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Fibromyalgia Action UK

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Diet and fibromyalgia

Cheekyisme profile image
37 Replies

Hi all. I’m new to this site. But my question is. I’ve been told that diet can play a major part in this condition. Is this true and what food should I avoid or start eating. Thank you 🥰

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Cheekyisme profile image
Cheekyisme
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37 Replies
Dizzytwo profile image
DizzytwoModerator

Hi there and welcome to our group. Did your GP tell you that diet was a major part in dealing with fibro?

I have had fibro for 40 years and never heard diet was directly involved in treating Fibro xx

Momo

Cheekyisme profile image
Cheekyisme in reply to Dizzytwo

No not my GP. I was talking to someone else who had fibro. They told me that they follow a dairy and gluten free diet and it works wonders. Like yourself I’ve had this for many years and never heard of this. Just wondering if it actually worked. Xx

Cheekyisme profile image
Cheekyisme in reply to Dizzytwo

Hi. I also forgot to mention they not only do dairy and gluten free but also low carb and high protein as well. All fresh fruit and veg. Stuff like that. She says it works wonders on her muscle pain. Xx

Irish-Cow profile image
Irish-Cow in reply to Cheekyisme

Interesting. Because when I got my first flare up the past few weeks, my guts were not normal. No appetite, but the only food I could look at was mostly raw, fruit, veg like celery , garlic, onion, peppers tomatoes, olives, beans, not the tinned beans in tomato sauce. avocados with organic cottage cheese and parsley in. Prunes with raw oats in warm milk. I was putting turmeric and lemon juice in everything. Sometimes I had to get up in the night to eat one of these foods the yen for them was so strong. But I never wanted bread, potatoes, rice or meat. Just fish, either fresh cooked salmon on it's own or tins of mackerel. I must have eaten two tins of mackerel just out of the tin almost every day! And some eggs. I'm post that mega flareup now but still sticking to simple foods and whizzed up fruits, especially blueberries, strawberries and banana mix. Before this I would have devoured a stirfry with rice or potatoes, cheese on toasts, etc but couldn't look at a heavy meal like that now. I snack eat through the day now.

Josie-Anne profile image
Josie-Anne

Hi there,

Yes I’m new here too but I have also been told diet can change your pain, your weight and some goods have serotonin in them which help boosts your fibromyalgia, you can get an app from your App Store on your phone and download it, it tells you best foods to have, how to avoid certain foods etc because people with fibromyalgia don’t create serotonin, hope this helps 😊

Cheekyisme profile image
Cheekyisme in reply to Josie-Anne

That sounds really interesting. Do you have the name of the app or is it easy to find. Thank you so much xx

Josie-Anne profile image
Josie-Anne in reply to Cheekyisme

Hope this helps x

Cheekyisme profile image
Cheekyisme in reply to Josie-Anne

Lovely thank you 🥰

Dizzytwo profile image
DizzytwoModerator in reply to Josie-Anne

Hi there, if you have not yet read our guidlines. You may like to read them at your convenience.

One of the rules is

Do not solicit members to other websites or forums for your own purposes, either through posts or private messages. You may discuss your blog or vlog only if it is related to Fibromyalgia as a helpful resource but you must NOT post a link.You can however invite members to private message you for the further information.

Momo

Cat00 profile image
Cat00

Pinterest is an image sharing app it's got nothing to do with diets.

Josie-Anne profile image
Josie-Anne in reply to Cat00

Maybe so but it gives you a good idea of foods that cause inflammation and foods that reduce it so thats a good forum to start with

Cat00 profile image
Cat00 in reply to Josie-Anne

I would have thought a better source of data would be pubmed or something with peer reviewed information.

moo196 profile image
moo196

The absolute best thing I have ever done is to give up diet coke and anything else with artificial sweeteners in.

Dizzytwo profile image
DizzytwoModerator

Hi there, I dont think there is evidence that any particular diet or food helps or cure fibro to be honest.

It is a fact that if you eat healthy and lose excess weigh you may be carrying would certainly have an overall effect on your wellbeing.

Also it go's without saying if you over weight it will cause pain on all weight baring joints. So by losing the weight your pain would decrease and you definitely would feel better.

Certain types of diets do help certain types of illnesses like diabetes for example. This is medically proven. But to the best of my knowledge there is no specific diet for fibro. But eating healthy would certainly help everyone feel bettet no matter what illness they have. This is my personal opinion 😊

Momo

Cheekyisme profile image
Cheekyisme in reply to Dizzytwo

Hi. I’m not overweight. I’m the right weight for my height. I was just hoping that if I tweaked my diet it would help some x

Dizzytwo profile image
DizzytwoModerator in reply to Cheekyisme

You can always give it a go. Theres nothing to lose by trying to eat healthier. I do think most peoples bodies have a tendency to some food or drink intolerance. Not all so called healthy food is healthy for everyone if that makes sense xx

Irish-Cow profile image
Irish-Cow in reply to Cheekyisme

I'm also going to do food allergy/ intolerance tests.. just to see if anything shows up so I can avoid that food. Anything's worth a try!

