My early symptoms for what they were are in remission. I still have a swollen finger, but the generalised pain has gone. My ankles and knees are occasionally a bit achy, but my stiff hands in the morning have gone away. I can drive without discomfort and don't have to remove my shoes in the office.
So maybe it is luck, but my food intolerance test - £100 for Cerascreen showed a problem with egg yolks, wheat and oats. As soon as I stopped eating all these foods the pain subsided pretty quickly. There is also the more expensive York test which is more comprehensive.
I also took a bunch of other stuff such as Boswellia, Bicarbonate of Soda, Cod liver oil, black seed oil and very small amounts of Pregnenolone. But I think the foods were the trigger and giving them up caused remission.
So my question is of those who have taken food intolerance tests - how many have seen a degree of improvement as soon as they stopped the foods - and which foods are most commonly indicated. The consensus on the internet is somewhat skeptical of these tests, but for inflammatory arthritis I think they may be of great benefit.
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alexask
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You'd think it would be easy, but I had a hell of a job filling up the blood vial. They give you two pin pricks, which is enough except I then managed to knock over the vial trying to get the lid back on. I then had to prick 2 other fingers with a safety pin I had tried to sterilise in boiling water. I hadn't really warmed my fingers up for long enough I think.
My wife has just taken the test for a completely unrelated problem to RA but has found an immediate impact. None of my RA consultations have suggested their may be a link to any type of food. Friends have suggested cutting out dairy which I did but their was no improvement in my RA.
I tried changing from A1 to A2 dairy, but it didn't really make much of a difference. You could try a food elimination diet, but in my case if there are 3 foods are contributing to the problem then I would have to luck upon those 3 and be certain that they are it. Doctors are very focused on the medicine which might help - they don't really get much if any nutrition training in med school. Also for some diet won't make a difference in any case. There is a lot of stuff out there on the internet suggesting that nightshades (i.e. potatoes and tomatoes) contribute - but in my case - there was no reaction and I find I can happily consume them ( been eating crisps over the last few days in celebration - with no ill effect on my arthritis at least).
You will find that there has been a lot of discussion on here about food exclusions. It seems to help some people but not others.
It's important too that we don't spend a lot of time or money on something that may not be helpful, so guard against websites that offer you 'cures' for money. If it was that simple the NHS would love to save the money instead of the large amounts it costs for biologics!
Well the question to me is how much are you prepared to spend to get better? For me £100 at even a 20% chance of identifying something that may subsequently prevent £1000's of pounds of NHS spending as well as massively improving the quality of my life was worth it. I do believe there is a danger in just relying on the NHS to make you better. The problem is that there is little money in researching diet to improve people's health. There is potentially millions pounds available to the pharmaceutical companies if they can find a drug that shows some benefit.
I have a severe egg intolerance if I have even the slightest amount it gives me uncontrollable squits for want of a better word I’m sure you get the picture for at least 24 hrs lol. But more concerning is that my throat swells and I struggle to swallow, not the full anaphylactic reaction but concerning enough. I had a allergy test by the hospital and according to them I don’t have a problem with egg, that’s because I didn’t ingest it it was put on the skin,also blood test was negative but I had refrained from eating egg for 6 weeks prior to test, so that’s no surprise. If you feel that you want to exclude certain foods from your diet or pay for testing that’s up to you but if you ask me blood tests are not always accurate. I also have a really bad reaction to the flu jab too are you seeing the picture of where I’m coming from ?
Well am pretty sure they gave good results for me. Had a few oat crackers last night - felt worse this morning. So it seems to me to be accurate. The benefit is so huge in this instance compared to the cost. My only regret is not having it done sooner.
Hi alexask, sounds great, the improvement you've had. Can this kind of testing be done on the NHS though? I seem to remember having at least a gluten intolerance test done at some point by my GP. I just had a look at York testing and it seemed quite commercial. They offer an initial test for about £30 to see whether you need go on and have full testing. I am probably just too suspicious to actually do it but it seems like a good idea to try and find out whether a change of diet helps.
I don't think the NHS test this to any great extent. I too balked at cost of the York test the £30 doesn't actually test anything- it is closer to £300 which I think it is too much (but that is because I am fairly tight - how much would you spend to get your health back and be free of pain - thousands surely - and then you could actually go back to work and earn it). But Cerascreen at £100 is more reasonable. I hate to say it but those bloody Germans with their Teutonic efficiency win again (Caveat my mother's German). To be fair York tests a bit more, but I think Cerascreen tests enough for most. Interesting I didn't react to Gluten, but I did to wheat and Oats (which is worse really). Frankly though I am ecstatic that I have found a way to stop the progression of this horrible disease . My son is Celliac though and type 1 diabetic. I am thinking of getting him a test done. Theoretically if my autoimmune condition is triggered by foods - could his be? Also the same things that are supposedly good for RA are also cures for Type 1 Diabetes -- such as Curcumin, Black Seed Oil and Garlic. But I digress.
The thing is there are many studies showing that fasting benefits RA - but is this simply because the foods that the body is reacting too is eliminated?
Does the Paddison only benefit some because again a food intolerance is removed?
Anyway Christmas is coming so I would recommend those who can't afford it, but have nearest and dearest who can ask for a Cerascreen reactive food test. Or York if they are Mr or Mrs Moneybags. I am almost thinking of doing the York myself to see if they correlate.
that wd be v v interesting - off the topic but - kids gave me pressie of DNA test but results didn't include known euro links. Son has since done a 'better' dna test and his results included [proportionally] what i'd expected PLUS health indicators!! so test comparisons make sense.
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