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I have just been diagnosed with RA at 32 anything I can do to lessen the symptoms?

Posted , 9 users are following.

caroline90579
caroline90579

I am awaiting an appointment with a specialist but wondered if any changes to my diet might help? Any foods to avoid? Etc.

Thanks

Caroline

0 likes, 39 replies

39 Replies

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  • CA-Lynn
    CA-Lynn caroline90579

    Posted

     ANY good diet will make you feel a little better. But RA is an autoimmune disease and diet has absolutely no effect on it. And then there's the gluten fad......just a lot of hype. What you CAN do in the meantime is start reducing excess weight [if that applies to you].
  • jane4469
    jane4469 caroline90579

    Posted

    I just read CA lynns response. I am also newly diagnosed and heard the gluten thing and thik yes its probably a fad but I am going to try to go off wheat and tomatoes and strawberrys. For the autoimmune they also mention diary... I am at the right wieght and excercise every day.

    The pain is awful but have heard so many saying that the drugs help a lot.

  • caroline90579
    caroline90579

    Posted

    Thanks for replying so quickly. My boyfriend mentioned the gluten thing so I have tried eating gluten free bread. I hope its not dairy as I do eat a lot of cheese and drink a lot of milk. Im the right weight so maybe I will try and exercise more even though it hurts.  They have given me naproxin to take but it makes me sleepy so I cant take them when working.
  • caroline90579
    caroline90579

    Posted

    Its in my knees by the way forgot to mention.
  • murray2
    murray2 caroline90579

    Posted

    Hi

    Some people feel that making dietary changes can improve their condition. The main recommendations are cutting gluten, dairy, sugar , animal protein and fats. I have tried this and reduced the inflammatory markers to normal but it could have been the prednisone and methotrexate that brought the improvement. Due to weight loss I have added more foods like coconut oil, a little chicken and fish. I'm a bit more stiff and tender than before but I have reduced the prednisone to 3-4 and the MTX to 15mg, so still unsure of the cause and affect. There is a lot of information about diet and RA on the net..all a bit confusing. We just do what seems right. Good luck.

    • helen263490
      helen263490 murray2

      Posted

      Hi am very intersesed in what you wrote. Ive also cut out the same foods as you and im week one on 15 mg of prednisole with the consultant wanting me to go on methotrexate in three weeks. I now have no pain within 24 hours of prednisole and lesser pain over the three months of eliminating foods. When you say they reduced the prednisole to 3-4 what mg is that. Thank you in advance.
    • murray2
      murray2 helen263490

      Posted

      Hi Helen, since writing this I had a flare. The dr recommended I start sulphasalazine and increase the prednisone to 10 mg a day. I have reduced the pred to 7.5 mg a day. I take  2000mg of sulphsalazine a day and 20mg of methotrexate a week. My diet is wider now but still minimise sugar and don't eat red meat. My health is quite good at the moment.
    • helen263490
      helen263490 murray2

      Posted

      Thank you thats really helpful. I do hope that i can be on lower prednisone and low sulphasalazine and stay off foods that irritate and hopefully the achieve a better balance of my health being good like yours. Your advice has been great thank you.
  • susan342
    susan342 caroline90579

    Posted

    Lynn has given excellent advice. Eating a normal healthy well balanced diet, and maintaing your ideal weight for body size so that you do not put extra strain on your joints is important.. Cutting out major food groups leads to vitamin and mineral deficiencies. The disease modifying drugs that your specialist will prescribe will slow down and may halt the progression of joint deformity problems, these include methotrexate, prednisolone, and the newer Tnf type drugs. 
  • Light
    Light caroline90579

    Posted

    Seems like you've got all the good info you need here.

    I'd suggest not dismissing gluten free, but experiment instead. It may not work for you but it also might. In my experience different things work on different bodies.

    I also agree... good to exercise but don't over-stress those RA joints. They'll punish you for it later!

  • caroline90579
    caroline90579

    Posted

    Thanks very much for all the messages people. Its good to talk to people who know what im going through. My boyfriend just doesnt understand. I will try what you guys have said and hopefully things will get easier. Thanks again 
    • Light
      Light caroline90579

      Posted

      About your boyfriend not understanding...

      It's a lament I hear all the time on another forum I belong to, that husbands, partners, boyfriends, family... just don't understand!

      I know that's painful and can sometimes add to our already existing suffering. But try not to let it. They don't understand basically, because it's very hard to imagine someone else's pain and there's nothing to see to show for it.

      Things that might help him understand include taking him with you to your rheumy once or twice, sharing your reports with him and so on.

      But try to be patient with him, too.

      If you can understand his difficulty in understanding you, it might keep things level and without resentment.

      And when we have these diseases, support from our loved-ones is crucial to help ease our misery. So value his acceptance of your condition but don't expect him to understand it. And that will bring your closer, willy nilly.

       

  • mu111
    mu111 caroline90579

    Posted

    Hello Caroline, RA can be very frustrating and although I don't have it myself, I do work with people that have had it for years. The main problem with RA is that the immune system attacks the collagen in our joints meaning the cause of the pain that you feel when moving. This is because the structure of the collagen has changed. I personally think that a healthy diet can increasingly make the symptoms fade/lessen. This of course has to be a diet with the right nutrients that will allow the body to correct the altered collagen so that the antibodies will not attack. And in these times it can be quite difficult to achieve.
  • CA-Lynn
    CA-Lynn caroline90579

    Posted

    To be clear:

    1. If you're going to go gluten-free, it won't work unless [a] you ARE allergic to gluten and [b] you eliminate ALL glutens from your diet.

    2. Many people THINK they have put their disease in remission by going gluten free. Not true, It's just coincidental, as RA antibodies can wax and wane, like a yo-yo effect.

    • mu111
      mu111 CA-Lynn

      Posted

      I agree with you, but I do know form my experience that a diet that consists of highly nutritive substance that can act replacing assimilable nutritional deficits, to help to repair and rebuild the damaged collagen molecules, to restore their original structure, can improve the conditions of someone with RA. This of course doesn't mean the person should go gluten-free unless like you said they are allergic to gluten. They should however minimise as much as possible their intake in sugars that are not natural for example cakes and biscuits with fruit.
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