Several LONG years ago I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis (at about age 39 or 40) and it sounded really damning!!! I also had some osteoarthritis and I could barely climb stairs the one summer. At the time I was about 5'7" and maybe 225--235 lbs max, you know, getting into the plus sizes but not really worried about getting fat (DENIAL!!). I had always been very active and this debilitating pain came on very suddenly for me, over a matter of months.
So I started years of taking NSAIDS, both OTC and prescription--alternating large doses of aspirin, ibuprofen/Advil, naproxen/Aleve, acetominophen/Tylenol every few days. Then I got on the Vioxx (didn't do a thing for me at any dose!) and Celebrex bandwagon. After awhile I was even having intestinal/bowel distress from the Celebrex, which was "supposed" to be easier on your body than the older OTC meds----wrong for me!! I quit Celebrex and Advil/generic ibuprofen became my "drug of choice", besides caffeine of course!!!
My weight stayed about the same, up and down, losing the same 10 lbs. over and over. I did try to do basically LCE, but I supplemented (!!!!) it with ice cream and brownies and whole grain pasta products and so forth as often as possible!!
When the Celebrex wasn't working for me anymore I went on to Relafen, Mobic, Darvon, Elavil and others.........
Meanwhile every day at work was TORTURE and many days I had to cook dinner and do housework while hobbling around the kitchen with a cane!!!
Eventually my relationship didn't work out and I moved in with family, got serious about Low Carbing (for awhile anyway) and lost about 20-30 lbs and started exercising more regularly. I have a physically demanding job where I walk from 4 to 7 miles a night depending on what I am doing (have checked with pedometer) and as I lost that 25 lbs, the work and walking became easier and I started walking my dog more and loving life again!!
****I must also say here that I get a lot of support and encouragement from my friend Ed (Edoggiee on LCE) and we do the occasional lunch together and chat and email whenever possible. Ed is definitely an inspiration!!!!****
I have always been suspicious that I have a wheat allergy or sensitivity. I have always felt better in every way on Low Carb (since the 70s) and repeatedly go back to it because it is the only diet that has ever worked for me EVER!!
Recently I found a book through an ezine I subscribe to called "I Cured My Arthritis--You Can Too!" by Margie Garrison. You can buy it on Amazon now I think. She claims she was living on Darvon and in terrible pain for years from arthritis and when she cut out the wheat and sugar and ate more veggies and basically LowCarbEating, her arthritis got better and she even lost weight!!
So here was validation for my theory!!!!
I have been experimenting and I notice that wheat and refined sugar cause me the most pain, both in joints (OA and RA) and muscles and soft tissues (Fibromyalgia). If I eat small amounts infrequently, say in 1 Diabetic Exchange (about 15 carbs), I don't have any pain that is debilitating. Sometimes a bit of strain type pain now and then but not that feeling that a dog is gnawing on my knees and ankles!! If I slack off and allow myself too many carbs at one time the pain is back within a couple of hours and stays for a couple of hours, usually prompting me to feel sorry for myself and "fall off the wagon" and eat more carbs!!! AAAARRRGGGHHHH!!!!!!!!!
For the past year or so I have been hovering at the 200 mark, sometimes a bit above and sometimes as low as 195. I would like to be a nice, realistic 150 lbs and size 12 for life. I don't know if it is physical or psychological, but when I am over 200 I just feel so awful!! I don't even have to get on the scale to know.
I have dealt with so much pain over the past few years that I would stay on this diet just for the pain relief. For example, just using Advil/ibuprofen, an OTC drug that everyone is familiar with that comes in a 200 mg tablet or capsule-----I used to take about 12---15 or MORE a day!!! I used to take 3 at a time several times a day and if I had really bad breakthough pain I would take more!!
Now, most days I don't take anything, sometimes for almost a week at a time!! And when I do take it, I will only take 2---just like it says on the bottle for normal people!!!
I actually feel like I have been granted a new life again!!! Sometimes the amazing pain relief is so wonderful that I don't even CARE if I lose weight or not!!!
YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT!!!!!!!!!
I am very interested in hearing other people's results with arthritis and LCE.

Love to everyone!!!!!! Peach

what an amazing story! of course, many factors can be combining to offer you relief, but I wouldn't be surprised if the combination of cutting out refined wheat and sugar wasn't the major factor. For some people, they're fine. For others, seems like poison to their system. Whatever works for you!

And as you lose the weight, movement has to be easier and easier, easing your pain.

You are a great example of how LCE can help even when it's not the "total answer" to the weight issue. You're feeling better, so you are able to do more, so you lose more weight, so you feel better, so you do more...you get the idea.

Thanks so much for sharing this. It's good for the members to consider; not everyone is going to get to that nirvana of "goal weight" - but there ARE concrete, DOABLE steps we can each take to live healthier and feel better every day. You've done it, and I am really glad to hear of your success.

best wishes for continued health!
andrea

Very cool Peach!

I just started LCE, So I will definitely be paying attention to the arthritis in my wrists. Here's hoping!

