but I’m kind of stuck with me for a long time. And on and off and I’m thinking it was sort of on the torso, on my arm and it sort of goes down on your legs a bit and I’m thinking, Oh, I’m falling apart. What’s going on? Yes. so that was sort of five years ago when it was diagnosed. And the rheumatologist goes, here’s your sulfasalazine, your Plaquenil and your Methotrexate, off you go and see you later. It’s a really hard thing to suddenly accept that you have to take medication for life, as she said. And I just wasn’t dealing very well. So it took me three months before I took the pills.
Clint Now, just packing up a few moments. The rash that you have on your skin. Was it considered autoimmune-related or an independent?
Sara No one knows, no one can tell me. And probably the last few years of it’s it’s I’ve noticed it came up a lot after Christmas holidays. Of course, you know, I have a couple of drinks., diet change to be in your way. And then since I’ve been back now it’s February, I’ve been back home, back in the routine. It’s really gone down again. So definitely food, a lot of food and auto immune, it is definitely auto immune related.
Clint Right. You see the trend as we see with, you know, inflammation in joints, the same kind of trends if you start getting off. Okay.
Sara I feel and the only time it disappeared was when I was on prednisone.
Clint Right, that makes sense too. Yeah.
Sara Okay. Miracle drug (inaudible) Ah, that’s fine for six weeks.
Clint So jumping back on the story, you’ve gone with Plaquenil, Methotrexate, Sulfasalazine as the recommendation to straight off the bat from the rheumatologist. So she’s opened your account with a very, very significant amount of medication. Just starting on one of those three is quite common. Starting you on all three at the same time is very aggressive. Were your symptoms at that point really significant for her to do that? Or do you think that that might have been a little bit aggressive?
Sara I didn’t know what was aggressive or what was not. She said this is the protocol by your symptoms and what you’re telling me. Look, probably looking back at my symptoms probably got worse. So they probably weren’t as full-on when I saw her then. Interesting enough when I finally went. Yeah. Bite the bullet. I’m going to do this. I can’t stand it any longer. I can’t cope with this pain. I took the sulfasalazine and I got this. That night, about 10 minutes after I took it, I got this tingling sensation in my lips. And I thought I feel like I’ve been bitten. I wonder what it is. I didn’t know. I didn’t put two and two together. And then suddenly I’m like, oh, my God I wonder if it’s the drugs. And I looked at the packet and it said, if you get any reaction, call the doctor straight away. So I called the nurse and she said, get off it immediately. You’re obviously allergic to it. So that was interesting.
Sara Then I took the Methotrexate. I think I was on twenty-five mg to start with. So we’re going hardcore.
Clint She really put you on a serious path.
Sara It’s big and then the Plaquenil. And I was just looking back on my notes and the Plaquenil after a couple of months I stopped that because they’re not. I’ve written skin rash might be causing the rash. They said if your rash gets worse often after you’ve been on Plaquenil the rash never goes. I don’t know if you’ve heard that?
Clint No, I’ve never heard that. But that’s very disturbing as well.
Sara I just said, you know, I’ve got this rash. I think at that stage it was sort of on my neck and everything. And she said, look it could be the Plaquenil and get off that. Tik, another one gone. Ok, so we’re back on Methotrexate. And you know, it did help me for a while and I think that was probably a good time just to help me through that. But the biggest thing that helped me, I think I was going overseas and I was still struggling. She said, look let’s just give you a shot of Prednisone or the Depo-Provera or whatever. I’m like, oh okay and It’s a bit scary. Youn know I didn’t know anything about it and now I do. But it was just heaven. I’m like, ah, this is all this stuff gone overseas. I’ve had it. Oh, suddenly no pain of waking up in the morning feeling great. And it literally lasts. I would I can put my finger on it for six weeks. And then after six weeks, everything starts coming back and probably worse.
Clint Yeah, I see. Were you home after the time when it started to come back? The symptoms.
Sara Yeah.
