What is autoimmune disease, what causes it and how can it be treated? This is my stab at explaining what I have learned since I suspected I have one or more. A recent conversation with two cousins revealed many of my relatives have similar chronic issues.
What is autoimmune disease?
There are many known autoimmune diseases including type 1 diabetes, lupus, multiple sclerosis, pulmonary fibrosis, arthritis, thyroid disease, fibrocystic breasts, cystic fibrosis and psoriasis, to name just a few. They are all caused by inflammation which causes your immune system to work overtime. When your immune system is on all the time, it produces too much fibrin, a mesh-like protein. Normally our bodies produce proteolytic enzymes to remove the fibrin, but if too much fibrin is produced, the enzymes cannot keep up. It does not help that our natural production of these enzymes starts to decrease in our late twenties.
What Causes Autoimmune Disease?
Your immune system is designed to attack anything foreign entering your body, whether it is a virus, bacteria, toxin or food allergen. When it detects something foreign antibodies are produced. The problem arises when your organs get attacked by these autoantibodies and surrounded by the cobwebs of fibrin.
Although research has shown that autoimmune disease is genetic, the genes are not activated until “turned on” by toxins, food allergies, yeast or mold infections and viruses.
Symptoms of Autoimmune Disease
A few indications that you may have an autoimmune disease include:
- unexplained weight loss or gain
- insomnia,
- heat intolerance and sun sensitivity
- muscle or joint pain, weakness or tremors, numbness or tingling in hands or feet
- rapid heartbeat
- unexplained hives or rashes
- brain fog, difficulty concentrating, poor short term memory
- constant fatigue
- multiple miscarriages
- abdominal bloating and pain, diarrhea
Treatments for Autoimmune Disease
If you suspect you have an autoimmune disease, unfortunately, you will probably have to stop and reverse your symptoms yourself. Why? Because most doctors only treat the symptoms, hardly a long-term solution. Pharmaceutical companies make billions of dollars producing products to treat the symptoms, so why find the cause? To add insult to injury, many of these medications increase the risk of cancer and severe infection. That issue is a whole other can of worms that I have talked about in a recent post.
These are my recommendations, again based on my (limited) knowledge on the subject. I am not a doctor nor an expert, merely one who was frustrated and confused with my declining health at an early age. This is not a get better quick process either, it will take months even years to straighten out.
Start with removing irritants from your gut because most of our immune system is in the GI tract or gut. Problems in your gut are so much more than gas, bloating, and diarrhea. Many chronic health conditions, like the ones listed above, start in your gut too. Removing known inflammatory foods is the first step. While it might be difficult to remove all of these from your diet, try to eliminate as many as possible. They include:
- gluten (a wheat protein): bread, bagels, pasta etc
- sugar: brown, white, anything that ends in “ose” (sucralose, fructose etc)
- nightshade vegetables such as tomatoes, white (not sweet) potatoes, peppers, eggplant
- processed foods that include trans fats and omega 6s
- dairy and soy products
- corn and other grains like rye, spelt, barley and rice
- pseudo-grains like quinoa, amaranth, buckwheat
- eggs
- alcohol
- legumes (peas and beans)
If removing these items from your diet for a period of six months does not do the trick, find a doctor that will test your stool for hidden infections and bacteria as well as your blood for antibodies, infections, and toxins like mold and mercury.
Once you have removed these inflammatory foods, you can try supplements of natural anti-inflammatories. These include turmeric, devils claw, rutin, bromelain, papaya, boswellia, ginger and yucca root. I do not take any supplements, but I do include ginger, turmeric, and pineapple (bromelain) in my daily smoothies.
It is a long and frustrating process but can be done. I know because I went through it myself! Many of my previous posts, especially the earliest ones, discuss my journey to health. In fact, that is why I started this blog. Feel free to comment, email or message me with concerns, corrections etc.
The main thing to remember is this. Just as the genes for inflammation get activated by allergies, viruses, infections, and toxins they can also be deactivated.
You are right about the pharmaceutical companies making billions of dollars to produce the medications. It can cause cancer. Change diet is the best thing to do. Thank you for sharing it. Happy New Year!
Vitamin C and magnesium are two supplements that help ease inflammation. There’s probably some others, but those are the two that could recall at the moment. Good article. Thank you.
I was diagnosed almost 6 years ago with an autoimmune disease. It’s name has changed several times, but the treatment has been essentially the same no matter what they call it. I’m on multiple meds and the bad thing is most of the time I feel terrible! I have pain everyday and have tried many different things to try and treat it. I have an appt on Monday to see a functional medicine nurse practitioner. Supposedly she is very good and tries to get to the cause of the disease as opposed to just treating symptoms. I am sure an elimination diet is in my future! But I’m ready. I work with a gal who sees thid NP. She has RA and is on no meds and says she has no pain! I figure it can’t hurt. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks I will post how my appt goes, I will be very interested to experience her approach.
My daughter, age 21, is going through this frustrating journey currently and has been on the medical merry go round for more than six months trying to get to the bottom of her constant stomach pain. So many doctors and tests. She’s been on the FODMAP diet for over six months which removes all the foods you mentioned and then some. It’s to prevent foods that ferment from staying in the gut and doing so. She hurts daily and after being turned down repeatedly by Blue Cross for an abdominal CT we went one state over and got one for a decent out of pocket rate. Found the first real answer or clue. Inflammation and or infection in part of the small intestine. Now gastric doc is asking insurance to approve an MRI and for her to swallow a camera to look for chrones or IBD. Already had uppper endoscopy to rule out Celiac which her sister
has. Also had numerous breath tests for lactose and fructose and a pilori and more. Had abdominal ultrasound. No colonoscopy or GI series but it was discussed. Labeled IBS at that time and put her on that FODMAP diet. The journey continues. Thanks for writing this piece. Hope it helps lots of folks.
You’re so right about the meds. I’m the queen of side effects and she is the princess. She’s off getting new labs done as we speak. Trying to accomplish lots before she goes back to college in the middle of nowhere in the mountains. Not the best medical options available there.
Sadly you are spot on about pharmaceutical companies. My experience came from back to back bouts of C-diff. Since less than 80% of the population get rid of the new super virus via the regularly prescribed drugs. After long hours and mos of research I too found out about the importance of gut health. Almost 2 years later I still have doctors scratching their heads and say I can’t believe you got rid of it. You have written an excellent piece. I am extremely happy our paths have crossed. Thank you. You jewelry is superb. I’m looking forward to reading more of your shares. Kind Regards – K ❤️
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Thank you so much for this information! Sick people are big business for pharmaceutical companies. They have no interest in finding cures but want you to suffer and live as long as possible so they make more money. It’s truly an evil system. I look forward to God’s Kingdom when all sickness and pain will be a thing of the past (Revelation 21:3,4; Isaiah 33:24). I’m so glad that you persevered and got your health back.
I saw my functional np about 3 weeks ago. She ordered a whole bunch of lab tests and I sent off a stool sample to be analyzed. I see her on Friday for results and a plan of attack! I’m really excited. She had me go gluten and dairy free in the interim. I felt good initially, but after a few days I was back to my usual tired and painful self, but in some sense it is a little better. I will post my results when I get them.
Yes! Will let you know how it goes😁
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