PMR

[KathleenJohnson107]

Hi just want to know if anyone knows if your diet when having PMR can make a difference . I have heard about an anti inflammatory diet and just curious to know if it would help with my symptoms . Thanks for all your valuable advice , found it really helps . Thanks , Kath x

[1Purplecrow]

Hi Kathleen, It never hurts to try healthy modifications to your diet. The most helpful diet mod I found, was eliminating refined carbs. yep..., the pastries, cakes and sweets.

Focusing on complex carbs as in veggies, fruits and whole grains allowed me to manage weight gain, plus made my food count toward nutrition of my body. I am fortunate to have prednisone to manage PMR inflammation, and am always tinkering about with my foods.

Good luck to you, and let us know how you do.

Kind regards, Jerri

[PMRpro Ambassador]

Apart from carbs - refined, non-refined, fruit, all of them have sugar - nothing has made any difference to me. Dairy, alcohol, gluten specifically, nightshades - have left all of them at some point and it made no difference. Never tried all at once - you have to eat something and life needs to be fun and pleasurable!! You're a long time dead...

Everyone is different and it may be that one thing or another affects you badly - but you will have to experiment a bit. One lady ate oily fish 3 times a week and used turmeric and garlic in cooking - she says she could tell the difference when she had strayed for any reason, such as holidays. Others find being vegan helps - but can YOU stick to it? If you can't live with a diet without a load of regrets and sinning - it isn't working for you is it?

[Hindags]

Earlier on in PMR I could feel the difference in my body when I ate grains and sugars. The cravings started and I thought I felt more achey. I think now, that that was partly due to the water retention from increased glycogen from the carb metab and storage that Pred is so very efficient at. (This is from my understanding of an answer from PMRPro when I wondered about a six pound gain in 8 days on vacation followed by a swift loss of all that weight in 4 days after returning to my low carb, low sugar diet.

There is one thing that I've noticed however that has helped! ALCOHOL of all things, really helps me with the late afternoon weakness, aches, etc.. In fact first time in my life I look forward to that predinner cocktail or glass of wine with dinner. Tho it only takes a little, one measured drink or one glass of wine, it surprises and even worries me a little. But it is very effective. I remember some discussion here about alcohol on a thread a while back and there was definite enthusiasm for a glass of wine. I've wondered if others also noticed a difference in their alcohol appetite since starting Pred. since PMR, I was going to bring it up. Think this your topic is as good a place as any.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Hindags]

I found the alcohol thing in the 5 years of PMR with no pred - within a short time of the first glass of wine in the evening I felt SOOOO much better. It will be the vasodilatory effect of alcohol.

[Hindags in reply to PMRpro]

Strange. I thought that might be the case, but in the past, vasodilation was not good for me....prolonged flushing in the face, so I dismissed that.

Would that suggest that things like caffeine and Sudafed might cause adverse effects because they are vasoconstrictors? I avoid caffeine, but do take Sudafed prn for allergy stuffed ears.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Hindags]

Like everything I think - each of us is different in what we react to.

[Hidden in reply to PMRpro]

Anything that releases feel good hormones helps me feel better. Including a good laugh.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Hidden]

[piglette]

I think the real message is eat healthy! We should all do that anyway, but PMR makes us more aware. I gave up simple carbs and gluten as I had heard it stopped me getting a moon face. Amazingly it worked but it could have just been luck. My GP was very impressed though.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to piglette]

I have absolutely no Cushingoid features - even the doctors agree! Definitely due to low carb - because with carbs I did.

[piglette in reply to PMRpro]

Perhaps it was the giving up gluten and simple carbs that stopped the moon face. It is worth a go for anyone who is worried about getting one anyway.

[Hidden in reply to piglette]

the only thing is latest stuff coming out now says bad for you to give up gluten if you don't have allergy. 😲

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Hidden]

I'm not gluten-free - it is wheat that is my problem as I am allergic to something in the structure of the starch. UK gluten-free baked good still triggered it because they were made with "washed wheat starch". Sounds very inviting! Unfortunately, if you have a wheat allergy in the UK or USA your way out tends to be gluten-free! Wheat appears in EVERYTHING!!!

But the "it's bad for you" is more aimed at the people who think frequenting the Free-from aisle is the way to a healthier life. It isn't, not only because it eliminates a lot of nutrients if you aren't careful but, above all, gluten-free replacement foods are full of chemicals and are VERY calorie dense.

The way I do wheat-free just removes a lot of processed junk - I still eat spelt, kamut, rye and other grains occasionally even within my low carb diet.

[Hidden in reply to PMRpro]

yes...that's what I was reading about. retaining full.info not my thing at moment. it's likeblike the suitable for diabetics food. If you check.the actual nutritional values the carbs similar plus you get loads of artificial sweeteners that upset your tummy.

[piglette in reply to Hidden]

Hi Poopadoop, I keep reading all the stuff about you must have gluten recently. All I know is I did not want a moon face. I noticed yesterday that alcohol daily is good for you which is good news. Next week they will be back to no alcohol.

[Hidden in reply to piglette]

it's enough to make you dizzy! what yoi fancy in Moderation....so i keep telling myself!!

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Hidden]

However you look at it - we will all die at some point. As a famous Dr in Germany once said to a friend: some of us will die healthier than others...

[Hidden in reply to PMRpro]

😂 indeed we will

[Hidden in reply to PMRpro]

😀

[Hindags]

Another related topic is supplementation. I seem to need to take magnesium supplements to help with cramping. And I just looked up symptoms of potassium deficiency since Pred has been implicated in that problem. I found this article interesting: tinyurl.com/y8f6v23e

I've heard experienced many of these symptoms and read about others having similar symptoms.

On a low carb diet, so avoiding bananas, but I do eat a lot of the other foods. But 4700mgs daily? Wow.