So a couple of weeks ago I realized I was reacting to fish. I’ve gotten much more sensitive since the pregnancy, and haven’t been able to keep my symptoms under control. They’re NOTHING like they used to be, but they’re still not fun. I’m pretty arthritic in the morning (I can’t really use my hands for the first couple of hours), and my big toe is really bugging me. Then there’s the fact I’m itchy, weepy, and generally unhappy.
Again, this is nothing like it used to be. But it’s not as good as I was doing before the pregnancy.
A week ago I went back to my original elimination diet. Green vegetables and meat. No fruit, no honey, nothing. It’s been really hard. My sugar cravings have arrived and they’re worse than they were when I cut out cane sugar.
I caved last night after 7 days and had 3 apples. I was feeling better yesterday, my mood finally went up. Today my eyes are puffy and my mood had dipped 3 points (I rate my mood out of 10 everyday). So fruit is out. Looks like I have to stick to my green veggies and meat diet. It sucks. It really sucks. And the cravings suck, and the arthritis sucks and the mood especially sucks. Having an autoimmune disorder is terrible.
But I do believe that I’ll be better in a month, if that’s all I eat. So I’ll updated you guys later and see if I can get my body under control again.
UPDATE: I got it under control. Lion diet style.
I’m sorry to hear of your struggles and at such a frustrating time, especially if you have cravings and they’re for healthy things!
What do you do for breakfasts on such a restrictive diet?
I have a four year old who gets a bit of eczema and a husband with Red Skin Syndrome, I am convinced it’s mostly food related flares, apart from my husband who has had it severely since birth. I know I need to try gluten free but am not ready to take that on just yet. Tomatoes and dairy are keeping me busy for now.
I hope you feel better soon.
I don’t eat breakfast foods at all, ever haha. I eat meat and veggies (I was never a fan of breakfast though so I don’t miss it). I also over cook so that I have left overs all the time. Good for you for cutting out dairy! Thats a hard one. Definitely go for getting rid of gluten though, you’ll see the difference within a month!
I have no dietary advice for you, but I’m 67 years old and certainly have some arthritis. Chi gong has helped me – on all levels, physically, spiritually and emotionally. I tend to be depressive, and it takes me outside of myself by going deeply inside, if that makes any sense. You’re pregnant, lucky you! You have an autoimmune disease, how unfortunate! The Chinese, of course, have many tales about what constitutes good and bad luck…
And thank you so much for taking us with you on your journey.
My mom helped her osteoarthritis quite a bit by cutting out gluten, dairy and sugar. I’d recommend that. For me it’s a lot more than that but for her she seems to keep it under control with those things eliminated. She also does chi gong 🙂
I gave up bread and sweets a couple of weeks ago and it definitely helped the bloat. But oh dairy! I love 10% yoghurt and swiss cheese. Not together, haha, that would be overkill…
But I will try cutting dairy when it gets warmer. Hope today’s an 8-pointer for you 🙂
Don’t feel too bad, pregnancy is hard on the body and mind. Take care of yourself.
Hello
I recently subscribed to your blog. It is excellent. We also have allergies in our family. I jus have one question. Is the food you are consuming all organic? (meat, vegetables, fruit) I wondered if that made a difference. Please let me know. Thanks.
Cate
It is! I should update it to mention this. I eat all organic and try to stick to grass fed beef (as well as antibiotic and hormone free). I do notice a difference with organic foods, particularly sweet potatoes. I seem to tolerate non organic asparagus fine (it’s mostly difference in how easy they are to digest). I don’t think it’s as important as eating the right foods, but I do it anyways just in case!
Here is my story and lots of your story resonates with me and on top of it I am male.Male stereotype suffering with chronic pain/autoimmune, etc are quite interesting. I am supposed to “tough” it out! Believe me at times I REALLY tried hard and not be seen as “victim”. But some days in the past were really interesting than others!
Here is what I have done to help me out:
– Am from Indian background – so being a vegetarian was cultural/religious, coming to Canada changed it all – went into Fast Food eating binge and made up all the years of being Vegetarian by eating mindlessly with junk food including coffee/pop, etc! Until, I learned that there are 50 shades vegetarianism in Canada! Confusing as hell!
