Diet and PsA

General
1

I am newer to this site and I noticed a lot of people have been posting about diet and lifestyle which has helped to minimize their PsA.

Please respond with your thoughts, your diet, supplements, and exercise that has worked for you. Also if you have had specific stomach issues; like reflux, GERD, or H palori, or ulcers, low acid level, etc...

As most will agree there are links. Im taking advanced pathophysiology right now, I am in grad school for my Family Nurse Practitioner, however I want to practice specifically functional medicine which deals with lifestyle, diet and supplementation.

I am currently on a low carb, minimally processed foods diet, eating mostly veggies, chicken and fish. I was told by my health aging Dr. -

AVOID - (inflammatory foods) - such as beef, pork, processed foods,eggs, night shade veggies (potatoes, tomatoes, peppers and eggplant), wheat - GLUTEN, barley, rye, spelt, kamut, and triticale, corn, sugar, sugar substitutes, honey, oranges and orange juice, all dairy products, all condiments (ketchup, mustered, etc)...

I can eat - organic chicken, wild caught fish (lower mercury level), most fruit, veggies except above, and gluten free grains - rice, buckwheat, quinoa, amaranth, millet, oats (some people argue! must say gluten free), sorghum , teff.

So, since attemting this multiple times, and being sucsesful for periods of 5-9 month, I have "fallen of the wagon at times" I still have had PsA symptoms, and active flaring.

Then I read about YEAST, and all about how some people are overgrown with yeast from the grains.

Well, then I cut out all the fruit except berries.

Well ironically that brings me to eating almost palio or LCHF?? except I need to cut out all grains

Now I read about the LCHF diet helping, and some people doing palio diet. I want to see who has had success.

Interestingly my professor says people are like donuts, we have our skin protecting us on the outside and a big hole running all through the center of us, (out GI tract).

I know I need to fix my GI tract to help my insides heal.

Supplement wise, I was very low in B vitamins, so I take super B's, and I have the MTHFR gene which means I dont process folic acid well - to I take a special broken down form I can process.

I also take Vit D, which was very low, and extra Vit C. Omega, and probiotics.

I also take Sam-E 400mg daily, for mood - and welbutrin 150mg - we all have issues with depression

What I found - my energy level greatly improved on the B vit and D supplement, my mood is the best off sugar and gluten! Corn is not my friend - it can actually cause pain and inflammation all by itself.

However - I found diet alone will not cute PsA. Stress has a huge impact.

Just the stress of my surgery caused my psoriasis to flare in 2 days post op!

Well, please add your stories, and suggestions... So we can all learn from each other!

Thanks

Sarah

2

Yeast free and taking probiotics????

Hopefully you understand that even while you may experience periods of lower symptoms (pain) the disease plods on causing permanent damage to joints and organs. There is no way to avoid the medications AND keep the progress at bay. This disease is caused by things other than diet despite those in denial telling us we can control both genetics and our AUTOimmune system.

Diet and lifestyle can mitigate the disease and we should do everything we can to help ourselves. BUT diet and lifestyle won't substitute for treatment.

1 Like
3

Lamb is on the money here, as he usually is. Diet does have an influence for me: I feel my best on a LC diet. Whether or not I eat nightshades seems to make little difference, but I try not to overdo them. Vitamin D and Omega3 supplements do seem to make me feel better, so I use them generously. Note that I said “better” – my disease plods on. DMARDs (and I tried all of them) gave me some minor improvements, but while I was trying this and that, I lost my hip joint(s) and my feet sustained serious damage. The only thing that has made a majjor difference to my PsA has been biologic treatment.
If you haven’t already, I suggest getting this book:
http://www.amazon.com/Dafna-D.-Gladman/e/B001JS2G7M/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1372694700&sr=8-1
The e-edition is a bargain at $9.50. It is written in such a way that both lay people and medical professionals will find it accessible, complete and informative. The two most important points the book made for me are:

  1. Psoriatic arthritis needs to be treated early and aggressively to prevent damage
  2. The biologic agents are the most effective treatments for the disease.
2 Likes
4

It is the best book out there about psoriatic arthritis. ditto on the only course of treatment! How are you Seenie?

5

I agree with you all that medications are needed to control or decrease damage. I know diet is not the end all be all, however lifestyle, stress, diet, exercise, all play a roll.

I am looking to learn all I can about everything I can do, I am about to start the last available drug on the market. My doctor and I have tried everything else, steroids, methotrexate, NSAIDS, Humira, Simponi, Embrel, and they have either not controlled my symptoms, or I am allergic to them and can not continue.

Remicade is my last choice. My brother has Ulcerative Colitis and he just stopped Remicade because the TNF blockers dont work.

I am 34 and just had to have surgery on my foot due to chronic uncontrolled focused inflammation which rapidly distroyed one of my toe joints, this occurred while on simponi.

In my research on PsA 40% of patients are not gaining control of symptoms with medication. Science is not working fast enough to find answers and new medications.

Im running out of options, so I must try to do everything possible I have within my control to do.

Thank you to everyone for your input. Some of my research is attached below.

Sarah

627-PsA.docx (17 KB)
1 Like
6

4 posts were split to a new topic: Why are some rheumatologists reluctant to prescribe biologics?

7

Was on a vegan no gluten diet when first suspected then confrimed psa, but although my weight went down successfully inflammation was sky high, could not walk far even w sticks, and had a year of aggressive steroids methotrexate before finally improving w addition of cosentyx to methotrexate, which am still using. As the result of a fall and consequent hip operation in sept, found to my horror post op that my unbearable pain and inflammation on my knee had returned, in spite of my biologic. I was desperate, thinking i would never get up and that no treatment would ever work,plus my weight had levitated partly as result of steroids, looked up diets and found lchf plus intermittent fasting, cut out nightshades as well as alcohol and sugar and carbs, and lost about 30 pounds in mabe a month or so but more importantly the inflammation from psa LEFT. Am still taking medication, but am able to walk again and feel better every day for my conditions with this way of eating. Regards,

1 Like