Josie-Anne profile image
Josie-Anne in reply to Irish-Cow

That’s a good idea I found out I’m allergic to wheat so good look x

desquinn profile image
desquinnPartnerVolunteerFMAUK Trustee

long discussion here but short answer is there is no strong evidence that diets can help

healthunlocked.com/fibromya...

caico profile image
caico

Hello, I would like to add that it does help some fibromites! We are all different genetically. I no longer take medication apart from 2 paracetamol daily for the last 3 years - I also removed gluten, dairy, soda drinks, reduced salt, tea, coffee, alcohol, most sugar and also took a food allergy comprehensive test. I have a healthy diet and walk my dog twice a day. I still live with pain (and many menopausal symptons) but these are tolerable compared to the drug induced zombie I was previously. Please note this helped me but again we are all different- dealing with this horrendous condition:)

Irish-Cow profile image
Irish-Cow in reply to caico

Tea is going to the hard one for me. I love my cuppa tea!😊 There was something really weird for me on the drinks front. I could never drink much coffee.. it seemed to make my guts acidic and I'd be taking extra apple cider vinegar and honey in water to neutralize my system. That works wonders for me. But a few months ago when I began to have foggy head and real fatigue days.. which I laid down to my loss of a super close friend to a very sudden and fast cancer... I suddenly couldn't get enough coffee into me... and instant rather than real coffee at that. 7-8 cups a day..crazy... with no acidic effect in my guts. I couldn't understand this fundamental change. This was a huge body change to tolerate that after being afraid for years to even have a second cup in a day or coffee even once a week. I had to force myself to stop during the flareup. So now I have acid /alkaline to look into as part of this.

Josie-Anne profile image
Josie-Anne in reply to caico

Wow well done you and thank you, I’ve cut some goods out and find eating more veg and fruit help, herbal teas replace coffee and tea help, I’ve just come off venaflaxin but was taken off too quickly that I’ve had a neurological malignant overload, ended up 8 days in hospital, how did you manage to come off all your meds if you don’t mind me asking please 😊

caico profile image
caico in reply to Josie-Anne

I was on amitriptylene for 8 years and gradually felt like a zombie with a racing heart and still in pain. Had to have an operation on my leg but Consultant was not happy about heart rate, etc. So over 4 months weaned myself off the drug and went gluten free. Had the paramedics out whilst on holiday as whole body was going into tremors all night - they and gp advised I'd come off amitriptylene too quickly but no damage caused. Stayed off the drug and felt shitty for 6 months but heart rate went back to normal and didn't feel like a zombie -had my operation which went well. After that totally changed my diet and try to live each day as it comes coping with pain, etc that you never know which part of your body its going to affect next. Anyway the diet really helps me and good luck/take care:)

Eggcustard profile image
Eggcustard in reply to caico

Where do you get your food intolerance tests done please?

caico profile image
caico in reply to Eggcustard

Hello, I paid for the Food Print 200+ from Cambridge Nutritional Sciences. Quite expensive but personally well worth it. They give you the kit to take a blood sample to be sent off but my blood kept clotting so I asked my local surgery if the nurse would do it and they kindly did (so surprised that they did not charge me for this service):)

Josie-Anne profile image
Josie-Anne in reply to Eggcustard

Mine was diagnosed when I was in hospital x

aytias profile image
aytias

Hi Cheekyisme,

As others mentioned, it's quite personal and there's no unified theory. For me personally, a low carb diet worked wonders, especially when I could consume copious amount of cheese in the morning after a bad sleep instead of consuming sugary things. Then again, I have very good response to saturated fat ( cholesterol wise) but that's not the case with everyone. I would suggest you try it and see if it works for you. If not, try another one.

All the best

Yassytina profile image
YassytinaFMA UK Volunteer

Hello and welcome, I agree with dizzy and desquinn about a certain diet, eating as fairly healthy as we possibly can is always good. I don’t tend to eat too much process food, I love this time of year making nice side salads to go with meals, I do tend to eat fish a couple times a week as well. But I’m not a goody 2 shoes as I do need my chocolate most days 😀in moderation of course .xx

Kitten-whiskers profile image
Kitten-whiskers

Good afternoon, welcome to the forum. Yes I have often been told that - the usual culprits -diary, sugar, Gluten etc, but one thing that causes my pain increase is Potato's (part of the knightshade family) I notice a big difference when I reduced my potato intake (as strange as it may sound)

Best wishes

Debs

Irish-Cow profile image
Irish-Cow in reply to Kitten-whiskers

Yes I have heard that too before and I haven't been eating them, although I loved before.

Kitten-whiskers profile image
Kitten-whiskers in reply to Irish-Cow

I am glad its not just me, some people look at me like i am an alien when I say that 😉 I also love potato's, I still have them but try to keep it to a minimum

Irish-Cow profile image
Irish-Cow in reply to Kitten-whiskers

Fried potato doesn't affect me as badly as just steamed or roast.

Kitten-whiskers profile image
Kitten-whiskers in reply to Irish-Cow

Thats interesting, I will remember that 😊 I am fond of Mash with thick gravy or Jacket potatoes, I did swap over to sweet potatoes but its just not the same

veggiefan70 profile image
veggiefan70

I recently bought a book which was recommended on a TV program, by the Fibro Assoc, based in Ireland.

'The Complete Fibromyalgia Health , Diet Guide and Cookbook', by Dr Louise McCrindle and Dr Alison C. Bested. I bought my copy on Amazon.

It has chapters on understanding and managing Fibro, including sleep medication, antidepressants, complimentary therapies and a large number of recipes to try, with a list of anti-inflammatory type ingredients.

A section I found very helpful, is on food allergies and intolerance. Obviously, not all of it is appropriate for everyone, depending on each persons particular problems and of course, no substitute for professional medical advice. But, I dip into it quite often, and personally, it has helped me.

Cheekyisme profile image
Cheekyisme in reply to veggiefan70

I’ll give it a look. I feel I have to do “something “. I’ve got nothing to loose by trying these things xx

LillyWhyte profile image
LillyWhyte

Hi research has shown the going gluten free can really help fibro symptoms for some. Also if you have IBS then a low FODMAP diet is amazingly helpful. Generally the more processed the food is the more you need to avoid but cooking is hard work. I tend to batch cook on good days ready to eat on bad days. I use a pressure cooker. V useful.

cheylou profile image
cheylou

my aunt sweats by no processed food or sugar in food period. no cookies cakes etc.

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