Food Allergy?

[fhassan]

What I mean is, does anyone know if certain foods trigger RA pain more than normal! Or maybe it's just in my head! anything to blame the pain on!

[bidzi]

I have found that not eating dairy and gluten, and not having caffeine and alcohol significantly reduces pain, but I have also found it is hard giving up all the things I like, give it a go for a few weeks and see, it certainly won't hurt! Brigette x

[Hidden]

I just try to have everything in moderation. Alcohol used to make my pain worse but now I'm on mtx I don't touch it anyway. I love my food far too much to cut anything out

[Hidden]

I cut out wheat, mainly bread and pasta and cereal containing wheat - and caffeine and refined sugar and now alcohol too (mtx) and i can't tell if it's helped or not because I have never dared to reintroduce these things to find out! TTx

[helixhelix]

For me it's a bit more the other way round in that I know I feel better when I'm eating properly, lots of veg and not too much sugar & fatty things. I do have problems with cows milk, which is new, but I'm not really allergic to anything in particular. But everyone's different, so I think it's possible that there are things you react badly to. Polly

[Judi]

When I was only on mtx, folic acid and diclofenac I had trouble eating anything acidic ie. tomatoes, pineapple & etc. either of these aggrivated the pain. This has changed since I am also on Leflunamide and I have been able to eat small amounts.

My late mum also had RA and had trouble with tomatoes

Judi xxxx

[elsa123]

When I had the flare up in January that led to a diagnosis, I thought I had a virus that went on for weeks.

I did a total detox of caffeine, wheat, gluten, alcohol, red meat,dairy, sugar and other stuff.

What I did notice is that I stopped having migraine, IBS, and a rash on my upper arms that I'd had for years cleared up.

Of course I didn't stick to it, and don't know which food was causing it.

I am trying again but stopping one thing at a time.

It's less stressful, you are less likely to suffer nasty side effects, and it helps to recognise what is causing the problems.

At the moment I am off wheat and gluten. I fell off the wagon the other week, and I had a migraine and a bout of IBS.

So, I'm pretty sure that it's that that my body doesn't like.

You could stop eating the things you suspect are causing you problems, then after a few weeks re introduce them and see what happens.

Hope this helps.

Nic

[essexgirl]

When i was diagnosed with RA they also done a celiac test which come back positive so now im on a gluten free diet .... if you read up they are connected as they are both a autoimmune disease ... if i do eat gluten i notice im in more pain than normal but saying that there are a lot of food you should avoid like tomatoes and citrus fruits etc .

it doesnt hurt to ask your doc for a test as its just a blood test

but also its good to detox for a couple of days and reintroduce foods in the eliminate those that seem to affect you

debs x

[Hidden in reply to essexgirl]

Hi, I have RA and then developed Sjogrens. So I had a celiac test as well. (something called Gliadin). It came back negative, but it made me think that there might be a link with RA and gluten.

I have tried to avoid wheat (very difficult as it's in everything.) I have noticed that if I minimise wheat I feel better, less foggy!

And less IBS etc too.

[watson3]

Im a nurse and also diagnosed with RA in march ,on metho 20mgs. Not allergic to anything, but reducing carbohydrate, cos I have put on a lot of weight with Depomedrone injections. Try eliminating one food at a time for 1week. Then introduce if no side effects. Good luck.

[oldtimer]

I would just say - be careful you don't blame foods for the natural variations in your RA.

I've certainly been better on a ovo-lacto-vegetarian diet with no meat. But that's just me. And I have tried, very carefully, eliminating one food at a time when I have associated it with a flare-up.

But the allergists say that you need about six weeks off a food before trying it again, so it takes absolutely ages doing one thing at a time.

And it is easy to end up avoiding all sorts of things that "might" have upset you and not having a healthy balanced diet.

There are several threads previously on this forum that have discussed this - so have a look.

[Victoria-NRAS Partner Moderator NRAS]

Dear fhassan

There aren't any particular food that are proven to affect everyone with RA, but you are probably not imagining it. As you can gather from the responses, it is very individual. Some people will find that food doesn't affect their condition at all, but some will notice a change to their symptoms on some foods, and these foods vary from person to person.

If you are conmcerned that food might be affecting you it may be worth keeping a food diary for a while where you monitor not just what you eat each day but also how you feel and see if there are any foods that seem to be making you feel worse. Try cutting them out for a couple of weeks or so and see if that makes a difference.

Hope that helps

Victoria

(NRAS Helpline)

[MandiS]

I had a food allergy test done a few months ago which showed an intolerance to giladin and yeast I came off both for 5 months and felt fantastic. I then re introduced them and within 4 months of eating was diagnosed with RA and has the worst flare up . I have taken wheat back out for the last week or so and already feel so much better. How did you get tested for coeliac I asked my Dr for a test after I had my food allergy results but he refused .