Miss Yappy,
I've not read all this thread, shortage of time alas, but my DH has RA and keeps it under control. He has it mostly in the fingers and ankles. He's had it for over ten years now. The first thing I would say is that usually the Glucosamine Sulphate does not seem to help with RA. It does help with Osteoarthritis because it helps with the joints in that situation. The other thing is some folks find that if they exclude certain foods from their diet then that helps them. For instance the DH cannot eat dairy products...that is products from cows. He can however eat goats and sheeps cheese. He tends to keep away from milk of all kinds but does use Soya milk from time to time. He has found this change has made a great deal of difference to him. Some folks find that if they eat foods of the nightshade family, potatoes, tomatoes, aubergines etc and oranges that this makes the condition worse.
As we are into complementary health he has also been to a homeopath who doses him up from time to time with his constitutional remedy. You would need a proper homeopath to sort out what you would need because everyone is different. My DH finds that when he feels an attack coming on or damages a joint doing DIY or whatever, he can then take his constitutional remedy and that stops the RA flare up in it's tracks. Sometimes it helps to take Betain Hydrochloride, which is a food supplement. This helps the acid in the stomach to digest food better but not everyone needs this. It's a good idea to have your stomach acid levels checked first. A Nutritionist (not a dietician) could help you with this. Also it's possible that food allergies can also aggravate RA so it's worth looking into that side as well. Again a Nutritionist could advise.
Having taken these measures himself and supplementing with food supplements as well he has found that not only has the RA been under control but that also when he gets a flare up then the damage to his joints is minimised.
Hope this helps.
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