Discussion Board

Thanks, Michelle! Just seems I'm managing better overall! I still deal with general stiffness and aches which are easily aggravated simply because I have a bad back, but really, I don't think I've had a true polymyalgia flare up in at least 6 weeks...maybe more...? Seems I have mostly very good days lately as long as I'm careful not to jar my back. But the severe deep muscle pain in shoulders and hips, which has always been my main polymyalgia complaint, really truly seems to be gone.

I need to get around to read everyone's journals! I hope you are doing ok and the bp is giving you a break!

B

good to hear you're doing better

Wow it's been over a month since I last posted. I've been swamped at work and exhausted in the evenings so just haven't had much time to be online. Haven't had any PMR flares so I am thrilled!
My lower back and hips are getting stronger from being on my feet so much at work but I do tend to get very fatigued and achy by the time the weekend comes around. I asked my dr for a refill on my pain meds because without them lately I have to spend most of the weekend in bed to recover enough to get through the next week but he said no. (His ego may still be bruised from my last appt when I told him I had whipped the PMR with diet ) Ughhh, if only I could trade this crooked back in for a newer model.

Alright, gonna be truthful here, I have fallen wayyyyy of the diet wagon and I'm sure that has contributed to my lower energy levels. I HAVE to get back on track. Good news is that it hasn't sent me into a PMR flare, but my face is very puffy from that box (or two) of ice cream (blame the hormones )

I also have not been going to yoga nor have I been doing my stretches at home. So I've been behaving badly on all fronts. Somebody please whip me back in line!! Only positive thing is that my weight is staying steady at 124 to 126.

Well, that's where I'm at! Hope everyone is behaving better than I have been!
Blue

Hey Blue - slips happen to all of us! Especially when things start to feel better, that is when it gets really easy to justify having a treat.

You will be fine, just get back up on the wagon, and you are wiser for the experience.

And after a little while back on, you'll feel so much better.

Hi Nicole! thanks for dropping by How are you?

Well I hit the grocery this evening and I am all stocked up. Didn't buy anything off plan so let's see how I do. I'm keeping it simple this week--green smoothie and oatmeal for breakfast, potato/veggie for lunch, and rice/veggie for dinner. Bought some dates, cherries, and campari tomatoes for snacks. Might make some carrot soup (great recipe from the old Moosewood Cookbook).

Falling off the wagon as bad as I did is depressing. Besides feeling incredibly guilty about it, all the bad foods I ate were barely even enjoyable! It's crazy how one bad meal leads to another, one junk food craving leads to another. Vicious cycle! And none of it ever tasting as good as it did in my mind

But I'm ready to get back on track....will give an update at the end of the week.
B

I have some great news! A woman contacted me a few months ago thru the PMR forum that I used to post on. That board overhwhelmingly supports the use of longterm steroid treatment and the members there have responded very negatively about my use of and success with diet to manage my symptoms. The woman who contacted me asked for details of the elmination diet I used as she too was looking for alternatives to steroid treatment. Within a month she began seeing improvement in symptoms, first in her shoulders and later in her hips (which is similar to my own progression of improvement). Not only that, but she's had her inflammation factors tested at least twice since beginning the diet and has seen both her Sed-rate and CRP decline to near normal levels!!!

She ended up reintroducing lean meats into her diet because she didn't feel well without, but the whole foods plus elimination of dairy, gluten, etc., was enough to make these improvements.

Additionally, her daughter, who also suffers from autoimmune conditions (she didn't specify which but I will ask) is also seeing improvements following a whole foods diet.

Can't tell you how thrilled I am with her success! I hope that this gives hope to others here suffering from chronic pain or autoimmune who are just beginning on this WOE. IT WORKS!

Fantastic. Thanks for posting her results and how great she contacted you to share that. I am still discouraged that the rest of the folks on that site want to exclude this kind of information. But hey, you helped one person for sure -and maybe more. She's possibly just the ONE that shared her results with you.

What a great success story, Blue! Very cool. Thanks for sharing.

I agree with Michelle, it is very sad that so many people want to shut out dietary intervention as an option - and a very good one at that!

