HI. Just a note to those who are perhaps also giving up sugar, carbs and other delights for this disease...in hopes to help the body heal a bit.. I have been doing just that and for a month have been so good. No sugar and no salt and only a piece of peanut butter toast for my daily treat.. but yesterday...! Went absolutely bonkers and ate more than one piece of pie and ice cream and candy (stuffed grandson's Chocolate Christmas stocking stuffer into my mouth!! ha!) and this morning I feel TERRIBLE! So..if you are working with diet.. carry on.. let me be your guinea pig for going crazy, It does not help. My shoulders definitely ache more but I am going to eat right because I suspect this is merely sugar shock and not my PMR gotten worse. Thanks. Needed to confess!
SUGAR insanity.: HI. Just a note to those who are... - PMRGCAuk
SUGAR insanity.
Love the picture yogaBonnie it definitely made me smile. I have to keep a close watch on my glucose levels being diabetic type 2. I am careful all week but when it gets to Saturday I call it my treat day for being good and I have some kind of chocolate (but keep me off the Maltesers or I would eat the box full) and 1 bottle of Peroni lager and don't feel bad about it at all. Hurrah it's Saturday bring it on!! D
OH I LOVE Maltesers. It is the ONE thing I always get when we go across the Pond!! They just are not the same here. "malted milk balls!" Happy Sat. to you. And perhaps if I decided to give myself 1 day a week I will fare better and not go crazy!!
This too shall pass!
Eventually you get to a point where the sweet stuff isn't even tempting unless it is something really good! I cut things up and spread them over a few days - a pleasure deferred is a pleasure gained 
Yes. And all the junk I ate WASN'T good. It was cheap ice cream and the chocolate was waxy! Lesson learned. I'll only go for the GOOD stuff. occasionally!
Top of the range chocolate for me - then 1 square is plenty. And homemade icecream - or at least, the icecream shop that makes their own from raw ingredients...
Always get the good stuff. I can't stop thinking about Maltesers now. Grrr.
Hi. I didn’t know that giving up sugar, salt etc would help with the polymyalgia. Will you advise me please and tell me more? Thanks. Sue.
Sugar and simple carbohydrates which are quickly broken down to sugars in the body are pro-inflammatory. So while a lot of people look at many foods such as nightshades as being pro-inflammatory or oily fish, turmeric and ginger as being anti-inflammatory and make a big thing about the AIP diet for example which is terribly restrictive, one of the easiest things we can do is simply cut sugar and refined carbs. Pred alters the way our bodies process such food and the causes the liver to release random spikes of glucose, triggering insulin release which leads to the deposition of the surplus glucose as fat in the usual places, around the midriff, on the face and back of the neck. Not to mention possibly leading to pred-induced diabetes. Cutting carbs helps both aspects.
Thanks for this. I really like finding out exactly what the prednisone is doing. Gives me solid reasons for being careful with diet.
Oh, sugar, it’s a sneaky little love. “I’ve missed you, yogabonnie, let me remind you how good I am. Just one piece won’t be so bad..... hmm’, good huh? Try me again. Oh, and look at me in this form. I’m even better here. Come on, Darlin’, you know you want me.”
As a recovering sugar addict, I totally understand how that happened. The ‘just one’ has never worked for me. It ALWAYS leads to more. “Hello, my name is Joy and I am a sugar addict.”
Laughed at the picture you posted with your confessional! Sorry to hear that you have a sugar hangover today. Lesson learned.
Thanks so much for your post it’s becoming increasingly hard to say no to all of the holiday goodies and your experience will be a good reminder to me the reason that I broke up with Sugah - he’s demanding of attention
Snap, Insight 329. I, too, cannot stop at 1 of anything sweet! However, after 2 blood tests showed pre-diabetes, and high risk diabetes, I resarched Diabetesuk, wrote everything down, went shopping, for the 'right' foods, and hated it. I have lost 1 STONE in a week. No, I do not stick to it completely. I changed from white bread to wholegrain, and still have1/2 slices at lunch. I gave up the breakfast and supper carbs. Prior to the new'regime', I ate everything that was already open. I opened, and ate the chocolate marzipan I was keeping for Xmas.
