Dr. McDougall's Online Discussion Board

Day 15

Same pains as the night before, only slightly reduced this morning and even more so throughout the day. What a relief!

B - sweet potatoes, veggie stir fry (asparagus, R/Y/G bell peppers, spinach
S - carrot, apple
L - carrot, black rice, two red potatoes, rest of stir fry mix
S - kombucha tea w/chia seeds
D - green cabbage and brussel sprouts with dijon mustard, sweet potatoes
Dessert - mango

Day 16

Pain in knuckle of pointer finger on my right hand, a fair amount of it.

B - green tea, banana
L - carrots, brown rice
S - chocolate-coconut larabar
D - green cabbage/brussel sprouts with dijon mustard, black rice
Dessert (after workout) two bananas and sweet potatoes

Day 17

Pain in same finger, but not as bad. Some wrist pain creeping in.

B - banana, apple, green tea
S - carrots, black rice
L - sweet potatoes, banana
S - more carrots
D - Sweet potatoes, black beans, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, asparagus, green peas

Day 18

A little wrist pain in the morning; terrible pain in my knee at night, can barely walk.

B - 3 bananas, a few carrots
L - sweet potatoes, apple, carrots
S - banana, carrots
D - cabbage, brussel sprouts w/dijon mustard, black rice, french fries (the healthy version, don't worry)

veganteen wrote:Day 18

A little wrist pain in the morning; terrible pain in my knee at night, can barely walk.

B - 3 bananas, a few carrots
L - sweet potatoes, apple, carrots
S - banana, carrots
D - cabbage, brussel sprouts w/dijon mustard, black rice, french fries (the healthy version, don't worry)

In spite of the knee pain, it seems you're making progress and starting to heal. You're on day 18. I suspect by the time you're on day 38 you'll hardly have any pain at all.

I'm not conversant on Burgess' diet. I'm wondering what else he eliminated that you haven't also.

But this condition is not easily eradicated. 18 days is still early in the game. You're on the right track. Keep posting.

Nettie

Hi Veganteen -

Good for you for undertaking this project so early in life! You're getting a sense of the power of foods early enough to really make a difference.
Would echo the recommendation somewhere back in the thread to look at Neal Barhard's book Foods that Fight Pain. Significant parts of the book focus on personal reactions to foods that other people can eat without problems. Many of the trigger foods for health problems overlap.
Here is the list of common arthritis triggers; (am leaving in even the ones vegans don't eat); several on this list were triggers for IBS and other problems for me; perhaps they are involved in your issues too?
Dairy, Corn, Meats, Wheat, Oats, rye, eggs, citrus fruits, potatoes, tomatoes, nuts, coffee.
Hang in there.....it's complex, but getting the answers you seek is worthwhile!

Thanks everyone, I appreciate all the support and advice.

Working at it - That list of avoidable foods sounds fairly easy to cut out, I may try doing that next. Thanks!

Day 19

Woke up with pain in my knee but it subsided as the day progressed. Tonight I'm having pain in my thumb knuckle.

B - bananas, piece of larger sweet potato
L - carrots, apple, piece of larger sweet potato
S - last of that humongous sweet potato
D - Broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, kidney beans, banana
Later - asparagus, small red potato, bowl of oatmeal, red bell pepper

Hi Veganteen....
If you want to try leaving out the nightshade family, you could leave out the potato and bell pepper. Would have to say that I also get reactions to apples and sweet potatoes.

Good luck!

Miraculous. Woke up this morning with no noticeable pain at all.

Yesterday, I also got my acceptance letter from the college I really want to go to next year. Even though I haven't been outwardly stressing about it, do you think my pain could have been stressed induced, even if it was a subconscious stress? In addition to that, stuff at home has changed recently, with somebody new moving in with us, which isn't necessarily stressful just something new. Any ideas, could this actually have been a factor?

Congratulations on your college acceptance! What an exciting time for you!

Yes to your question about stress.....Dean Ornish's book, The Spectrum lists his big three approaches - diet, exercise, and meditation/relaxation.

In any case - good outcome!

When I am under stress and eat wrong foods then I have digestive problems. If I eat OK foods, my digestion is OK despite the stress. I still didn't know all my triggers, but I am sure about potatoes, sweet potatoes, apples, pears, tomatoes, citrus, wheat, chocolate, dehydrated fruit... I suspect winter squashes, carrots, rye, green beans ... It's hard when you have less and less foods to eat.
Try to eat more simple... I don't mix more than 2 foods at one meal. I tried the elimination diet by Dr. McDougall but there were problems. I thought brown rice is the problem too, but now I started eating it again and it's OK.

Brandon, that's awesome news about your college acceptance! And then to wake up pain-free in addition to that is even better. Yippee!!!

And I agree, stress is huge. A co-worker of mine told me that she experienced horrible IBS symptoms for years, and discovered that in her case, it was all due to stress, not diet.

Day 20

Pain free today!!

B - Stir fry mix with brown rice
L - sweet potatoes, banana
D - sweet potatoes, stir fry mix, more bananas
Dessert - brownies (black beans, banana, oats, vanilla, cinnamon, date sugar)

Thanks everyone! That letter definitely took a weight off my shoulders.

Lola - I think since I'm pain free right now, I'm gonna continue eating the foods I have been, and slowly introduce the foods I think are causing trouble (citrus, tomatoes, etc.)

Good plan! You might have lucked onto a combo that is healthy for you without restricting variety any more. If so, that's a perfect base, and now you can start experimenting with adding foods in one at a time and seeing how you do.

I'd advise you to take a few more days to confirm that you really are pain-free first - at least a week total if not more. And then when you add in foods, give yourself lots of time to see how you react, so don't add too many in close succession.