Heya - I looked around a bit, but there are tons of discussions to go through. Is there a string already going about what foods worsen and/or help fibro? I’ve been reading up on that tonight and it sounds like I have to avoid…well, everything. Water seems ok. lol Would like to know more and what you all have found. Thanks!
My fibro pain was mostly Gluten. The best way to test if food is part of what bugs you is to only eat things that you know are safe. I went on chicken rice and apple sauce for a week then added one food at a time. I found what bugs me and now stay away from gluten, soy, and gar gum. After I healed for a year and a half I found that I can now have gar gum in small amounts.
My god :O I never even knew that food could effect fibro!!??? I have very bad IBS anyway and everything bugs me really in one way or another I just live on immodium and bare and grin it. IBS seems like a piece of cake with a cherry on top compaired to fibro , didnt know that food could help/worsen fibo also . You do learn something new everyday lol :) I will be having a look into this , should be interesting .
Oh man....nothing but chicken, rice and applesauce for a whole week? That sounds awful. :( But still, it is a good suggestions to do eliminations for food. Sounds like a pain in the arse, though. I have done a dairy elimination, so that seems safe. I think I failed when I tried to do the gluten elimination, but I tried. lol That's where all the good stuff is. j/k hehe
One more mile said:
My fibro pain was mostly Gluten. The best way to test if food is part of what bugs you is to only eat things that you know are safe. I went on chicken rice and apple sauce for a week then added one food at a time. I found what bugs me and now stay away from gluten, soy, and gar gum. After I healed for a year and a half I found that I can now have gar gum in small amounts.
I just now found this thread/conversation and had been wondering the same thing about foods affecting FM flare-ups. I crave sweets (evenings only) and of course 'cave' into it..now I'm wondering if THIS is causing me problems..(more than usual that is.) I have the IBS thing too and finally realized it's much worse if I eat anything even slightly greasy..like fried foods of any kind. Thus went my love of Chinese food.....bummer!!
Oops I think we are all guilty of this discussion, but I had a very BAD few days last week and after seeing the Dr. I came home and googled what you should and shouldn't eat when you have FM. Sugar, gkutin and soy are the worse for you. Than I had seen a Tv add for the show Doctors, How to flatten belly in 7 days. Well I am one of those whoe gain tons from my meds so of course I wanted to watch this lol I forgot. Googled it and one lady said not much time or info on show but she gave lots of info so you may want to google that. It was very helpful.
Ps..I lost 6 pounds by giving a few things up and only having 1 cup of coffee a day.
Here is the artical I was referring to, it is a bit long but I sure hope its helpful.
I watched this episode to hear any new info – but found it to be sadly lacking in USEFUL CONTENT. When you remove the commercials, the lead-ins, the hype, the repetitive re-introductions of coming segments, and the cutesy fluff chit-chat among the doctors, there is only about 5 minutes devoted to actual content on the subject matter. Today’s “cutting edge” suggestions boiled down to “park further and walk” and “do 30 minutes of walking a day.” These are useful tidbits, but they’ve been gone over countless times in the print and television media regarding weight loss for about 35+ years now. They do not represent any up-to-the-minute “how to’s” as implied in the previews for this episode about belly fat. (BTW, the section about a baby’s bellyache should have been part of a different episode, as it was “off topic” but I guess they needed to give Dr. Sears “props.”)
For the sake of all your viewers who were left “hungry” for DATA, here are some things I’ve learned about belly fat riddance that they can ACTUALLY “take home”:
Belly fat and the omentum is about an overburdened liver; therefore, taking Milk Thistle every morning on an empty stomach will go a long way to unburden the liver, allowing it to metabolize belly fat.
Some people feel it really helps to work out a little bit in the morning before putting anything in one’s mouth. The theory is that fat only is burned this way, rather than what you ate for breakfast. You may still need to work out more later in the day, but doing some exercise on an empty stomach in the morning can cause quicker evidence of weight loss and increase motivation.