Clint Yeah, okay. So symptoms returning you then on the Methotrexate you are realizing that you still kind of in a situation here. I can relate on a much smaller scale to the elation of having a drug relieve all symptoms. And for me, that was taking this very high dose of non-steroidal drugs really early on. And I thought all I need to do is just keep taking these every day for the rest of my life. Like I thought, that’s really like that’s how naive I was.
Sara What were they?
Clint Voltaren. So I’m taking these and I think I woke up next morning, felt great and I genuinely thought, that’s great. All I need to do is just take them every day now forever. I really just thought that. And then after three weeks, I was on double or triple the dose just to get half the result. Then I thought, this is now terrible. So I thought, well, I might as well stop taking them and see where I’m at. And that’s when I discovered the horrific situation that lied underneath. So in those three of them, I think was three to four weeks that I was taking them. By taking them, I got so much worse by taking them for that period of time. So I was maybe of four, five out of ten took him for three weeks increasing dosage, thinking like you no need to suppress this inflammation. And then stopped. And after I stopped, I was a seven or eight permanently. Like it just it wrecked me. So anyway, I can relate to having that feeling. And then the absolute rushing realization like a ton of bricks that hits you. Oh my god. I’m in grave danger here because the medication that I thought was my savior i. actually my enemy. And now what am I going to do?
Sara So and that thing and I’m not a Panadol taker, as in and like her or (inaudible). I never take anything. So that was why it was such a big decision. But when you’re in that much pain during the night and I think that’s when I would pop those Neoprene. But even then, I’m not I wouldn’t take a headache tablet. So it was a big thing. But I’m just looking back, trying to think I still think I went to a naturopath, a nutritionist and I got onto the fish oil, the curcumin. Then the Ripper I got was Flexeril. I think it’s Flexeril or something. And it’s like a cure for rheumatoid arthritis, some popping this going up. Ripper, I’m cured and I got this terrible itchy skin all over like, oh my God, what is this? And it had like milk products, llena, traces of this. And I’m thinking this is just disasters. I got off that. But I think I saw on one of your podcasts, oh, the you know, hundreds of thousands of things that you took. And I looked at my carbon and there’s every cure in the book. This stopped inflammation, this is good so I’m on the Glutathione and I’m on this and vitamins. And so in the end, I went Bagara, I’m getting off everything. And I think that’s a big thing that we almost need to do. Like you just said, get off everything, see where you’re at. And that’s a really important thing. And I suddenly went, okay, let’s start slowly. Then I found I was just telling you before I found the Amy Myers protocol, the autoimmune solution, which is completely opposite to what your program needs.
Clint Tell us what they want you to eat on that.
Sara They want you to, a lot of meats. Get off your dairy, grains, nuts, and seeds. Pretty much opposite to you.
Clint Well, not necessarily. The way that I like to think of it is a halfway step as opposed to opposite. And let me explain what I mean by that. That is what we have in common is that we want no dairy because dairy is the worst. So starting with no dairy and that’s a huge step for people. And I’ve seen cases by just stopping dairy, people’s symptoms disappear. And it’s not very common. I wish it was really common. And that’d be really fortunate for a lot of us, but not sometimes. The second thing is that eliminate all processed foods and junk foods. So once we eliminated dairy, processed foods and junk foods, we’re a lot healthier. And that’s why a lot of people who go on something like her protocol are going to feel better and think, you know what, this is working for me. This is the goal.
Clint And also, remember that the Paddison Program involves the elimination of grains and of nuts. Okay. In the early stages, there are no grains. Because the science shows that there’s inflammation in wheat, barley, oats, and rye, all of these things are studied. So that’s taken out of the diet and they are tested later. When the body is more able to handle these kinds of foods. Well, there are health benefits for those once you aren’t in a highly reactionary, inflammatory state. We’re laughing if you’re not watching this if you listening. They were laughing because my daughter is right in looking for some paper. She wants to draw some pictures.
