Not a question about which diet to be on , my question is how often are you suggested by well meaning friends to try this or that diet?
I have kind friends who went on a plant based diet and it greatly helped her health, even "curing" her, hmmm.
Since then they constantly bombarded hubby and I to go on it. 🙄
I appreciate ones who care about us desperately want to relieve our struggle.
Also there are things we research and decide could help reduce the effect of our condition, but really only we and our RA team can decide what to use to treat the illness.
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Happy5
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I've had : Have you tried diet, moving about and walking, stretching , vitamin ( any letter) minerals , yoga, moving abroad, starting tablets stopping tablets , it will be ok, dont you think you should do something ?, go private, go nhs, acupuncture, osteopath, smell lavender, chinese potions and lotions or indeed any country , 😂😂
And on and on ..... if you want a laugh Sunday on here is often funny when people try to sell fake remedies!
Yes, they are all sooo familiar!😄 Especially coupled with the reaction (after telling them it's not for you), "oh well if you don't want to get better" (insert alternatives as appropriate)!
I would also like to add the experience when I was about 15 of a "friend" of my then neighbour who kept passing messages saying she wanted to try faith healing on me - which would obviously cure everything and anything! She lived quite near my school and I'd often see her lurking about, always staring at me. Creeper me out a bit in the end.😳 Needless to say if she was trying to send healing by mind control, it certainly didn't work!😁😁
Nowadays, after 38 years some people say things like "oh, you haven't still got that have you? I thought you were better now" or "huh, haven't you outgrown it then?" or "oh are you still ...... you know ..... like that then?" Not entirely sure what like that refers to, but I assume it's the JIA!!🙄
The possibilities suggested to us seem to be endless ....... unlike my patience with them nowadays!!😄😆 x
Early on when first diagnosed by everyone. No one does now, not because they don’t care but because after all this time they know I’ll have heard it all before 😊
Every well-meaning friend on the planet thinks they have got the best diet for anything they haven’t got.....inc RA!
Most don’t look svelte & healthy & I bet what they are advising tastes gross?
You know that fresh food is best ....fruit & veg are tasty & good for you.....so keep the peace agree with them....say you tried their diet & it’s great....then carry on eating what you want to eat.
Arguing with them is pointless because they don’t listen.
My back ground is Mediterranean and I grew up with a family growing own veg and fruit, minimal meat in the diet. Plus loads of legumes, pulses, grains nuts etc. Milk intolerance meant I had soya milk when ones thought you had to be a hippy to drink that.
So I had pretty much THE diet, strange didn't prevent RA eh?
I regularly go to East Malaysia (warmth is balm for my muscles) then the Oriental "cures" start to be offered, suggested.
As I said I - keep the peace - say that the pond water they recommended tasted delicious - they are happy thinking you have listened to them....& you continue with your healthy diet which you enjoy!
Life is too short to argue with people who don’t know what they are talking about!
My bestest friend in the whole wide world suggested cake and chocolate diet, might not be right for some people but it doesn't half make me happy I've long since ignored ignorant people who think they know best and just take their comments with a pinch of salt.
Omega 3 fish oil Liz, if you don't get enough from your normal diet, or supplement to bring it up to 3000mg/day typically. nras.org.uk/diet-rheumatoid...
So many suggestions especially from my well meaning sister who keeps telling me I am bound to get better soon !! I wish .......
A friend caught me on a bad day with an idea and my reply was “ once I get through the other 500 ideas and diets I have already been given I will get to yours”.
She called me the next day and said I think I hit the wall of no tolerance yesterday -sorry.
I usually just say that I am following guidance from my rheumatologist on all aspects of my RA and that I need to take care what I consume as some herbs, for example, interact with medications.
I don't want to be mean but I am really irritated by it because I don't think it is well meaning. Not sure what it is but it seems to be offered with 'holier than thou' . Almost every single person I know who has given me their diet advice has been a militant, evangelical vegan or similar.
I'm also really irritated by the sheer stupidity and the most breath taking was recently from a family member who went on about a programme she had watched about a woman who had cured herself of autoimmune conditions with diet - she was however also on medication. 🙄
Agree think there is ones like you mention and ones who are well meaning.
I think the latter is bourn of these ones feel powerless, hate seeing us ill and want it to end. All laudable but our heath problem is not their responsibility and we're not able to relieve the guilt I suspect they feel for being well when we're not.
I love the way we haven't the gumption to research our health issues and need others to come up with such ideas.
This is slightly off on a tangent but I'm hoping it will make you chuckle....