Almost all prescriptions and OTC products burden the liver. Try to reduce the burden on the liver by re-examining the need for current prescriptions and OTC drugs. Examine the true need for every prescription you are on and discuss with your doctor if it’s ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY that you be taking it, and don’t grab for OTC pain killers willy nilly. Do your homework to see if there is a natural alternative or herb for your symptoms rather than a quick prescription. Consider going to a naturopath to get to “the bottom of” the real causes for symptoms and addressing those instead.
Try going caffeine free. Coffee, tea, colas and chocolate contain caffeine, which is the enemy of a flat tummy. Caffeine raises cortisol, which causes your body to store belly fat. To counteract the high cortisol you may ALREADY have, try magnolia bark extract (can be bought as a single ingredient tincture). Magnolia bark extract is also one of the main ingredients in a product like Relora or Cortislim. If you must have coffee, try Sanka or a similar substitute. Better yet, turn to HERBAL teas (HERBAL TEAS are NOT black tea, white tea, green tea or Earl Grey tea). Yerba Matte, cinnamon/apple, or chamomile are examples of herbal teas.
BTW, most, green tea contains fluoride (UNLESS it’s been purposefully removed — which will be readily mentioned on the package – otherwise, it’s got fluoride in it…). Fluoride will slow just about anyone’s thyroid and can cause hypothyroidism. You may want to also switch to fluoride-free toothpaste.
Do not drink tap water, it contains fluoride (and a lot of other bad stuff). Distilled water (ordered from Sparkletts or Arrowhead) is best, but you’ll need to supplement with good minerals. They will both deliver distilled water in 5 gallon jugs to your home for slightly more cost than the spring water. Mineral Drops is one product available for that; there are others too.
Soy is found in many “health food bars” or “nutrition bars” and snacks today. However, soy has fallen out of favor for people trying to lose weight who don’t want their thyroid to be slowed down by it. But many food companies have warehouses of soy-containing products they need to unload, so the commercials continue about “the benefits of soy.” Certainly, if you are hypothyroid, don’t eat soy. Many obese women over 35 are hypothyroid and have not been officially diagnosed, or their doctor claims their tests results were “within normal ranges,” yet they have all the symptoms of hypothyroidism. Fluoride in city water is one reason; soy in practically everything is another.
Sugar and refined carbs are also the enemy of a flat tummy. If you are “hooked” on sugar and refined carbs, try taking “GTF chromium” for a few weeks to help reduce cravings. After the sugar/refined carb monkey is off your back, avoid re-introducing those items back into your diet, as they will again have an addictive effect on you. [For several years now, “Chromium Picolinate” has been considered less helpful than “GTF Chromium,” according to most naturopathic doctors.] Sugar and refined carbs also tend to create an overgrowth of yeast in the body, which also leads to belly fat. Research all about Candida Overgrowth and look for info on an anti-candida eating plan. Consider taking an anti-candida supplement along with that. Excess yeast in your system can cause something called leaky gut syndrome, which means toxins in your colon are resorbed through the now-permeable walls of your colon back into your bloodstream, which the body sees as a threat, and increases cortisol and therefore belly fat.
Taking a good liquid multi and extra B Complex can help reduce cravings for bad carbs.
Many women over 35 have begun to lose progesterone and estrogen. Try a high quality progesterone topical cream that is a single ingredient (not a bunch of other ingredients that you don’t know what they will do to you), and make sure it’s “U.S.P.” grade. Then throw in some Licorice Root Extract, Peony Root Extract and/or Vitex (aka Chaste Tree Berry) for your “estrogen.” The further you are past 35, the more of both the progesterone and the estrogen replacers you will need. If you get breast pain, reduce the amount of the estrogen replacers and increase the progesterone. If you are under excess stress, increase your progesterone: stress eats up progesterone. You never want your estrogen to be higher than your progesterone, or you will develop Estrogen Dominance, which most overweight women already have and don’t know it. It comes from losing both hormones, but losing the progesterone more markedly than the estrogen: thus even though they may be low on both, they are still Estrogen Dominant. If you have the money, see a naturopath to get NATURAL (not synthetic) bioidentical HRT(i.e., “BHRT”). Just make sure for the estrogen you are not given Estradiol, but rather Estriol.
