Mercola AP Protocol for RA – Interesting info

[lynnie_sydney]

I have just re-read Mercola's AP protocol for RA which is based on Dr Brown's and which he now combines with dietary changes. There is some useful and very accessible info in there (he also covers Fibromyalgia). It dates from 2000 so bear in mind that a few things are out of date (eg use of Vioxx). But overall a very useful read. Lynnie

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2000/08/27/rheumatoid-arthritis-part-one.aspx

Be well! Lynnie

Palindromic RA 30 yrs (Chronic Lyme?)
Mino 2003-2008 100mg MWF - can no longer tolerate any tetracyclines
rotating abx protocol now. From Sep 2018 MWF - a.m. Augmentin Duo 440mg + 150mg Biaxsig (roxithromycin). p.m. Cefaclor (375mg) + Klacid 125mg + LDN 3mg + Annual Clindy IV's
Diet: no gluten, dairy, sulphites, low salicylates
Supps: 600mg N-AC BID, 1000mg Vit C, P5P 40mg, zinc picolinate 60mg, Lithium orotate 20mg, Magnesium Oil, Bio-identical hormones (DHEA + Prog + Estrog)

[tbird2340]

I read over that a couple times.. Good stuff.. The thing that I find interested is how he says he's able to routinely put RA into remission from diet changes and EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique)…

Anyone ever have any experience with that? (EFT)

[Lynne G.SD]

Hi Lynnie;
      Joyeux Noel from snow and frost covered Canada.I envy your nice warm sunshine as we have had an extended period of -20C for the last few weeks.Now they are saying we might have rain today.Yippie! even that will feel good.
       I keep up with Mercola's work  just out of curiosity because he can be so weird at times. Now he is against AP and uses only diet and EFT.His fees are just ridiculous and a lot of his supplements are even worse money wise.He says he needs that money to fund his site so I am always leary about people like that even if they are right in many aspects.      Lynne

[tbird2340]

[user=31]Lynne G./SD[/user] wrote:

       I keep up with Mercola's work  just out of curiosity because he can be so weird at times. Now he is against AP and uses only diet and EFT.His fees are just ridiculous and a lot of his supplements are even worse money wise.He says he needs that money to fund his site so I am always leary about people like that even if they are right in many aspects.      Lynne

He does have a ton of good information on his site but I can't stand how commercialized everything on his site is.. I initially signed up for his newsletter but had to opt out because it was basically advertising for stuff he sells on his site..

[Trudi]

I get his newsletter.  What I like the best is reading the thoughts of his readers after his articles.  Very interesting stuff!!

Trudi

Lyme/RA; AP 4/2008 off and on to 3/2010; past use of quinolones may be the cause of my current problems, (including wheelchair use); all supplements (which can aggravate the condition) were discontinued on 10/14/2012. Am now treating for the homozygous MTHFR 1298 mutation. Off of all pain meds since Spring '14 (was on them for years--doctor is amazed--me too). Back on pain med 1/2017. Reinfected? Frozen shoulder?

[Jan Lucinda]

I've found this very helpful.  Katherine Poehlmann reviews it in her book, The Infection Connection.

[Jo]

[user=851]tbird2340[/user] wrote:

I read over that a couple times.. Good stuff.. The thing that I find interested is how he says he's able to routinely put RA into remission from diet changes and EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique)…

Anyone ever have any experience with that? (EFT)

I learned a few of the techniques. Couldn't find any rational process behind it, I do believe in the placebo effect becaue I think our minds can support or destroy our body, so I think it plays into the placebo effect.

I have found his new procedure and his anti AP stance to be an example of what happens when symptom control is more imortant than finding and curing the cause of the disease.

Sure, diet changes and supplements (just like the incredible MSM) can control the symptoms. But they can't treat the underlying disease. The mycoplasma is still there, growing, increasing, spreading, infecting and preparing to kill you.