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Catahoulagirl
220/214/175

Hi Loretta! Nice to see you at the boards.
Last summer I did not think Atkins was a good idea because of the negitive media I heard about it. Loretta knew better and gave me the Atikins book. When I read the book and understood how and why the lifestyle works, I knew it would work for me. Thanks again for the book Loretta, It's one of the best gifts I ever got.

I will second that notion! I have lost 41 lbs on LCE and the OA in my knees is a million times better. I thought it was just the weight coming off--I have heard that even 10 lbs off can make a BIG difference in pain and stiffness. And I 'm sure that is a big part of it. But, I have had the same expereince where when I am eating "clean" my knees feel great...I am virtually pain free. When i go off the wagon and eat carbs, the stiffness and pain returns, just like you said, peachhead.

Now, I was diagnosed with OA in my knees 8 years ago, with these words: "Congratulations, you have the knees of a 70 yr old." I was 37 at the time, and had been overweight my whole adult life, as well as some knee injuries form my "jockette" days. At that point, though, I had lost about 30 lbs (low fat/calorie) but I was still having trouble walking, especially on uneven ground. I believe I was headed for a cane, and I did the round of meds including Daypro and Celebrex. I continued to lose more weight and this contuinued to help, but my ortho told me I was still headed for a total knee replacement sooner than later.

Now, since being on LC for over a year (good and clean 70% of that time, i'd say,) my knees rearely give me trouble, and wehn they do, a couple of ibuprofen can handle it. I no longer hobble around, tho my knees are still stiff if i sit for too long. I do not even think about knee replacement right now. I know I will probably need it eventually; I think too much damage has been done, but for now I feel I can postpone it indefinitely. A year ago I was looking into it seriously.

I know part of it is the weight loss--the physical stress on the joint is less. But the dramatic reduction in pain when LC and the dramatic return of it when not LCing has to mean something.

The refined wheat/suggar sensitivity theory makes sense to me, but I would love to see some studies done. Meanwhile, it's just one more reason to stay on the low carb wagon, for me.

Thanks for sharing your story, peachhead3!

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Renee
1/19/04
261/220/160
41 lbs off
60 lbs to goal



Race to 199 Challenge
Labor Day Challenge: Focusing on the Journey
Personal Goal: 199 by 12/31/05

Thank you both for your stories. I have also had trouble with my knees when I put on 40 pounds in the six months after having my son. This is what prompted me to think about getting on some sort of diet and the low carb "diet" was the only one I had not tried. Now of course I know it's not a diet but a healthy way of eating. I'm glad to be nipping any sort of premature arthritis in the butt (I hope).

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Noël


Worry doesn't empty tomorrow of its sorrows, it empties today of its strengths.

Thanks for sharing your wonderful Peach!

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my blog

Peach, I can't thank you enough for your post. I just stopped my prednisone yesterday and the last few days I've been pretty much bedridden due to pain. I tried the raw foods diet and all it did was make me much weaker. I've been back on low carb and hoping to feel better.

I have rheumatoid arthritis by the way with some OA in areas but great pain and weakness with the RA.

I can't wait to feel better. I hope you keep posting and telling more about your journey with RA.

and thank you so very much for your post. I needed it very badly tonight, been very discouraged.
Ann

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"The future of life on earth depends on seeing the sacred where others see only the common."
- John Denver, 1991

I was diagnosed with Arthritis when I was 19 and Fibromyalgia when I was 21. I walked with a cane for 2 years. After many failed attempts at finding a medication that would enable me to have a quality of life that was appropriate for my age...I decided to rely solely on diet and exercise. LCE has been my primary mode of pain management. I dont have most of the ache and pains anymore. My weight has stabilized. I sleep well.

I feel that LCE and regular exercise cured my Fibromyalgia. Yes, I still have tender points but they only hurt when the doctor pokes them. And I am extra mindful of warming up and stretching before my workouts so that I dont provoke my arthritic joints.

Overall, I believe that LCE is a lifestyle that forces you to become aware. Eating on plan means being aware of what I put into my mouth. Journaling means being aware, on some level, of the events in your life and over time you will see how your emotions and your eating patterns are impacted. Exercising means being aware of your breathing and your movement.

Coming here on a daily basis reminds me that I am not alone in the movement towards better health. (Secretly I thought I was the only one who felt LCE made a tremendous impact on my arthritis/fibromyalgia...)

Thank you for sharing your story.
GeeGee

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Well now, I have goose bumps on my goose bumps!!!! (and it's about 95 here!!!)

Loretta, you are totally inspiring. And why oh why, do we human beings, when we find something that works, abandon it at times. I scratch my head at that one often. But our wiser selves, if we listen, bring us back to what works.

I have FINALLY recognized that wheat products (even low carb ones) are the cause of my life-long, incessant headaches and indigestion. As soon as I figured that out, I stopped buying LC wheat breads and such. I still get an occasional headache, not induced by wheat consumption, probably tension or sinus, but I have been virtually headache and indigestion-free for 2.5 years. I'll tell you what, living with chronic pain is for the birds and can take a flying leap. And no one can EVER convince me to go back to the unhealthy way of eating I used to have. You couldn't pay me enough to do that.

Loretta, stay the course. And keep inspiring us with your life experiences!!!!! That is sooooo COOL!!!!!

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