PMR and diet

Posted , 15 users are following.

Hi! I just found and joined this group. I am 62, live in Canada and was diagnosed with PMR in January 2019 after about 7-8 weeks of agony. I was an avid Crossfitter and was really enjoying being fit and active until one day in mid-November, I woke up to the craziest neck and shoulder pain ever. After diagnosis, I was put on 15 mg of Prednisone and experienced the miracle of movement again after only a few days. I am currently on 10mg

Since then, I have been on and off active - running, hiking, cleaning garden and house and working part-time - but not doing Crossfit. In early June, my husband and I went on an extended road trip of about 13 hours (not all at once) and when I returned to my home, I found that my neck and shoulders were very sore again. I was scared that I might have to increase my dose of Pred. I was also getting increasingly alarmed about my weight gain of 14 lbs. and possibly becoming diabetic. I did some research and found some information about a Keto diet being helpful for auto-immune conditions. So I have been trying it. I'm finding it very difficult in some ways but in the end, my pain is gone and I feel pretty good again.

What I would like to know is if anyone else is using the Keto diet to help manage PMR and if so, what is your experience? Suggestions for what to eat would also be helpful since this is so new to me (3 weeks in). I would like to make this change as part of a new eating lifestyle. Looking for others on a similar quest.

1 like, 20 replies

20 Replies

  • Posted

    I also found that after changing my lifestyle for the better, increasing my exercises at gym, cross training, rowing, bells etc , I was going great, looking good, losing weight, after a few weeks of stopping I was in agony diagnosis PMR, coincidence? My gp said yes, I having increased lots in weight . All around my mid belly, I am more concerned about diabetes as my hba1c is 45, so I am sticking to sugar free diet where possible.

  • Edited

    I don't really know what a keto diet is, but when my blood sugar got too high at beginning of pred I cut out virtually all carbs from grains as well as sweet things. Never put on weight, and my sugar levels went down, although not completely normal until pred dose around 4 or 5, certainly of less concern after dietary changes.

  • Posted

    If you were to come over to the HelathUnlocked forum you would find a load of us using a low carb diet to reduce the adverse effects of pred. It doesn't always have to be as extreme as keto - just low carb is enough for many. And we have quite a few Canadians there too.

    I lost over 35lbs of PMR and pred-associated weight by going low carb. I still eat little in the way of carbs and have had few problems with weight gain. I also use intermittent fasting - almost always all my eating is done between lunchtime and dinner time - 1.30pm and 8.15pm. It isn't really deliberate - I don't "do" breakfast, never have done.

    I have always found this site useful - good illustrations what make it easy to remember what's good and what's not:

    https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb

    and good recipes/food suggestions.

  • Posted

    Controlling diet is the very best thing you can do. As soon as I was diagnosed with pmr Dec 2015 I cut down heavily on carbs and sugar, bulked up on chicken, fish and veg, enjoyed fruit and avoided alcohol. Didn't touch a biscuit or a crisp for 18 months. I was really disciplined and it became a way of life and a challenge with no weight gain. It really paid off although I had to give up exercise because of extreme pain during the 1st year due to rheumy dropping pred too fast. I now have a few special treats and am back in the gym to strengthen my gluts and get fitter. Reached target of 5mg pred by tapering like a snail once under 10mg and here I shall sit for a number of months.

  • Posted

    I was diagnosed with PMR 3 years ago and started on Prednisone. Gained a lot of weight and was generally very irritable.

    Started a keto diet 9 months ago and kept daily carbs below 15 grams. Amazing results in terms of weight loss (30 lbs) and reduced inflammation blood markers down to normal. Over time was able to quit prednisone and felt great. While happy for me my Rheumatologist commented " PMR can reoccur ". this was a month ago.

    I'm at my target weight so splurge on carbs every once in a while - for me that means having a hamburger with bun. over the last three days I have splurged (not 3 hamburgers!)and this morning the PMR is back and I'm in a great deal of pain. Not sure if the increased carbs caused the flareup but sure feels like it.

    My advice to PMR sufferers is to try a well formulated low carb high fat diet to get inflammation under control. it's a lot easier to do then you think.

    • Posted

      If you want to start a Ketogenic diet, talk to your doctor about it. 😉

  • Posted

    I started with PMR in April 2019. It started with a mild stiff neck that progressed to shoulders, arms, hips, gluts, thighs, knees within three months. However, I had been on the Paleo diet continuously before starting in September of 2018. I lost 68 lbs. I was not eating sugars, carbs, or ANY kind, and was only mainly eating steak, veggies, and salmon, and occasional pears, and apples. When the PMR hit me I had not suffered from any maladies or been sick. It just appeared out of nowhere. The pain was so bad I could not turn over in bed without crying out. Now the thing is....When I first started with the neck pain, I went to see my GP who placed me on a step down dosage pack of Prednisone for 8 days. And immediately after I took the last pill is when all of my symptoms started (with in a week of stopping the pred) I am now wondering if I had servere withdrawal symptoms from the Prednsone. Any info would be appreciated.

  • Posted

    The Keto diet is problematic. Google this: "Scientists who studied the diets of more than 447,000 people around the world are zeroing in on the ideal dose of carbs for a long life"

    I eat plenty. I've been on a whole food, plant based diet for decades although I do eat non-vegetarian food sparingly. I lost 4 kg weight in the month I contracted PMR. Two years later, I have not regained the 4 kg, despite my best efforts.

    I exercise strenuously and am pain-free on 5.5 mg pred.

    • Posted

      There is an article in the BMJ this week about a huge survey on meat eaters, fish eaters and vegetarians. Interestingly enough the fish eaters win hands down, followed by the vegetarians.

    • Posted

      There's a theory that humans evolved partly as aquatic creatures, there are a number of physiological details which indicate this is a strong possibility. At the same time as we were becoming naked apes with a layer of subcutaneous fat, etc., we were also feeding on marine and shore life.

    • Posted

      Doesn't that mean we are cannibals??!!

    • Posted

      Ptolemy, I don't know what the BMJ is, but I am very happy to hear the as I love fish and eat it almost every day, which is difficult living in the mountains of NM. 🙂

    • Posted

      Well that why I didn't know what it was, but thought that it might be! Thanks!🙂

    • Posted

      I've followed diet research for decades and, yes, I did see the BMJ study.

      Many vegetarian diets and some vegan diets are not whole food, plant based, allowing copious refined carbohydrates and too much saturated fat. Most studies lump carbohydrates together, failing to distinguish refined from complex. That distinction is crucial because fibre, sugar spikes and nutrient content are so important to health.

    • Posted

      Sorry, don't see how that follows.

    • Posted

      It was a joke, obviously not that sophisticated!

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