Clint So notice that there are a lot of similarities so far and the differences in it occur mostly with the amount of fat intake. And that’s where all the meat vs low fat with alkalizing pseudo-grains. They are actually seeds, right. So with Buckwheat, quinoa and also things like millet, amaranth are also included, but not as used much by people who follow the Paddison Program and with sweet potato and so.
Clint So I just wanted you know, I think that that’s why a non-scientifically supported program like low carb, high-fat diet can improve symptoms for a lot of people who are coming from it from a Western diet because Western is so bad.
Sara True. Interesting. Probably. I was a vegetarian going back for 10 years, back in the day, probably in my 20s. And then when I got pregnant, when I was 30, I started eating meat. And it made me feel so much better. And my husband. I said to me, you’re one of the healthiest girls I know. Why you’re always sick? And I thought that’s a really interesting fact because I was always sick, I always had a cold or, you know, I was dizzy and you get a cold, and I get run down and he’s just, you know, a meat eater and just would go out and eat and drink whatever he likes and he would be fine. So I kind of look back at that vegetarian diet. That probably wasn’t a good vegetarian diet. I don’t know. But I was always healthy and fit. Always been like that. Introduced meat, felt right during pregnancy. Pregnancies, I had three, and so I was a big meat eater and not a big meat eater, but lots of veggies and lots of healthy years, but I was constantly sick. So that’s interesting and since I’ve been on your program, I haven’t had those colds and those things that I used to always get. So that’s a really interesting fact. I’m just trying to look back. Yeah.
Clint Why don’t you pick it up from when you’ve ditched the Methotrexate then used sort of cleansed from the third and final drug and then you started the Paddison Program right? So we wanted to talk about how you started it on no medication. So the challenge, the climb, and the inclination of the hill to overcome is greater because you’ve only relied on natural ways to try and suppress the inflammation. And as inflammation cascades as snowballs builds up the more that we leave it in the body. So it’s a hard task to keep it all under control at a point that’s low enough so it doesn’t self cycle. How did you go on the Amy Myers program before you then started?
Sara You know, I was on that probably about eight months. I think it did make me feel better. And I did go into the rheumatologist and say, I’m feeling better, I’m doing this, I’m eating this sort of food. And she’s like, oh, what drug are we gonna put you on now? And I’m like, well look, I’m really going to try and not take any drugs. But she looked at my inflammation, my fingers started like I just said, it’s your degenerating and a little bit from your x rays and stuff. So we really need to keep that inflammation down. So that was a kind of struggle because I really wanted to go. I’m doing this and I can do this. And when you can’t and you kind of go, oh, all right, I’m gonna go, right. What drug do you want me on now? And then I’d think about it. Then I’ll have the prednisolone shot. Then I went overseas and I remember even writing down. Okay, I’ve seen this bloke, Clint Paddison. I’m just going to keep him in the back of my mind. I’m gonna go and have fun overseas and then I’m going to start the program in February, five years ago. Pretty much till this month, five years ago. And I went, yeah, no, two years ago. I’ve been on your program for two years. So look I think I probably did feel better on the Amy Myers and the other bloke that I found was Dr. McDougal that you talk about a bit as well?
Sara So I think what I was doing is pulling old bits of all of your diet in. And then I went, oh, Clint said, have Buckwheat and Quinoa. So I’d have Buckwheat and Quinoa in one day and then I’d whip off and have a, you know, Amy Myers meat and potatoes one night, oh, I can’t eat nightshade so well get rid of them. And so I think what happened, it was a whole big mess. Everything was too many diets, too many supplements and too many people telling me to stop, but I think in the end, we’ve just got to get rid of it all and go on your program. I think that’s the only way.
Clint I had a similar experience on a meat-heavy diet prior to the changes that I made. I never wanted to give up these foods. I’ve always been thin. I thought that if I gave up meat, I’d go from thin to invisible. And you know, the reluctance for me to put aside those options on my plate. The reluctance was enormous. And I completely understand, and my cupboards were full of the supplements. And I was doing anything but just the repetitive but predictably successful path of eating the required simple, humble foods each day. You know, your brain wants to just dictate these complicated approaches and reinvent the wheel. But the wheel says you’ve got to keep inflammation low. Your foods need to be alkaline. The foods need to be easy to digest. The foods need to be supportive of your healthy gut flora. And that’s what these foods can do. And we don’t need to get into the way.
