Diet changes?

[Sjhoney]

Hello! Has anyone made any changes to their diet that have made a significant difference to their condition? I would be interested to hear of folks experiences.

Thanks 😊

[VeronicaF]

well I know it does, I have been really bad lately, so I am going back to my blend diet, that being salad and salmon, its the only thing at the moment that calms it down including my stomach issues

I was doing well and was able to add more and more to my diet, but something I ate or had I am sure caused it all to go mental again

so back to what I know which will calm it down

I am waiting to go on biologics, and I am not on any meds at the moment because I had to have chicken pox vax

so can't have any meds until after second chicken pox jab and then again I have to wait another 4 weeks afterwards

so I can only try to control how I feel through foods

I hate it, I hate eating my diet, its not nice but I hate being in so much pain too

[Hidden in reply to VeronicaF]

Can you not just remove the food you added that caused you problems Veronica. Seems quite drastic to give up on all the hard work you did to get to where you were 🙁

[VeronicaF in reply to Hidden]

no, because my stomach is messed up too as well as my joints, so need to pour cold water on it so to speak, I don't know if a flare causes stomach problems, or my stomach causes a flare but they go together I know that much

[Gnarli in reply to VeronicaF]

I can't 'like' your post because it's obvious that you are suffering. I just wanted to offer a virtual hug

[VeronicaF in reply to Gnarli]

Ahh thank you Gnarli

[Hidden in reply to VeronicaF]

Vicious circle Veronica, I hope you find a solution soon x

[VeronicaF in reply to Hidden]

thanks kittyj, once I get or able to have treatment, I am sure I will get better x

[Liggle in reply to VeronicaF]

So is mine as soon as I eat I get tummy pains and it getting worse the only good thing is I’m lost weight which I need to do, but where does it end , I can’t take any more tablets as I’m on 34 a day sending you a hug Elizabeth x

[carmenp1 in reply to Liggle]

Hi, just wondering if taking so many different medications is connected to stomach issues? 🤔

[AgedCrone]

As long as you eat a healthy balanced diet,watch your weight, don’t smoke and don’t overdo the alcohol you should be fine.

Some people find they have genuine allergies and need to avoid certain things but unless you are clinically diagnosed as needing to exclude something from your diet it probably won’t help your RA.

Eat what do you enjoy and if you appear to thrive, you are probably eating the right things !

[Sjhoney in reply to AgedCrone]

It’s just that I was chatting to a friend and her daughter studied immunology and said there is a strong link between the gut and immunity. I think RD is such a complex disease and there are so many factors that can influence how the body deals with it. Interesting....🤔

[AgedCrone in reply to Sjhoney]

Of course if you are allergic to something your gut will react to it.Some people with RA do have food allergies that impact on their diets.

But for the majority of people sticking to a normal healthy diet will help you cope not only with the disease, but also with whatever treatment your rheumatologist is prescribing for you.

If you want to go into it further I don’t think you will be able to find anything on the NHS ......but you could ask your rheumatologist to refer you privately to a nutritionist who has a special interest in RA and autoimmune diseases.

The longer you have RA the more you will be given advice from people about how eating x,y,z cures RA...IF ONLY!

[Sjhoney in reply to AgedCrone]

Yep! You’re right there 🙄

[AgedCrone in reply to Sjhoney]

Have you tried the frogs legs & pond water yet?

The thought mere thought of it makes me ache!

[Hidden in reply to AgedCrone]

I haven’t had anyone suggest a ‘cure’ for a while now AgedCrone but someone the other day was intent on getting me to buy a pair of magic shoes that had cured her colleagues fibromyalgic feet. Apparently we have the same condition (we don’t) I do despair.

[AgedCrone in reply to Hidden]

20 years down the line I just smile benignly and say “Oh thank you I’ll try what you suggest”....As if I have never heard that ‘cure’ before!

I’m the really boring one who eats virtually what I like and takes the drugs my rheumatologist recommends .....then stop taking the ones that appear to be doing no good & and move onto the next magic potion.