I always find it odd - the medical community is very clear that all the pharmaceuticals they have in their arsenal against autoimmune stuff will have varied results, because AI disease is so individual. would it not stand to reason that the same could be said if diet? I mean to say, how can it be ruled out as an option, when everyone is so different?

Ack - I went on a rant. Sorry. Blue!

I am so excited that you made such an amazing a difference in the lives of two people.

B- Green smoothie, oatmeal with banana and flax
L- rice w/ poblano pepper, tomato, corn, & black beans, 1/2 sm avocado
D- brown rice with steamed bokchoy, onion, mushroom
S- grapes, brown rice cake w/ peanut butter

Hey blue -
been wondering where you've been. Hope all is well. Your food sure looks good. bok choy is one of my favs too.

Hi Michelle! Nice to see you

Still crazy busy at work! I'm embarrassed to say just how bad I fell off my eating plan. It was really catching up with me--I have been sooooo exhausted and fatigued from eating all that crap And I started drinking coffee again, why I don't know! It makes me so tense. I used the last of the bag yesterday and didn't buy more when I did my shopping yesterday. About an hour after I got to work this morning I was thinking how much better I feel--then realized it's due to getting back on the program...a green smoothie this morning instead of coffee!

Anyway, I'm back on. Got my meals lined up for the next week. I'm excited to have discovered frozen rice! Of course the frozen brown rice is great but I'm loving the frozen white rice that has corn and poblano mixed in YUM. I eat mostly brown but for beans and rice I prefer white. Picked up a few cans of beans. I rarely eat anything frozen or canned but I had to figure something out that is easy til summer is over...I'm just too busy to cook and hate heating up the house in the summer cooking a pot of beans.

So with turning over a new leaf this morning I got up early and did some yoga on my patio before work and dammit strained my lower back in a bad way doing like I haven't in many months. Doctor wouldn't refill my pain meds (the ones that actually work) when I turned down the expensive procedure they wanted to do on my back a couple months back, so I'm trying to get by here at my desk with some Rx strength Naproxen and an ice pack. Not having much luck and I'm wondering if I'm going to make it til 5pm

Anyway, that's what's going on. Things have slowed a bit this week at work but I have several big projects looming so things will get nuts again next week. It feels like I have been on my feet since mid March so I'm trying to enjoy these few hours sitting down at my desk even if my back is killing me!

Hopefully I'll be around more soon and hopefully I will stick with my diet. I'm tired of being tired. Diet is the sure way of giving myself some much needed energy!

B

YAY ! I stuck to my meal plan for the day and happy to say that I am already feeling soooo much better. Energy levels way up and no food cravings. Even skipped the rice cake w/ peanut butter I was planning for a snack. Coffee really doesn't work for me. I know this so don't know why I started drinking it again??!! So no coffee today and so much more energy. Got tons done at work, even got the back ache under control.

B- Green smoothie, oatmeal with banana and flax
L- rice w/ poblano pepper, tomato, corn, & black beans, 1/2 sm avocado
D- brown rice with steamed bokchoy, onion, mushroom
S- grapes, chips and homemade salsa

I'm on day 4 of no coffee/back on eating plan! And feeling sooo much better already :O

Cooked my first vegan dinner for non-vegan company last night. I made enchiladas rojas stuffed with potato, carrot, and mushroom and topped with shredded cabbage and radishes from this website:
www.cookinginmexico.com
I did not use cheese!! There's a vegan version hidden deep within the long list of instructions. And it was actually a tortilla casserole rather than enchiladas, just a lot easier to make! I followed the recipe carefully but plan on simplifying it a lot for the future. It's definitely a winner:)

I also made a pot of pintos last night and this morning I water-sauteed a bunch of veggies to eat with rice during the week.

I love cooking for the week on Sundays, I don't know how I got so off-track!

That's great you are back on track. Plus your posts makes me realize that people can have slip-ups and not completely fall apart.

Why won't your doc give you pain meds? I know they never understand the "crazy diet thing" but I always thought they'll at least give you drugs.

I need to find an every day smoothie with greens. I'm gonna see if yours is somewhere in your journal.