Easing my symptoms by diet change

Image by Miansari66 - Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12101078

For several months, I have been in pain in different joints to a varying degree almost every day 24/7. I get inflammation in the joints and it jumps around to different joints. Right now, I have pain in my right shoulder and all of my toes on both feet and both my knees. My toes are so stiff and hurt so bad that I can hardly walk in the mornings. I have to walk on the side of my feet for a while to get around and the stiffness and the pain never goes completely away.

As I described in Day trip to Haugesund, we went to the hospital for rheumatology in Haugesund. The diagnose was being in the early stages of rheumatoid arthritis. They suggested that I start right away with the drug called Plaquenil. I was reluctant to do it, because the side effects were more severe than my symptoms. I said no, and went to Budapest in Hungary to get a second opinion.

The doctor there said that I do not have the illness, but that I was a candidate. He said that it was too early to start on Plaquenil; “It is not vitamins we are talking about here, it’s poison.” He prescribed some anti-inflammation pills and asked me to track my symptoms.

I don’t want to take any more pills, not even the anti-inflammation ones, but sometimes I need a break from the pain. I’m already on blood thinning pills after my stroke last year, and they say it’s for life.

When we came home after the trip to Budapest, I started to change my diet. Milk and dairy products are gone, the same is red meat, and eventually I will cut all meat from my diet.

I get alot of inspiration from @jeffberwick. Thank you, Jeff. I am doing intermediate fasting, and I eat as much fruit as I can. Although, we have very little choice in fruits here in Norway. There are surely lots more to choose from in Acapulco. I use coconut milk on muesli. I used to be a heavy milk drinker, but it was easy to stop. For frying, we use coconut oil. It’s way better than butter or Olive oil.

We are looking into which foods are anti-inflammatory and which is not. I’m trying ginger now and we will buy turmeric in the coming days.

I’ve been using ginger for a few days and I’m using it my own way. I’ve read that people use it in tea, or as an ingredient in food. I peal it and chop it up into small enough pieces so I can swallow them with water. Every morning and evening. I’ve been doing this for a few days. I use a good chunk of ginger.

Now. It might just be a coincidence, but I am in less pain now. The inflammation is receding. I don’t have as much pain in my toes now as I did just a few days ago. My shoulder feels better. I can move it around in positions that I could not do before.

I’m going to keep taking ginger this way and in this amount for a while before I can say for certain, but it looks promising. I’m going to read more about ginger, and how it reacts with my blood thinning pills. Is it dangerous for me taking this much ginger? I know they warn me about mixing ibux and blood thinning pills. Ultimately, I’d like to get off all pills, but my doctor said that it would be a huge risk not taking the blood thinning pills and I would never get a green light from her. I must admit, it is scary. I don’t want another stroke. Next time I might not be as lucky.

As a side effect of changing my diet, I have lost some weight. I am steadily losing some every day and that is encouraging.