Inflammation, A Hopefully Constructive Discussion

PeachyCarol

Yesterday in one of the many threads on sugar, someone mentioned eliminating it as improving her inflammation. I asked her what her inflammation was caused by, but she never returned to the thread.

Several people were kind enough to point me to very helpful studies linking a sort of chronic low-level state of inflammation to metabolic syndrome. Okay, cool, I can get that. What I'd like to understand and sort of flesh out in this discussion is how that feels to someone, symptomatically.

I don't have and never have had insulin resistance or metabolic syndrome, and the only noticeable symptom my Google-fu could manage to find was fatigue. What else have you experienced that would make you call it inflammation?

To give you some idea why I find the word "inflammation" rather odd to throw around... I have psoriatic arthritis and experience painful episodes where my joints actually get red and inflamed. I think of LITERAL inflammation when I hear the word.

I'd like to understand how other people experience systemic inflammation at a low level.

zyxst

In for later.

TimothyFish

When I think of inflammation, I think of running a fever, hence the term "inflamed".

PeachyCarol

zyxst wrote: »

In for later.

Hey, I can live in hope that we can all play nice, can't I?

Soopatt

Do people maybe meant bloated, when they use the word inflammation? Bloated being something that is equally difficult to quantify. Sometimes I feel a little puffy in the morning, but I would not call that inflammation.

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

I'm interested too, as a fellow AI sufferer.

EvgeniZyntx

I have had low grade systemic inflammation (of a different level than what you see) related to allergies and possibly a few other things. The results have been a gout attack, systemic bloating resulting in overnight weight gain of several kilos, exercise induced inflammation, and joint pain and stiffness.

Inflammation may occur without any redness and just a light level of bloatiness - it's really quite complex.

And sometimes it's a very positive response. Inflammatory response to exercise is believed to be a normal and major part of muscle synthesis, for example. For this reason, anti-inflammatory treatments (from AINS drugs, certain steroids, anti-leukotrienes) lead to reduced tissue development (both muscle and bone via osteocytes depression).

In IBS, for example, inflammation may very well be present,and yet localized and completely invisible.

Something I personally rarely feel but which may occur in others includes skin sensitivity, lymph node swelling, flu like symptoms.

Nuka_Gina

I have chronic inflammation and very mild arthritis in my hips. My overall sed rate is high, but it fluctuates as well. Basically, I can feel it when it gets high because it feel like everything tightens up (in a bad way), like its hard to move, my hips feel like I have little pulses of lightening when I try to walk, and, in general, I'm grumpy and miserable. I've heard a lot of fad diet ideas that supposedly curb "inflammation" but I go with my doctor tells me which is to keep taking mild OTC medication (because I don't want anything stronger, I'm 32, and don't want to take the arthritis medicine until I can't function), and lose the weight because that will take some stress off my joints, and do keep moving because with arthritis if you lose movement its hard to get it back. So, even when it hurts I do stretches and Yoga.

enterdanger

Not sure for others, but I consider inflamation as swelling and hot to the touch or red. Although, I would say my left ankle joint is inflamed. It has swelling but feels so cold. I'm kind of a hypochondriac so I try to stay of Dr. Google. Pretty sure it's from the healing stress fractures I have in that leg. I don't think I've ever had systemic inflammation. Not sure what that is.

katharineshalia

http://www.arthritis.org/living-with-arthritis/arthritis-diet/foods-to-avoid-limit/food-ingredients-and-inflammation.php

EvgeniZyntx

You might find this interesting:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12690940

PeachyCarol

EvgeniZyntx wrote: »

I have had low grade systemic inflammation (of a different level than what you see) related to allergies and possibly a few other things. The results have been a gout attack, systemic bloating resulting in overnight weight gain of several kilos, exercise induced inflammation, and joint pain and stiffness.

Inflammation may occur without any redness and just a light level of bloatiness - it's really quite complex.

And sometimes it's a very positive response. Inflammatory response to exercise is believed to be a normal and major part of muscle synthesis, for example. For this reason, anti-inflammatory treatments (from AINS drugs, certain steroids, anti-leukotrienes) lead to reduced tissue development (both muscle and bone via osteocytes depression).

In IBS, for example, inflammation may very well be present,and yet localized and completely invisible.

Something I personally rarely feel but which may occur in others includes skin sensitivity, lymph node swelling, flu like symptoms.

