Strange question coming your way! I'm sure I read somewhere that if you are taking steroids you shouldn't eat liquorice. I'm eyeing up a bag of Allsorts that my grandaughter gave me yesterday - having deprived myself for my two years PMR journey I'm wondering whether there is any good reason to do so. I'm currently on 4mg Prednisalone daily. Or should open the chocolate instead, mmm... 😉
To eat or not to eat ..: Strange question coming... - PMRGCAuk
To eat or not to eat ..
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V1a4
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It's best avoided. Sorry😥
It can affect both the amount of medication in your system as the drug and liquorice ( itself a drug of sorts ) interact in processing.
They both have the same side effects in the system on increasing your chances of salt retention and have an effect on blood pressure among other things.
Looks like it's choccy for you xxx
Thanks - having read the ingredients list I see they contain wheat flour and as I am Coeliac, liquorice allsorts are definitely out! Choccy here I come - just a little of course!!xxx
Jelly Babies they are wheat free. But sugar loaded 🤯😤
I have been enjoying peppermint and liquorice tea - I suppose I should avoid it?
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I want to know if it will work as a steroid sparer!! It increases the amount of pred in the blood - you will get increased effect from the pred. That might be bad in terms of adverse effects but good in terms of the desirable ones!
And it also depends whether they are "real" licorice or have they got aniseed flavouring instead?
"Despite the liquorice allsorts name and the fact that many of the candies have black sections, some brands of allsorts don't contain liquorice. They may contain anise (or aniseed), though. This is a natural substance with a flavour that resembles that of liquorice"
Can you be restrained? Just one??????
Thanks for the advice - I was worried about the liquorice, but as I've discovered they contain wheatflour and I'm Coeliac I won't even open the packet - boo hoo!! Choccy for me 😊
Those blanket "Contains ..." things really annoy me: like a burger and bun obviously has wheat in it, but does the burger??????????????
Yes you have to be so careful don't you , although they have wheat flour in the stripey bits as well , there are so many products that shouldn't have wheat like Rice Krispies or plain crisps or oats that can have anticaking that contain wheat.
Packet reading becomes a full time job with food intolerances.
You can say that again!!
“Packet reading becomes a full time job with food intolerances.” 😂 Ha ha! I’ve got double trouble with that ... I’m also on the very low Saturated fat OMS diet to control my primary progressive MS, (in general terms it’s a bit like vegan but with egg whites, fish and seafood included , so I’ve been ‘packet reading’ for over 7 years now - what REALLY bugs me is the way food is labelled ‘heathy’ but then the ingredients show palm oil😱 which is just the absolute worse on so many health as well as environmental levels, coconut oil which has surprisingly high saturated fat levels, despite being touted as very healthy (which I’m sure it is in many other respects, apart from the saturated fats) and a host of other nasties ... AND ... things like Quorn etc change their recipes all the time - so I have to read EVERY label EVERY time I shop 🤦♀️. Sorry 🙏 rant over .... breathe... 😊.
Hi....I am a label reader too, with MS also. Is there a separate thread on here for PWMS and PMR? Does the OMS diet suggest gluten free. I though Dr. Jelinik could not find the evidence for that.
Hi there, nice to meet you 😃,
No, I'm not aware of a separate thread on here for PWMS & PMR... ha ha, I thought I would be the only one lol 😜... i wonder how many more there are? I've been told by my GPs and the rheumatologist that there's no connection between having MS and PMR🤔...
and no, you're absolutely right, OMS/Prof Jelinek doesn't suggest going gluten free (unless you have an intolerance obviously). I don't have a problem with gluten personally although I have several friends in the OMS circle who do ... and that really makes it even more complicated for them) but the label reading that really gets me is the ubiquitous processed oils in so many things ... and most of them No Nos for us ☹️
And extremely annoying when you need specs to read them properly!
One of the major advantages of being very short-sighted and wearing glasses rather than contacts!!!!
When my daughter was young she was somewhat sensitive to wheat so we avoided it where we could. One breakfast cereal we all liked and there was no wheat listed on the label. Eventually she outgrew the problem. But one day a few years ago she remarked to me that this cereal contained wheat and why had I fed it to her when she was younger? I said I had always read labels very carefully. They must in the intervening years changed the recipe and added wheat. Sometimes foods that are perfectly good for people with sensitivities suddenly aren't because the manufacturers do something like this and although they love to tell us things are gluten free, when they add wheat to a product that previously didn't have it they don't bother to warn us.
