Question about autoimmune things

[thepurselady]

Ok here is one.  If someone has an auto-immune disorder, would things like strengthening the immune system via herbal or vitamins cause your body to attack itself even more?  Since the body has an active immune system that is running against itself, by boositng it would one boost the body causing more attacks?

[Demiguise]

Complements always get something in return. You need to post
your own thread eventually so I'll see you later when you get
more info. Meantime, yes your GP or primary Dr can request an
ANA w/ titer. They must have a reason to order it so you must
have a reason why you want test? Post here what's wrong & any
test results you may have avail. & myself w/ others that read
will try to help. Any ideas or diagnosis someone mentioned? An
ANA can change from day to day & not all w/ positive ANA are
ill. It's not the average order routine test. The # & pattern
just helps to view your suspect illness. Just jump right in
here! I'll ck post tomarrow or off/on.

[georgie439]

Sorry if I got the spelling wrong, can a regular dr. check your ANA titers??  What others should I ask for?  Also not to put you out but can you help with the results?
Like I went for labs 3 months ago for something else and somethings were H and L but Dr.(not my primary) was like oh there only slightly out of range!!
I'am going to request my labs for the last couple of years!!
Thank-you, you seem educated............georgie

[Demiguise]

You need to know what auto-immune problem you have from Dr.
Like mentioned above, some you need to suppress like Lupus.
Natural diet seems to be better than pumping vites/pills not
sure of. Fatty foods cause inflammation & you can get worse.
Some herbal teas will backfire. Healthy foods high in anti-ox's
process different through system than a pill. Get copy of labs
& see if ANA w/ titer was run or ask what you think you have.
Reports are an easy read. H=high/L=low from lab range.

[achyone]

My sister has multiple autoimmune disorders and natural/herbals made her so bad off. I do not believe it is recommended.

[lavender whisper]

most of the time when you do anything to boost your immune system,It will make you feel worse for awile because you body is dumping toxins ,makes you feel flu like.

[GravesLady]

In Graves' disease for an example, which is an autoimmune disorder that causes thyroid antibodies, we'd want to strengthen, not stimulate, the immune system with proper nutrition, certain nutrients, stress reduction, avoidance of allergens and chemicals, etc.  
One major result of these antibodies and the cause of most disease, is inflammation. Antioxidant vitamins help prevent inflammation and reduce its harmful effects.
So if you have an anutoimmune disorder that creates antibodies you'd want to strengthen the immune system.

[lavender whisper]

There is a web site called 4life they sell transfer factor,it comes from cows it boosts your immune system its natural the stuff we get when we breast feed as new borns .my mom took it when she was in stage 4 liver cancer.

[myproblem]

Talk about a conundrum! I have MCTD, and have never tried natural remedies to "boost" my immune system. I tried large doses of vitamin C about 8 years ago. I was as sick as ever, if not worse. I was under a lot of physical and mental stress at the time though. I do know that most drugs prescribed for autoimmune diseases are immunosupressants. However, the newer ones target only certain functions of the immune system. I'm not sure if there is a kind of Dr. who would really know what you should do. Maybe an MD that isn't against "natural" therapies.