Some naturopaths like to also prescribe testosterone as part of their BHRT protocol, after testing to see if you are also low on that. If you start taking testosterone and start developing adult acne, you need to reduce testosterone intake. Some women have great difficulty losing weight b/c they have PCOS. They are usually told they have excess testosterone, but it may ALSO be that they simply are extremely LOW on both progesterone and estrogen, making their testosterone SEEM high, causing PCOS symptoms. In that case, they would benefit from increasing progesterone and (good) estrogen replacers (or natural BHRT estrogen, i.e. Estriol), WITHOUT supplementing with testosterone. Over time, they could try supplementing with testosterone slowly, but if adult acne appears, they should back off.
Now imagine you are over 35, losing progesterone markedly, and also losing some estrogen, but you are constantly being exposed to something called “xenoestrogens” which are BAD ESTROGENS. Now you will REALLY be Estrogen Dominant! Google the list of symptoms of Estrogen Dominance and I swear most of you will be looking in a “symptom mirror.”
Fat stores containing so-called “bad estrogens” has a lot to do with breast cancer AND belly fat. THESE ARE DIFFERENT ESTROGENS THAN YOU WOULD GET WITH BIOIDENTICAL HRT OR TAKING LICORICE EXTRACT, PEONY ROOT AND/OR VITEX (CHASTE TREE BERRY). The bad estrogens are also called “xenoestrogens.” They come from microwaving food in plastic trays, drinking hot drinks from Styrofoam cups, many beauty products, being exposed to petroleum-based fumes, pesticides on produce (wash first) and all around our environment. They are sometimes unavoidable. To reduce bad estrogens trapped in your fat stores (where they –OMG — create MORE FAT of all things…), eat cruciferous veggies. Cruciferous veggies target and remove xenoestrogens from fat stores. However, if you are hypothyroid, cruciferous veggies will cancel the effects of your thyroid medications and maybe even go beyond that (especially if eaten RAW). In that case, try a product called DIM and/or Indole-3-Carbinol (some people take BOTH). They will give the benefits of eating cruciferous veggies, WITHOUT the downside of negating hypothyroid medications. Now you can get rid of the bad estrogens, reintroduce needed falling progesterone, reintroduce a little bit of the GOOD estrogens, and thereby balance your hormones. Breast pain indicates too much estrogen (even good estrogen excess will produce breast pain so back off); adult acne indicates too much testosterone.
Another great product for re-balancing hormones is MACA POWDER. The taste can be a turn-off, but mixing it with juice, or milk and a little cocoa powder can help you stomach it.
Stress causes us to use up our minerals in our body. This situation causes our body to “uptake” heavy metals from our environment, such as lead and mercury. Heavy metal toxicity is more rampant that many people realize, and it causes difficulty losing weight and belly fat. That is because the body sees the heavy metal toxicity as an invader and goes into “fight or flight” mode, or high cortisol levels, which has been shown to increase belly fat. There are many heavy metal detox products on the market. Some people believe taking EDTA is the best way to go; others like products that do not contain EDTA. Be sure to remember to use your Mineral Drops during and after a course of heavy metal detoxifying, as these products remove the good minerals along with the heavy metals. Products containing EDTA (I think SourceNaturals has a straight EDTA product) will make you sleepy, but you will awaken with more vibrancy and less belly fat.
Some people, even those who have never been diagnosed with Celiac Disease, are STILL very sensitive to gluten. Consider removing gluten from your diet to see if that helps with belly fat.
I have discovered that the pre-made salads at Fresh & Easy (especially the Harvest Apple Chicken Cranberry Salad) are much fresher, have higher quality ingredients, and are more generous in portion to fast food salads or those at other grocery outlets, AND they are cheaper. I am creating my own “Jenny Craig” at home by buying several such salads at a time for a no brainer food decision. I also pre-soft boil jumbo eggs to grab for quick high quality protein, along with string cheese. High fiber Wassa Crackers are great dipped in homemade salsa. Amy’s Vegetable Soup is gluten-free and very satisfying; I buy it by the CASE with free shipping on Amazon! Navel oranges are a good snack high in Vitamin C with lots of fiber. Trader Joe’s carries some healthy Indian frozen entrees, like Trader Joe’s brand Tikka Masala. Between all these items, I have ready-to-go choices that make sense for me.
