finally! have suspected for a long time

[sunkacola]

Hi @cookiebaker ..........Here's the thing to remember. You do not have to "give up" dairy or anything else you love. What you need to do is give it up TEMPORARILY, for about a month, in order to find out if it makes any difference in how you feel. If it doesn't, then you are good to go. but you need to find out. Since it's what you adore, I would suggest starting with other things and leaving that category to last because you may find something else that helps instead. However, if it helps you to feel less pain/fatigue or other symptoms then no matter how hard it is, you will give it up if you want to feel better.

Bread, all my life, was my favorite thing. Talk about hard to give it up!! But I did just to find out ( this was in relation to an entirely different problem from fibro, by the way, but a health issue I had had all my life that turned out to be gluten intolerance)....and giving up gluten changed my life, and I have nev er once gone back no matter what anyone put in front of me because I know if I eat it I will pay for that for at least 2 days and it's not worth it. If it helps you to give something up and you want to feel better you will do it. Very hard at first but you eventually get used to it.

As for giving up gluten and it didn't help, I have a couple of questions:
Did you really give up ALL gluten, or just bread? Because gluten in the form of wheat, rye, or barley is in many many different kinds of packaged foods and condiments, and in order to find out if it helps you have to give it up 100% which means reading labels and being meticulous.
Second question is for how long did you give it up? If only a week or two that is not long enough to find out if it changes things.

Having said that, I know that going 100% gluten free doesn't by any means help everyone. It is just one of the many things that you can experiment with. It doesn't matter where you start with your experimenting, just that you start somewhere and keep at it and be truly diligent about it in order to find out what will help you.

 

[JayCS]

might start using the term from now on!

gobs and gobs of it...! - Just got to get the consonants the right way round in head and fingers...)

The only one what?

Who's learning knew new words...

 

[cookiebaker]

Did you really give up ALL gluten, or just bread?

i gave up all gluten, no reg bread, wheat pasta/noodles, paid a lot more attention to ingredients lists on various products... it is amazing how many things have wheat/gluten in them. gave it up for about a month... +/- a few days. My reason for doing so at the time is because of bloating and gas..
i dont eat a lot of bread to begin with but when I do eat bread i use whole grain wheat (dark, not light/white), and the rare hamburger bun... dont eat a lot of hamburgers, so... LOL
for pasta/noodles, i found some good gluten free alternatives - not bad tasting either.

I have reduced my sugar intake a great deal, but there is still room for improvement there...
Been working with a nutritionist on trying to bring my weight down... not much luck so far, but I will keep trying..

Excess fluid weight is a big problem for me.. my feet and lower legs are frequently swollen (pitting edema) and achy and i am pretty sure that is heavily related to lack of exercise on my part.. standing upright/walking causes major pain in the lower back.... I do use a walking stick/cane when i have to go very far... I keep a cane in my car, and have a couple of walking sticks in the house.. i can usually get from the house to the car unassisted, but that is only about 20 ft or so from door to car.

Caffeine is another one i am trying to work on - have cut my coffee intake in half, but plenty of room for improvement in other areas (soda anyone?) trying to drink more plain water, or fruit juice (preferably with no added sugars)

 

[sunkacola]

Well, it sounds as if you are on your way, and good for you. Just keep it up. If you find it is easier for you to cut in half, then cut further down, then that is what works for you. You will not know how much removing something from your diet really helps until you cut it down to nothing, although you may find improvement if you cut it our 80% to 90%. Going at it slowly takes longer but the main thing is that you are doing it. If you can dedicate yourself to continuing this effort, you will get good results in all probability.

As for exercise, you can seriously begin with such a small amount that you won't even think it's worthwhile. But it is, as long as you build on that. As slowly as you wish, again, but just do it. A walk around your own living room can turn, gradually, into a mile long walk or more if you just build up to it in little increments. The most important thing is to do it and then don't stop doing it.

You are on your way to better health and should be proud of what you are doing so far. Any time you want encouragement, let us know.

 

[cookiebaker]

thank you, @sunkacola (and everyone else, too)

I am trying my best at this point.. my biggest demon to kick is going to be the smoking, but i am determined!!

 

[Auriel]

Rooting for you @cookiebaker