MSM is cheaper and better than all his techniques and supplements. But as I hope I have always made clear, MSM is symptom control and I intend to find and kill the nasty buggers that are trying to kill my Mr Perfect. 

In my opinion Dr Mercola has lost his way, focusing soley on the symptoms because that's what people will pay for, even though it will kill them in the long run.   Remssion of symptoms is not remission of disease.

Just my opinion though

Jo

 

[lynnie_sydney]

I was (and am not) getting into the diet only debate. There is alot of very useful information in the abx protocol material, tis all. Lynnie

Be well! Lynnie

Palindromic RA 30 yrs (Chronic Lyme?)
Mino 2003-2008 100mg MWF - can no longer tolerate any tetracyclines
rotating abx protocol now. From Sep 2018 MWF - a.m. Augmentin Duo 440mg + 150mg Biaxsig (roxithromycin). p.m. Cefaclor (375mg) + Klacid 125mg + LDN 3mg + Annual Clindy IV's
Diet: no gluten, dairy, sulphites, low salicylates
Supps: 600mg N-AC BID, 1000mg Vit C, P5P 40mg, zinc picolinate 60mg, Lithium orotate 20mg, Magnesium Oil, Bio-identical hormones (DHEA + Prog + Estrog)

[Sierra]

I've tried EFT (tapping with fingertips on meridian points) for a period of time and experienced nothing. Acupuncture and acupressure are very effective for me, however. While I agree with much of what Mercola presents, he doesn't have my trust.

Sierra

[richie]

Hi
If one has remission of all symptoms how can one differentiate between that and remission of the disease –if the disease is not in remission then it seems to me all symptoms can not be in remission —just my opinion
richie

[orchid]

I agree that Dr Mercola has a lot of good articles but he is so overly dramatic with some of his emails (TAP WATER IS KILLING YOU!!)…it really irritates me.

I believe food allergies have a lot to do with many diseases (including RA) but like others have mentioned, does lack of symptoms = no disease?

I'm reading the Arthritis Breakthrough again because that is where I get confused. Thomas Brown talks a lot about allergies, etc. AP works on ridding you of the bacteria that supposedly triggered the disease, but Mercola seems to only focus only on symptoms – looking at the linkage between pain and food allergies — from what I've read, he doesn't even like to use minocycline much anymore. He thinks you can do it by diet alone. Do you think it's dangerous for him to telling patients they can do it on diet alone? I realize everyone has to make their own choices, but I think he's a little too “out there,” for me.

[Jo]

[user=515]orchid[/user] wrote:

I believe food allergies have a lot to do with many diseases (including RA) but like others have mentioned, does lack of symptoms = no disease? 

Do you think it's dangerous for him to telling patients they can do it on diet alone? I realize everyone has to make their own choices, but I think he's a little too “out there,” for me.

I believe that one of the causes of allergies and asthma is mycoplasma, and I'm open but reserving my options on yeast.

There is some research to that effect, and some doctors are treating it that way, with good results.  Needs more time to resolve conclusively though.

It would explain why my brother who had allergies and asthma so bad that we all slept lightly waiting for the wheezing to stop and a hospital run to follow … for most of his young life.   He went into surgery for an extra ankle bone where lots of abx was prescribed (try keeping a boy out of the dirt while his surgery heals) It was a very long period because it was both feet, done one at a time and abx thru the entire period, and by the end his allergies and asthma were gone as well.  

THEY said he “grew out of it” – now I wonder !!!  My sister also has allergies and asthma – but she apparently has “teen onset” – a bacteria infection would explain both his going away after a year of heavy abx, and hers developing after a summer camp experience. 

I believe very strongly in the mycoplamsa infectious cause of RA, and also some in the bacteria infectious cause of Asthma and Allergies.  So it would be a natural follow thru to believe that it is extremely dangerous to tell peole that symptom control equals disease remission.   If the bacteria/mycoplasma is still there, the disease is still there.  You've simply taken control of every possible contributor for inflamation, while the bacteria/mycoplasma continues to spread, unseen inside your body.  I see it as similar to an Oak Tree that dies from the inside out.  Looks fine outside, while the inside slowly rots away, until it finally dies outside as well.

