PsA journal cont

General Blog
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Truncated from my post "Unicorn Tuesdays." on catricorn.wordpress.com (+ all profanity filtered out)

So I should journal about my psoriatic arthritis, I suppose. I started hand therapy this week! :) I learned that my right hand is far more dysfunctional than I realized! :( The therapist had me bend my fingers in certain ways, then measured the angles of my joints. I had no idea how severely limited the range of motion of my fingers was until she had me do this. It was somewhat devastating. :/ She gave me several suggestions on how I should hold things and open things, and exercises I can do. So that’s moving forward.

I also had an appointment with a functional medicine doctor. She’s an MD, but very holistic. I requested food sensitivity testing to see what foods might be triggering an inflammatory response in my body. I gotta keep that mess to a minimum, yo. Have you ever had food sensitivity testing? It is crazy expensive! But I can’t really think of anything more important than my health for me to invest in. I should have the results in about four weeks. I’m excited and terrified. There are three foods that I absolutely cannot live without: tomatoes, peanut butter and bananas. Tomatoes are a problem for a lot of people with arthritis of all types, so that is concerning for me. I eat peanut butter every day of my life and bananas most days. This is what I have for breakfast at least four days each week:
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  • 1/4 block organic tofu (don’t judge)
  • 1 banana
  • chia and/or flax seed
  • unsweetened cocoa powder (Rapunzel brand)
  • unsweetened peanut butter (chunky)
  • baby kale
  • unsweetened plain almond milk

That mess is delicious!! I am praying to whoever may be listening that those foods are kosher. As it were. I had three more medical appointments this week: physical therapy for my left food and bilateral Achilles tendons, wellness coaching to continue working on my weight loss, and primary care. Because there’s no rest for the wicked, or the arthritic.

Here is some good news: I think the methotrexate is starting to help! Is that possible after only four weeks? I don’t care, I’ll take a placebo effect if that’s all it is. My pain level has been more like a 6/10, down from an 8/10. I’ll take it! Grateful!

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I would love to hear more about the food sensitivity testing. I have been experimenting with eliminating some foods I consider a trigger lately but nothing concrete. How crazy expensive is it, if OK to ask?

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Awesome so glad to hear of blue sky peeking through

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Rachael, the blood test that checks how my autoimmune system responds to 200 different foods costs $600. I’m also having very specific gluten testing that costs another $200. BUT, I’m going to have to wait on the testing now. :frowning: Your results won’t be accurate if you’ve taken steroids in the previous 2 months and I’ve been on Prednisone 3 times in the last 3 months. :confused:

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Hi Junix

I am In the Twin Cities and I’m looking into tests for food sensitivities. Are you seeing someone locally?

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Yep, Tia. I see an integrative health MD at HCMC’s Whittier clinic in Minneapolis. She uses Cyrex Lab’s test kits. If Whittier isn’t convenient for you, Cyrex might be able to help you find a closer provider. Good luck!

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Thanks, Junix!

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It looks like I may be too late with this warning, but many of us have done exclusion diets with little to no success in improving symptoms. It’s likely we all remember that feeling of wanting to do anything and everything to get better, and it lead to us spending good money on diet changes, supplements, and such when the best treatment for PsA is a good rheumatologist who can guide and hears you, and a positive outlook.