There was such a fuss here a few years ago when a company said it would no longer make its Halloween treats in a peanut free facility they actually backed down and cancelled those plans.
Yes , I have Coeliac friends , and ones with severe wheat intolerance reactions in their Ecsema , who have been caught in this trap so often.
It is often the added things like anti caking agents , or things to improve the lifetime of a product that contain the wheat rather than the main food stuff itself.
It increased with changes in rules about artificial flavourings and preservatives , getting rid of the artificial the natural choices often include a quantity of wheat as a carrier.
It's ridiculous that you should need to check something which in reality should be 100% rice or oats , because of inclusions , that strictly speaking aren't necessary in the foodstuff itself.
Rather liquorice than mtx ect. It might be worth putting to a rheumy.
Steroid sparer concept grabbed my attention. Not heard of this before. I used to love those twigs you got in real chemists that you chewed on all day. Totally inedible and indigestible bit like chewing tobacco. Not that I have?
• in reply toEstellemac
Liquorice root. They still sell it in places here. But that's the exact bit we shouldn't have. I did like chomping on them and years and years ago used them to stop smoking before nicotine patches etc.
Trouble is it isn't measured/controlled intake - and you never know if it is licorice proper or aniseed!
I think licorice helped me over the untreated decades on and off..when I remembered, and when I could it. I recall I used to eat a lot of it! I Maybe worth a trial though if one ever gets off pred and has some niggles? There was some imported dutch black cats which ha licorice and a bit of salt( other dutch lollies were heavier into salt and I couldn't cope with those), as well as some Australian licorice..which I think reduced the amount of real licorice in them over time. Edited: I read the rest of this post... maybe not a great idea! as you say below "enhances the steroids".. hmmm. I've no idea if it may have contributed to worsening of undiagnosed PMR or not now...ah well
It interferes with the excretion I think - so raises the blood level. So is it any different than any other steroid-sparer I ask? But I suppose when eating it, it is impossible to take a standardised amount.
re standardized amount..yes they stuffed up for me milk thistle by extracting and standardizing instead of just leaving me get the caps and eat them unstandardized(still was processed into powder and then caps but that is all). I think the unprocessed products (whole foods) contain things that are left out when only an extract is used and it is synergistically better with the whole food.... but they had to go and standardize it so it;s effectiveness reduced more than ten fold for me (or felt like it).
Re licorice, your body tells you when to lay off., ie you've had enough..or when you desperately need it (like you start craving it).. like sunshine and vitD I reckon as well.. though ,maybe it is like sugar and perhaps salt for some? when the more you eat the more your receptors downregulate so the more you want to get the same effect (like most drugs I guess).
The amount when standardized is not what one absorbs anyway (that would vary even within one person as to other foods, exercise, water intake, time of day etc).. your body's calibration takes into account your body's absorption..so is likely closer to need., umm totally my own opinion and I haven't the foggiest idea how one would scientifically prove that!
It makes my blood pressure rise and this is a documented side effect.
I’ve just got steroid induced blood pressure and the sweating so liquorice is defo off the menu.
That should be good for me as my blood pressure is really low then? I wonder if it can help to make the weening off Pred easier? I have the first week now when I am supposed to go to 0 one day!
Do the opposite that I used to do as a kid... I peeled the black liquorice off to eat and left the sugar bits.... Check it is liquorice not anise.
What I found strange was that the instruction to avoid liquorice is only o the leaflet with my 1 mg tablets a d not on the 2.5 or 5 or 20 ???
Liquorice contains a steroid I believe - I am avoiding choc as high fat - but what about a few jelly babies? Yum yum
How about high cocoa chocolate 94% ???
Ugh too bitter for me - I have a sweet tooth
• in reply toDaffodilia
High sugar..... Recommended by some as emergency sugar source for hypoglycaemia but should be okay if you stop at 2!
I recently bought some Gan Cao tincture (Chinese liquorice). I took it daily (rather than 3 times daily) for about four days. OMG did I feel great. I felt just like my old self (Haven't done so for 2 years . No pain, no stiffness, no heartburn - in fact no feeling of being bogged down by PMR. Well, I thought, liquorice for me, drop the steroids (I did reduce to 2 from 3mg. However, after doing a little more research on this wonderful stuff I read about all sorts of side effects, i.e. if taken in excess, it can cause fluid retention and direct some of the fluid the the lungs and brain. Apparently one should use the DGL (deglycyrrhizinated) liquorice for fewer side effects. It also stimulates the adrenals. I must say I did get a bad migraine whilst using. Liquorice has so many wonderful medicinal qualities, it is such a shame it has the wrong type of side effects.