Sara I’m sorry Clint, I think the big thing that because I was studying at the time. And I started to read your notes and your e-book. And I think that just got me because it makes sense. And it may and I obviously understood what was going on with my body and the leaky gut and all of this. And suddenly it really makes sense. And I think that’s what got me. And I went, okay, I’m going to give this a crack that if you don’t do it absolutely by the book. And I was just reading back on my notes, day one Paddison Program sick of Quinoa and sick of Buckwheat. And I’ll say I just want my cup of tea and I want my protein bowl and I want, you know, I just wanted that habit that I was so used to. And so that’s what was a bit of a killer
Clint Look, the reason that this program isn’t basically the standard protocol for everyone with rheumatoid arthritis worldwide is because even those with the disease, alot of them and they don’t want to do it. Even if they were told to do it, even if they were made aware of it and said this is going to help you by their doctor. Many people wouldn’t do it anyway. So it’s not just in a way. We don’t just have an awareness issue. We have desirability and challenge as well.
Sara Well, the doctor said to me, not many people can do what you’re doing, Sara. And my husband goes, you know, I admire you for doing this because not many people could do it. And I think when you’re in that much pain and as I was saying. When I can hardly walk and I’m miserable and you kind of lose the joy in life because you’re always in pain. And you’re trying to explain to people and they don’t see it because you can’t see your pain is? You go, right. I’ve gotta do something. And I think that’s. You just have to. But I think it is an ongoing life change. You can’t stop, you can’t stop this. This is a fight. It’s not a fight. I don’t call it a fight now because it’s part of my life. So if you feel it’s a fight, it’s and that’s not enjoyable. It’s nice, I go to yoga or I eat my beautiful foods. I go out on I’d have a glass of wine still. Now, after many months. But you’ve got to look on the bright side. So I think that’s what makes you feel good.
Clint Love it. So you’ve touched on some things that I want to get to before we take up too much time. So what I might do, if you don’t mind, is I might press fast forward a little bit on the first eight months that you were doing the program. Because during that time, I think, you know, it was hard. You were struggling, you weren’t on any medications. And there were some ups and downs. We communicated inside rheumatoid support and we had some discussions around medications and how you’d been on them and had a bad experience. Eight months later, then you decided, look, I’m going to try Arava. Okay. So tell us how the experience was on that. And then what happened next?
Sara I think I was I was telling you before earlier. But I said I was reading about everybody in your forum. We’re doing so well. Everyone’s running marathons and we’re feeling amazing. And I kind of got to a point in about eight months of the program and I was feeling good, and then I wasn’t, and I was doing all the right things and I was following it to a T and that’s frustrating when I wasn’t getting the complete results like I saw others getting on your program. And so I remember reaching out to you. What do you think? And my inflammation markers weren’t there. They weren’t terribly high, but they were still up a little bit. And you gave me good advice and said, look to get your inflammation markers. It’s a big struggle without being on medication. So why don’t you try the Arava or (inaudible), as it’s called? And I again had them sitting in their packet on my kitchen bench for ages going. Shall I, (Inaudible?