Thank you to Insight329 and PMRpro for your encouragement.
My second week's shopping didn't phase me at all. It was very hard to turn down the Xmassy bix after church, today, but I did.
I have been a bit light-headed, but tell myself that will go.
I have had a weight problem my whole life, so GCA and 3 stone heavier, 12 years ago, added to misery, but it's all gone now.
I empathise with all on this thread.
wow congrats to you!! who knew there are also good side effects from all this disease when we change with it!
Thank you yogabonnie. I won't say it's easy. I live alone, and the air was VERY BLUE, at the start!
You are most welcome! (I’m humbled that my experiences could help, but I give credit to this forum because I, too, followed their advice.) Feels so good to have some succcess, doesn’t it? Thrilled for you!!!
Thank you. What I omitted to say was that the breathlessness, which I have had for a few months, has gone. I was going to mention it to GP when I see him on Wed. No need now.I only found this 'goldmine' forum, last year, and wish I had known a lot sooner.
I agree with PMRpro. You will find this hard to believe but nowadays I tend to crave leafy green vegetables! A small square of the best dark chocolate allowed to melt slowly in the mouth is eminently satisfying. Lately a Syrian family has started making chocolates here and those are to die for. I think they put a trace of spice into the formula and the flavour lingers for a while, long after the chocolate is gone, making for an even more satisfying experience.🥗🍒
You are forgiven Yogabonnie, go in peace.🙋
I think total exclusion diets lead to this. I lost 2 stone in 6 weeks on a faddy protein only diet. I cracked in the middle and ate a whole box of Jaffa cakes.
You must have had it bad SheffieldJane to eat a box of Jaffa cakes? Now, those marshmallow cakes with biscuit base and covered in a thin layer of chocolate, I could understand.
PS I went through a phase of starting the day with an unsweetened lemon cordial ( PLJ) or something. It changed my taste buds and made sugar taste sickly. I think it would hurt my stomach now though.
I remember the plj thing. A bit like the cider vinegar stuff now.
Cider vinegar seems to be good stuff, I had to look it up. I think Pred has made my stomach intolerant of acidic things though. But the lemon juice really killed my taste for sweet things, I'd forgotten that.
I did actually take cider vinegar for a while when I have tummy issues and it helped. Like you say. Not sure could tolerate now.
Sweet things I can resist , well nearly always but open A packet of cheddars and I can eat the whole lot and don't get me started on crisps !
Before I was diagnosed with diabetes years ago I was a savoury person from childhood. Then of course when sugar was no no my savoury preference dulled and I wanted sweet. It made me mad as the sweetest thing I ate in days gone by was my mum's date and walnut cake once a year. I have to fight the sugar craving all the time now but it gets easier as blood sugar going back to normal range via insulin. Weird.
ohhhh crisps!!! They are more irresistible when called crisps rather than potato chips.!
Yogabonnie, you live in the States, right? See if you can find Beanitos. My favourites are Restaurant Style, Pinto, and original Black, but for those who like weird (to my mind) flavours there's a whole bunch now.
ohhh. I see them online! yes!
Marmite crisps? 😁
I think I have never even tasted marmite. We do not have marmite. But I do swear you have better NAMES for everything. sweeties and crisps and malt teasers jelly babies and chocolate buttons.... all irresistible!
Stop it all things I like, jelly babies I have loved for as long as I can remember. When sugar was rationed during the 1940's my grandma always had a bag of them for me when we visited her even today they seem to be a big treat.
I can relate to that Bonnie..Im having a flare that started right after Thanksgiving. I ate gluten, sugar and other simple carbs and felt really crappy the next day but continued to eat the leftovers, consiously self harming just like an addict. I Don't think it was what caused the flare, but indirectly, I'm sure it contributed. I am now having to fight the sugar addiction again..cravings are back.😫
I know! Thanksgiving is a killer. EVEN though we are Thankful!! . Yesterday I stuck to it. (well, lie. 1 cookie) and just from one day the craving for salt and sugar were right back. Today is that proverbial NEW DAY. I do believe that my osteoarthritis was worse when I was eating so much sugar. But real or not...with regards to PMR the placebo effect is so powerful with me if I think sugar makes me ache you can bet it does. (I'm one of the ones in a study you would find that even KNOWING it's a placebo...it works!!..sometimes not a bad thing!!)