After 15 years of “western food”, and suffering from idiopathic disorders like fibromylgia, I decided to return to my food roots and started following Yoga/Ayurveda/Meditation regimen with the help of trained doctors/practitioners. The problem with the above disciplines is that there are lot of quacks in the western world and even for me as an Indian was tough finding qualified practitioners!
Long story short – it has made tremendous turn around to my health – mental and physical. I have “fired” all the following specialists who I was seeing for last ten years – Fibromylgia, Cardiac, GI specialist, Psychiatrist etc. Now, All my blood markers are normal, Once in while I eat junk food and can tolerate it.
Even doctors are amazed, but skeptical, when I tell them I have stopped taking allopathic medicines.However, doctors of Indian descent have seen these results but admitted to me privately, that they cannot recommend the above treatment to their patients but they will recommend it to their family! As they are not peer reviewed/board approved, etc.
I guess, human body is still a mystery. I guess as hippocrates said, “Food is your poison and your elixir!”
Good luck to all who suffer from idiopathic illnesses! When doctor uses that terms – it means he hasn’t got a clue what is wrong with you and you are on your own!
For me, even if it is a placebo effect, I would take it than suffer all the side effects of prescription medicines!
I realllyyy doubt it’s a placebo effect. But I’m sure you get told that anyways. That’s so great you were able to fix yourself! Western food isn’t good for anybody.
Three females in our family have been disposed with AI. My oldest daughter with CJ polyarthritis Rh negative at age 3, my youngest with Mixed Connective Tissue disorder diagnosed at age 11 and myself diagnosed with lupus at 47 and revised to Rhupus at 63 when X-rays showed joint destruction in the feet, hands and wrists.
My oldest with CJA was diagnosed with depression as a teenager is also a gifted dyslexic (now a doctor with a 6 year old son). I too am dyslexic. Our family AI phenomenon seem to point to underlying susceptibility (genetic predisposition) and triggers, like foods, hormones, vaccines, infections, and so on.
The problem with this theory (the commonly accepted one) is that it suggests that this susceptibility can NEVER be irradiated. My very worst flareup hit me 1 week after recovering from mastitis (infection of the breast). I was breast feeding my 4 week old baby. My hands were so stiff that I could not pick up my cuddly tiny baby and my oldest daughter aged 5 could not climb the stairs. For a few weeks before my stiffness subsided life in our household was surreal…
And sometime pretty funny. Like many teenagers my daughter decided that self medication (injecting MTX) was unnecessary. A couple of weeks later she could to move. ‘Mum I am going to walk in front of a bus’..’but you can’t even stand up’.. ‘OK then I am going to slit my wrists’ …’but you can’t even grip a knife’… the laughter hurt her jaw!
Mikhaila…good luck with everything and hats off to you for taking the bull by the horns..there ought to be more alternatives offered to CJRA parents but I believe children’s rheumatologists genuinely believe that its their responsibility to keep our children mobile and they act with urgency and unambiguity.
I agree. My rheumatologists got me moving with injected Methotrexate and Enbrel. I was in a wheel chair in grade 2, and walking by that summer from those medications plus cortisol injections. They took about a month to work. Which is how long the diet took. The only difference, the medications didn’t fix the underlying problem (like you pointed out). I ended up with a hip and ankle replacement at 17. I’m never not in pain because of the ankle replacement. No matter what I do it’ll be there. There isn’t a way to fix the underlying problem exactly. I don’t believe that one day I’ll be able to go back to eating what I used to eat. I’ll always be restricted in my diet. But the underlying problem will be gone enough that my body doesn’t get sick. It’ll just come back if I choose to eat differently. I also totally understand when life gets so painful it gets funny. Sometimes too many bad things happen at the same time and you can’t help but laugh, (or go crazy). Good luck with everything. My hands and big toe have been stiff with this pregnancy. Even with my diet I can’t seem to get it completely under control. We’ll see what happens when my immune system calms down a bit after I give birth (and probably after breast feeding)
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