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I introduced this diet to my facebook "friends" by sharing my journey and success.. one lady finally took the plunge and decided to try it out. SHe has severe psoriatic arthritis and was looking for an answer...here is what she finally wrote to me today, she had contacted Dr. M several times with no response so she did end up in these forums for help and as you will read, tried it all...

she writes; I'm afraid my story is a broken record. I started the diet in March 2011. Within those first 12 days my life changed. No pain, no meds, energized, etc. I was on cloud nine. Then... although I did not change a thing, everything began going south. The pain came back and grew worse daily. The energy left, and I felt lousy. As I looked to the forums and diet for help, I tried everything recommended to me. Nothing changed. Even on the total sweet potato diet, the pain grew worse and worse. On the weight loss front, after losing the inital 15 pounds, I did not loose so much as an ounce the rest of the year, and I still have 25 more pounds to go.

So.... Long story short... It would seem I have some kind of sensitivity that I would need a science degree to figure out. And to be honest, I do not have the passion to invest that time and energy into every morsel I put into my mouth as some members of the forums do. When I began, I was depending on potatoes and oatmeal a lot. I wanted the staples to be simple. But now... I cannot have either of those as one is a nightshade, and the other has the potential to be processed alongside gluten products. I cannot afford to buy the specialty items some have recommended. I eat a lot of quinoa, which I love, but it's so expensive, I only make it a couple of times a week.

Without my simple staples, and with no positive results no matter what I've tried, I have wandered from the diet. I gave it an entire year. I must say that I eat much healthier than I ever imagined I would. I don't eath dairy, and have all but removed it from my family's diet as well. I do eat meat occassionally, but in much smaller portions. I still try to stay away from things known to be inflammatories, but to be honest... it doesn't seem to matter. I still get psoriasis and arthritis flare ups.

You may have noticed that I have not posted any of this on my own page. I still believe in the diet. I've read so many incredible stories of people who's lives have been made better by this diet. I do not want to discourage anyone. And I would recommend that everyone try it.

I wish I had a more positive result to share with you all. How I would love to have that feeling I got in the first 12 days. Wish I had a clue why it left. I am back on my Enbrel injections, which is the only relief for my arthritis pain and disfigurement. And I am still trying to eat a McDougall based diet as well as I can.

This is so sad to me, a wonderful woman, who still hasn't found the answer... I wish so much there was something we could do for her, I would love to see her get to Dr. M's clinic, but as you can see, she could never afford it, nor could I for her... any ideas?

Hi Robin - I remember Linda very well. That is very sad. I am sending you a pm.

cool that you remember her, she is a doll...ok will wait for your message.. thanks..

"And to be honest, I do not have the passion to invest that time and energy into every morsel I put into my mouth as some members of the forums do. "

If that is what it takes to figure out the issue perhaps there is nothing we can do. Sometimes, as several members have discovered, it takes that kind of detective work to find the culprits. If one isn't willing to invest the energy what else can we do? What diet would she go back to that is better or provides better results?
f1jim

well she is sticking with it mostly, but I feel is emotionally defeated, since she feels so bad again... maybe with some more encouragement ( since Dr. emailed me back about her now) she may get more energy to keep on trying...

Robin, you can send her the link to my Journal, where I go into more detail about what I do and eat. She might even remember me!

Sweet potato is not the same as regular potato (which is a nightshade). Sweet potato is not in the nightshade vegetable family (which includes tomatos, potatoes, peppers, eggplant and probably othes)

Dr. J emailed her, whew! so they are in touch and working on a solution... I am so happy for her! hope they can get a resolution that she can live with!

she tried the sweet potato "diet" recommended, and still had no progress..

Yay!


Who is Dr J? John McD?

"And to be honest, I do not have the passion to invest that time and energy into every morsel I put into my mouth as some members of the forums do. "

This phrase jumped out at me as well and seems to me may be the whole key. You say that she is sticking to the way of eating but if in fact one or more foods are causing her flares then continuing to eat them may be the entire problem.

Have her also take a look at Katydid's recent journal entries. She has been diagnosed with an inflammatory process causing swelling and ridges in her esophagus and has just put herself on a strict elimination diet to see if she can isolate the food(s) causing the problem. She is suspecting beans and legumes which are part of most McDougallers diets, so if you were eating those regularly and saying you were sticking to the diet with no results, and they were the culprit, you would think this way of eating wasn't working for you.

Glad to hear that she is now working with Dr. McD.

This is an excellent point, TOH. It really can take some massive detective work to find the right food combination, but once it is discovered, it is smoother sailing at the very least.

Here is something from Dr. Fuhrman. Scroll down to the second article.

http://www.diseaseproof.com/

Didi

I have so many food allergies too, but low fat starch is the way to go! even though I can only eat a few things! it is better then all the other diets I have tried.

Just to give an Idea; I can't eat any grains not even the gluten free ones
and I have to eat fruit only first thing in the morning or before meals never with meals or after,and I can't eat anything fermented so no yeast,vinegar,soy sauce,tamari,wine all that good stuff! and I can only eat small amounts of garlic and onions and peppers.Oh and I have to soak my beans overnight before cooking them.