A little update for those who may be interested.

[Lucinda]

My adventures in pain and medication are about to take a new twist. The various medicines (including low dose chemo) that I have been trying for the past year (for really really bad joint pain) have got me nowhere - well not exactly nowhere - its made my stomach worse and not helped the pain enough in the long run to be worth it.

Sooo...I am returning to the land of food. :)

One thing I HAVE noticed is that certain foods seem to make an immediate impact on my joint pain levels, so I am going to try nature's medicine for a change and see what I can do with anti-inflammatory foods and stop the other meds for a while.

Wish me luck. Will be nice to be able to really eat again. :)

[Tesha]

1. Welcome back...

take it easy, don't rush the process...

stay away from the nightshade family - see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solanaceae
that's where my joint pain comes from.

and savor - every - single - bite!



:pals:

[Lucinda]

2. Thank you!

And thanks for letting me know that you have trouble with the nightshade family.
Another piece of info from someone with practical experience is really valuable.

I don't eat tomatoes often anymore - it's usually just a slice or so with something, but I will keep and eye on it. Luckily, I gave up white potatoes a while back, so no worries there. I really prefer sweet potato, and they do everything that I used to use white potatoes for, so I am one ahead of the game!

[Denninmi]

3. IIRC, you have RA, right?

The same affliction that various members of my family have.

I'm sorry to hear that the methotrexate didn't help, I believe that was what you were trying.

Here, because Michigan is the sour cherry capital in terms of production, there has been a fair amount of research into the anti-inflammatory effect of cherries. It seems promising, but you have to consume quite a bit of it -- they recommend a quart of cherry juice a day. It's expensive, unfortunately.

[Lucinda]

8. Well not RA exactly. We don't really have a definitive diagnosis

There is definitely some arthritic like damage going on, but we haven't found the real problem yet. I've been adding a few tart cherries into my juice mix, and found a cherry concentrate that's supposed to be good. Not too expensive and has good reviews, but I am sticking to fresh stuff at the moment.

[housewolf]

4. I don't know whether this is revelant or not to you in any way, but

I've just come across some info on an allergy treatment that sounds interesting to me, and it occurred to me, without knowing much at all about your medical history or condition, that it may be of some interest/benefit to you since the standard medical treatments don't seem to be helping. I don't know if you're open to or interested in alternative methodologies either (and there are LOTS of them!), but I thought I'd go ahead and drop this into your "information box". It's called NAET -

From Wikipedia: Nambudripad Allergy Elimination Technique (NAET) is a non-invasive, drug free, alternative therapy intended as a treatment for allergies and chemical sensitivities. Founded in 1983 by Devi Nambudripad, a California based acupuncturist, NAET draws on ideas from acupuncture, applied kinesiology, and allergy medicine. NAET is practised by over 9000 licensed medical practitioners all over the world.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nambudripad_Allergy_Elimination_Technique

http://www.naet.com/
ALLERGIES AS A CAUSE OF YOUR ILLNESS

We now know that most illnesses (i.e.headaches, back aches, joint pains, addiction, PMS, indigestion, cough, body aches, etc.) are caused by undiagnosed allergies. When left untreated, allergies can become serious life threatening illnesses. Please read "Say Goodbye To Illness" by Devi S. Nambudripad, M.D. (WI), D.C., L.Ac., Ph.D. (acu) to find the cause of your illnesses.

The brain provides warnings to the body whenever blockages occur within the energy pathways. These warnings include illness, pain, inflammation, fever, heart attacks, strokes, abnormal growths, tumors, and various physical, physiological and psychological discomforts. If the symptoms are minor, blockages are minor. If the symptoms are major, blockages are major. Minor blockages can be unblocked easily, whereas major blockages take a long time to unblock.

Dr. Nambudripad's discovery, NAET®, is an innovative and completely natural method for regaining better health with often permanent freedom from allergies and the diseases arising from those allergens.

------------------------------

Google NAET, as with all alternative treatments there is some positive info and also some calling it a scam, so you can evaluate.

[Lucinda]

9. Thanks soo much!

I am really tired tonight, but will bookmark this and read about it tomorrow. I'm looking at anything that might give me answers. This has been going on for over a year now, and I'm really over it! :)

I have had both food and non food allergies for a long time now. It got better after my gallbladder was removed, but I am still tweaky about some foods and environmental allergens.

[trud]

5. Good luck.

Let us know what you find out, thanks.

Are you able to see a pain shrink?

