Fibromyalgia and diet

[remnant]

A patient suffering from fibromyalgia should have an elimination challenge diet starting by elimination of dairy and gluten food. Consulting a physician is necessary in case of allergies to make sure you don't miss out on essential nutrients. Whenever possible, a diet should have vegetables, grains and lean proteins. Eating small meals frequently boosts energy levels. The correct food in this case should be low glycaemic index food.

 

[Dooi]

I haven't tried, but my sister is gluten-free and she found lots of benefits. More energy, better moods, much better skin (she had bad skin for two decades previously). The strangest of all is that now she's been free of gluten or 4-5 years, if she has any she has a really bad reaction. Her stomach will puff out like she's 3 months pregnant and she'll be awfully sick. Makes you wonder if it really is bad for you but you're just used to it

 

[Trellum]

I haven't been able to go gluten-free and i don't think I ever will I have IBS and I have noticed that gluten does seem to upset my colon a bit, I am really considering going for it. I'd be happy with just stopping eating processed stuff, i think that would help loads as well. After all only god knows whats really in those foods we eat...

 

[DK_engineer]

I read an interesting book on that, Pandora's Lunchbox by Melanie Warner.

I tried eliminating gluten but it didn't make any difference for me.

Too much sugar gives me migraines though

 

[gryfalcon]

My daughter definitely feels better when she avoids gluten. She doesn't do it all the time, but has significantly reduced her gluten, and when she feels extra bad, she goes on elimination diets. Right now, she is on a vegetarian diet. We've found that many Indian foods have lots of healthy spices, and less additives. We've also used some typical products like spaghetti sauce and added things like artichoke hearts and black olives with gluten free pasta, and cooking dishes like cajun dirty rice or jambalaya or curry with mushrooms instead of meat. We discovered a delicious Indian lentil Dal (curry) a few days ago - we just added chopped onion, carrots cooked in coconut oil, and water. Over several years, we've gotten adjusted to reading ingredients and choosing corn and rice over wheat. She also uses smoothies. Last night, it was a Kale smoothie with berries. We had a huge quinoa kick for a while, and made dishes with it similar to chipotle. Guacamole is one of our favorites. She can order a guacamle salad on corn chips for a quick pick-me-up when we're out.

She does tend to be anemic, however, which I believe is a symptom of the disease, which also causes a negative feedback loop.

 

[marcus777]

I got a big boost in 2010 when I cut out gluten and bread etc but then FM came back.
I tried for a long time to figure it all out with a food and pain diary and I still do that
but eventually I caved in and I paid for an IgG food intolerance test
and that helped pinpoint other foods that were causing me pain
BUT... it would still come back.

This year I reintroduced yogurt and Kefir and I can have a pain free day despite eating those.
I still keep a food diary but nothing makes any sense.
I can't find any rhyme or reason to the food pain connection anymore but I still avoid milk, wheat, cheeze, eggs.

 

[oportosanto]

The thing is that there are so many alternative therapies that we don't know what will work for us. I would just keep on trying until I find something that would work.

 

[byhu]

Given that I come from a family that was well-schooled in nutrition, I feel safe doing elimination diets on my own. I've gone vegetarian, and that seemed to help quite a bit. Now I'm working on vegan, which is yielding further improvements. Next will be gluten then sugar. A friend has also suggested that I watch out for low barometric pressure days and have easy-going plans in place for them. So far, so good.