Diet and Food Discussions Part 3

Booklvr,
I went gluten free this past July and saw a decrease in my inflammation pain. It was quite an eye opener for me, and I tested it over the holidays by eating gluten again, and went right back to the achy pain all over but especially in my upper arms. Recently I have given it up again and began a more plant based diet. I can get away with other foods, including gluten, if I have them very sparingly, like once or twice a week. It has helped with my pain quite a bit.
HEART

I haven't noticed any health benefits from being pescatarian. I stopped eating meat (aside from fish) because I didn't want to eat animals anymore. I don't think diet affects my fibro either positively or negatively.
I hadn't heard of pernicious anemia either, before I was diagnosed.

I don't have any inflammation like others have posted about so I don't have issues with foods related to those things.

I hope all is well for you GrammyG.

Booklvr, B12 is found in meat, eggs, cheese...the things you aren't eating so that's probably why you have the deficiency. Also, as we get older, we don't always absorb things well and that can be another cause.

I'm being checked next week for pernicious anemia, my B12 levels, and my red blood count. My red cells were lower than they should be so my doctor is checking it out. I'm also have Crohns disease and I don't absorb things well. I also take Metformin, a diabetic medication, that can help inhibit B12 from being absorbed and my red blood count levels started creeping downward when I started taking the medication.

B12 is very important. B12 helps make red blood cells that carry oxygen to other parts of your body. If you are deficient, some of the symptoms mimic Fibro symptoms like tingling in the fingers, unsteadiness, and fatigue! I'll know more in a week or so.

Here is an excellent link about B12 and symptoms and medications that can cause a deficiency in this very important vitamin.

www.health.harvard.edu/blog/vitamin-b12-deficiency-can-be-sneaky-harmful-201301105780

Sherrine

I have been gluten free for several years due to Celiac Disease. I never cheat, although I have occasionally been cross-contaminated. I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia after Celiac so I do not believe the GF diet has helped my Fibro symptoms. However, Celiac Disease and Fibromyalgia have a lot of the same symptoms.

I am also B12 deficient. I was getting injections and have since switched to pills. I do eat red meat and a lot of cheese and eggs.

I am giving up soda pop completely for lent in hopes to kick the habit for good. Wish my family luck.

Yes, these are interesting, Luvs, and we have three parts to the Diet and Food Discussions. I think it's far easier to have all of this in one place instead of searching through hundreds of pages.

Now about chewing. My great grandmother said we should chew each bite 100 times! LOL. I tried it and no way could I do that. I'm wish I could...especially since she lived to be 104 years old.

Sherrine

Hi Tiger Tales! Yes, it's important to be careful before starting any supplement. Good reminder!

I developed gastritis in 2011, after having surgery for a burst appendix. My stomach was incredibly sore.

The doctor suspected that the painkiller I took after surgery may have been a factor in developing the gastritis. I had to be on an extremely limited diet for a long time. My stomach area was so sore that I couldn't stand anything that had a waist band, and had to resort to maternity pant and a maternity dress! My diet was SO boring that it was pathetic. But at least I could eat a little, so I shouldn't complain.

Thankfully, it's much, much better now. Once in a while I'll get a slight flare-up, but nothing bad.

The only food that really causes me problems is an egg (hard-boiled, scrambled, or egg foo yong, etc.). If it's in something baked, I have no symptoms. This problem just developed over the past year or so. I get stomach cramps an hour or two after eating eggs, and have to be near the bathroom!

Oatmeal can be troublesome sometimes, but I learned to blend it to a fine powder; then it doesn't bother me.

I tried a gluten-free diet and other elimination diets several years ago, after developing chronic diarrhea "out of the blue" after my youngest was born. Absolutely nothing would stay in me more than 2 hours, and I lost so much weight. I was put on amytriptyline (Elavil) for several years not for depression, but because it's extremely drying. It eventually helped. Bless my GI doctor!

I still can have issues with things like lettuce salad with raw veggies, especially in the summer. But, other than the foods I listed, I can handle most others. I do sometimes get a slight headache after eating popcorn, I've noticed, but I don't notice specific pain, etc. from other foods.

Glad you're seeing an allergist--good idea! I took allergy tests years ago, but nothing much showed up.

Hope you're feeling better soon! It's so tricky to have to watch what you eat so very carefully.

Best wishes!

I just did a fun little exercise on healingwell. I first typed in "pickles" in the search box and wow!--I couldn't believe there were so many posts! What was interesting were the posts on drinking a little pickle juice for things like rheumatoid arthritis. I had heard of drinking it for leg cramps, but not for anything like RA.

Then, I typed in "olives" and mostly the posts referred to olive leaf extract or olive oil. Still interesting though.

Maybe others here will want to give it a try. I may just take a little pickle juice for my aches and pains and see what happens.

Hmm....good point, Sherrine. I know I certainly don't need more sodium in my diet!

And that would make sense: vinegar seems to almost be a type of wonder 'food' (or drink). I put a little (natural) apple cider vinegar in water and drink that when my achiness kicks up.

There are low sodium pickles in the store. But my stores don't carry the low sodium ones in the brand I like. I contacted the company and the cost for them to send them to me would be prohibitive...hence I rinse them off.

I'm weird. Bet you didn't know that! I was visiting my daughter's home in northern Ohio last fall and could NOT find olives I liked! I thought they would all taste the same but they don't. I bought several different brands and didn't eat them.

Sherrine

Good idea, Tiger! I have tried doing that with other products but my store doesn't follow through. They write it down, say they will call me when it comes in, and I never hear from them again. But, as you said. It can't hurt to try...again. Thanks!

Sherrine

I lost 85 pounds about eight years ago and have kept it off. I counted carbs and limited myself to 1000-1200 carbs a day. I read labels and you would be surprised at the carbs in some foods. But by doing this, I could eat what I wanted for the most,part and used portion control. I measured out things until I got so I knew how much was a serving. This wasn't hard and I didn't have to deprive myself of anything. That was always a reason diets failed for me.

If you want to know what I did, just shoot me an email and I'll share what I did.

Sherrine
Forum Moderator/Fibromyalgia

Fibromyalgia, Crohn's Disease, Ostomy, Autoimmune Inner Ear Disease, Diabetes, Osteoporosis, Glaucoma, Scoliosis, Ankylosing Spondylitis
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God does not give us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7

Countingstars, I put an explanation in the closed thread as to where to continue the discussion. They should find your post with ease. 😊

Sherrine

Tiger, l'll be happy to explain it to you. First off, if you want to lose weight you have to diet. There are hundreds of diets out there and also strange ways to lose weight. In these discussions food is bound to come up too. We had a big mess on this forum a few years ago because all the post started being about food, people saying we don't have fibro but just gluten sensitivities, etc. I had to put a stop to it because it became a food forum instead of a fibro forum.

I created this Diet and Food Discussions forum for the members. Foods and diets can freely be discussed and not take up all the space on the forum. Plus, this really is totally off topic but I did this for our members. Nothing was "high-jacked". Without my creating this Diet and Food Discussions thread, the other thread would have just been deleted because of forum rules.

Thank you, Myself, for defending my actions. I really appreciate it! Also, congrats on the weight loss! Every pound counts.

Sherrine,