Rheumatoid Arthritis, a debilitating autoimmune condition, turned me from a high-flyer in banking to someone who could barely walk within a matter of months. I was unrecognisable to myself and was incredibly down about it all. Lorraine Elkins
Known as a particularly difficult condition to treat, the normal method of treatment for Rhu A is to be put on the “gold-standard” drugs. However, even the best drugs take around three months to take effect.
Lorraine - It was a really difficult time. I had no energy to do anything. It was even difficult to sleep when the pain was at its worst. I couldn’t even manage to hang my washing out or walk around a local shop without having to stop and rest. I was unrecognisable to myself and was incredibly down about it all. I remembered Amanda from her TV show, The spa of embarrassing illnesses and decide to get in contact – although if I’m perfectly honest I didn’t hold out much hope as my symptoms were just so awful.
Amanda - Lorraine visited initially for a clinic consultation. As she described her symptoms my heart went out to her. I knew that small changes wouldn’t work – the effect of nutrition can often be subtle and long-term. So, I recommend the only course of treatment that I believed could help – a juice fasting programme which was starting on a retreat the following week.
Lorraine - I checked into Amanda’s retreat feeling like a jump of cement. I was exhausted, miserable and sore. I didn’t really believe it would work but was willing to try anything. The first two days were really hard. Bizarrely, on the second night I had the strangest dreams I can remember of my adult life. They are still vivid years on. When I woke up I remember feeling like something had changed. It was like energy dust had been sprinkled over me. I had forgotten what it felt like. I am a black and white traditional person yet I’m not ashamed to say I cried. It was a glimmer of what I used to be like.”
I called my husband and he said, “You’re back.” It was so profound, even my voice sounded like me again. I went on from there and gained confidence. I believed the fasting programme worked with the drugs, not against them.
When I went back for my weekly blood test the results were amazing! The overall measure of inflammation had dropped to near normal levels and my immune system marker (which had been 3 times the healthy level) was back in the normal range.”
Amanda - Lorraine's Doctors have been incredibly supportive and her medical team even asked her to be a reference for their other patients to tell them about her experience. They acknowledge that this kind of approach is out with the bounds of what would normally be prescribed in the NHS but fasting as a treatment for inflammatory diseases is gaining much more ground. With Lorraine, the results have been so undeniably positive that they fully support.
Now, several years on, her Rheumatoid Arthritis is really well managed to the point that it is no longer her day-to-day concern. She calls the juice fasting programme “the big boys” – the tools that can be deployed if she ever goes off track.
She believes that the fasting approach helps her body to create an intern “shift” that then allows the more traditional treatment approach to work much more effectively. It’s the perfect example of a collaborative approach.
