Oh my gosh! Health Update!
I went to see a herbalist who uses western herbalism about a month ago, and she put me on a herbal drink, extra strong vitamins, pro biotics, a superfoods drink and top quality fish oils. She also suggested I cut down on wheat, as she said, that was causing my arthritis flare ups. Well.... Last week my MIL came to visit and bought some sausage rolls and quiche. I thought "It's only a tiny bit of wheat, it won't hurt" BOY WAS I WRONG! The next day I woke up feeling like I had flu. All my joints had ceased up, I was puffed up all over and it was painful to move  It was hard to bend my legs enough to get up and down the stairs and I couldn't grip anything with my fingers. I had to stay in bed all day. My eyes and mouth had dried up, I felt awful! I was especially careful with what I ate, actually I couldn't open any packaging anyway so stuck with fresh foods  When I woke the next day I felt 95% better, by the end of that day I was feeling almost 'normal'. There is no other explanation for what happened.
I spoke to the herbalist about it and she was not in the least bit surprised. She explained that in simple terms, the reaction gluten causes kicks off the immune system which for me means underactive thyroid, sjogren's and rheumatoid arthritis, all of which are auto immune disorders. Needless to say, I am sticking to this diet! Seeing as what I ate affected me so severely I am making a big effort to avoid anything with wheat or gluten, which is much harder than cutting down as they seem to put wheat in everything, even spices to stop them sticking! And gluten pops up everywhere in different guises. I'm having fresh veg, rice, wheat and gluten free pasta, fish and chicken. I'm sick of rice cakes and need to find some good recipes so I don't go crazy and reach for the sugar in a frenzy! Anyway, I feel that I am in control of my own health! I can't believe the difference this has made to my life already. She is still working on other areas for me and says it could be up to a year before my thyroid is sorted, but for one month, I am very impressed! |
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| i'm glad your diet is working for you
i know i said i'd post dome of the recipes from my book but i can't find it we moved house 2 weeks ago and it must still be at the other house (we still have not finished moving everything over) i hope to find it soon but you could go to the libary and borrow some of their i'm sure they would have some. zoe and einy |
| Glad to hear you're feeling better. I'm sure you're relieved to know what's causing your health issues. There are a lot of gluten free recipe Web sites so you could check them to get additional food ideas. |
| We have an very good Italian restaurant with gluten free choices. The owner is gluen intolerant. I'm glad you found help.......and yes, sometimes we have to fail to understand why we must be vigilant. |
Glad the diet is working , as you're in the UK, it might be worth buying Phil Vickery's new book ....it's full of recipes that are Gluten free and he was showing it on Paul O'grady's show last week so it must be fairly newly published 
Julie X |
| Thanks Julie, I will check that out.
Zoe, don't worry about the recipes, you have plenty to think about at the moment!  |
| Oh I'm so glad to hear something you tried is giving you some comfort! What a relief! Glad you decided to seek treatment from her! |
| That's great! I'm always so amazed that something as 'simple' as food can make such a difference in the way a person feels. I hope it keeps getting better... |
| Cassie I know how hard it is to stick with a regime of food! But I am very glad it does help you alot and hopefully in a years time you can start slowly bringing some "old" food in, you used to eat!
While I'm writing this, I am desperate for chocolate, I dont have one at home! I DO understand what you mean and going through! 
Your health is very very important for you and I hope very soon it makes you feel better!! Loads of hugs from us!! 
See you at the Sheepie day!!! xxx PS: Shall I bring anything special to eat?? xxx  |
| Cassie, I have lupus also auto-immune. I have had the disease for 32 years now and I'm at the stage conventional drug therapies are not very effective and have damaged my vision ( Plaquenil ) and caused loss of bone density and 2 recent nasty fractures ( steroid dependent ), not to mention the side effects of the methotrexate which has caused increased liver enzymes. I have had a small stroke as the lupus has affected my CNS. I've had to retire from a job I loved as some days my memory is a problem and being in a crowded, hectic situation makes it worse which is really a bad thing when your a trauma transport nurse.
I plan to research a gluten free diet. The only thing that might be a problem is I love a good burger. It just wounld't be the same without the bun but it would be so worth it because flares are becoming so frequent despite all the drugs. I willing to try a less toxic approach. I will talk with my rheumatologist and get her input. I may not be able to eliminate the drugs at this stage but may be able to decrease my flares with adding a holistic approach as well. Thanks for your post. I'm willing to give it a go. |
| Yikes you are on lots of meds. I'm on Plaquenil too but hope to come off it asap.
I don't know if Rheumatologists have much of an opinion about food- mine certainly didn't and just shrugged at me. I strongly recommend you see a professional Herbalist, they will look at your health as a whole and they know what they are talking about, might put you on various supplements etc. As for burgers- I love them too and am looking into making my own. There is a surprising amount of wheat & gluten free stuff available like bread and flour so you can make your own stuff. I know you may not be well enough to cook at the moment but if you can knock up some simple burgers one day in the future it will really pick you up emotionally. I noticed a huge improvement in mobility within 2 weeks but you need to be fairly strict to get the best results and stick with it! 2 weeks should be enough, then perhaps try something with wheat and see if it affects you. I went for a jog yesterday!!! Only 10 minutes, and I had to stop and walk a few times, but that really is a huge milestone for me. I've not even broken a sweat in 3 years! Let us know how you get on |
| Chauncy's mom. I too love me a burger and while I am not on a gluten free diet, I do watch my carbs and so I eat burgers wrapped in lettuce. Everything is the same, but no bread. I swear by this. You can also make a big salad and then grill a burger w/cheese and cut it into bitesized chunks and put it on top and you will also enjoy that too...
I don't have the same health issues as you or Cassie, but as soon as I gave up a lot of the bread products my joints felt better too. The difference was big! Good luck ladies and I will keep my fingers crossed for you both |
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