BTW, I went on Jenny Craig 3 years ago and GAINED 10 pounds. After Googling my situation, I learned several other people had the same experience because they were also hypothyroid and sensitive to the excessive SOY in most of their entrees. NutriSystem has less soy in their entrees (or they did in 2007), but their food LACKED so much nutrition that my hair started falling out (which sort of goes against their NAME) – plus their food was AWFUL. I wouldn’t waste my money on either of these programs.
However, some fresher, healthier companies are out there now giving them both a run for their money, if you want to spend the money, those are probably not a bad option.
I am doing basically the same thing with my salads, soup, wassa and salza, oranges, string cheese, Indian entrees and soft-boiled eggs.
We were lied to for decades about the dangers of eggs; now they are admitting that eggs are fine and that high cholesterol is REALLY caused by sugar and refined carbs. Although I am not a Stage One Adkins Diet proponent (hormones in beef and dairy along with muscle loss on zero carbs), Dr. Adkins was totally right about eggs being okay and cholesterol problems actually being caused by sugar and refined carbs. POINT: You can’t always believe what mainstream media tells you. In the case of The Doctors, you can’t always go solely on what they cover in any given show – often important content is left unspoken. I find that Dr. Oz is a little more forthcoming and that may be because he is less reliant on advertisers.
I just tried an Elimination diet that is supposed to help you figure out which foods affect you. It's a hard diet to stick to but worth a try if it works. You cut all wheat, corn, dairy, and night shade plants (potatoes, pepper, eggplant, etc) out of your diet for ten days. Then after ten days you reintroduce one category at a time in for one day then go back off for two days and keep a record of how you feel during that time. Personally, it didn't help me but my councelor was the one who told me about it and it has worked for some of her other clients. I did find that wheat made me feel too full so I'll probably still leave that out of my diet. Good luck!
PS. I also lost 10 lbs in 20 days not doing anything other than sticking to the diet and 20 mins of stretching yoga a day. So although it didn't help my pain, I'm greatful for the -10lbs =-)
Can you tell me what you DID eat for those ten days? I can't eat fruit or salad because it irritates my IBS..thus I am wondering what I could possible eat for 10 days to follow this elimination diet...hmm?
I spent two years in bed and was sick and tired of being sick. Medicine was not helping. Doctors were not helping. So staying away from the food was really my only hope of getting better. My life is so much better now. It was hard but I was desperate.
I am right now where you WERE at.....so sick & tired and SO sick of it all. My meds are not helping and my Dr. can't think of anything else to give me. Today is the absolute worst ... can't think straight, eyes are bugging me big time, am in the Fibro fog...and the pain and burning is totally driving me nuts. I don't know WHAT foods to not eat so have been drinking Ensure for the past 3 days and having a yogurt at night instead of giving in to my sweet cravings.
Am desperate as I type this
There's still lots you can eat without having fruit too believe it or not. My cousin has other issues and her diet was more strict than mine and she couldn't have anything with sugar at all including fruit! I have oatmeal almost every morning for breakfast. For filling foods you can have rice, quinoa, oats, and nuts. I also throw flax seeds on a lot of things to add a crunch and it's good for you. They make tons of things with rice that you can try too like rice thins or rice chips or rice pastas. I also usually have stiry fry once a week. A lot of Asian cusine will fit into this diet but keep in mind soy sauce has wheat in it so you have to get the non wheat soy sauce. I forget what it's called but I believe it's something like Tamara maybe. Try googling it =-) They sell the frozen bags of veggies for stir fry in almost every store just make sure it doesn't have corn syrup or wheat in it. The amount of veggies you discover when on this diet also opens up a ton of possibilties for new tastes. You can have most meats and there's tons of seafood options, I like salmon and shrimp the most. I also make sure to drink a minimum of 64 oz of water a day and usually at least 2 cups of green tea. The green tea will really help you detox your body. I'd stay away from the yogurt though, just to try it. I keep my dairy to a very small amount and it seems to help. When I crave something sweet I make jello which you can find sugar free if you need to. If you can stick to the diet just to try it for the month or more you'll be able to form a habit of eating that way and it gets a lot easier! Plus you might find that one of the groups really irritates you and then you know to stay away from it. Let me know if you need more ideas for food. It's a really good idea to at least try the diet and even if it doesn't help the pain a lot, I promise you'll feel lighter and more healthy! You can also try throwing in some yoga stretches to open up your body and muscles to help with the pain, it helps me anyways. Good luck!