I'm glad you're in this discussion, because you're very knowledgeable on these things.

What would you say regarding inflammation and diet as a "cure"? That it would depend on the source of the inflammation whether it would be effective?

KarenJanine

As I understand it, the 'low level inflammation' refers to an over growth of gut bacteria as a result of food fermentation in the gut. The bacteria expel gas which can lead to abdominal pain and bloating. The reasoning behind limiting FODMAPs in the diet is to try to prevent the bacterial overgrowth.

ETA although this only refers to IBS-type inflammation, rather than being systemic in the broader sense.

heel_striker

For me it is a combination of similar to feeling bloated, but it is an overall body feeling to the point of discomfort and where I felt like I didn't have the same mobility. Some of my joints hurt (hands, feet, ankles etc.) My mind was foggy and I was constantly getting headaches. I went on anti-inflammation diet (which eliminates a lot of different things, not just sugar, dairy, wheat) for 3 weeks and it helped a lot. I tested some of the foods again and have sort of figured out which ones are triggers for me. Doesn't mean I don't eat them sometimes but it is nice to be able to pin point the reason for me feeling like crap.

PeachyCarol

EvgeniZyntx wrote: »

You might find this interesting:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12690940

If I'm interpreting what I read correctly (I'm not yet caffeinated this morning), that backs up my experience. The only positive influence I've noticed on my disease progression that I could personally effect is exercise.

When my chronic migraines had me down and I couldn't make it to the gym? My joints felt it.

mburgess458

My wife used to have IBS like symptoms for years. She had a blood test to check for foods that might be causing inflammation/reactions for her. It's not 100% accurate, but it did pinpoint several foods that were causing her issues. It isn't that there are "bad" foods, just that some foods are bad for her system. When she cut those things out of her diet her digestive system improved dramatically. The bonuses were that her seasonal allergies improved, her joints started feeling better, she stopped getting sinus infections whenever she got a head cold, and a few other things along those lines.

That's different than saying "sugar causes inflammation for nearly everyone" though. I'm definitely a believer that some people have issues with some foods (beyond clear cut food allergies).

enterdanger

My sister says she has systemic inflammation from IBS. She is doing some food sensitivity thing right now where she can only eat like 10 foods and they gradually add stuff back to see how it affects her. She told me she has never felt so good in her life.

It could be placebo effect, or IMO its because this is forcing her to eat unprocessed foods. I never saw anyone eat so much processed food before. Every night it was donuts, pizza, tv dinners... the funny thing is that she is one of the skinniest people I've ever met. And we are twins! She said she was bloated, had joint pain, trouble sleeping, migraines, and potty issues.

I can say without any scientific backup that I do believe the artificial ingredients in some foods can have adverse effects on our bodies.

keelyjrs

I have fibromyalgia, M.E, Raynaud's phenomenon, arthritis, plantar fasciitis and Mortons neuroma.. I was told by my rheumatologist that a healthy and nutritious diet can play a part in reducing pain.

I know that my fatigue gets bad if I eat lots of sugary stuff but I guess that would make sense due to the sugar high and crash anyone gets. I do crave very sweet food when I am in pain. I'd have to keep a diary of my pain and compare it to my food log to see if there's any correlation. Hmm might just do that out of curiosity now.

jonnyman41

Inflammation is inflammation, just sometimes you can't see it for example bowl/intestines etc often caused by allergies/intolerances or more severe conditions like crohns disease. The results are the same, e.g. swollen tissue but the consequences are different, including mal absorption of nutrients, chronic pain and more.

lthames0810

I have been diagnosed as having inflammation which is the cause of my loss of sense of smell. The problem responds to steroid injections, but the reason for the inflammation remains a mystery so far.

I can not feel it. There's no pain or swelling that I can detect. When I get that steroid shot and the inflammation is reduced, I can't tell anything is different. It's not at all like the type of inflammation that you can see and feel, like when a small cut gets infected.

Even if dietary changes that are supposed to reduce inflammation actually worked, I don't know how I could ever tell.

knitwit94

I have psoriasis and have been reading a book called "The Paleo Approach" by Sarah Ballantyne. The book is about putting autoimmune diseases in remission. Within 1 week from being on her diet my knee, hip and back pain was gone. This is because my inflammation went down from cutting out certain foods (so the book says). She also has a website called thepaleomom. I don't know if everything about it is true but I do know that I am feeling a ton better. I hope you find your answers.