Sara Anyway, I took them and I was on them for probably a couple of weeks. Sort of, don’t know if I felt any better or not at that stage. But I was taking my dog for a walk and I started getting these heart palpitations, which I’d never had in my life. And I had to sort of buckle over in the park and going, what’s happened? Anyway, I pushed on, I came home and lied on the floor and put my feet up on the air and what’s happened. And then I spoke to my friend and she said, I think it just might drive you into the hospital. No, I’ll be alright. Anyway, I ended up in the hospital attached to all this stuff, like just to check my heart. And then I read side effects of this medication can cause heart palpitations, blah, blah, blah. The doctor guys. No, no, it wouldn’t be that it have to be something else. Anyway, I got off on that day and never took them again. So we’re back to square one. Look, it might have brought my inflammation down. I hadn’t had a blood test at that stage. But probably since then, I’ve gone bigger and better and it maybe helped a little bit. And then I just took off on the food and started feeling really good. And after eighteen months. So I pushed through. Did it felt great, 18 months. And I remember putting up on my Instagram. I think that’s when you commented, Yay! Oh my God, I feel amazing. And then I came down and had a really nasty accident. I was walking my dog in the dog park and he’s big, he’s lying next to me now, he’s a Rhodesian Ridgeback. And he was running around the dog park and smashed into me and I broke my leg and broke my shoulder. So that’s an interesting journey itself because yoga is out the window. And so then we start another whole situation.
Clint Before we deal with that segment. This 18 months after stopping the Arava the audience is going to think, well, what’s different? You know, you did eight months there on the Paddison Program. It was ups and downs and you couldn’t quite get the results. Then you’ve done a short few weeks on the Arava and then you’ve done 18 months and you’ve gotten to a point that you feel really, really good before the accident with your pet. So what do you think was different? Was it the persistence as we’ve talked about? Was it just the compliance and not cheating with your protein balls or whatever it was that you were interested in? Or was it adding more exercise or was it a mindset? What was it?
Sara I think exercise, I reckon about that time and I have to have a think about it. Hot yoga. It’s not Bikram, but I do hot yoga. I found a place and I reckon that’s when I went. Right. I’m going to I can’t do that. So the other thing you always push is the exercise. So I gave five days of weight, hot yoga,.
Clint fantastic, that’s going to help for sure.
It’s almost like a religion now because it just makes me feel so much better. Haven’t done my yoga this morning as I’ve been chatting with you. I just have to do something every day. And I tend to walk the dog and then yoga. That’s your routine, you don’t make any appointments until after that. And that’s your day and that’s it. I love it that it works.
Clint I love it. The last one or two minutes has been the most crucial part of our conversation here. This is the giant message, this is the greatest fruit to eat of the tree. It is that we need to find out what works for us. You know, inflammation reduction and make that the priority in our life as a habit. That does not get interrupted or disturbed because that is our medicine. We need medicine and our medicine is the daily habit of doing the essential things that keep our body okay when we’re either on medicine, pharmaceuticals or not. And so the other part of this Juicy Fruit is that the component involves exercise and with a disease that is a joint affliction. And when the only reason to have a joint is for movement, because if we didn’t have to move that part of the body, it would be a straight bone. Okay. So that’s the only requirement of that part of the body is to move. Then movement enables health in the joint. So we make it a muscle each day to do the things that keep our body feeling good. And part of that, or at least part of. The day should involve a half an hour, at least 45 minutes, great of exercise to keep our body moving. And there lies a strategy that a long term successful strategy. So five days a week, hot yoga, walking your dog. Keeping active and you eating the way that we know supports you as well. So, yeah, very valuable little time in this conversation right there. Okay. So how did you recover from being hit by your enormous dog?
Sara So, yeah, I’m feeling old grey, up to then and then bang. And that was an interesting process in itself because I couldn’t move. I was in a wheelchair for months doing the tiniest exercises. Was is can you lift your leg off the bed one each and down just to strengthen that whole knee. It was my tibia. Tibia, the one under your knee, that whole bone was broken. I had a steel plate put in that, crushed completely on my shoulder and had a plate put in that which had to be removed three months later. So we had no movement, we had no movement. I couldn’t do the wheelchair because I could only use one arm, the other arm didn’t work. So, look, it was a bit of a nightmare. But every single day I put an hour aside on that floor and I would get down and I would do anything I could possibly do. And the doctor said to me, you have recovered so well. And a lot of people wouldn’t have persisted. Here’s my persistence again with that exercise routine. And I made my own exercise routine and I would do it every single day. I’d keep eating the same food. My husband was sick at making me cucumber and celery juice. It was very good in the end of the juice machine. And I just kept my program going with you. But what I’ve found is, I started getting some joint pain that I hadn’t had before because probably I wasn’t doing my hot yoga. I was talking to you about this TMJ. My jaw joint suddenly got really, really sore. And I’m like, this is weird. My knees, everything else seems fine, but this jaw pain. I was on a lot of medication. I was on Endone.
