My story of recovery on yoga studio blog

[andyswarbs]

Hi, my story of using diet and exercise to aid recovery from rheumatoid arthritis went up today on the blog of my local yoga studio in Oxford. yogavenue.co.uk/blog/2018/0...

[medway-lady]

MY DIL teaches yoga and is well known, but she would never talk about recovering from RA, you simply can't recover from it but you can go into remission but that is an entirely different matter. I'm sure you wish to help people but implyin that RA is recoverable by diet and yoga does sort of say that the rest of us are somehow compliant in our condition if we don't choose to go that route but take medications. I do yoga and am Celioc; I still have it !!I I do not intend to offend but am tired of posts about diet and excercise of course being an ideal weight makes people feel better that does'nt mean food is aculptit in making most ill. Likewise yoga makes me feel relaxed and more mobile but I did it long before the RA set in.

[andyswarbs in reply to medway-lady]

Hi medway-lady rather than using terms such as cured or remission I prefer to talk about controlled. I can easily give myself significantly more pain, say by eating dairy/eggs accidentally or on purpose. As an example I had a pizza at Prezzo in Cheltenham for my birthday. My topping was spinach, rocket and mushrooms, no tomato (not even paste) no cheese (not even vegan). What I did not get proper advice by my waitress was that they have a special pizza base that is egg-free. All the rest of their pizza bases have some egg in them. That experience took me badly down for nearly two weeks.

Or I can continue with proven reduction of CRP (C-Reactive Protein) in my body and so less arthritic symptoms as weeks go by. I am not saying towing a line of suitable foods is an easy path. But at least it is totally medication free.

[arthritis_action Partner]

Thank you for sharing your inspirational story andyswarbs - this is incredible work! We cannot recommend one plan over another, as different things work for different people, but we are very impressed with your progress and fitness!

Wishing you all the best,

Despina

Arthritis Action's Communications Officer

[andyswarbs in reply to arthritis_action]

Thank you Despina. That's very kind. As I indicated above if you want someone to take part in research showing that my kind of diet will keep CRP low then you know where I am. If it could be initiated and published then that would be a way for you to begin to provide dietary based on your own research.

In the meantime if your helpline gets any requests for advice from people strongly wishing to go plant-based as a way to treat their arthritis then I have a ton of experience.

[Ella61 in reply to andyswarbs]

Hi Andy, I am so pleased to hear of your progress and so envy you. I have tried to follow the Paddison programme and failed. Having a major flare at present and trying to get back into the diet. I we would be most appreciative of any tips you are happy to share. I look forward to your reply.

Best wishes

Grazi

[andyswarbs in reply to Ella61]

When I started the Paddison diet i felt immediate relief and realised this could be my chance so I grabbed that chance and have hung on through easy and difficult times. Persistence patience and focus are watch words of success.

[Ella61 in reply to andyswarbs]

Thank you , I will give it another go. Best wishes

[andyswarbs in reply to Ella61]

Ella61 there is no way to describe taking charge of your own health as easy. Also the paddison program has a tough start with its juicing and then slow re-introduction of foods which can be very bland at the beginning.

Yesterday I talked with someone who has had three cancer operations and now has RA on top of that. Every morning he takes 30 tablets. One thing I told him is to keep on taking his tablets and only ever consider reducing as health improvements are proven and totally accepted by his doctor.

I also talked about the life cycle of a arthritis reaction from foods. This is about the liver flooding the body C-Reactive Protein (CRP). The liver does this normally to protect your body from damage. Unfortunately someone with rheumatoid arthritis that flooding goes haywire and hardly knows when to stop.

Often the liver starts to generate CRP when you go to sleep and the body is resting and "recovering". This is why many people feel new reactions half way through the night, say around 3am and from that moment the pain just builds and builds.

CRP has a half-life of 18 hours which means that around 18 hours later the pain peaks (assuming no further flooding of fresh CRP). This peak pain usually stays around for a further day and then it decays quite quickly - but not entirely. The tail of a reaction can take several days to several weeks to fade out.

Of course if you take drugs then the pain is masked and you may not see this effect clearly.

Whatever just understanding the life-cycle of CRP might give you in a sense of control. It means that if you have patience the pain will reduce. This is one reason why a hallmark of recovery is patience.

Although I can do it here, troubleshooting further around the paddison program is probably outside the scope of this forum. If you want to follow up just send me a private message.

[Ella61 in reply to andyswarbs]

Thank you Andy for your explanation, I would like to follow up and would welcome your suggestion.

Regards

[andyswarbs in reply to Ella61]

Ella, really to find out where you are at and what difficulties you had and troubleshoot you through them drop me an email at [e-mail].