Anyone try a plant based diet?

[dancingwithfibro]

My new acupuncturist placed me on a strictly raw veggie diet (sans nightshades) for the past week. That's right, salads only, no fruit, no grains, no nuts, no cooking, just RAW VEGGIES. I used to be a serious carnivore and a terrible eater of processed foods and sugars. I've been working on a healthier diet recently but this is a whole new level.

The first 4 days were miserable, I was having extremely bad detox and withdrawal symptoms - constant headache, fibro symptoms flared, terrible weakness at times i felt i was about to collapse, dizziness, difficult standing/moving about, HUNGER, irritability, etc etc. Not fun, many times I wanted to quit and say this was too much but my acupuncturist assured me this was normal signs of detox and that it'll go away after a few days. So I binge watched food documentaries on Netflix for support- Forks Over Knives 1 and 2, Food Inc, Food Matters, Hungry for Change, Fat Sick and Nearly Dead, etc. They keep me motivated, truly inspirational! I even ordered a JUICER! By day 5 those symptoms all went away, I had more energy and mentally I was feeling better too! More clear, focused, and overall bright. The fibro symptoms were me on a good day, a level of 2 vs a 6. Still low energy but faaaar better than the first few days. I even lost 8 lbs! Although this wasn't a reason to go on this diet, it's nice to shed some lbs. 5 more lbs and I'm back to my surfing body days.

On latter part of day 6 and today (day 7), the fibro symptoms started to get worse and now at a level 5, it just shot back up. I don't know why.. it is raining hard, but it rains almost everyday here. Feeling a bit disappointed because I was really hoping to see a steady improvement. I know it's only a week and I need to be patient.. I'm going to be on this diet for a while but this is HARD! Changing my eating habits 180 degrees. I've been learning that my eating habits were really an ADDICTION to certain foods, like a drug.. I am treating my addiction through my taste buds! How I will miss thee BBQs, dim sum, pho, tiramisu, ben and jerry's, cheese, milk, ooohhhh i must stop. I CAN DO THIS! Also watching clips of how farm animals get treated and slaughtered was so horrific, traumatic, life changing. That's a different topic for another day.

ANYWAY

Has anyone else tried a plant based diet and has it helped or not helped your fibro symptoms? What was your experience? When did you start to see an improvement if any, and how much has it improved? I saw a thread about diet that addressed a vegetarian diet helping folks but I would like to know more specifically how and how much.. what pain level were you at before and what are you at now? what were your eating habits before, how long did it take to see improvement, how long have you been on this diet now, how are your symptoms and fatigue now, do you juice? Any feedback on your experience would be GREATLY supportive. Mahalo~

 

[DK_engineer]

It's funny, about 8 years ago I went to an acupuncturist /nutritionist for my chronic migraines. He told me in no uncertain terms I needed to eat *more* meat and less grains and sugar. I followed his advice and had a similar experience to what you are describing. I was amazed at how profoundly diet affected my health. I wanted to understand what foods I should be eating, so I watched a lot of food documentaries and read a lot of books. There is definitely a big fight in the nutrition world with the paleo/weston price people on one side and the vegan/vegetarian people on the other side. For several years I was really puzzled because for either type of diet there are so many examples of how people improved their health. I finally realized that both types of diet require a person to cut out highly processed foods which contain lots of additives.

There are thousands of substances that have been introduced into our food ssupply with minimal testing. I don't have the time or desire to figure out which ones trigger migraines or fibromyalgia, so I do my best to avoid all of them.

We joined a full diet CSA several years ago. Our farmers supply about 80% of our food. I have slowly reintroduced a limited amount of whole grains into my diet without problems. With few exceptions I eat homemade, organic, seasonal food. I will eat from any of the major food groups, but I really avoid added sugar.

When I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia I tried going gluten free for a while. It didn't make much difference. On the other hand eating industrially produced baked goods makes my symptoms somewhat worse.