Clint Painkillers, right?
Sara Painkillers. Not all just big painkillers. So what almost took out and I think I’m recovered now and we’re up to seven months later. So probably four or five months. Five months. I got back into yoga. I couldn’t do a lot on my shoulder and stuff, but I do what I could. The sweating, I think, is just you feel like toxins are coming at, you feel good. But seven months later on back to five yoga a week. I’m eating. Still got a plate in my leg and it never gets better. I had to have surgery again on my shoulder and got that up. But it really puts you back again and you’ll go by, here we go. But it makes you think about your life and everything else, and you’re grateful that you can walk. And you know, I’m grateful for where I’m at now. So it kind of makes you think about another whole. You know, it was an interesting process and journey.
Clint So quite it’s also a spiritual angle for you as well.
Sara Probably just. Yeah, maybe it was because you got time to think, you know, you can’t do anything. You read a lot of books, then you’d think. So, perhaps that relaxation part of it all, which I don’t often get in my day to day. It was really important and it calmed me. And I think stress is a massive problem with rheumatoid. And most people with rheumatoid arthritis are that busy, stressed kind of person. This was really good for me. So I’m feeling better from yoga. Back to yoga and back to my same routine. And we’re feeling great. Two years later.
Clint Wow, what a story. You’ve had some ups and downs, that’s for sure. You’ve certainly not been the poster child for pharmaceuticals because you’ve seemed to react to most of them. Just how it was for you. And that’s not to say that down the track you might not find one that works or need one for you in the future. But it’s just an interesting reflection in your journey that you had reactions to several of them that made you have to look hard and really, really depend on the natural approaches as much as possible.
Clint So I’m just wondering if there’s anything I’d like to ask. Are the TMJ joint you mentioned the jaw. Did they start a lot after eight years straight after your accident? Because it can be stirred up by sleeping on the same side all the time. See, when we’re mobile and we feel good, we change positions constantly throughout the night. We just feel uncomfortable. A little cold, a little hot. Need to go to the bathroom. Whatever. We come back to the bed or move in the bed and we’re in different positions throughout the night to some extent. But if you can only sleep on one side because of discomfort in the shoulder, you’re constantly putting pressure on that same side.
Sara That was exactly what it would have been because this is the shoulder broken and lying on this side. So yeah, that would have been it. So that could have been a thing. I don’t know if it was an inflammation. Look, it’s not too bad now, but it was just a major pain in a joint. Then I had never experienced.
Clint It could be a combination of a little bit of inflammation that previously went undetected until it was aggravated by being used with pressure too much consistently. Did you do anything for it? Did you have any investigative?
Sara Yeah, I went to a physio who just specializes in that. And he just sort of poked and he just said, look, it gets worse. You know, I gonna get some x rays. But look, it hasn’t got worse. It’s kind of stable at the moment. It’s not too bad. And I’m not feeling it as much. So I think that’s like you said, it’s probably from lying on it for months on end. She couldn’t lie on your shoulder. So not sure if that’s a rheumatoid thing or not. But what was that? Was it? I was going to mention being on the program when I first started the headache side, got in the early days. And lots of I didn’t feel great on the Buckwheat. And I just wanted to bring that up because I remember you said to me, just try one grain or the other. So I struggled and had lots of diarrhea and really was a little bit. Not feeling great. And as soon as I got, you know, the Quinoa soon as I got rid of the Quinoa, wow, I felt better. So that was something I wanted to bring up with people that might have just started the program and whether, you know, you could just do one grain. I don’t know what your thoughts are on that.
