RA (Rheumatoid Arthritis) Gluten free diet?
I was diagnosed with RA in my early 20’s. After I had my son (23), I developed psoriasis and that began my trip into the hell of trusting your doctors (which I don’t- but I kind of do). I was and am continuously told that I will be in a wheelchair before I am 50.
Most importantly I am now 35 and I have little or no pain due to the Arthritis. I do suffer from excessive swelling in my ankles. (HUGE- I am talking Cankles!) Steriods bring the swelling down, but that is obviously not a good solution.
The problem is that no matter what I do- I can’t control it, I cannot sit, stand, or walk too much?!#$% There is no definition as to what too much- so that makes it really hard. I am not overweight by any normal standards (maybe a little extra)- my first Rhematologist wanted me at 130- I am 5’7” and that has not been feasible since Jr. High.
My family does have a history of psoriasis, but only myself and 1 cousin have the RA. Her problem is more psoriasis, and she has good results on the meds. The doctors have prescribed me Methotrexate, Enbrel, Nabumetone and ointments. They made me sick, or in some cases (Enbrel) violently ill.
Nothing really works. The next choice is Remicade. I don’t want to go there!!! I can’t see sitting in an office for 3 hours while they infuse me with poison to suppress my immune system is going to be any better than the last treatment. A couple of friends recommended a Gluten free diet. I don’t want to give up my protien, however between the options….
It could work, depending on what is triggering your body’s immune system to freak out. A lot of people develop gluten intolerance and when they continue to eat gluten, they develop other autoimmune diseases. The theory is that celiac triggers the other autoimmune diseases. Another theory is that they just occur together and there’s no causal relationship. I personally believe the first one. There are a lot of people who go gluten free an their other conditions cleared up. There are also a lot of people who don’t respond at all. I went gluten free after years of random health problems and what I believe to be fibromyalgia and they basically all went away. So obviously I’m a huge proponent of going gluten free. I’ve also lost about 40 pounds since going gluten free. About 1 in 10 people have some form of gluten intolerance, so it’s extremely common.
Also, if you’re really ambitious, you could try a raw food diet. It’s more strict, but I started doing raw a few months ago and it was amazing. I feel so good. People swear that all their health problems (including RA and psoriasis) have gone away with the raw food diet. Let me know if you have any questions.
edit: I am neither for nor against the Atkins diet, but I experienced the “miraculous” experience with the Atkins diet as well a few years ago. It turned out later that it was because Atkins is mostly gluten free. If you decide to try Atkins, I suggest trying gluten free first to determine if you’re responding to the diet or the gluten free aspect.
@#@#$#$ – This is terrible!
You don’t give up your protein with a gluten-free diet – you give up breads and stuff.
You know what…. I had ungodly pain a few years ago – I’m a carpenter and I had become increasingly painful as I got older. I took HANDFULS of OTC pain killer – didn’t help. Neproxin might have helped a little. It went on for years, and I’d sort of lost my faith that I’d ever walk straight again.
Then I was overweight – so somebody mentioned the Atkins diet. Well… I started that and in 3 days I could feel I was onto something really important. The pain began to go away right away. The really bad pain my feet took about 3 months. But I went from just ungodly pain to NO pain – from taking bottles of ibuprofen crap to No pills.
That was pretty darned miraculous. When I told this to a doctor I knew, she gave me “That look” where they don’t believe you and they don’t care – but I sure cared. Holy Cow. This doctor had even offered me really dangerous pills for pain once that if you took them you had to get your liver tested to see if they were killing you!!! That’s what doctors deal in – Big Poisons!
Anyway – so I am a total cheerleader for Atkins. You might get a used copy of his book off of Amazon – “New Diet Revolution” What I very probably had was a very low-level wheat gluten allergy – and of course I’d eaten wheat every day of my life for 50 years – and my body said – NO MORE! There’s also a couple other really interesting explanations as to why the Atkins might work this way on pain.
So,…you eat all the protein you want – eggs, meat, fish, chicken, cheese, nuts – and real fats like butter and cream and blue cheese dressing! – and green leafy vegetables. What you don’t eat are carbohydrates – pasta, bread, rice, beans, peas, etc.
You try for 20 grams of carbohydrate/day – that’s about one French fry – but you don’t eat the French fry – you have nice salads instead. There’s quite a list of vegetables in the book you can have.
I sure would hope it could help you! It literally saved my life.
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