A couple of books about food I thought were quite good are "The End of Overeating" by David Kessler and "Pandora's Lunchbox" by Melanie Warner. Abd "Eating on the Wild Side" by Jo Robinson. Worlds Healthiest Foods is a good website to look at to stay motivated.

Another interesting book thst helps me keep perspective is "The Gluten Lie". It helps keep me from obsessing too much about food

The biggest thing I have learned is to take everything with a grain of salt.

 

[dancingwithfibro]

Thank you DK for the great recommendations! Wow you have been on quite the healthy diet crusade! I'm sorry to hear about your migraines as well but glad to hear that diet improved your symptoms! I agree, there is definitely a war in the nutrition world and it seems the affects of a specific diet is different to each individual. A vegetarian diet can help some, while a paleo diet can help others, but an elimination of processed foods seems to be consistent across all healthy diets for chronic illness. Very admirable that you guys joined a full diet CSA! We have farmers markets in our area so are able to get fresh organic produce daily.


Yes I tried a gluten free diet as well and didn't see much affect, but processed foods and sugars like KFC and chocolate candies increased my symptoms. I agree, taking everything with a grain of salt is great advice.. both figuratively and literally Trying to stick to this diet for at least a month to see if there is improvement and then slowly add foods like brown rice and fish and monitor symptoms.

I think i need to get back on Cymbalta at some point as well, I was on it for about a year and then stopped taking it a few months ago when after consistently missing more and more doses, the side affects were too intense that I stopped all together. It wasn't the smartest or most responsible thing, I was living a go go go lifestyle in NY then and my health came last to finish school. Anyway, now after 2 months of being off of it, I'm becoming more aware that my fibro has gotten worse over the years and that Cymbalta was masking a lot of it. On the Big Island, we don't have a rheumatologist and getting an appointment with a specialist takes months. My first appointment with a physiatrist here is in Oct, ideally I would like to go back on this medication under his supervision but 2 months is a long time to wait. I have bottles leftover and am very tempted to start especially on bad days like today!

 

[im-grouchy-and-bite]

i dont like to kill living things my plants talk to me

so i eat if it fits in my mouth diet

but hey everyone has success with different things with these disorders so across the board works on the dont work another

good luck with it

 

[DK_engineer]

sounds like you are well on your way to learning how your body responds to diet - I think you are right that everyone is a little different.

I'm sorry to hear it is so difficult to get the medication you need. I hope you are successful to find other ways to cope in the meantime. I will send good thoughts your way, hopefully that will help

Doing the full diet CSA was a big monetary commitment and a lot of work. We could not afford to pay for the CSA and buy processed foods. But my husband and my boys wanted to do it. Every year I ask them if they want to stop and go back to how we ate before (I have reheated plenty of chicken dinosaurs in my time). They always say they want to continue with "farm food". I have definitely pushed my cooking horizon, especially regarding unusual cuts of meat (I've wasn't much of a carnivore before so I was pretty inexperienced with meat).

As for falling off the wagon, we all do it - I know swimming helps me but I inexplicably stopped for two weeks. Speaking of which, it is time for me to get going...

 

[dancingwithfibro]

Yes doing the full diet CSA is a huge commitment, bravo to you and your family for taking it on! Thank you for the good thoughts, I will need them! =) We are going to the Kona side of the island for the month of September, where it is dryer to see if it helps with my symptoms prior to going back on Cymbalta. Continuing to keep a log book and see if there's a pattern with wet vs dry weather. The diet is still going, and on the dryer days it seems to lower symptoms. Swimming in moderation helps me as well, looking forward to getting back to that with my energy coming back now.

 

[1sweed]

I have found that when I avoid eating lots of sugar and processed foods, like tv dinners and such I feel better. Also by dropping meat from my main diet I don't feel as brain foggy as before, so I think diet does play a big role in fibro, but also try to keep your stress levels way down to prevent flares.
On rainy cold days I get very stiff and pain is much worse. Try dressing more warmly or throw blanket in dryer for a bit and then cover up you will be in heaven.
Back to your first thought I am on a somewhat vegan/vegetarian diet and have felt somewhat better. Good luck with your restricted diet.