Clint It’s a great suggestion. And I see more frequently the reverse where people will be on both. They just troubleshooting everything and then eventually the suggestion is made, well, try separating the buckwheat and Quinoa. And they’ll try just the Quinoa because it just tends for most people to be a little tastier or have a little bit more I don’t know satisfaction. And yeah. So I mean normally, normally it’s the other way round. And let me point out that this isn’t common. Okay. So the first thing you shouldn’t be doing right now is trying to separate and think, oh, maybe it’s one or the other. It’s highly unlikely that pain is being aggravated or being increased by either Buckwheat or Quinoa as opposed to an alternative food that hasn’t been tested. So we settle. It must be those two. Why don’t I try this or this? I’ll try rice and people just jump around all over the place.
Sara That’s right. We’ve had for a long time and then reduce it. And look, it does take time to put one food out and work out what your reaction it. And I think that’s a good thing. Is it this or is it that? So I marched around with that, but it worked for me and that’s like. Yeah, it depends. Yeah, depends what you’re on. And the other thing I was going to talk about quickly was just the supplements that I’m taking, which seem to be really working. I’m on the B Methyl active, activated B vitamins.
Clint So is that a broad spectrum B meaning like it’s a B6 or B3. You know, it’s a broad spectrum.
Sara It’s got a good dose of B12 in it. So I take that every day and add probiotics and add vitamin D drops is kind of my staple every day. I was interested recently. I did Omega 3 test, blood through blood and it’s quite low. And I’m thinking, ah, this is interesting because I know that you mentioned the seaweed, which we can’t get.
Clint It’s become very hard to get recent years with sea pollution and a lack of production in Hawaii in particular. It’s become hard to get. I don’t I’m not eating seaweed anymore. It’s too hard to get at the moment without feeling like you’re eating some contaminated stuff.
Sara Okay. Yeah. I wasn’t sure you got any over there or not that I wanted to try algal oil. And I’m testing that at the moment, the algal oil. And I know that you are not big on oils of any description, but keep you posted on that one in the vegetable.
Clint All vegetable oils are the concern. The vegetable oils. So we’re a long way from vegetable oils. If we’re looking at allergies or people like taking the, you know, CBD, oil and things like that. These things can be okay and not aggravating.
Sara That had been for about a month. So we’ll see how that goes. I’m testing it for my skin and all of that.
Clint Hey, just a comment on the omega 3 levels. You don’t need high omega 3 levels if you were omega 6 levels are really low. So what matters is the ratio so much. You know, it’s not alarming concerning whatsoever if you’ve got low omega 3 levels. If you don’t have a high omega 6 intake. So that’s what really we need to remember.
Clint So, okay. Well, that’s really good. Well, I got some real highlights in that journey. The dog accident. It just reminds us how fragile we actually are, doesn’t it? You know, it just at any time something can happen. And although we shouldn’t walk around in fear. What it does do is enable us to be very, very grateful when we have some calmness and stability in our life. A friend of mine says that we should always celebrate the lack of drama. And I think that’s a really could stay right. So if you’re listening or watching this and right now there isn’t a lot of drama if things are uncontrolled. Pretty good and there’s balance and pretty happy with the progress. That in itself is enough to celebrate that. Yeah. You know, you’re not recovering from a surgery or an accident or some big event like that. So your persistence, as has been there, has been wonderful. So, Sara, thank you for sharing with us today. It’s been it’s been great.
Sara Well, thank you to you, Clint for putting this program together, because what would we do? It’s all your hard work and persistence. Cause you are going through the same thing that we’re very grateful to you. And I’ll continue with my celery and cucumber juices till the get to the end of time.
Clint Awesome. Well, they’re gonna do well. So it’s a great plan, thanks again.
Sara Thanks, Clint!
Loved this.Keeps me going.I have an issue with rheumatologists who go out aggressively and prescribed medication (sulphur) which is known to them you are alergic to and in my case i was able to make her review my notes and then changed her mind.I too have the Arava dispensed but havent taken any having said that this is my own decision but the paddision program (iflestyle) she was interested in and what a shame.