I have suspected RA in my right foot but confirmed SLE and other RD and AI Diseases and find this NRAS site useful for the information about various meds, and it's full of wonderful people. So I don't fit directly into the RA category is what I am saying.
When I first got sick 6 years ago I worked as a busy Senior Nurse in A&E and I was admitted to the hospital with some very odd symptoms, mostly becoming very hypoxic all of a sudden and going an unhealthy shade of blue. I said to one of the ICU consultants "I just don't get it. I eat really healthily, I excersise, I don't drink and I don't smoke. My colleagues in A&E even take the pi** out of me for eating healthy foods and taking my vitamins at lunchtime. We go out for a dept night out and those guys come to work the following day as if nothing has happened yet I need about 3 days to get over it."
His response was brilliant, "Well, it's obvious what needs to happen. You need to start doing tequila slammers and smoking 40 fags a day then you'll be as healthy as your workmates! And make sure you invite me!!"
Obviously he was joking but a bit of light relief in a serious situation went a very long way!
Could be an element of truth in what he suggested! In our social circle we have all sorts of med profs from GP's & Nurses to Anaesthetists to Surgeons, even Dentists (& as is often the case married couples who meet at Uni marry within the profession so to speak). I can't tell you how many times I’ve seen most either smoking or worse, & alcohol, well, I've mopped up more icky off bathroom floors than I care to remember.
Funnily enough few years back when I was out with close friends who knew me in my dynamic times, I'm shuffling to keep up. I said to my friend look at the state of me led a healthy life style and end up like this! Wish I'd lived a debauched life now
I get— I’ve got a bit of that in my knee & you’ve just got to work through the pain 😖. Have you tried a copper bracelet 🙄 maybe not drink maybe relax & have a drink eat spicy food don’t eat spicy food but the best is - when I’m tired I just have a bath wash my hair put on a bit of lipy & then I’m ready for a night out-me 🛏 😴
😂😂been there and got the t shirt. My father heard plums were good for arthritis bought me lbs of the stuff.. still got RA but constipation through painkillers gone 😁
I agree, and I am one of those who believe what we eat has a massive impact on how our bodies cope with disease.
While I might explain what I believe and the effects my eating habits appear to have, I don't preach or even suggest that everyone should follow the same principles. There is a huge difference between explaining something and badgering people to comply.
The decisions we make about treatment in whatever form, are for us alone to make, hopefully having listened to advice and explored all options.
I think it’s because when it’s something that is working for the, whatever it may be, they cannot understand why someone else wouldn’t try it. Often without asking if other person has already. Or even wants to. That’s the thing that gets me. Not everyone wants to make that change as it would be a large impact on the life they already enjoy. Some people find that hard to deal with.
Don't forget turmeric tablets and tumeric teabags - miracle makers, don't you know! According to a bajillion people who have insisted it'll cure my RA because they once had an ache in their knee and it did wonders for them.
Hello i don't often comment on anything here, but this has really struck a chord with me. All your comments have made me chuckle & yes I have heard them all too. Loads have suggested what i can take to help (i have tried one or two just out of curiosity), by now i realise that the only thing that will help me is my medication, fairly balanced diet and exercise. A lot also say the classic, 'I have a bit of arthritis too', but my Father in law was the worst on a day when i was in a lot of pain in my knees. He'd been sitting down for a while when he was at our house, then he gets up and says 'i'm a little bit stiff like you'. I didn't know how to react. I didn't say much as they wouldn't listen to me anyway.
Agree with you well meaning members of my family say just that as well as suggesting alternative "meds " which my rheumy stay clear of. Frustrating but it shows they care so I just say I'll look into it !
On the plus side, when you suggest something to someone and they come back to you and tell you how much it helps them, well that's a great feeling.
Classic example, Epsom salts. I find epsom salts really worked fo my muscle and joint pain. I acknowledge that I have SLE and RD and no joint errosion but pain is pain if it's keeping you awake all night. As I'm sure you all know magnesium in the salts are drawn into the skin and act as a smooth muscle relaxant.
I suggested that my Dad give it a go. He has RA in his knee and it keeps him awake at night
Eventually he gave it a go and now has two epsom baths a week which helps him sleep and has improved his mobility and reduced pain to some level. Its no wonder cure but it just helps him.
My mum couldn't believe it because he would never normally take any advice, pills or even visit the doctor but he seems to be a bit more open minded now. Which is great, less pain more mobility for him and we need to keep him mobile because he's in his 80s.
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I've long since ignored ignorant people who think they know best and just take their comments with a pinch of salt.
Elimination diet- Dr Gail Darlington 
diet and symptom control
Talking to NRAS about diet
Changing diet VS medication 