I find it gets a lot easier the longer I'm on the diet since I have a better idea of what foods to eat now. But I was desperate when I started it too!
One more mile said:
I spent two years in bed and was sick and tired of being sick. Medicine was not helping. Doctors were not helping. So staying away from the food was really my only hope of getting better. My life is so much better now. It was hard but I was desperate.
Thank you SO much for taking the time to give me these 'food' ideas. I was truly stuck on what I could possibly eat and now after reading your suggestions--I can see several possibilites (except the oatmeal...ugh). I certainly like rice and all kinds of fish & seafood plus veggies. The green tea won't work for me unless I can find some that has NO caffeine in it as caffeine gives me the jitters. I'll check at my local hlth food store for that.
I thank you again profusely.
BTW..I have not seen it mentioned anywhere on this site..but have you heard about people being diagnosed & treated for Fibromyalgia and much much later finding out that what they REALLY have is Lymes disease? A friend sent me a video/email about this and I was amazed to find the symptoms are the same. The problem is getting 'tested' for it..as many Dr.'s don't really know how to do the extensive tests required. Anyway...it's another subject and will leave it alone for now. Maybe (?) someone here in the Fibro group has knowledge or query's of this.
Melissa27 said:
There's still lots you can eat without having fruit too believe it or not. My cousin has other issues and her diet was more strict than mine and she couldn't have anything with sugar at all including fruit! I have oatmeal almost every morning for breakfast. For filling foods you can have rice, quinoa, oats, and nuts. I also throw flax seeds on a lot of things to add a crunch and it's good for you. They make tons of things with rice that you can try too like rice thins or rice chips or rice pastas. I also usually have stiry fry once a week. A lot of Asian cusine will fit into this diet but keep in mind soy sauce has wheat in it so you have to get the non wheat soy sauce. I forget what it's called but I believe it's something like Tamara maybe. Try googling it =-) They sell the frozen bags of veggies for stir fry in almost every store just make sure it doesn't have corn syrup or wheat in it. The amount of veggies you discover when on this diet also opens up a ton of possibilties for new tastes. You can have most meats and there's tons of seafood options, I like salmon and shrimp the most. I also make sure to drink a minimum of 64 oz of water a day and usually at least 2 cups of green tea. The green tea will really help you detox your body. I'd stay away from the yogurt though, just to try it. I keep my dairy to a very small amount and it seems to help. When I crave something sweet I make jello which you can find sugar free if you need to. If you can stick to the diet just to try it for the month or more you'll be able to form a habit of eating that way and it gets a lot easier! Plus you might find that one of the groups really irritates you and then you know to stay away from it. Let me know if you need more ideas for food. It's a really good idea to at least try the diet and even if it doesn't help the pain a lot, I promise you'll feel lighter and more healthy! You can also try throwing in some yoga stretches to open up your body and muscles to help with the pain, it helps me anyways. Good luck!
No problem! I'm always glad if I can help anyone! And my cousin that I mentioned actually has Lymes and was misdiagnosed for a long time because all of the normal lymes tests came up negative at the doctors office. She had to go to a Lymes specialist and take a test that they sent out to CA to be tested and that came back positive and she finally started getting some help. It's kind of crazy.
