Where does the pain end: I have been diagnosed with RA... - NRAS

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Where does the pain end

Skedriala profile image
24 Replies

I have been diagnosed with RA and waiting for my first specialist appointment on 5th January. All I can have is iproprofen for the pain, is there foods I can eat to reduce the flare ups?

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Skedriala profile image
Skedriala
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24 Replies
oldtimer profile image
oldtimer

Have a look at past posts on here about diet. There's a lot of discussion about what might or might not help. Be careful not to go on such a restrictive diet that you miss out on any essential substances.

Skedriala profile image
Skedriala

Thanks will do

Em13 profile image
Em13

There are lots of dietary recommendations that are helpful to some - avoiding gluten, dairy and sugar amongst them. I find juicing helps - pineapples, ginger and cucumber are said to be anti-inflammatory. Adding turmeric and black pepper to food (or drinking it with milk and honey) is also supposed to help. I take it as a supplement myself.

Lorin profile image
Lorin in reply to Em13

I need to do more juicing!

Gigi71 profile image
Gigi71

It's so daunting when you first find out you have RA and the Rheumatology appointment is quite a wait. I have had RA for many years and on many meds. I do find being gluten free and sugar free works well for me, it's part of a low carb high protein diet I do. Maybe little steps in cutting foods out such a wheat to start with. Many people prefer a plant based diet. We all seek comfort food when we aren't feeling well. I had steroids when first dx by the GP before seeing the rheumatologist, this helped a great deal. Wishing you well. X

Skedriala profile image
Skedriala

Thanks for the advice. I will definetly try the gluten free range. I can't last without sugar I'm on lucozade at the moment to make me feel more 'with it' between jobs to keep me alert

Gigi71 profile image
Gigi71 in reply to Skedriala

I don't use any of the gluten free range so many ingredients and too much sugar, don't eat processed foods, just simple fish, chicken and some meat, flavoured with herbs and spices with plent of veg. Eggs! Homemade Soups, stir fries, Salads and oat based cereals with natural yogurt. I believe the body needs proteins to rebuild itself, sugar is an empty calorie. Started this 3 years ago and improved my inflammation levels.

Gigi71 profile image
Gigi71 in reply to Gigi71

I meant to add did this to lose weigh, to take the pressure off my joints and the weight fell off and was amazed how it reduced my inflammation.

medway-lady profile image
medway-lady

Do not go gluten free without medical advice, its whole food group and can be an expensive diet. i'm Celiac and promise you its made no difference to me, I'm in remission due to good medication. And therein lies the rub, if you loose weight that can benefit the Ra and of course no gluten can often mean high sugar foods. I get bread and flour on the NHS but its vile so much nicer tasting from M&S probably because of the sugar. My advice is that a sensible diet including all food groups is beneficial and a healthy weight is vital. Best of luck and I don't need an excuse to drink Lucozade as I love it.

DelicateInput profile image
DelicateInput in reply to medway-lady

M&S bread contains palm oil - a low grade hydrogenated fat and very bad for health and the environment. Try sour dough - Polish bread seems to be all sour dough and is organic, ie no nasties.

andyswarbs profile image
andyswarbs in reply to medway-lady

My GF diet is not expensive but then I don't try to eat GF breads, partly cos of the cost, partly cos of lack of taste but mostly cos I don't need breads anymore. I think of it like, "when in Greece, eat what the Greeks eat," or something like that. Basically changing a diet is an education in to new ways of eating. If I want something breadlike there are some great GF wraps and GF oatcakes are totally fabulous.

Lorin profile image
Lorin

If you are up to it yoga,swimming and warm baths can also be therapeutic. God bless and I hope you get some relief.

Leonwp profile image
Leonwp

I decided to go on a diet of excluding processed food, for quite a time my symptoms and deterioration eased from the fast march they were on. Im sure it helped slow things down.

AgedCrone profile image
AgedCrone

If the Ibuprofen isn't helping ask for another type of pain killer.

These days GP.s are'nt very good at asking if pain killers are working....sadly you have to bring it to their attention & tell them you need something else.