[Lucinda]

10. Thanks! Pain Shrink?

Not familiar with the term. :)

[trud]

13. pain shrink

A psychologist or psychiatrist who is particularly knowledgeable about pain situations. I saw one briefly and came away with advice like be sure to get enough sleep, which makes a noticeable difference when I am able to do it. I am trying to develop the self-discipline to go back to bed when I wake up in the middle of the night instead of, ah, powering up my laptop, like, say, what I'm doing now :-)

[Lucinda]

16. Ahh I see. :)

No I haven't.

I really think this is rooted in damage to my physical body from before. The last time I was in the hospital - it's been a couple of years now, I was in for a month and a half and spent 9 days of that knocked out with a vac-pack thingy on my abdomen so they didn't have to keep opening me back up for surgeries. I went into that procedure at 130 pounds, and woke up nine days later so large from fluid retention that I could barely move - plus a huge abdominal incision that took months to fully heal. I think all that, and the quick process that drained the fluid back off, just really did a lot of damage to my body. I've sort of been putting out fires health wise ever since that hospital stay.

Not to say it might not help, but I think this is the result of health issues piling up from a decade of serious problems.

[Lucinda]

17. Came back to say something since I was too late to edit

I have been trying meditation techniques too...another form mind over owie technique.
And I agree - good sleep makes a HUGE difference. I was doing sooo well, and then the past few nights have been rocky. I can tell the difference.

[beac]

6. Best of luck and welcome back to foodland!

:)

[Lucinda]

11. Thank you!

:hi:

[The empressof all]

7. I'll be watching to see how it goes with you

I've been experimenting with food in managing my joint pain for a few years. Honestly I haven't found any consistent answers. Sometimes the nightshades bother me sometimes they don't. It may be an issue of quantity and combos but I haven't kept a food diary so don't know for sure. I have trouble with some wheat but can manage small amounts without a major flare up.

Here's what I'm doing now which is keeping escalating pain away. I eat pretty much no animal products. I'm not 100% pure...I'll eat fish maybe once a month if we go out to eat. I eat no artificial anything. I use sugar in small quantities and if I need sweet I try to use agave or stevia. I do whole food juicing for one meal a day. Usually for me that's a Spinach, apple, ginger and lemon smoothy in the Vitamix. I'll also make Banana "ice cream" almost every night. (A frozen banana, a few almonds, some agave and a splash of almond milk in the blender) I eat a lot of brown rice, beans and greens that I spice with cumin, ginger, turmeric and hot peppers. I have oatmeal most every morning. I sometimes go on sweet potato binges... I also eat at least one or two servings of fruit a day on top of the daily banana. Right now it's cherries which are very good for arthritis. I really don't miss having a great deal of variety. It's easier just to keep it simple.

I get sick and tired of living with chronic pain and try to avoid the pills as much as possible...They just make me cranky and honestly they really don't take the pain away that much.

Keep us posted on how it's going for you...I'm still looking for that holy grail with the diet for me...

[Lucinda]

12. I was in the middle of a nice long post to you when my browser crashed

So I'll be less verbose and hit the highlights:

- I am doing a lot of the same things you are!
- I find I feel better when I eat protein, but am moving away from animal sources and looking at alternatives. I actually crave fish lately.
- I had read that dairy is a trigger for a lot of people. I use some butter, but not much otherwise. And I usually use coconut oil and oilve as my fats of choice.
- I am juicing one meal a day - and its giving me a lot of energy. I use a base of ginger, apple, carrot, cucumber and tart cherry and then add other greens to change it up. Mostly spinach or kale so far. I love raw kale, who knew? LOL
- I have started adding a small amount of apple cider vinegar to my water for part of the day, and will use lemon juice and water if my stomach is irritated. I think the vinegar is helping with the pain, but it's still a little early.

I cant remember what else I typed the first time so I'll stop for now. :)

I hope we both find solutions. Pain meds are not fun!

[trud]

14. where is the pain?

Is it your joints that hurt? Your stomach? Both? Elsewhere?

[Lucinda]

15. Joint pain is mostly hips and knees - though I sometimes feel it elsewhere

The stomach problems are from medicine reactions, as far as I know...

[eleny]

18. Do you know about nightshade veggies affecting inflammation?

I was talking to my chiro about inflammation and she mentioned that avoiding the nightshades can be helpful. She listed tomatoes, potatoes, peppers and eggplant.

[Warpy]

19. Stopping all the meds is not a good idea

but dietary experimentation added to them can yield some surprising results.

Stopping your meds leaves you open to a lot of damage.