Looking for Anti-inflammatory support

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FibroHiker
FibroHiker Posts: 344 Member
in Motivation and Support
I started an anti-inflammatory diet about 3 weeks ago due to chronic fatigue and pain.
It could be a very difficult diet. If I don't want to cook there's very little that I can eat. Looking for supporters who are doing a similar diet, help with motivation, and can swap recipes.

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  • Spliner1969
    Spliner1969 Posts: 3,233 Member
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    Have you been to a doctor to see what is the cause of the chronic fatigue and pain? Eating a specific diet isn't really needed unless you're doing it for a specific medical reason. Less junk food is always good, otherwise you should eat what you want within your calorie and macro goals.
  • Candyspun
    Candyspun Posts: 370 Member
    edited June 2018
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    OP, I'm happy to add you, if you're interested. My best advice for how strict it can get is to focus on what you can have, and all the nutritional benefits of those foods. I personally find the 'can have's' more enjoyable to eat than the 'probably not best to have's', lol! I still do eat things that are considered inflammatory, because I want to be able to stick with it long term. I'm sure I'll always have those foods, now and then at some point, in small amounts.

    What I've personally found, and I'm sure it's different for everyone and depends on what your health problem is, is that exercise seems to be the best anti-inflammatory for me. When I got back into it (I had been sedentary for far too long, simply because of the pain and anaemia from my endometriosis), exercise reduced all of my pain by 80%. Now I'm a few more weeks in, I can honestly say it's more like a 90% reduction in pain now. So, I suppose for me, that takes some of the pressure off to be overly strict about the anti-inflammatory way of eating. But eating this way still helps me a lot, so I want to make it a priority.
  • FibroHiker
    FibroHiker Posts: 344 Member
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    Spliner1969 wrote: »
    Have you been to a doctor to see what is the cause of the chronic fatigue and pain? Eating a specific diet isn't really needed unless you're doing it for a specific medical reason. Less junk food is always good, otherwise you should eat what you want within your calorie and macro goals.

    I have been to my PCP a few times recently for fatigue with blood results showing that I was not deficient in vitamins and my thyroid levels were within the average range. She told me the fatigue was likely due to stress.

    I had chronic fatigue for two years after my third pregnancy where I had to sleep for 13-14 hours out of a 24 period and could barely function when I was awake. At that time my thyroid levels were tested and found to be within the average range. The only thing that helped me end that difficult period was doing an elimination diet of no dairy, no gluten, and no soy.

    The chronic pain is a newer symptom that has intensified within the past 6 months. I had pain whenever I sat or stood for too long. I couldn't get comfortable in bed, constantly buying new mattresses and mattress pads, and had a lack of restful sleep almost every night. The joint pain and stiffness was so bad that I would have to brace myself and plan out my movements for how I was going to bend over and retrieve an item from under the sink. I had an especially bad weekend over memorial day weekend. I went to a pool party, ate a bunch of crap, and drank too much alcohol. My body was stiff and sore all day the following Sunday and Monday leaving me out of commission and unable to do much of anything.

    After that weekend I started doing some research online and saw that an anti-inflammatory diet was recommended for chronic pain. I decided it was worth a try. I figured I had nothing to lose with trying. In the short period of time I have been doing the anti-inflammatory diet it's helped immensely. Just last week I noticed that my joints have loosened up. I move more freely now and wasn't bracing myself to bend over anymore. I think I can now start exercising again as any attempts to do so before injured me.

    I intend to go to a specialist this summer when I have some time off of work and hopefully get a diagnosis. Until then, the diet is something that is helping me.
  • FibroHiker
    FibroHiker Posts: 344 Member
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    Candyspun wrote: »
    OP, I'm happy to add you, if you're interested. My best advice for how strict it can get is to focus on what you can have, and all the nutritional benefits of those foods. I personally find the 'can have's' more enjoyable to eat than the 'probably not best to have's', lol! I still do eat things that are considered inflammatory, because I want to be able to stick with it long term. I'm sure I'll always have those foods, now and then at some point, in small amounts.

    What I've personally found, and I'm sure it's different for everyone and depends on what your health problem is, is that exercise seems to be the best anti-inflammatory for me. When I got back into it (I had been sedentary for far too long, simply because of the pain and anaemia from my endometriosis), exercise reduced all of my pain by 80%. Now I'm a few more weeks in, I can honestly say it's more like a 90% reduction in pain now. So, I suppose for me, that takes some of the pressure off to be overly strict about the anti-inflammatory way of eating. But eating this way still helps me a lot, so I want to make it a priority.

    There are definitely a lot of things that can be eaten on the diet and I have been trying to make sure that I batch cook some meals, make my snacks ahead of time, and stock up the house with foods. Still, there are those times when I don't want to cook and it seems like there's nothing to eat!

    I have been trying to exercise for a while now and have been injuring myself each time. I think now that I am doing this diet I might be able to return to exercising again. I am going to start this week with some light cariod and lots of stretching. I also need to get back into meditation as a daily practice to be sure that I am not holding in stress.
  • FibroHiker
    FibroHiker Posts: 344 Member
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    If anyone is wondering, I would not classify myself as being immensely overweight. I am 5' 7" and currently weigh 155, down from 162. I am aiming to get back to where my weight range used to be prior to the chronic pain: between 130 and 135.
  • Spliner1969
    Spliner1969 Posts: 3,233 Member
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    aidydh wrote: »
    I intend to go to a specialist this summer when I have some time off of work and hopefully get a diagnosis. Until then, the diet is something that is helping me.

