A lady known to have Rheumatoid arthritis for 9 years came to me after an interval of four years. She had already developed a severe form of dry eye called "keratoconjunctivitis sicca" when last seen.
There had not been much difference but for the facial swelling and visible deformity of fingers.
When asked, she revealed that she was under care of a neurologist and in addition taking medicines prescribed by Baba Ramdev.
"Do you have relief with his medicines?", I asked.
After a thoughtful pause, she said, "yes", skepticism evident on her face.
"But as per records, you did not have these deformities in the small joints of fingers when I saw you last!, And you have been taking herbal medicines....".
"Yes, but I understand there are no side effects....".
"That's right, but there has not been any effect either!", I said.
I explained why it was essential to be under care of a rheumatologist, who would have prescribed disease modifying drugs, and also why she needed to go for physiotherapy to prevent other deformities.
The modern medicine as I said in a previous post are maligned for having side effects. But whatever is known about those side effects is accepted and published. So it is a very transparent .... .
I hope chronic patients would understand that. Instead of having a false sense of well being, let a good doctor be in charge of your problems!
When deciding your choice between drugs prescribed by a rheumatologist and those by someone advocating alternative medicines, please understand that the goal of treatment should not be mere control of pain but prevention of deformity as well.
Happy recovery!
Posts
2 comments:
I suffer terribly with arthritis in my hands but as soon as I stopped eating red meat it made a huge difference. I still eat fish and I can't resist bacon (who can!) but I'm sure it is because I'm no longer eating the fats in the meat that has helped me.
Thank you for sharing this. I have two friends with RA, one in her thirties and another in her late fifties. I knew the disease was very difficult and painful, but I really didn’t know much more. I’m glad you’re able to make it through the days with the help of medicines. Hopefully this, like lots of other autoimmune disorders, will have more long lasting solutions some day soon.
gesundheit
Post a Comment