[Hidden in reply to AgedCrone]

I’m boring too. I’m afraid I am quite rude and just zone out on people, I just can’t be bothered even discussing it. Do people really think after all these years with RA that they know something we don’t? Hmm.

[AgedCrone in reply to Hidden]

Of course they do.....after all everyone’s granny has “ artheritis” so they think they know all about it!

[Ruth12345 in reply to AgedCrone]

Me too.

[Liggle in reply to AgedCrone]

So true scary with every body trying to offer advice, I feel I know my

Body and what works for me my not work for you , like you so rightly say , we know what works for us Elizabeth x

[Rheumagal in reply to Sjhoney]

I agree. And that’s just the problem. Very little is understood regarding what causes the autoimmune disease while it is our immune system the why it was triggered is the problem. There’s no easy solution.

[AgedCrone in reply to Rheumagal]

If you think about it,as we all do, it,s a minefield treating AI diseases. Think about how long -just with RA - it takes some people to go through the medical investigations to see which drug the rheumatologist is going to prescribe.

It must be very disheartening for the clinicians every time one of their patients fails on a drug they were sure was going to help them.

I know we sometimes have to wait months and months to get settled on the right drugs, but I’m sure the doctors don’t just stick a pin in their list of possible drugs and think “OK, we’ll give them that this week”.

We can just rely on research & hope new drugs that help will be found soon,

[VeronicaF]

I think the whole thing with diets is its very hard to stick to, in this world we live in too

but for me I try to help myself when I am in a bad flare like now by trying to calm it down with omega 3 foods and to settle my stomach down

its amazing how may of us on here have stomach issues I have always had a sensitive stomach my whole life but even more so now, its horrendous

[daisychains58 in reply to VeronicaF]

I’m in a flare atm...don’t know why as usual but I suspect as always it’s something I’ve eaten. So I go back to basics...I have now made a digestive enzyme capsule, a glass of kombucha and milk thistle part of my daily ritual. I also drink matcha green tea when I remember too. For me bread, particularly white bread bloats my gut, any processed fast food too does the same. Before I had this problem I had a cast iron stomach. Anyway I’m back to my clean eating while I await an ankle replacement in less than 3 weeks now. Maybe after that the inflammation will subside a bit. Who knows but I do firmly believe that gut health is the key to not getting this illness and helping to manage it.

Sending blessings and hugs

[JoParis]

Well, I know it's controversial, but some people do think that the stomach is the root of autoimmune diseases, or of inflammation, at least. I believe it because of my own experience, but won't try and convince anyone. I just know that some foods make me flare up and I can be virtually pain-free if I avoid them.

[Sjhoney in reply to JoParis]

Hi! What are the the goods you avoid? I think there’s def something in it.

[JoParis in reply to Sjhoney]

Hi Sjhoney,

I never eat anything with gluten in it – that's the main thing. I sometimes can't resist a beer and I pay the price almost immediately (malt=gluten), mainly stiffness. Corn is almost as bad for me – that took a long time to figure out. Sometimes a food is a trigger for inflammation for one person that is ok for another, and you have to figure it out for yourself by trial and error.

Nothing from a cow. I was eating goat's and sheeps cheese but I stopped them for a while and was much better without. But I love my food and again, sometimes let temptation get the better of me. I don't get aches and pains if I eat an occasional bit of cheese, but there is a definite all-over feeling of better health if I stay away from it.

The best I've been is when I went on a really strict diet (based on the Clint Paddison protocol, although I never signed on to his programme and didn't do the juice fasting more than one day), also excluding wine, meat, oil, sugar, eggs... and quite a few other things, but I've forgotten what.

I started with a book called Nutritional Medicine, by Stephen Davies and Alan Stewart. I did an exclusion diet. Then I read a book by a certain (French) Prof. Jean Seignalet and joined a French forum of people who were following his ideas (he allowed meat and wine and was easier to follow than some of the more radical ones). Most recently, as I've said, Paddison has a lot of info, though it can be annoying as he's trying to sell his programme – but he does put a lot of work into it, and you can get most of the information for free. I've spent hours reading it up, Paddison and others, on the Internet – and there's a lot!