    Yup that would be best. Sounds like the PCP is missing something. My wife has hypoglycemia, and although she hasn't experienced the chronic pain (other than obvious things that cause her pain from her weight and some previous injuries), for years she could not function without sleeping a full 8-10 hours and then taking a 2-3 hour nap during the day. If she ate anything with too many carbs/sugar she'd almost get drunk from it and then crash later. Docs told her if she didn't change her diet she'd end up type 2 eventually. She ignores the diet, so eventually they are probably right, it'll get to her. After having 3 kids she's still in need of the naps but the food causes less issues for her. She's lost some weight which helps, and I keep on her about her diet and the weight but we all know until you want to do something you won't do it. So I keep on her lol.

    But yea, see a specialist. Definitely have a blood sugar test done, the more intense ones, not just the quick fasting tests in the PCP's office. Hopefully they can figure it out for you.
  • Candyspun
    Candyspun Posts: 370 Member
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    OP, I've had terrible joint pains as well. It was at a point where I struggled to walk or stand without excruciating pain. I decided to try bone broth, not sure if it would help or not. I was open to the idea that it may be pseudo science, but I was desperate, and I love soup! haha. It really, really helped me a lot. I was on it long enough that the pain went away. Then, summer came. I intended to keep up with it, but I found I kept putting off drinking it until a cooler part of the day. But when evening came, I forgot to. So, over summer, I gradually stopped having it, even though I meant to keep going. And...the joint pain came back.

    I still don't get as much broth into me now as I did when I first started, but my exercise makes up for that a bit. But, I want to do both. I was honestly frustrated when I read that for endo/anti-inflammatory programs, exercise is incredibly effective. Why? Because I've always been active and loved exercise, and the pain and anaemia was making it impossible! So, it took me some time to come up with a plan.

    I decided to commit to some form of exercise, every single day. ONLY what I could handle. When I'm on bedrest due to my period, I will try to dedicate at least 5 minutes to stretches. If I have enough iron to stand up and balance, I'll do those 5 minutes standing up, but more often than not when I'm menstruating badly enough to have a day in bed, I'll usually do my stretches in bed. If I feel better, I do more. What happened for me, is that I came to feel better enough to do more, SO much sooner than I expected! I'm not saying my endometriosis is cured at all; I know it will always be a disease that I have. But to be able to live with it and not be ruled by the pain as much anymore? Oh my god, it's almost like being normal again! I feel so happy and alive. I'm getting my life back.

    It sounds as though you've already learned that with anti-inflammatory eating, your body will tell you in no uncertain terms what it doesn't like! I think that's half the battle, isn't it?
  • Candyspun
    Candyspun Posts: 370 Member
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    Oh! I forgot to mention something in relation to food prep: have you tried building bowls? I find making up bowls of good foods thrown together to be a really easy way to get lots of anti-inflammatory foods, in a really enjoyable way. I usually try to aim to have some carbs, protein and lots of veges. You can mix all the foods together or keep them sectioned off, whatever you like. I really enjoy trying to do my own spins on bibimbap, as well! So delicious. I try to have lots of items ready to either be picked at or thrown together at the last minute, and the good thing is, that this way I have more variety in the combinations I have.
  • FibroHiker
    FibroHiker Posts: 344 Member
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    Candyspun wrote: »
    I know it will always be a disease that I have. But to be able to live with it and not be ruled by the pain as much anymore? Oh my god, it's almost like being normal again! I feel so happy and alive. I'm getting my life back.

    It sounds as though you've already learned that with anti-inflammatory eating, your body will tell you in no uncertain terms what it doesn't like! I think that's half the battle, isn't it?

    Yes to all!
  • FibroHiker
    FibroHiker Posts: 344 Member
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    Candyspun wrote: »
    Oh! I forgot to mention something in relation to food prep: have you tried building bowls? I find making up bowls of good foods thrown together to be a really easy way to get lots of anti-inflammatory foods, in a really enjoyable way. I usually try to aim to have some carbs, protein and lots of veges. You can mix all the foods together or keep them sectioned off, whatever you like. I really enjoy trying to do my own spins on bibimbap, as well! So delicious. I try to have lots of items ready to either be picked at or thrown together at the last minute, and the good thing is, that this way I have more variety in the combinations I have.

    I just did this yesterday for lunch. I looked in the fridge and saw that there weren't a lot of things for me to eat and decided to put a bunch of leftover ingredients together in a bowl. I topped it off with my homemade EV olive oil dressing and it ended up being a great meal.
  • dixiech1ck
    dixiech1ck Posts: 769 Member
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    As for Thyroid, there are a panel of tests the typical docs do not test or use but you can inquire into those:

    TSH

    Free T4

    Free T3

    Reverse T3

    Thyroid Peroxidase Antibodies

    Thyroglobulin Antibodies
  • FibroHiker
    FibroHiker Posts: 344 Member
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    dixiech1ck wrote: »
    As for Thyroid, there are a panel of tests the typical docs do not test or use but you can inquire into those:

    TSH

    Free T4

    Free T3

    Reverse T3

    Thyroid Peroxidase Antibodies

    Thyroglobulin Antibodies

    I was previously seen by an endocrinologist for my thyroid levels and I do take medication for hypothyroidism.
  • mamasara2
    mamasara2 Posts: 194 Member
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    One of my besties is doing an anti inflammatory diet. Her husband got on board with her as support. She said it has been rough, but insightful. There are all sorts of foods that do not jive with her body and she had no idea until going through this.

    I wish I could help, but can only give you support from the sidelines. Haven't experienced it myself.

    Loads of good vibes to you!

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