Suffice to say, I am now back on 3mg. As soon as I stopped taking the liquorice I felt my pain and stiffness return.
Amazing, yet the rheumatology guidelines strongly staying away from Chinese herbal medicine. I see that as worth looking into.
• in reply totangocharlie
Mainly because it's unregulated and you may get an unmeasured steroid dose with some herbals and other so called natural drugs that may be problematic I won't use it as a complementary med. I did use TCM a few years ago and it did not help my complaint at that time. Now I like to know the potential side effects and the amount of active ingredients I am shovelling in.... 😲
Wow, thank you for what was a good piece of research on your part!!
Licorice root is listed as an ingredient in several of my herbal teas which I have every day. Thanks for the reminder.
A relative of liquorice, black cohosh, is often touted as a remedy for menopausal symptoms so I'd like to know what else it can do. It's high histamine so I can't touch it. Liquorish s included in teas that help you sleep too
Not to be recommended if you are on certain prescription and OTC medications:
I hated black cohosh. No wonder I felt so bad on it if its high in hstamine! thanks. I was "pressured"? to take it years ago for menopausal symptoms
Since I've give up the liquorice I am now drinking 3 or 4 cups a day of chamomile tea. I have found this helps tremendously for calming and helps with anxiety. It is also good if you have problems with sleeping. Knocks me out. I buy the herb (Chamomile Matricaria recutita) and put the herbs into a strainer which is inside the teapot. Very refreshing with lemon or honey. There are no known side effects. I really think this is helping to alleviate some of my stiffness and anxiety. It is anti-inflammatory.
My DR had once been a pharmasist. He said liquorice also contains a form of liquorice so a no no! Good luck on coming down.
• in reply to
Sorry that does not make sense. Liquorice contains steroids!
I don't think so.
"The active ingredient is glycyrrhizin, also known as glycyrrhizic acid. The effect of licorice in treating asthma derives antiinflammatory effects and the enhancement of endogenous steroids."
It is like using vitamin C to make bread - it makes the yeast work better. Licorice makes both the natural and artificial corticosteroids work better.
Been down this road for 20 years. Just sick to death of the entire food thing. I eat licorice on pred. I witness no difference. True licorice actually will bring blood pressure down. But most is not true licorice. That being said, my goodness, I love me some All-Sorts. Here in the U.S. I once bought some made in Australia. Oh, my, I did not eat just one.
Chocolate, dark chocolate upsets stomach, a bit of milk chocolate now and then okay, but is just hard on stomach. Doctor switched me from black tea to green tea. that seems to have one more to heal tummy than anything else.
I am reminded of an old saying:
Eat when you're hungry
drink when you're dry
if a doctor don't kill ya
you'll live till ya die.
That being said, I now have good doctors, but it was not always so, an in today's medical world one always has to be one's own advocate. It just gets old after a while.
From a Michael Pollan book:
Remember when the most difficult part of eating food was trying to disguise, mash, or feed the vegetables to the dog so you could wait for dessert.
Remember when dessert was just food.
Remember when food was just food and not the enemy.
Michael Pollan, in his book
In Defense of Food;
said it best when he said:
Eat food,
not too much
mostly fruits and vegetables.
Of course if that fruit is a peach buried in a peach crumble, well, that's another story. Hmmm! I have frozen peaches we put up last summer. Sounds like a good plan on this cold winter day.
Enjoy your bit of chocolate. Enjoy a piece of candy. Stop feeling guilty.
Guilt and shame are bad for your immune system. Just enjoy.
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You might all find this interesting:
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...
• in reply toPMRpro
The only problem reading it and this thread is that I have been craving liquorice since it started. I am basing my intention to have some today on the fact its a very irregular consumption once or twice a year.... Maybe 3 times. 😕
You said you were craving a Pontefract cake the last time!
• in reply toPMRpro
Still liquorice. The only Pontefract cakes here are haribo and not veggie. Everytime liquorice mentioned I could eat it, but limit myself and try not to remember it exists. I have info that either asda or morrisons have a veggie version but darent go look.
Wow...who knew....I never knew any of this!!! You folks are amazing..
The only really important thing to know for anyone on warfarin ( apology V1a4, I know this was not your question) is licorice will affect the INR .
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