How to Achieve Remission from Autoimmune Disease Naturally
If you’ve been diagnosed with an autoimmune disease and are ready to take active steps toward remission, this guide is for you. There is a clear, proven path to remission — one that I’ve walked myself. Back in 1999, I was diagnosed with an aggressive form of Rheumatoid Arthritis. Determined to manage it holistically, I turned to a functional medicine approach rather than relying solely on conventional treatment.
Fortunately, I found supportive practitioners who helped me create a treatment plan focused on nutrition and lifestyle changes. This approach helped me control my symptoms and enter remission. Today, after decades of staying in remission, I’m passionate about helping other women achieve the same resilience and vitality.
My journey inspired me to become a Doctor of Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine and to gain certifications in nutrition and functional medicine. I created a four-month program called Road to Remission, designed to guide women through a functional medicine approach for managing autoimmune conditions and regaining their health.
Let me be clear: functional medicine doesn’t replace conventional care; it complements it. The combination of functional and conventional medicine provides a powerful, holistic approach to achieving and maintaining remission.
What is Remission?
Autoimmune disease isn’t curable, but remission is achievable. Remission means the autoimmune process has become dormant — indicated by your symptom relief, as well as lab results and exams. There’s every reason to work toward remission, not only to improve your well-being but also to reduce your risk of developing additional autoimmune conditions.
Four Key Steps to Achieving Autoimmune Remission
In Road to Remission, we use a holistic, functional medicine approach broken into four critical steps:
1. Optimize Your Anti-Inflammatory Diet and Lifestyle
A “food-first” approach is foundational for autoimmune health. Diet plays a significant role in managing inflammation, but the ideal foods can vary greatly from person to person. There are no universal food rules for autoimmune disease — for example, gluten and dairy are not always problematic for everyone. In my own journey, I discovered that eggs, which I used to eat daily, were a major trigger for me.
In this step, we use personalized blood tests and a tailored elimination diet to identify specific foods that may be causing inflammation in your body. Along with removing problematic foods, we add nutrient-dense, anti-inflammatory foods to support healing. This combination forms a sustainable, anti-inflammatory diet tailored to your needs.
In addition to diet, we guide you in creating a lifestyle that supports immune health — addressing stress, sleep, movement, and social connections. These elements are essential pillars of a healthy immune system.
2. Heal Your Gut
Gut health is central to managing autoimmunity, regardless of whether you have obvious digestive issues. Most immune cells reside in the gut, making it a key focus for improving immune function.
A critical aspect of gut health is the integrity of the intestinal lining. Many autoimmune conditions are linked to a “leaky gut,” where an impaired gut lining allows particles like undigested food proteins and toxins to enter the bloodstream, triggering immune responses. In this step, we assess and heal any leaky gut issues.
Equally important is supporting a balanced gut microbiome. Autoimmunity often correlates with an imbalance in gut bacteria — including low levels of beneficial bacteria or an overgrowth of problematic microbes. When I first fell ill, I discovered I had an amoeba called Blastocystis hominis that was exacerbating my symptoms. Once treated, my symptoms improved significantly.
We use a functional stool test, the GI-MAP, to assess your gut health and develop a customized treatment plan. Regular GI testing can also help maintain a healthy microbiome.
3. Identify and Eliminate Inflammation Triggers
Chronic inflammation is a common driver of autoimmune disease, and reducing hidden sources of inflammation is essential for remission. We work with you to investigate inflammation sources, which may include:
- Hormonal imbalances
- Blood sugar and insulin dysregulation
- Allergies, asthma, or excessive histamine reactions
- Chronic infections, such as Epstein-Barr Virus or UTIs
- Conditions like osteoarthritis or osteoporosis
We personalize this approach to uncover and address any factors contributing to your inflammatory load.
4. Regulate Immune Function with Supplements
Only after establishing an anti-inflammatory diet, healing your gut, and addressing inflammation triggers do we introduce a tailored supplement protocol. By this stage, your specific needs will be clearer, allowing us to fine-tune a maintenance plan with targeted supplements.
Autoimmunity requires careful immune regulation rather than immune suppression or stimulation. In this step, we use supplements to modulate immune function, often by influencing T-cell regulation. This strategy helps you manage inflammation on a long-term basis and prepares you for flares, should they arise.
Ready to Begin Your Remission Journey?
If you’re ready to take control of your health and move toward remission, I invite you to join the Road to Remission program. With a personalized plan and guided support, you can reduce symptoms, achieve lasting relief, and finally live a vibrant, empowered life.
With the right steps, you don’t have to navigate this journey alone. Start your path to remission today!
Dr. Laura Paris provides Acupuncture and Functional Medicine care at her two clinics in Santa Cruz (Capitola) and Monterey, California. She also works with patients remotely in the United States through telehealth Functional Medicine appointments. Learn more about Laura here, and contact her office here.