 

[cmetryme]

dancing dont forget to avoid the night shades.

 

[dancingwithfibro]

yup avoiding the night shades as well.

getting a juicer next week, going to try a juice fast. so far eating a plant based diet isn't giving me a huge relief, but maybe drinking one will.

 

[cmetryme]

detox, then do the juice. it helped me. thats why its not working yet.

remember, good things in the body and bad things out.

you do need the meat for protein. dont think them powders are giving you enough.

plants have many toxins in them. please read up on that one.

keep going your doing the right things now and you should see the reduced pains soon.

take control of the fatigue as that is most important to reducing your pain levels.

 

[DK_engineer]

Wrapping up in a blanket fresh from the dryer sounds heavenly on a cold day!

When I feel like I haven't had enough protein I like to eat a hard boiled egg.

 

[dancingwithfibro]

cmetryme - thanks for the support! yes, i feel like i'm doing my body good by being on this diet and i need to keep with it. i'm learning that there is enough protein in vegetables to be healthy and that animal based protein being a necessity is a myth. but i also believe that everyone's makeup is different, and some people do actually physically need animal based protein. watch Forks Over Knives, it covers the "China Study" and how a vegan diet was proved to be healthier than a "carnivorous" diet. this was very hard for me as i always ate meat in every meal. after watching a lot of these food documentaries and its clips on slaughterhouses, i can't even look at meat now.

i'm not having any powders, just raw veggies and fruits. the first 4 days were hell, severe detox symptoms, barely could get out of bed i almost quit! i'm on day 13 now and my energy has been up and down, not particularly better or worse pre-plant based diet. pain is also the same, up and down, not much difference from pre-diet. my mood and fibro fog has been for the most part slightly better than pre-diet.

joe cross, the director/producer of Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead started a juicing forum and there's actually a specific Fibromyalgia group within the forum for fibro sufferers who are trying juicing to help with their symptoms. one of its members stated that she didn't see benefits in her fibro symptoms until about day 20 of her juice fast. many stated they saw improvements within 2 weeks. so this gives me hope and determination! my juicer arrives this week, i will keep you guys posted on how that goes.

1sweed and DK - that does sound heavenly on a cold day! luckily i don't deal with the cold weather here in Hawai'i, just lots of rain and heat. i actually love the rain.. the sound, the way the air cools down, it can be so beautiful to watch too. just wish it didn't affect my symptoms! but moving from NY to Hawai'i was the best decision i made for my health - better weather, low-stress lifestyle, and time to work on diet and gentle exercise.

hope you guys have a better fibro day =)

 

[Hannah]

I did the forks over knives diet. I followed it to the "T". The doctor said to do it for 6 to 8 weeks. Well at the end of the 8 I felt NO better. I didn't feel motivated and the doctor said he didn't know why it didn't work. He had promised me it would. I quit. It wasn't worth it to me.

You can see the forks over knives video on Netflix. I had the book and authors son book too. I believe it's called the Engine 2 diet. The recipes in that book are modern and more adventures. The food was yummy but it's not practical in my busy life. My husband didn't want to eat the food. He's a midwesten man and want meat and potatoes. I was not about to go one fixing two meals every day.

Good luck to those who try it.

 

[dancingwithfibro]

I'm sorry to hear it didn't work for you, Hannah. 8 weeks is a long time to commit to and bravo to you for completing it! I'm also fearing that it's not going to work for me, hence the juicer. But then again 13 days is a lot shorter than 8 weeks

 

[Hannah]

Thirteen days is better than no days! Keep it up. The hardest part is the first two weeks or so was the hardest for me. I have heard giving up something we eat or smoke or drink has that window of two-ish weeks. Keep on doing it. What if it's exactly right for you? Don't stop now! You'll always wonder if it was right for you if you give up now. Do you really want to have to redo those first 13 days again?
A doctor was the one who recommend it. He told me about a club/support group that has potlucks every month. I have no idea how to find one unless your health provider knows. I am sure you can find forums and support groups on line.

Best of luck to you! Keep pushing!