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[sunkacola]

I d suggest trying a gluten-free diet. But just cutting back on it will not do you any good - you have to go completely utterly gluten free, and continue that for at least 6 weeks, longer if you can, to see if it helps.

Now, for me, going gluten free had almost immediate results, within 2 weeks. But it did not improve my fibro. Instead it totally removed a completely different problem that I had. So it was well worth doing, and I will never ever go back.

But really, trust me, you won't find out by just cutting down.
You don't have to cut out carbs!
We are lucky these days because there are sooo many gluten-free things to buy now-- bread, pasta, etc--that you don't have to cut out any one thing, just eat different ones. Now, of course, that stuff is expensive, and if you can't afford much of it then you will have to do with less. But if you can cook and bake, you can make your own very, very inexpensive gluten-free flour mix at home and use it 1:1instead of regular flour.
It is easy-peasy.

And you don't have to buy only what says "gluten free!" all over it. Read the labels. You cannot eat wheat, rye, triticale, or barley. That's all. Many things don't have any of those in them.

Brenda-----I know it is hard. I was physically and emotionally addicted to bread! When I went off it, I longed for bread every day for about 6 months! Now, I cannot even eat gluten-free bread because it will start that longing again.

We have to take responsibility for our own bodies and health and do whatever needs to be done.
If a diet change will genuinely help you, then you have to do it. Treat it like an addiction that you need to recover from. Get help, do whatever you have to do, but do it.

As I see it, if a diet change will help and you don't do it, then you cannot complain if you are still having a lot problems.

 

[Tipnatee N]

I was afraid you were going to say that (gluten is bad)! The thought of doing ANY diet at this point is more than I can handle. I cope with stress by eating, and dieting (or cutting out things I love (carbs), just adds more stress. :-(

The 30 days food elimination program can help find what you and only you intolerance to, not what anybody else tell you. I once a while do during time of lower appetite cause it's the best time to learn about your diet than when you have higher appetite.

I'm like Branda K.
Some food I'm intoletance only a day of migrains, or other type pains, but someday it's the opposite. Branda K doctor is right about the fibro robing the body of mineral and vitamins so much so I don't know how it could have gone. I have to grab a bottle of potassium over and over when my body felt tight and I'm starting to get the uncomfotable bloating around my belly. Cause if not I'm going to suffer from short breathing attack. Or a bottle of magnesium or calcium when I felt internal dehydration , for external dehydration is sodium, IBS for me is lots of K2 and probiotic cause I lost some good bacteria also, And D3 I need to take a lots everyday just to feel like a human being. It's hard to keep track at first but these kind of thing take a bit of time to learn.

 

[Brenda K]

DJScott. I hear ya on the carbs...... ahhhhh they always wrap their arms around me and make me feel all warm and fuzzy....... mmmmmm carbs. Ha ha ha
I hate the word diet. A nicer way would maybe be say... changing your eating habits. Simple sugars and the sugar that is made from simple carbs are in my docs opinion are Fibro's biggest offenders. I wish I could remember how she explained it. She is all about balance. Veggies protein and a good complex carb. Which is great and all, but when your pain/stress level is at what feels like a zillion.... cooking a healthy meal just isn't in the cards and of course we reach for that easy comfort food to get us through the pain. I've medicated with food for years. It's so hard to change that. So she tries to teach you about what to have and what to avoid as well as being prepared for those bad days. Ie make up meals and freeze them so when your pain is too much and u just cannot prepare a meal you have something u can just throw in the oven or nuke.
It's a good plan lol you just have to get the energy to actually do it. honestly it is a never ending struggle.
I fall off my lil red wagon all the time.... it has taken me years to stop beating myself up over it. When I have a bad day, I acknowledge it and tell myself tomorrow I will try to do better!

 

[Brenda K]

Sunkacola

Yup you are right.... it's completely on us to follow through to be able to see what dietary changes will work for us.

For me, lactose in dairy is a huge trigger. It gives me a wicked headache, insomnia and makes my body and joints ache something fierce. It will come on usually within an hour of having it.

I hear ya on the bread. Ooooh and potatoes. Carbs and sugar are totally addictive! You can actually have withdrawals when you stop eating them!

Maybe if I built a shrine for the carb gods they would miraculously cure me so I could indulge

Oh if only!

 

[Tipnatee N]

DJScott. I hear ya on the carbs...... ahhhhh they always wrap their arms around me and make me feel all warm and fuzzy....... mmmmmm carbs. Ha ha ha
I hate the word diet. A nicer way would maybe be say... changing your eating habits. Simple sugars and the sugar that is made from simple carbs are in my docs opinion are Fibro's biggest offenders. I wish I could remember how she explained it. She is all about balance. Veggies protein and a good complex carb. Which is great and all, but when your pain/stress level is at what feels like a zillion.... cooking a healthy meal just isn't in the cards and of course we reach for that easy comfort food to get us through the pain. I've medicated with food for years. It's so hard to change that. So she tries to teach you about what to have and what to avoid as well as being prepared for those bad days. Ie make up meals and freeze them so when your pain is too much and u just cannot prepare a meal you have something u can just throw in the oven or nuke.
It's a good plan lol you just have to get the energy to actually do it. honestly it is a never ending struggle.
I fall off my lil red wagon all the time.... it has taken me years to stop beating myself up over it. When I have a bad day, I acknowledge it and tell myself tomorrow I will try to do better!

I wish I could see your doctor cause from what you describe her, she is totally on point with Me to the T . I don't do well follow other people diet plans either , I cook my food the way that only I think I need to eat. I often marinated all my meat with all the good stuff in to the zip lock bags, and leave the in the fridge for a few days before I cook , and the just simply tossing in some mix frozen vegetable later together when cooking it'll teste even better than the restaurant.

 

[DJScott]

Thanks @sunkacola I appreciate your suggestions and support. After the last couple of days (I ended up going home from work early yesterday), I think I ready to try this!

 

[sunkacola]

Good, DJScott. I really, really hope that it does you some good.

Remember, you don't only have to buy the expensive gluten-free things. (Now, some people say that they cannot even eat anything produced in a factory that also makes things with gluten, but honestly I am kind of doubtful that this is true).

For instance, I had stopped buying a creamy pasta sauce that I liked because I just assumed it had flour in it. But then I read the label: no wheat, no rye, no barley, and I can eat it just fine. So read the labels. And the internet is full of gluten-free recipes.

If you want gluten-free flour just make your own. It's really cheap to make. Not as cheap as wheat flour, but cheaper than buying it ready-mixed.

You might, as Brenda says, go through withdrawal if you have been eating a lot of gluten. I did, but just like coming off a drug that is bad for you it is well worth doing.