You are what you eat

Last week I wrote a blog about the pharmaceutical options on the market right now for Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis.  Today I want to discuss some of the diet based treatments that people are finding some success with.

One thing to remember both with both pharmaceutical and natural/holistic treatments is there really is no one size fits all approach to Psoriasis or Psoriatic Arthritis.  It can take a lot of trial and error to find what will work for you and your lifestyle.  Also remember you need to discuss with your medical professionals if you want to do drastic changes or diet programs to help control your psoriasis and/or psoriatic arthritis.

Many people find they do have food triggers.  It may be a full out allergy or a sensitivity that is causing your psoriasis especially to be triggered.

There are a few "diets" that are popular in the psoriasis community, but the one I hear the most about is Dr. Pagano's diet.  The Pagano Organization has information about the program and Dr. Pagano's books.  The basis of this approach is that the psoriasis is triggered through imbalance in the intestinal tract (Leaky Gut Syndrome).  It focuses on diet to equalize the intestinal tract and improve elimination of toxins.

Another popular approach is to do an elimination diet.  This is more focused on potential food allergies or sensitivities.  Generally it is suggested that you eliminate processed foods and foods that are common allergies such as dairy, gluten, yeast, and sugar.  It is also suggested that you eliminate foods that are most common in your diet.  If you drink orange juice ever morning for breakfast, remove citrus from your diet for several weeks to see if you have improvement.  A few web sites I have found useful in both following an elimination diet and still enjoying my food are The Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen and 100 Days of Real Food.  Many people find that jump starting this elimination process by getting an allergy test done is helpful.  If you decide to start the elimination process with allergy testing be sure to let your Allergist/Immunologist that you are getting the test done because you have Psoriasis/Psoriatic Arthritis and you are interested in isolating foods that are triggering issues for you.  This will allow your testing specialist to be sure that they are including as wide a range of food allergens as possible.

One last route that has grown in popularity in the diet department is the juice fast.  If you have watched the movie "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead" you will be familiar with this approach.  If you haven't click on the title and it will take you to Hulu to watch it for free.  This program is about resetting your immue system through flushing it out while consuming fresh juices.  It allows you to maximize vitamin and mineral intake and give your system a break from breaking down food.  The documentary is about the best way to get information about the program.  It's very informational and entertaining.  There is also a web site that is a companion to the movie that helps with following the plan called Reboot with Joe.  Again you need to be sure you discuss this program with your Doctors so that you are being tracked and having your vitals and blood work checked regularly to make sure you are doing this in a healthy way.

Some food components that are not actually a full diet program are to limit/eliminate nightshades.  These vegetables are believed to cause flares in many people with both Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis.  WHFoods.com has a fairly extensive list of nightshades HERE, and LiveStrong.com discusses issues with nightshades and Psoriasis specifically HERE.  Many people also find eating anti inflammatory foods helpful.  DrWeil.com has an interactive food pyramid of anti inflammatory foods to give you a place to start.  I realize that some of the foods on the nightshades and anti inflammatory food chart are contradictory, and can make the process confusing, but this is an area that trial and error really comes into play.

One last thing to note is that drinking alcohol is generally considered to be bad for Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis.  Not only is it advised to stop drinking alcohol when you are taking many of the medications used to treat both diseases because they are very hard on the liver, but many people find it is a trigger for them.

Finally let me say that not everyone will find that adjustments in their diet will improve their Psoriasis or Psoriatic Arthritis.  I fall into that category.  I have tried all the approaches talked about above and had no improvement in my diseases.  That being said I do believe that living our healthiest life possible is good for us.  Even if I don't avoid particular foods I do limit processed foods and eat whole foods for the majority of my meals.  I also try to eat a very well rounded diet with minimal sugars and red meat and a lot of vegetables and fruit.

Finding your food triggers can take months of trial and error, but you can do it at your own pace.  It doesn't have to be everything at once if you are not comfortable with that level of radical change.  Pick a few foods and start there.  Always be sure to keep your doctors aware of your process so they can support you by monitoring your health and possibly referring you to a Nutritionist to help you with the process.  Don't view this as losing all your favorite food choices.  It's just changing some of them and finding new favorites that don't disagree with your body.

I hope this helps you all find some places to start your search for diet changes that might help your life be better.

Reading a history of me.

I requested my medical records from my Rheum for an appointment I have at the VA next week, and to hand deliver them to the SS office for my disability claim.

I picked them up today and started reading. It was fascinating and terrifying to see my decline over the last 6 years. The last 4-6 months shows an especially exaggerated decline. It was also interesting to see things that my doctors hadn't bothered to tell me. I found I have non reactive arthritis (not uncommon with PsA). I found that the Rheumatologist at least at one point felt I may have Fibromyalgia (was never informed of this and it was never followed up upon or officially diagnosed). I found I have had low Uric acid levels (can be an indicator of MS). I found I have proof of arthritis in my SI joint (never informed of this) and FINALLY diagnosed with arthritis of the right hip after YEARS of trying to get someone to listen to me about the constant pain in that joint. 