Hi Dr. Laura,
Thank you for keeping me on your contact list. Although I have not seen you as a patient, your blogs and periodic sharing of information have been helpful to me.
I did sign up for HER and attended two of the sessions. However, the timing of the HER sessions and my commitments to other activities have not been matching. -Woe is me that I can’t do everything I would like to do to help others-. So I have asked to be removed from that contact list.
I just read your above 4 step process of healing from autoimmune diseases. Perhaps I have already told you how Dr. Deepti Saxena helped me heal (I don’t like the word remission) from the disease Sarcoidosis (Sometimes called an autoimmune disease, but now called an inflammatory disease by the Foundation for Sarcoidosis.) I like to call it a dysfunctional immune system disease.
I know now that I developed this disease because of many years of a not so good diet, months of a high stress job and the genes I was born with. Oddly enough what “triggered” my first major flair was Morton’s Salt Substitute. (Specifically Potassium Chloride (PC)) PC is poison to me. When I drank it in polyethylene glycol my intestines bloated within 30 minutes and stayed that way for almost 6 months. I hope you are helping your patients identify and avoid triggers.
I have read a lot of good stuff about turmeric/curcumin and how it has anti-inflammatory properties. However, each time I have used it (or eaten too much in food) I have more inflammation symptoms. So what you wrote about helping your patients with individualized medicine is so very important. Most conventional doctors don’t get this at all.
Back to my 2012 treatment plan. 1. An elimination diet with slow re-entry of possible offending foods. Dairy, eggs, night shades and red meat are all OK foods for me. Gluten is not OK and I have been 90% gluten free since 2007. It has become a comfortable way of life for me, encouraging me to eat a low carb diet. I also eat a somewhat low mold diet which has also helped. So the first 6 to 12 months was focused on getting my diet under control.
To immediately reduce the inflammation she had me take Olmesartan which also helped kill microbes. She diagnosed me with Adrenal Fatigue and prescribed a burst and taper of hydrocortisone for a few months. More importantly she had me taking two compound supplements she had formulated called Adrenal Revive and Adrenal Balance. We designed a plan for me to reduce stress. I made a list of everything I did daily. Then I divided it into things that gave me pleasure and things that did not. I methodically reduced the “not pleasure” list and increased the “pleasure” list. The list method was easier for me to comprehend than just reduce stress. I know that you have suggested yoga and meditation, but trying to do both of these stresses me out. Keep in mind that this may happen with others.
Once we got my adrenals functioning normally again many symptoms resolved. It took about 5 years to get my body functioning normally again.
An example of how things can affect people differently is. At the retirement home where I live we organized a drum circle session. I was on the committee and it sounded like a great idea. I went to the session and within the first 5 minutes I started to scream. I was so stresses by the rhythm of the drums I became unglued. I left the session before I spoiled it for everyone else. I was very surprised at me own reaction. On the other hand I find balancing check books calming and therapeutic. So what I am suggesting is to help your patients identify what actually makes them happy and calms them than to suggest what works for professionals.
My treatment included compound supplements such as a quality multi vitamin, GI Revive, Digestzymes, and the adrenal products.
In 2020 I lost my dear doctor Saxena and contacted a different FM doctor. She was helpful with the mold issue I have, but overdosed me with the supplements zinc, magnesium
and vitamin B 6. She also prescribed Phosphatidylserine and Phosphatidylcholine both of which caused me to have insomnia. I dismissed her as my doctor after a few weeks of serious diarrhea from the magnesium. This is why I am so glad to hear that you are being careful with your patients when it comes to supplements. They can be dangerous as well as helpful. We are so individually different.
I am now seeing an FM cardiologist (Dr. Daniel Rieders) and a naturopath Dr. Thalia Hale. Dr. Thalia has referred me to Donna Alderman DO who is using PRP therapy to heal my knee tendons a ligaments. Although I was diagnosed by the kind capable Orthopedic doctors at Palo Alto Medical, Stanford and the Sah Clinic with OA, Dr. Alderman did an ultra sound of my knees and said my real problem was damaged soft tissues and not calcium deposits. After 3 treatments my knees are 80% better and I expect full recovery after my 4th and final treatment in October. Dr. Rieders has released me (well maybe an annual visit) because we have reduced by high BP with out the standard harsh drugs.
What I am trying to say here dear Dr. Laura, is that I have found such a restored level of health through alternative medicine I am willing to give a real testimony to any of your patients who are in doubt about what your treatment methods can accomplish.
BTW I also have an acupuncturist who provides treatments every Thursday here at our retirement home, and a reflexologist who has solved a couple problems with hip and leg joint pain that were not solved by my trusty Chiropractor and the acupuncturist.
Thank you for spending your precious time to listen to my story.
Jeanne Benedict