What needs tweaking?

[Jennhere]

I'm doing well, but my hands continue to be a sore spot.  Not my wrists, just my fingers.  I haven't felt it in my knees or other large joints in about a year!!!!  So good!.  But the fingers.  OMG.  I can go a bit with no pain in the fingers, then it returns.  A smidge in my toes this week.  That's unusual, though.  And I expect it to go away quickly.  My toes almost never hurt nowadays. 

Is there anything you can think of that needs tweaking?  I'd like to be consistently pain free in all parts… wouldn't we all!? 

I'm going to eliminate all sugar (not fruit), including honey starting tomorrow.  I had honey in my coffee this morning.  I had a coke (yesIdid!) yesterday.  I was thinking maybe it was the sugar in the coke. 

I don't know.  Any ideas?

Jenn

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[lynnie_sydney]

Jenn – it it were me, I'd be trying the dietary changes route. If you cant get tested, I'd try a wheat and gluten-free diet first (you'll need to be careful there are so many traps e.g. instant coffee uses wheat in the processing) and, if you can, dairy free. My knees after 2 years of background pain/aches and synovial fluid on them have completely resolved after making dietary changes. For me, I think the key to the knees was no wine (I loved my red) and that I think is the sulphur dioxide in it which was a trigger. Whatever you try, you'll probably need 12 weeks on it. Lynnie 

Be well! Lynnie

Palindromic RA 30 yrs (Chronic Lyme?)
Mino 2003-2008 100mg MWF - can no longer tolerate any tetracyclines
rotating abx protocol now. From Sep 2018 MWF - a.m. Augmentin Duo 440mg + 150mg Biaxsig (roxithromycin). p.m. Cefaclor (375mg) + Klacid 125mg + LDN 3mg + Annual Clindy IV's
Diet: no gluten, dairy, sulphites, low salicylates
Supps: 600mg N-AC BID, 1000mg Vit C, P5P 40mg, zinc picolinate 60mg, Lithium orotate 20mg, Magnesium Oil, Bio-identical hormones (DHEA + Prog + Estrog)

[Jennhere]

Thanks!… but I've been gluten free for about 4 years now:cool:.  I'm mostly dairy free- cheese about once a month. 

I am also soy free, msg free and I only eat chicken or fish once a week.  I'm not going to be vegan.  I think b12 is too difficult to get without the meats. 

My diet is really pretty good.  The thing I was thinking is I need to go totally GM free- and zero sugar. 

Jenn

[Tiff]

Jenn, your diet is so good that I can't imagine much room for improvement.  Have you done the blood food allergy testing?  That brought up things for me that I would never have thought to avoid without it.  For example, bananas.  Sheesh, I ate those every day in my smoothie!  Other things I hardly ever ate were on there like cow milk.  I have been drinking goat milk for almost a year (that was okay).  There were other odd things like alfalfa and kidney beans.  I don't eat those much, but I would not have thought to avoid them either.  Just weird.  Now I am avoiding all those foods on that sensitivity list plus D foods per the MP.  This is the first time I've been able to follow a restriction diet without losing weight.  I am also avoiding MSG.  Basically no “processed” foods.  I don't mind it, but I do have to cook a lot.  And when I don't feel up to it then it is a strain on my kids and hubby to cook as they can't just make mac-n-cheese, you know.  You may want to change your monthly cheese eating to only goat milk cheese.  Looks like the only dairy you have left.

Honestly though, if I were to the level of painlessness that you are at, I would also consider exercise, maybe get a rebounder since that method of exercise is cheap, easy on your joints, and is supposed to be very good for eliminating toxins and flushing out fluids.

BTW, the foods on the food sensitivity list were coming in at very mild reactions, but there were quite a few of them indicating to me that I was getting worse quickly.  My doc says they need to be avoided for a few months but not forever.  I am planning to get another test in month or so to see if the pattern is changed by avoiding them.

[Jennhere]

hmmm… exercise, you say…?  😛

Jenn

[Tiff]

Oh, uh, oops, quick someone just slap me for that suggestion; I don't know what kind of brain herx I was having! :blush:

[Michele]

Hi Jenn,

Your diet is so good, it is hard to imagine it being diet. Of what you mentioned the coke would be the biggest suspect. A naturalpath friend told me she rotates her diet so she doesn't become allergic to any particular food. Is there something you eat every day? Maybe put that aside for a bit and see?

Tiff,

What blood test did you do for food allergies? Can a GP doc do this test, or does it have to be done by an allergy doc? MP guru's suggest the food allergy test and after reading your post I am more encouraged to follow up with that idea.

Lynnie,

Bummer about the wine and your knees. Did it ever work to drink a lot of wine to numb the pain? :roll-laugh: Totally just kidding. Dark chocolate would be my food I just couldn't eliminate.