I often feel like my Rheum is abrupt. I really like that part of him in some ways because he doesn't poo poo around, but I also sometimes feel like he's not really listening to what I'm telling him about what is swelling, how it's affecting my life, how I am constantly in pain. Reading my records I came to realize that not only does he listen to EVERYTHING I say and record it, but there are instant message conversations recorded in the records of him inquiring about following up with how I am, if I need to come in, why something hasn't happened, and a tone of frustration that I am not having improvement.

Even with living this every day it is really shocking to read through my records and see just how quickly I have declined. I hate that my Rheum is frustrated with my condition (lord knows I am too), but it is somewhat comforting that he is frustrated. It shows he cares about my quality of life and I am not just a number. I knew these things to some degree already or I would have left him years ago, but reading it really reinforced that

New Life not just New Year

Happy Holiday's from Phoenix!  I hope everyone enjoyed their chosen celebrations and festivities.  I am really having a great time with my family.

With the new year quickly approaching I know many of us make New Year's Resolutions.  I've never been one to make them.  I believe every day is a good day to start fresh and move forward so making a point of doing it because it happens to be January 1st seems silly to me.  This is compounded by the fact that most people have abandoned their resolutions by the middle of January.

All that being said I've done some thinking the last few weeks.  This past year has been a year of acceptance for me.  I've come to accept that many things will never be the same for me.  Acceptance isn't always a let down, but it can be a  struggle to reach.  In my pondering this week I've also come to realize that many of the most important things in my life (besides my family) will just take a different course of action in many cases.  In some cases things will actually be the same.  In a discussion with someone the other day about helping the homeless I realized that my past habit of keeping fast food gift cards, water, and personal hygiene kits to give out is still something I can do.  I may not be able to do my work that I trained to do, but there are many things that I can do at my own pace such as write, do arts/crafts, create recipes, and counsel people through their struggles with Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis.  Yes those things will have to be at a moderated pace to allow for my disease and it's fluctuations.  Yes I may not be able to make money or as much regular income from them, but these are all things I can do to help support myself and others.  I've always been a resourceful person so now that doesn't change.

So for me this New Year I won't focus on a new year resolution, but I will be focusing on a New Life path.  I will have struggles. I will trip and fall occasionally.  I will also succeed and find happiness along the way as well.

May the New Year bring you joy, happiness and fulfillment no matter how you choose to go forward.  Remember that no matter what, tomorrow IS another day!

Happy New Year!!!

My oldest Daughter and I enjoying Apache Junction.

One of the many ginormous cacti.

The Superstition Mountains

Another view of the Superstition Mountains.

Here comes winter.

Now I realize that temps in the 40's are NOT that cold, but I've lived in Texas for 10 years now and have developed thin southerner skin.  Cold does not usually bother my arthritis, but winter is always a bad time for my psoriasis.  The air is generally dryer in general, and having heat on in the house on top of that just sucks any moisture there is out of your skin.  I am not looking forward to it to say the least.  My skin is already worse than it has ever been as it is.

I was reading a post on Inspire this morning.  It was about the whole health benefit for chronic/immune disorders, specifically emotional well being and it's effect on your total health.  Part of having this illness is that people don't understand how devastating it can be because you look fairly normal.  Everyone has some relation or friend's relation who has psoriasis or eczema and they are fine.  Yes it's hard on your self esteem, but no reason for you to not be able to work!  What people don't understand is that the systemic swelling involved with Psoriatic Arthritis affects joints, tendons, ligaments, and according to recent studies organs and functioning systems such as circulatory.  What they also don't understand is it isn't isolated.  I don't have pain, swelling and damage isolated to my hands.  If it was I could probably find a way to adapt and be employable.  I do adapt every day.  ANYWAY I have wandered away from my purpose.  The benefit of emotional health.  Since I have been home on medical leave I have noticed some things.  My physical health has not improved.  I had 1 good day, and I LOVED it, but day to day I am not having any improvement in my arthritis.  What has improved however is my state of mind.  I am getting sleep when I need it or when my body allows it.  Yes I am still having a lot of insomnia, but on days I do have insomnia I can sleep later or I can take a nap.  It does not dictate my level of functioning for the whole day or the whole week because I am sleep deprived.  My stress has reduced SO much.  I don't feel guilty about missing work, I don't worry about not getting my work done, I don't worry I am going to lose my job because of my absences, my worry has dropped and changed.  People ask how I'm doing, and I still generally just say, "I'm OK, how are you?".  The truth is that in my head I'm GREAT!  How do you explain that to people though?  So many people think this is all in your head anyway.  As usual I have developed pretty tough skin so I generally don't care what other people think.  I do wish I could educate people.  Someone call Phil Mickleson and Kim Kardashian and tell them to get with it to educate people.  We are the 1%! (ha ha couldn't resist with the political stuff going on right now)

At the end of the day I am glad I decided to go on medical leave.  I am realistic that my psoriatic arthritis has gotten to the point that I will probably not work a traditional job, especially metrology, again.  When it's all said and done even with my physical health in the crapper my mental health is good.  I am well rested and optimistic.  That is SO much better than I was a month ago.