Why do we all have the need to confess falling off the sugar wagon? Goodie two shoes the lot of us...good girls and boys! Truth be told, I eat one square Ghirardelli 72% every night! Did gain 2 pounds since Thanksgiving and had a flare. Went up 2mg Pred (16) . Better learn to button it!
I think it is more the realisation of how much better we felt without sugar...
You are def right. What are your thoughts on cereal? I am always hungry. Protein, vegetables, some fruit, yogurt don’t fill me up. I seem to need oatmeal with walnuts sometimes twice a day. The comfort aspect of it calms my hyper self down. I know meditation and yoga would help but I’m too restless and hungry.
Don't eat any - I'm allergic to wheat which rules out a lot and although I can find alternatives quite easily here I don't particularly like it. Love porridge though - but can't be bothered to make it!
I use full fat everything and never feel hungry - I intermittent fast (nearly, don't count the cups of tea in bed) from about 8pm to 1.30pm most days. I used the Michaael Moseley 5:2 diet originally and found that stopped me feeling hungry between meals and it grew from there.
Cereal withdrawal may kill me! You certainly are strict! Is one piece of chocolate nightly too much? I better find a hobby! Thanks
No - I often eat 2. 85% Lindt usually...
I don't see it as strict - I eat what I like to eat and if I want an icrecream or dessert I have one - but they have to be good. Only handmade gelato from a good shop or really good desserts - has to be worth it!
Steel cut oatmeal with cinnamon... fresh cut up pear pieces blueberries and banana slices with a tablespoon of granola sprinkled on top for some crunch. is JUST the ticket. To satisfy cereal. and sweet tooth. for me. sometimes at night instead of morning.
I do the same but every day...often twice a day...def addiction. Anybody know if there’s a cereal anonymous group?
Oprah has a cereal addiction. She could join us.
She probably get cereal with no carbs and no sugar!
Thank you!!!! I needed someone who is sane during all this texting. I wasn't craving anything, now I'm so craving chocolate! It is lunchtime here and I am going to make oatmeal! Thank you
PMRpro when do you take your Pred? I could wait till lunch to eat but I take my Pred in the morning so have to have porridge to take it
Thanks for the inspiration to improve.
Here is my last comment. If THIS is true. (ha. probably needs some more studies but ignore that fact! ) then just ENJOY your Chocolate and treats or if you can get kissed and cuddled while you eat it...even better!
Dr. Chopra tells of a study done in Ohio State University where they were feeding rabbits diets extremely high in cholesterol. To their amazement, there was one group of rabbits that never develop high cholesterol levels. Afterwards they found out that the technician who was feeding this group of rabbits was not just feeding them. The rabbits were actually being stroked and kissed and cuddled before they were fed. And due to this pleasurable, happiness factor, the rabbits produced chemicals in their bodies that actually turned the cholesterol into a completely different metabolic pathway!
Oh Yogabonnie I love your rabbit story. We all just need cuddles. ❤️🐰
I love it too!!! ❤️
That is so cool..I'll have to adopt a kitten ☺
Evidence that cuddling dog releases feel good hormone within 3 mins in both parties. It was an American study a couple of years ago..
I have two dogs. Does this mean I can double the amount of sugar? I am sadly a self confesed sugarholic!
Would be good😂
Got to confess to having a veggie steamed bun with mushroom aubergine etc at wagamamas 2 days ago and I can't stop thinking about the savoury taste and beautiful soft texture and the burst of Japanese mayo. Yum yum.
Having avoided fat for years I ensure I get full fat foods which tend to have less sugar because taste comes from fat.Obviously try and have "good" fats.
I recently read the benefits of eating celery so my afternoon snack instead of sugar is celery with hummus and hot green tea. Satisfying and healthy. Give it a try!
