Thursday, May 29, 2014

Caution! RA alert!

Just got back from a cruise to Alaska (yep, retired, and hitting that bucket list!). Zero problems with RA.

After I returned, however, I got a little careless.

First, I made myself some popcorn. Next morning the fingers were a bit stiff. OOPS.

Then two days later I cooked up a bunch of country style pork ribs on the BBQ. YUM! But the next morning, my fingers were again somewhat stiff and the knuckle on my left middle finger was quite rigid. UH-OH.

Yep, popcorn and pork are two foods that I had reactions to when I first got RA. But that reactivity went away once I was well into remission. For whatever reason (I believe it has to do with a horrid reaction to BACTRIM last summer and the ensuing several months of having to climb back up the cliff to get back into RA remission with no symptoms) my "gut" is hyper sensitive once again to many foods. So I have to be sure to exclude eating much in the way of gluten (which is easy because there are so many gluten free things available, and I actually had stopped eating a lot of pasta anyhow), as well as tomatoes, pork, popcorn, brussel sprouts. Also I need to really hit the probiotics again, as I have been lazy about taking them. It will take several months to rebuild the protective lining of the gut to where I can test out a few of the "forbidden foods" to see if I am again free to eat a wider range of foods without fearing a flare-up.

The fingers swell up overnight, by about 10am they are back to normal. But they are a gentle reminder that I have to keep up the fight. Which means BOTH diet AND antibiotics PLUS supplements! Sigh. It is easy to fall off the wagon when you feel 100% normal....

ever onward with this battle!

2 comments:

  1. Do you know someone with rheumatoid arthritis? Refer them & you could earn money. Ask us how!

    For more information, please visit our website
    www.parexel.com/baltimore
    Or call 1-800-797-2448

    ReplyDelete