Goo Luck...hooecyou have a listening GP!

DelicateInput profile image
DelicateInput

As oldtimer says, look at the posts on here. I have made a few.

First and foremost, cut out red meat (and probably all meat). It contains prostaglandins which cause and increase pain. Naproxen and other pain killers are actually anti prostaglandins. This will reduce pain by 50%.

Secondly, do not drink beer (which is highly inflammatory) or flat white wine which is acidic and therefore inflammatory. I drink red wine (which contains an anti inflammatory, thus cancelling out the effect of the alcohol) and I find sparkling/champagne OK as I presume because it evaporates quickly - ie if you like a drink.

Food fried at high temperatures in cheap oils are supposed to increase in inflammation in the body. I have not tested this as I don't like fried or fatty/oily food and have never eaten them, but it is an established scientific fact.

I suspect that fish is helpful, particularly oily fish. I went on a veg diet after being told my condition was gout as both fish and meat contain purines. I normally eat fish regularly but have hardly ever eaten meat. Well, the flare up was horrendous and subsequently confirmed as RA. I'm afraid I am not about to try it again soon. Fish would seem to be protective as people do take fish oil supplements for all arthritis.

The above are all quite easy to follow.

Pineapple, which another poster has mentioned, is a known anti inflammatory - however, I have not personally noticed this though I eat quite a lot of pineapple.

Gluten and high sugar intake have been mentioned as culprits - I think this works for some people who have problems with these foods but I have never noticed any difference by leaving them out though a diet high in sugar is very bad for any condition.

Em13 profile image
Em13 in reply to DelicateInput

I had been vegetarian for so long I forgot about meat!

Recently, I added fish back into my diet a couple of times a week. Not sure if it has made a difference, but as I started taking krill oil supplements, I decided I was no longer a vegetarian. I think pescatarian is the term.

I have found a lot of gluten-free foods leave a nasty after-taste and are full of other things I would normally avoid. If you can buy naturally gluten-free foods, you may find them nicer. As someone else has posted, I'm finding wheat free seeded wraps a more palatable option than GF bread.

Coconut oil is supposed to be the safest oil to heat for cooking, but I found it taints everything with the taste of coconut. So I stick with extra virgin olive oil.

DelicateInput profile image
DelicateInput in reply to Em13

I'm not sure which oils are the culprits but extra virgin olive oil is one of the best. The culprits foods like chips and deep fried batter/breadcrumb coated foods bought from outlets which use the cheapest oils and use them over and over again. It is also the very high temperatures which change the nature of the oil so that it becomes an inflammatory irritant and also carcinogenic. Extra virgin olive oil has numerous health giving properties. I nearly always bake fish in lemon juice and tomatoes - sometimes I add butter or virgin olive oil but, whilst fish cooks best at a high temperature, it is nowhere near the temperature of fried food. I could not eat food cooked in coconut oil.

Some people say they find tomatoes and grapefruit bad for arthritis but I have never found this - and I eat both virtually every day.

Kathy1465 profile image
Kathy1465

You might be able to get in with your rheumy sooner if you ask to be put on their cancellation list. Worked for me. I got in within a week, although my original appt was for a month later. The early days are so hard. Until you have your medications in place and worked out, have faith you will feel better again. It is something of a journey to get there.

andyswarbs profile image
andyswarbs

My top anti inflammatory is turmeric and black pepper which I have every day. Add to that garlic and ginger, walnuts, cherries and blueberrries.

These will have no effect if the rest of your diet is bad, ie meaty, sugary, oily etc. And even then arthritis inflammation causes more of the same, so don't expect too much too quickly. I have been on the paddison program for 7 months and pretty well clear of all symptoms and leading a normal life.

Essentially changing diet is a life choice. I did it because my RA was so very bad and I felt my life was ending. At that point I took a decision to take personal control of my life. I have done extensive research and put that into practice. I am confident that I will look forward to a full and long life that has no drugs and has absolutely no RA symptoms.