If it cracker recipe....
elephantasticvegan.com/glut...
Start with basic recipe and experiment...i love caraway seeds and chilli....cheese and mustard powder...nigella and onion seeds ....anything you like. If too sticky I put on greaseproof paper (greased) and spread with palette knife..makes it easiuer to handle...keep an eye on it in oven. 10 to 12 mins but often I like them longer for darker colour.
Hummus...always warm chickpeas. Lots of tahini with lemon and sea salt ....😋
These sound wonderful! Thank you for sharing the recipe. I look forward to trying them.
I'm beginning to think we should start a specific recipe thread so it is easy to find...
If you go on diabetes UK website for the price of an email address you can get low carb cook book. Paleo websites usually have low carb recipes.
I have gotten used to noodles and pasta made out of edemame/soya beans. It's more al dente than normal pasta but fills that gap. I have bought online and from Holland and Barrett in uk.
oh my
Talk about fortuitous to read these post
I had horrid flare on 8mg My rheumi asked about diet.
I had been STRICT on carb sugar salt intake , but went crazy after a slip at thanksgiving and never went back..
She thinks its sugar inflammation, waking up pmr
So back to 15 mg to get it under control
When I reach for sugary, carby or salty treat now, I will remember that painful and fatigued day...
Be well Gina
Keep us posted if the sugar restraint works!
Wow, your rheumi is really advanced, galp. Most MDs I've come across never take diet into consideration...
I'm going to tell my rheumi next time I see him that I've had to increase my pred due to a flare caused by sugar inflammation. ..see what he says😂
My regular doc is also a sports medicine guy and is big on the diet things. First thing he said when I started prednisone was to get off the salt. We'll see what the rheumy doc says.
I will, it be telling when get down from this 15 mg bump ... back to eight, and with out the diet crash. which is where it all went down hill...
Day 2 50% better, hoping 15 will be enough...
Oh, I agree, this time of year is brutal, I say the steroids made me do it. I just got home from a Christmas party. I would never eat tarts otherwise. I scooped out the centres, so many temptations! I don't eat gluten free pasta either, except when it's the only option at these functions. Tomorrow is a new day to start over!
I gave up salt and sugar in the 1980's. Salt cravings subsided in months but sugar took years. Now sugary foods repulse me while I find sweet bliss in oh so many simple foods, including salt-free wholemeal bread, cacao nibs, skim milk yohgurt (3% sugars), cranberries and most nuts.
Mind you, I still succumbed to PMR last September.
I don't think the PMR is caused by sugar. But I do think sugar is causes inflammation because I sure ached more in general when I am all sugared up. I do eat fruit though. Very different I think!
Since sugar is implicated in obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, cognitive decline and some cancers, getting all sugared up is unwise in any event.
I thrive mainly on vegetables, fruit, dry beans, nuts and seeds.
The thought that it was a sugar induced flare for me is just one piece of the puzzle, I had also been reducing. So time will tell
And because I had eliminated carbs/ sugar for so long it was a sudden hit to my system when i rapidly started eating these foods.
I dont mean to imply sugar causes PMR, but so many things we ingest can cause inlammatiry responses from what I see in the research I am reading,
For some it may be dairy, others sugar, or just processed things in general
I have to believe my healthy eating habits helped stave off some of the side effects of the pred,so that in itself is worth it.
I will say each time I have to go back up, it seems to hit my patience and emotions harder, but it does help pain. Anyone else notice this?
Be well
G
I
My PMR began with a trauma..hit by car on bike.. bruised ribs sore body..(alive! yea!) then followed 4 days later by 10 hour flight and flu/bug from plane vomitting 24 hours after which feeling sorry for myself I spent the next 4 weeks eating Swedish "goodies" constantly..every day.. candy and ice cream and junk..(which I didn't do so much at home) Everything hurt then flight home and absolutely riddled with pain which turned out to be PMR. I suspect my immune system could handle one, maybe two of those things..but I dumped the sugar on top and it said NO MORE! GOODBYE. So Hello PMR journey.
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