Geranium said:
Thank you SO much for taking the time to give me these 'food' ideas. I was truly stuck on what I could possibly eat and now after reading your suggestions--I can see several possibilites (except the oatmeal...ugh). I certainly like rice and all kinds of fish & seafood plus veggies. The green tea won't work for me unless I can find some that has NO caffeine in it as caffeine gives me the jitters. I'll check at my local hlth food store for that.
I thank you again profusely.
BTW..I have not seen it mentioned anywhere on this site..but have you heard about people being diagnosed & treated for Fibromyalgia and much much later finding out that what they REALLY have is Lymes disease? A friend sent me a video/email about this and I was amazed to find the symptoms are the same. The problem is getting 'tested' for it..as many Dr.'s don't really know how to do the extensive tests required. Anyway...it's another subject and will leave it alone for now. Maybe (?) someone here in the Fibro group has knowledge or query's of this.
Melissa27 said:There's still lots you can eat without having fruit too believe it or not. My cousin has other issues and her diet was more strict than mine and she couldn't have anything with sugar at all including fruit! I have oatmeal almost every morning for breakfast. For filling foods you can have rice, quinoa, oats, and nuts. I also throw flax seeds on a lot of things to add a crunch and it's good for you. They make tons of things with rice that you can try too like rice thins or rice chips or rice pastas. I also usually have stiry fry once a week. A lot of Asian cusine will fit into this diet but keep in mind soy sauce has wheat in it so you have to get the non wheat soy sauce. I forget what it's called but I believe it's something like Tamara maybe. Try googling it =-) They sell the frozen bags of veggies for stir fry in almost every store just make sure it doesn't have corn syrup or wheat in it. The amount of veggies you discover when on this diet also opens up a ton of possibilties for new tastes. You can have most meats and there's tons of seafood options, I like salmon and shrimp the most. I also make sure to drink a minimum of 64 oz of water a day and usually at least 2 cups of green tea. The green tea will really help you detox your body. I'd stay away from the yogurt though, just to try it. I keep my dairy to a very small amount and it seems to help. When I crave something sweet I make jello which you can find sugar free if you need to. If you can stick to the diet just to try it for the month or more you'll be able to form a habit of eating that way and it gets a lot easier! Plus you might find that one of the groups really irritates you and then you know to stay away from it. Let me know if you need more ideas for food. It's a really good idea to at least try the diet and even if it doesn't help the pain a lot, I promise you'll feel lighter and more healthy! You can also try throwing in some yoga stretches to open up your body and muscles to help with the pain, it helps me anyways. Good luck!
Wow...that really IS crazy. What made her (or Dr.) suspect that she might have Lymes disease? Had she ever been bitten by a deer tick that she could recall? In 2003, I was doing some gardening and began to feel woozy and my thighs felt on fire. Upon taking a look..I noted they (thighs) had 3 distinct dark red spots that were surrounded by a rashy look that was rapidly spreading. Off to the emergency clinic only to be told I must have an allergy to something and was give an antihistamine shot that put me into a 'shock' state. Then..off to the hospital for another shot to combat the first one given. It was a nightmare for apprx 10 days of me feeling VERY ill and I could not bare for anything to touch my legs..hence had to wear mu'umu'us for quite some time. It was after that .. I gradually got these aches/pains that have increased in severity as the years pass. Side note::where I live the Deer wander through my yard on a daily basis.
I mentioned all this to my NEW Dr. a year ago and he totally dismissed the idea of Lymes disease and said there was no proper test for it in Canada that he knew of. Thus:::am stuck with the Fibro diagnosis. But...I do wonder...!
Melissa27 said:
No problem! I'm always glad if I can help anyone! And my cousin that I mentioned actually has Lymes and was misdiagnosed for a long time because all of the normal lymes tests came up negative at the doctors office. She had to go to a Lymes specialist and take a test that they sent out to CA to be tested and that came back positive and she finally started getting some help. It's kind of crazy.
