Could your stomach be the cause of Arthritis and other autoimmune diseases?
If you are like me, you are always searching for some way to control your (fill in your particular auto- immune chronic disease). For me, I use Feedly (google it), to keep me up to date about arthritis, CPPD, RA, and other types of arthritis and their treatments. If you plug in what you want to follow, you can get many articles a day about arthritis, and the different treatments and options.
My Rheumatologist told me I could not exercise my way out of my CPPD and Fibromyalgia. But from what I have read, we need to do 30 minutes of aerobic exercise a day, 6 days a week.
Up until about October, I could do that. And other strength training. But when the cold set in, my joints became stiffer and stiffer. I exercise one day, then the next I have trouble moving. My ankles, feet and ankles are red swollen and painful. My toes are especially troublesome. I have Chilblains disease, an offset of Raynauds disease. The poor little toes are numb, very red with a telltale blister forming on the top on one of them.
That kind of makes it hard to exercise. And when I do exercise, I don't recover easily or not at all.
Frustration, Fear, Anxiety are all a part of the disease. But we can't stop. We can't give up.
Some days are good, some are horrible. I came across an article on Arthritis on about.com
The writer, Carol Eustice, wrote:
6 Things People Without Arthritis May Not Understand
Carol really hits the nail on the head on the first thing about arthritis that people don't understand. She says:
"Fatigue associated with arthritis is an overwhelming depletion of energy that strikes at unexpected times and often after a night's sleep. The body feels completely spent, or as if flattened by a truck, and there seemingly isn't any amount of rest that will turn it around quickly."
No Shurt Shitlock!
She goes on to say that the fatigue at times is worse that the pain. I can attest to that. And the waking up feeling like you did not rest. Your energy level is
ZERO. I hate those days. We can only manage our response to those energy-less days.
That is difficult. Chronic painful diseases are hard to get a grasp on. That is why I write.
Understanding that you are fine one minute, the next you are flaring like a storm, is very difficult for anyone to understand. The pain and fatigue are overwhelming at times.
There are things to do, to be done, places to go. My disease makes looking forward to anything not a pleasant thing. I worry what I can do that day. And if you are with a bunch of people, its hard to keep up.
You can feel a bit trapped. People don't understand, and you can't communicate something you don't understand. Most doctors don't understand.
"Hey, your moving, walking and biking."
Yes Dr, but its not the same, and I don't think any Rheumy know how to manage any patients lives.
They just want to give you pharmaceuticals, steroids
and maybe pain killers. I am looking for a new doctor who will work with me, not against me. I have a friend who is a cancer specialist and told me flat out not to take those biologics unless I had to crawl to his office.
At 55, I am not taking that risk. I am just trying to manage each day as it is presented. I'm not getting stuck with needles unless I can't move my hips, wrists, ankles, shoulders, back and ad infinitum.
So what about the "gut" theory? I have another doctor who's clients are from rock stars to tv and movie stars in LA. He told me that its all in the food you eat. Of course, we who have these awful diseases know what we should eat and not. He says an 80% chance of getting rid of your disease.
I love the guy, but if that were the case, there would be people cured and doctors all touting this. I eat well, all natural and no processed foods.
I can't say that he is wrong. But I just haven't seen or heard of people being cured of painful arthritis
by what they put in their stomach.
I wish there was a manual that come with painful inflammatory arthritis, but there is not.
So we make our own way. Some of us write, some give useful tips. Some talk about how they make it through each day. As a photographer, and Blogger,
I give myself an out, something that I can create
and others can enjoy.
I hope if you have Inflammatory arthritis, that you can find a way to manage your disease, but find a way to have a life too. Thanks for reading and
Keep up the good fight!
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