Posted by Mary (Milwaukee, Wi, Usa) on 08/24/2011
Neem is something that I learned about very recently, and because of the various ailments it helps with I decided to give it a try (it worked for clearing up my skin). While this herb works wonders for the "normal" person I would like to inform anyone who has an autoimmune disease that it could potentially cause major side-effects. The introductory post discussing neem says it can help with rheumatic disorders, and the post by Sayed from Abu Dhabi says it helps with rheumatism; rheumatic disorders and rheumatism refer to rheumatoid arthritis, which is an autoimmune disease. According to WebMD(
http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-577-NEEM.aspx?activeIngredientId=577&activeIngredientName=NEEM&source=2), there is a contraindication listed under the herb for autoimmune diseases mainly because neem can activate the immune system, which is exactly the opposite of what should be done with an autoimmune disease.
I have rheumatoid arthritis and had minimal pain and inflammation before taking neem, and I took it for about a month. Over that month the pain and inflammation increased pretty severely; my entire body - from my skin, joints and organs - experienced extreme inflammation, and I may also have some permanent joint damage now. Three months later I am still slowly nursing the pain and inflammation into remission (the natural way). This may be an isolated incident and I am not a doctor, but I would like to at least let people know the experience I had with it. I would, however, recommend it to people who don't have an autoimmune disease.
