So I’m currently sat in the pharmacy at the hospital waiting for my leflunomide prescription having had no success with methotrexate after 10 weeks for my PsA.
I’m thinking about giving myself the rest of the month off any meds in order to experiment with diet changes in the vain hope this may help quell the inflammation.
Has anyone had any experience of the Margaret Hills diet or such types of anti acidic/elimination diet processes? I’m going to focus on vegetable juicing and eliminating all dairy, gluten and acids from my diet until Feb. I hear that cider vinegar is also an excellent daily supplement to take daily with honey and is something Ranulph Fiennes swore by in controlling his arthritis.
Perhaps it’s a long shot but I’m willing to try anything so will update on my progress. If anyone has any other experiences to share I’d be very interested to hear…
Yes my rheumy concurred that the mtx wasn’t working as ESR had gone up recently. Plus I had been getting very sick from it. He suggested ditching mtx for leflunomide with a view that if it doesn’t work in 3 months to put a case forward for biologics. I mentioned the recent findings on arthritis research which questions the efficacy of mtx on PsA and he seemed to think I may have more luck with leflunomide. He was interestingly the first doc who embraced the whole diet element as was quite supportive so my plan is to try for a few weeks then crack on with lefounomide should it not help.
Thanks for your advice - I’m realistic about the chances of diet changing the course of my illness but think it’s certainly worth exploring. Watch this space
I think that every little bit helps. Even if changing your diet doesn’t help directly with PsA, it can help with weight which can in turn cause less stress on joints. That’s always a good thing. That’s what I found when I switched my diet around. Either way, I got some results so I’m glad I made a change.
I have a copy of Margaret Hills book, an interesting read. I'm also currently reading the China Study. We have gone gluten free and vegan as of the 1st of January. I'm also taking a break from the meds, like you no success with MTX or Sulfasalazine. I have my prescription for Avara sitting here, however I'm not starting it until I see my rheumy next week and we have a discussion regarding meds and treatment. We use apple cider vinegar( salad dressings, water, honey, lemon ginger& apple cider vin tea) daily at home, we try to follow an alkaline diet. Our diet is eating for overall health and if I see some benefits with my PSA then that would be Fantastic. My plan is to get back on to a med that will hopefully get me back to a functioning level of life (stop the flares). I must say my energy level has increased and my stomach issues seem to be a lot better. Our son has noticed the biggest improvements, no more joint pain and his intestinal issues seem to have disappeared. He had a hemorrhage just over a year ago and was in intensive care for a few days, they never did find the source of the bleed and he has had random stomach pain since. Good luck with your journey :-)
I have a copy of Margaret Hills book, an interesting read. I'm also currently reading the China Study. We have gone gluten free and vegan as of the 1st of January. I'm also taking a break from the meds, like you no success with MTX or Sulfasalazine. I have my prescription for Avara sitting here, however I'm not starting it until I see my rheumy next week and we have a discussion regarding meds and treatment. We use apple cider vinegar( salad dressings, water, honey, lemon ginger& apple cider vin tea) daily at home, we try to follow an alkaline diet. Our diet is eating for overall health and if I see some benefits with my PSA then that would be Fantastic. My plan is to get back on to a med that will hopefully get me back to a functioning level of life (stop the flares). I must say my energy level has increased and my stomach issues seem to be a lot better. Our son has noticed the biggest improvements, no more joint pain and his intestinal issues seem to have disappeared. He had a hemorrhage just over a year ago and was in intensive care for a few days, they never did find the source of the bleed and he has had random stomach pain since. Good luck with your journey :-)