If you do not believe in the infectious cause, then it would follow that you would equate symptom control with disease remission.  If you can't see it, it isn't there.

Jo

 

 

[orchid]

If you do not believe in the infectious cause, then it would follow that you would equate symptom control with disease remission.

[Joe M]

[user=465]Jo[/user] wrote

I believe very strongly in the mycoplamsa infectious cause of RA, and also some in the bacteria infectious cause of Asthma and Allergies.  So it would be a natural follow thru to believe that it is extremely dangerous to tell peole that symptom control equals disease remission.   If the bacteria/mycoplasma is still there, the disease is still there.  You've simply taken control of every possible contributor for inflamation, while the bacteria/mycoplasma continues to spread, unseen inside your body.  I see it as similar to an Oak Tree that dies from the inside out.  Looks fine outside, while the inside slowly rots away, until it finally dies outside as well.

If you do not believe in the infectious cause, then it would follow that you would equate symptom control with disease remission.  If you can't see it, it isn't there.

Jo

Hi Jo,

You've made a couple of comments over the past couple days on how if someone is only “treating the symptoms”,  they're going to die.  The current evidence regarding TNF blockers just does not support those statements.  In several studies of elderly people on TNF blockers, their mortality rates were found to be no different than the general public.    It has also been shown that when people stop taking TNF blockers, their arthritis comes back but only to the level they had it before.  If the mycos were going crazy while people suppressed their immune systems, you'd think the symptoms would be much more severe than when they started the TNF blocker.  Also, the 12 deaths caused by histoplasmosis last year were preceded by a mis-diagnosis or a lack of any medical treatment at all.  When the fungal infection is diagnosed and treated, it is not fatal.  TNF blockers can make the person more susceptible to infection, but they do not turn the infection into super-bugs designed to kill.

I think most people define remission in practical terms.  Are they able to do everything they could before being stricken with RA?  If yes, I don't see how you can't call that remission.   If the disease process is still cranking in the background, as you suggest, there would be symptoms.  My theory is the TNF blocker turns off the abnormal immune response enough so that the still functioning immune system can do its job and kill the mycoplasma. 

In another post, you said, “In my opinion Dr Mercola has lost his way, focusing soley on the symptoms because that's what people will pay for, even though it will kill them in the long run.   Remssion of symptoms is not remission of disease.”

Suggesting that people who take TNF blockers are ignorant of the risks and are really doing themselves more harm than good (“it will kill them”) is not supported by the facts and patronizing to the thousands of sufferers who have made the difficult decision to take these high tech meds and try to regain some quality of life. Many people think life is more about quality than quantity.

Hope everyone had a nice Christmas, and a very happy new year to you and yours.

Joe

*edited for spelling

[Jo]

[user=515]orchid[/user] wrote:

🙂 I guess it all depends on people's own definition of remission?

By the way, Jo – how are you husband's current blood markers? Just wondering, since he's doing both the AP and MSM and I think I remember you saying last time that he has no pain. Damage from past erosions, yes – but no inflammation pain?

Just wondering since that is my plan…like to hear people's progress!

His SED rate switches between 8 and 9 –  Normal for his age is 14-19 so that's fabulous.

We had his C-Reactive protein down to .13 with just the MSM, it's gone up to .20 with the AP – normal is less than .80 … so that's fabulous as well.

His tests are in the normal range these days.

Anything in particular you'd like to see?  I'm just too lazy to post the entire list.

Yep, still no pain – and it looks like the Mino/MSM is doing superlative at fixing up his past damage as well.  Dare I hope that it will make it all go away ???

Happy Holidays

Jo

 

[Author]

Posts