Good luck if you decide to go for it! (Good luck anyway, of course).

[Nanna71]

My experience is no. The food I eat is for my overall health. My stomach is a very touchy thing so when taking these meds I usually eat more than I want and drink water more than I want so the meds won't give me nausea. And it works well as I have never had nausea on MTX, plus sulfasalazine, plus prednisone. I feel that changing my diet is just another stresser so I don't fool around with it. The trigger for my RA was and is stress, life stress.

Added some of the recommended anti inflammatories - turmeric, ginger, which did nothing but keep me busy making concoctions in the kitchen. 🙂

[Hidden]

Dropped red meat and milk, it has made a huge difference

[Wrh03]

Hi there, yes I’ve found that diet makes a difference. Sounds crazy to begin with, but there is plenty of scientific evidence to support auto immune issues are impacted by problems in the gut. Everyone is different so you’ll have to work out what is right for you. If you’re open to changing your diet, I’d encourage you to go for it!

[carmenp1]

Hi, Glad you asked. After years of pain and chronic fatigue I tried D-ribose 5mg daily. This helps the mitochondria. It gave me some energy. I have also been taking Q10 which helps with energy.

Recently, my blood test came back with very low vit. D. Dr. advised taking 2 vit. D tablets daily for a week to boost my levels fast. Then reduce to 1 vit D a day. The boost to my energy levels was dramatic. The fibromyalgia pain was reduced to just noticeable.

I stopped taking the very high doses of anti depressants years ago and that got me off the couch.

I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue in 2012. It's been a journey of learning, listening to others on this forum and doibg my own research. I hope this helps. All the best.

[Mmrr]

The only thing that impacts on my gut is refined sugar, whether from chocolate, sweets or desserts. Fortunately I'm not a big sugar fiend so it's not a big deal. I don't keep any sugar in the house, except for a few little coffee/tea sugar packs 'acquired' from various places for visitors who take sugar in thier drinks 😉

[JoParis]

Apart from the things I avoid eating, I have added some supplements that help: Vit C, up to 4 g per day; vit B complex (necessary when you don't eat much meat); vit D3 (which most people with RA are very low on – my GP has given me a prescription for a massive dose every month, and even with that my levels are low); turmeric (I haven't had any flares since I started taking it, but I don't know if it's related, it's difficult to know). And magnesium – I really feel the difference when I take it, Epsom Salts baths too, if i'm feeling achey. I would take a few other supplements if they weren't so expensive.

All this and the diet and my qi gong help with energy levels (which aren't great but are much better than they were) and pain and stiffness, and have meant that I can manage without any RA meds. But I do have some joint damage, and I don't know how much of that happened before I started the diet. I do know it has continued, though slowly. Clint Paddison advises to keep on with the meds (but not anti-inflammatories or steroids, which are very bad for the stomach) until your blood counts show real remission. I would if I could, I went the diet route because I couldn't make myself take the meds...

Just so you know I'm not saying diet can 'cure' RA. Some people doing the diet seem to be in remission without drugs, they're the lucky ones. or maybe I haven't been strict enough yet!

[ketiv74]

Hi,

I was recently diagnosed with Sero-Positive RA last Dec and am taking 15 mg Mtx Inj / week and 2.5 mg Pred (soon to taper off to 0). Diet wise, I am following Ayurvedic Diet. Also taking Ayurvedic meds prescribed by an Ayurvedic Physician in India, all this along with western meds. I have definitely seen connection with my pain / inflammation & diet. If I stick to Ayurvedic diet -such as no wheat, not much diary ( except buttermilk), no processed food, not much sugar etc. I feel good, but few times I have slipped and felt pain returning ( although nothing like before I started treatment). Funny thing is I am doing so many things at once, I don't know exactly what's making the difference. But I am afraid to change anything now that something is working :).

[Sjhoney in reply to ketiv74]

I definitely get the bit about what’s making a difference! You’re scared to change anything 😳