Michele

[Tiff]

My current doctor is into alternative treatments, so he is the one that ordered the blood allergy tests.  He gave me the kit, and then I had my GP draw the blood and I sent it out.  It was pretty easy.  This is the link for the company that performed the test, but I don't think you can just order it from them.  You may be able to request it from your GP if you know a bit about it, but it is not the “normal thing” they do.

http://www.genovadiagnostics.com/

I'm very happy with this new doctor, but the main reason I went to him was to treat me with the MP so that is what he is doing.  As you know, it leaves no room for some of the other things he would like to do with me like supplements and natural hormone replacement etc.  The food allergy testing allowed me to tailor my diet to something that I can manage.  That is good, because I can't really afford to stop eating foods that I don't really need to avoid, but it is also good for me to not be eating foods that might stress my body, even if the MP will treat those sensitivities in the long run.

Just let me know if you have any more questions about it!

[lynnie_sydney]

Yes Michelle, I have often used wine medicinally!!!!!!!!!!

Tiff, sounds like salicylates involved in your current elimination regime. Glad you seem to be onto a diet that's working for you. Lynnie

Be well! Lynnie

Palindromic RA 30 yrs (Chronic Lyme?)
Mino 2003-2008 100mg MWF - can no longer tolerate any tetracyclines
rotating abx protocol now. From Sep 2018 MWF - a.m. Augmentin Duo 440mg + 150mg Biaxsig (roxithromycin). p.m. Cefaclor (375mg) + Klacid 125mg + LDN 3mg + Annual Clindy IV's
Diet: no gluten, dairy, sulphites, low salicylates
Supps: 600mg N-AC BID, 1000mg Vit C, P5P 40mg, zinc picolinate 60mg, Lithium orotate 20mg, Magnesium Oil, Bio-identical hormones (DHEA + Prog + Estrog)

[Tiff]

salicylates

Now, by that you mean MSG, right?  Yes, we did a huge pantry cleanout to get rid of that stuff.  However, I have a list of names used and it is quite confusing.  A whole bunch of them could be MSG, but not necessarily.  It indicated anything that is ultrapasturized (like sour cream or whipping cream) might have it, and things with whey protein, too.  It is hugely pervasive.  Basically anything you buy in the store that is not a staple product, and even those are suspect.  After all, I have noticed a trend toward adding “solution” to meats.  That definitely could include MSG.

So, with my perfectionistic tendencies, I find this nearly as frustrating as trying to eliminate gluten.  Hardly even possible realistically to be absolutely certain.  Nevertheless, I've made a huge effort to avoid it and am most certainly eating very little compared to before.

[Jennhere]

http://www.truthinlabeling.com/hiddensources.html

Tiff- I used this site when I began my crusade to eliminate MSG from my family's diet.  It's a really informative site, but this list of MSG and it's disguises is very helpful (or it can drive you insane).  It drove me insane.  The things that kept cropping up and getting me were “yeast extract”, “hydrolyzed this and that” and the evil “_____ protein” .  You fill in the blank.  There's lots of “organic” or healthy foods with the random  “_______ protein”.  Those are especially tricky.  Gelatin got me too.  It's in a lot of candies you might get the kids for Easter or a special treat. 
Jenn

[Tiff]

yeah, I have a list very similar to this that I am driving myself and everyone around me insane with.  I find it extremely oppressive, and I am considering going back to school to become an organic chemist to make sure I get it right! 😉

 

[lynnie_sydney]

Tiff – no I didnt mean msg for salicylates. There is alot of really good info on the food intolerance network site – put out by the woman who runs the allergy clinic at one of our big teaching hospitals. It includes a fact sheet on salicylates. One of the fact sheets also talks about arthritis and foods – facts and myths. I have pasted the links to the site (which has a wealth of information in the fact sheets) and to the specific one about arthritis and foods/additives. I have found it a really useful site. Lynnie

http://www.fedup.com.au                                                                                          (general site – packed with info)

http://www.fedupwithfoodadditives.info/factsheets/Factarthritis.htm         (specific fact sheet on arthritis and foods)

 

Be well! Lynnie

Palindromic RA 30 yrs (Chronic Lyme?)
Mino 2003-2008 100mg MWF - can no longer tolerate any tetracyclines
rotating abx protocol now. From Sep 2018 MWF - a.m. Augmentin Duo 440mg + 150mg Biaxsig (roxithromycin). p.m. Cefaclor (375mg) + Klacid 125mg + LDN 3mg + Annual Clindy IV's
Diet: no gluten, dairy, sulphites, low salicylates
Supps: 600mg N-AC BID, 1000mg Vit C, P5P 40mg, zinc picolinate 60mg, Lithium orotate 20mg, Magnesium Oil, Bio-identical hormones (DHEA + Prog + Estrog)

[Tiff]

Thanks for the info Lynn.  Seems all I can have is FOOD FOR THOUGHT because any other kind of food is on someone's list of no-no foods. :doh:

[Jennhere]

Have you read anything by Michael Pollan?

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=4757669&page=1

I tried keeping “normal” …”food” in my diet a few years back.  It's just not doable.  But when you get back to eating actual FOOD- everything falls into place like magic. 

 

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