Geranium said:Thank you SO much for taking the time to give me these 'food' ideas. I was truly stuck on what I could possibly eat and now after reading your suggestions--I can see several possibilites (except the oatmeal...ugh). I certainly like rice and all kinds of fish & seafood plus veggies. The green tea won't work for me unless I can find some that has NO caffeine in it as caffeine gives me the jitters. I'll check at my local hlth food store for that.
I thank you again profusely.
BTW..I have not seen it mentioned anywhere on this site..but have you heard about people being diagnosed & treated for Fibromyalgia and much much later finding out that what they REALLY have is Lymes disease? A friend sent me a video/email about this and I was amazed to find the symptoms are the same. The problem is getting 'tested' for it..as many Dr.'s don't really know how to do the extensive tests required. Anyway...it's another subject and will leave it alone for now. Maybe (?) someone here in the Fibro group has knowledge or query's of this.
Melissa27 said:There's still lots you can eat without having fruit too believe it or not. My cousin has other issues and her diet was more strict than mine and she couldn't have anything with sugar at all including fruit! I have oatmeal almost every morning for breakfast. For filling foods you can have rice, quinoa, oats, and nuts. I also throw flax seeds on a lot of things to add a crunch and it's good for you. They make tons of things with rice that you can try too like rice thins or rice chips or rice pastas. I also usually have stiry fry once a week. A lot of Asian cusine will fit into this diet but keep in mind soy sauce has wheat in it so you have to get the non wheat soy sauce. I forget what it's called but I believe it's something like Tamara maybe. Try googling it =-) They sell the frozen bags of veggies for stir fry in almost every store just make sure it doesn't have corn syrup or wheat in it. The amount of veggies you discover when on this diet also opens up a ton of possibilties for new tastes. You can have most meats and there's tons of seafood options, I like salmon and shrimp the most. I also make sure to drink a minimum of 64 oz of water a day and usually at least 2 cups of green tea. The green tea will really help you detox your body. I'd stay away from the yogurt though, just to try it. I keep my dairy to a very small amount and it seems to help. When I crave something sweet I make jello which you can find sugar free if you need to. If you can stick to the diet just to try it for the month or more you'll be able to form a habit of eating that way and it gets a lot easier! Plus you might find that one of the groups really irritates you and then you know to stay away from it. Let me know if you need more ideas for food. It's a really good idea to at least try the diet and even if it doesn't help the pain a lot, I promise you'll feel lighter and more healthy! You can also try throwing in some yoga stretches to open up your body and muscles to help with the pain, it helps me anyways. Good luck!
She lives in Pennsylvania on a farm where she resuces animals, sheep, goats, horses, etc. So she's outdoors in a wooded area quite a bit. She just looked up the symptoms and figured that is what she had. Maybe you could look up Lyme Specialists and send them an email or give them a call and see if there's somewhere you could go to get tested? I know the regular tests don't always catch it. I know it can be frustrating.
Geranium said:
Wow...that really IS crazy. What made her (or Dr.) suspect that she might have Lymes disease? Had she ever been bitten by a deer tick that she could recall? In 2003, I was doing some gardening and began to feel woozy and my thighs felt on fire. Upon taking a look..I noted they (thighs) had 3 distinct dark red spots that were surrounded by a rashy look that was rapidly spreading. Off to the emergency clinic only to be told I must have an allergy to something and was give an antihistamine shot that put me into a 'shock' state. Then..off to the hospital for another shot to combat the first one given. It was a nightmare for apprx 10 days of me feeling VERY ill and I could not bare for anything to touch my legs..hence had to wear mu'umu'us for quite some time. It was after that .. I gradually got these aches/pains that have increased in severity as the years pass. Side note::where I live the Deer wander through my yard on a daily basis.
I mentioned all this to my NEW Dr. a year ago and he totally dismissed the idea of Lymes disease and said there was no proper test for it in Canada that he knew of. Thus:::am stuck with the Fibro diagnosis. But...I do wonder...!
