Rheumatoid Arthritis Support Group
Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic, inflammatory, multisystem, autoimmune disorder. It is a disabling and painful condition which can lead to substantial loss of mobility due to pain and joint destruction. The disease is also systemic in that it often also affects many extra-articular tissues throughout the body including the skin, blood vessels, heart, lungs, and...
For the last several months, I have been eating out of control. Snacks at night, ice cream, cookies, cookies, and cookies, crackers, junk food, and eating at least twice as much as one should eat at meals. I was snacking during the day, candy, crackers, you name it, I was shoving it down my mouth. My RA was getting worse, (you would think I would correlate the two, right?) I put on over 7 pounds, my swelling was worse, I was aching more, tired, getting down, emotional mess, you name it. The about 10 days ago, I said: "STOP THE INSANITY!!!!" I just literally stopped eating all the junk food, cut my meal intake to about a fourth of my normal sized meals, and quit eating after dinner. Once dinner was done, I was done for the night. I also stopped drinking all sodas, diet drinks. The only fluid I have is water or milk. OMG, within 48 hours, my swelling was down, my RA was not really bothering me, my emotional state is so much better, my sleep is better, I am drinking more water (I sometimes really forget to drink fluids as I just don't get thirsty) my energy is up! But the biggest difference is that my RA is really so much better!!!! I have been very tempted to eat at night, but then I think about how much better I feel - oh, I really think because my sugar intake has been reduced by leaps and bounds, my RA is doing to so much better. Earlier this week, I saw my RA doctor and she told me to try and go gluten free. While I am not really there yet, just the reduction in the foods I eat (crackers, excessive breads, things with gluten) that probably that has helped too. With the way I am feeling, it's worth it not to go back to those really bad eating habits!!! Just wanted to shout this out in case anyone who eating habits are out of control and your RA is bad too, maybe give this a try. Over and out.....oh, I also have lost 5 pounds!!! Of course, I still have 40 more pounds to go. uh!
What a great post about a terrific job and being able to connect it too how you feel so quickly. Great job and thank you for sharing. Maybe some of your success and perserverence will rub off on me.
I am 62. I have been getting disgusted with myself a lot lately. I have experienced what you describe and yet still fall back in the hole of over eating or comfort eating over and over again.
I have been overweight for the last maybe 20 years. Working at it all the time. Some times down and sometimes up but even down is too high now. I will blame one thing. Eating too much.
But I will give myself a bit of a break by adding about the same time as weight became more and more difficult to take off or keep off was also the time I began to take more and more meds.
Some psych meds and respiratory were the worst for weight gain. Especially prednisone which I have had to take such high doses of for so many years for asthma that it was just a miserable roller coaster. I believe I would have been DX with the pain issues before I was if I wasn't on so much prednisone.
I have a biological depression that runs in my family so the psych meds are needed but since my chronic pain and immune system deficiency DX the depression is worse. I always walked or biked or exercised away my depression episodes but now it is like I am crippled. It is impossible for me to move around without really bad pain. I feel trapped. I feel fatigued in a way that sleep does not relieve it.
So, I eat. And eat. And eat. Then hate myself for it. Then do it again. Grrrr.
I have lost weight before, many times. And each time I am able to get on a program of eating better I feel better very quickly. Just as you report. The longer I am able to stick with it the better I feel. In all ways. Physically, mentally and spiritually. Weight comes off but more importantly fluid and inflammation releases. Sometimes remarkably.
So, why do I stop and get myself in trouble again? If I knew a simple answer to that I would be a billionaire. ;) it is a very difficult struggle.
I hope that your inspiring post, which caused me to tell my story, will continue on to give me the courage to give myself a break by doing, once again, the things I do have control over.
Thanks so much
Cindy W
Wish we had a group just on this subject. We could encourage each other to take better care and check in with each other. Listen to each others wtruggle and success. Maybe that would help?