DelicateInput profile image
DelicateInput in reply to andyswarbs

I'm not so sure about cherries having a massively good effect. When I was told I had gout and went on the vegetarian diet mentioned above, I ate masses of cherries (which are really expensive) and my condition subsequently diagnosed as RA flared up horrendously. I do normally eat a lot of green veg (almost no calories) and 2/3 pieces of fruit per day.

andyswarbs profile image
andyswarbs in reply to DelicateInput

If my understanding is correct, cherries have an enzyme that inhibits Cox-2, which causes pain and inflammation. Unlike NSAIDs, cherries don't inhibit Cox-1 which means they don't potentially ruin your liver at the same time.

(nutritionfacts.org/2015/10/...

However not all foods are good for all people. I am lucky, a night preceded by a bowl of cherries led to my first pain-free & NSAID-free night's sleep. Waking up in the morning without pain and having taken no NSAIDs was a beautiful revelation I shall never forget.

But if for you, cherries are bad, that's it. Some people cannot tolerate fruits at all. Many are particularly sensitive to acidic fruits - acidosis is linked to RA flares. Others find the sugar rush can cause flare ups, and if I was a betting man that might be what happened to you, @DelicateInput.

It is so important to go through an proper elimination diet to really know what is and what is not good for you as an individual. I add the word "proper" into the last sentence since not only do different foods travel through the gut at different speeds (several hours to several days) but also the ramifications in the blood stream can vary by another few days and more on top. And then once the blood is triggered to flare-up then just that can cause subsequent flares. This is why the Paddison Program has a "reset" feature to help give the body time to calm down and do as much as possible to remove any sign of pain & flares before going to the next foods.

--

On the cost of good food & cherries. How much does a single prescription for NSAID cost (assuming the government is picking up the rest of the cost!)? And if you then have to add the cost of corrective drugs to undo damage to your liver! But people on NSAIDs and DMARDs take them for many years, if not for the rest of their lives. I know, in my ignorance I was on Diclofenac tablets for 40 years.

And even if the drugs "work" now, you still might need joint replacements, wheel-chairs and modifications to your home in future years.

But I know better now. It has been six months of hard fought recuperation of my digestive system, my self and things my cardio-vascular system etc. My health is good enough now that I do not need a bowl of cherries every day, week or even month. My health is good enough now that I need neither NSAIDs nor DMARDs and never will for the rest of my life.

Oh, and did I say that my joints are improving? At my last rheumy appt I was told I should have both knees replaced. He was ready to walk me down the corridor to see the surgeon, I kid you not. Now, with my regime of Bikram Yoga I am working on repairing my joints. It may take months but probably years. I have not been able to kneel properly for 40 years. Over time in one knee my cartilage will repair and if I just get that one knee into recovery I will shout it from the rooftops. The other knee is a damaged arthritic joint and will take longer, but I have the rest of my life and I will use it wisely.

So really, how much does good health cost?

DelicateInput profile image
DelicateInput in reply to andyswarbs

Many thanks for the explanation about the cherries.

I was diagnosed (by a consultant rheumy in Harley St) as having gout. Cherries are supposed to be wonderful for gout and a diet high in purines, which is meat and fish, very bad.

I followed a veg diet and ate loads and loads of cherries and my condition flared up very badly. The cherries actually cost around £8/punnet, so quite a bit over a month and I ate loads of them because they are supposed to counteract gout.

The final diagnosis was RA. Fair enough, if cherries help you. I am just saying that on my experiment, they did not seem to help very much.

Very many thanks for the info though.

Simba1992 profile image
Simba1992

The AIP antiinflammatory paleo diet has helped many and is built on scientific research. It decreased my inflammation with80%. You need not do the whole diet right away but just start with leaving out gluten, dairy and sugar and you should see a difference in three weeks. Its really worth a try:)

Naproxen helped me more than ibuprofen.

gerralddonaldson profile image
gerralddonaldson

Don’t panic if you learn you have rheumatoid arthritis. While there is no cure, people are living better now with RA than ever before .You can share your experience and hear the answers to all the questions on this forum edrugforum.com/ . Your doctor will talk to you about all the ways you can treat the disease and manage your symptoms.

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