Melissa27 said:No problem! I'm always glad if I can help anyone! And my cousin that I mentioned actually has Lymes and was misdiagnosed for a long time because all of the normal lymes tests came up negative at the doctors office. She had to go to a Lymes specialist and take a test that they sent out to CA to be tested and that came back positive and she finally started getting some help. It's kind of crazy.
Geranium said:Thank you SO much for taking the time to give me these 'food' ideas. I was truly stuck on what I could possibly eat and now after reading your suggestions--I can see several possibilites (except the oatmeal...ugh). I certainly like rice and all kinds of fish & seafood plus veggies. The green tea won't work for me unless I can find some that has NO caffeine in it as caffeine gives me the jitters. I'll check at my local hlth food store for that.
I thank you again profusely.
BTW..I have not seen it mentioned anywhere on this site..but have you heard about people being diagnosed & treated for Fibromyalgia and much much later finding out that what they REALLY have is Lymes disease? A friend sent me a video/email about this and I was amazed to find the symptoms are the same. The problem is getting 'tested' for it..as many Dr.'s don't really know how to do the extensive tests required. Anyway...it's another subject and will leave it alone for now. Maybe (?) someone here in the Fibro group has knowledge or query's of this.
Melissa27 said:There's still lots you can eat without having fruit too believe it or not. My cousin has other issues and her diet was more strict than mine and she couldn't have anything with sugar at all including fruit! I have oatmeal almost every morning for breakfast. For filling foods you can have rice, quinoa, oats, and nuts. I also throw flax seeds on a lot of things to add a crunch and it's good for you. They make tons of things with rice that you can try too like rice thins or rice chips or rice pastas. I also usually have stiry fry once a week. A lot of Asian cusine will fit into this diet but keep in mind soy sauce has wheat in it so you have to get the non wheat soy sauce. I forget what it's called but I believe it's something like Tamara maybe. Try googling it =-) They sell the frozen bags of veggies for stir fry in almost every store just make sure it doesn't have corn syrup or wheat in it. The amount of veggies you discover when on this diet also opens up a ton of possibilties for new tastes. You can have most meats and there's tons of seafood options, I like salmon and shrimp the most. I also make sure to drink a minimum of 64 oz of water a day and usually at least 2 cups of green tea. The green tea will really help you detox your body. I'd stay away from the yogurt though, just to try it. I keep my dairy to a very small amount and it seems to help. When I crave something sweet I make jello which you can find sugar free if you need to. If you can stick to the diet just to try it for the month or more you'll be able to form a habit of eating that way and it gets a lot easier! Plus you might find that one of the groups really irritates you and then you know to stay away from it. Let me know if you need more ideas for food. It's a really good idea to at least try the diet and even if it doesn't help the pain a lot, I promise you'll feel lighter and more healthy! You can also try throwing in some yoga stretches to open up your body and muscles to help with the pain, it helps me anyways. Good luck!
firstly hi to all, new on here. after reading all the above it kind of explains something to me. i am also Gluten intolerant and whenever I have had something with gluten in (accidently) my FM symptoms flare up really bad. I thought it was because I was feeling low because I wasnt feeling well but it now seems the gluten makes it worse. Another good reason to avoid it.
I would also like to add that after I did the elimination diet (that I described earlier) I have discovered that either wheat or dariy is a problem for me. Not necessarily for pain but for just general crappy feelings. Part of that elimination diet is when you find a food you react to is to aviod it for 2-3 months and see what happens. So I'm ging to try that. As a side note, I also got information recently saying that dairy and wheat can really effect muscle inflamation and that you're supposed to try cutting out both and adding a probiotic to your diet for a few months and seeing how you feel. That's what I'm trying now....I'm so sick of trying all these things but anything to help right?!?! =)
I have found that Pysillium Seed Husk will take care of the IBS. Found in GNC stores.
k124 said:
My god :O I never even knew that food could effect fibro!!??? I have very bad IBS anyway and everything bugs me really in one way or another I just live on immodium and bare and grin it. IBS seems like a piece of cake with a cherry on top compaired to fibro , didnt know that food could help/worsen fibo also . You do learn something new everyday lol :) I will be having a look into this , should be interesting .