I started in October 09 with a little voice in my head saying "it won't work, of course". I don't know why I was so sceptical, but I've had so many people telling me their different remedies for psoriasis and arthritis that I got to tune them all out eventually.

This NSD worked for me. Like the previous post, I'm not as strict as I could be - I haven't had the iodine out for a while and don't worry about pill coating, for example - but I do follow quite closely.

For some reason, a small amount of bread doesn't seem to have negative effects, but any potato and it starts to kick in again.

I'm just waiting to get better again after having some hot chips on my holiday, and perhaps I'll try a little sushi. I do miss sushi.

Essentially though, the benefits have been great. My stomach trouble subsided greatly. My joint pain improved too - I still have a little, but perhaps that is because I'm not strict enough. It's totally manageable though.

Hi,

Thank you so much for your story, it has really inspired me to start all over again. My lower & upper back are fused, i had some paing from when i was 25/26 years and diagonised AS in 2007, since then i left everything infact i stopped coming out of my house and my social life, ever thinking why god gave me this, i never deserved it .... what not.

Then i have started with DMARDS - SAAZ 500 tablet 2 times a day for the last 4 months, but never really thought about my eating habits now realise my eating habbits is like a ocean, i eat evertyhing from rice to chocolates to icecream to very very spicy indian foods to onions and pently of Coffee/TEA (each more than 10 cups per day) .... infact i have allergy for the last 4 years 24/7. Now i understnad that food is what i need to concentrate and test to use.

Anyway thanks a lot for all the information you have provided.

Best Regards
Manju

Thanx for your awesome story at kick as. I'm inspired and am also looking to overcome this horrible nightmare. Is there anyway I can email you if ii I have any questions about the NSD.I have started almost two weeks now. Thanx

Hi Everyone,
I'm brand new here but I wanted to share my story. About 5 years ago I had a problem with my back. During the day while I was moving everything was fine. At night, after about 4 hours of sleep, my back would hurt so bad that I could not remain in bed. I would have to get up out of bed, every night for over a year, and try to prop up sideways on the couch hugging a pillow in order to get back to sleep. I was taking Naproxen and that helped some but never gave me complete relief. When I got up to start my day in the morning, it took me around an hour to finally "loosen up" and feel like a normal person. I was only 32 years old but felt like I was 100. I searched the Internet to see if anyone else had symptoms similar to mine and I stumbled across AS. I thought that sounded like way to serious of a problem for me to have and I wasn't about to go to the doctor to get it checked out (I'm one of those stubborn people who don't go to the doctor unless they are dying).
While I was reading about AS, I realized that the symptoms sounded a lot like mine and I had previously suffered a bout of Salmonella poisoning and I read that sometimes that can cause the AS to show up. I read about the Iritis that often goes with AS and I thought that can't be what I have, I've never had a problem with my eyes. Well, a couple of months later, I had iritis.
I did go to the eye doctor and he diagnosed my iritis but couldn't really tell me why it happened. He put me on steroid drops and the iritis finally cleared up.
I got back on the internet and reread what I had read before about AS and realized that I probably had it. Hating to go to doctors like I do, I thought that I would try to do something myself to see if I could help it. I started the next day on a no starch, no sugar diet. I ate only meat, cheese, eggs, and salad. I was willing to try this diet for a week to see if it helped. After 3 days of this, I slept in my own bed all night long for the first time in over a year. I nearly started crying the first morning when I woke up in my bed. I was so happy. I began to realize that maybe this diet was what my body needed to get all of the "bad" bacteria out of my intestines and let the "good" stuff have a chance. I stayed on this diet strictly for about a year and have never had back trouble or iritis again (knock on wood). Another benefit of this diet was that I lost 35 lbs.
Eventually, I started adding back some starches and sugar back to my diet. At first I added only the healthy stuff like whole grains and brown rice. I didn't see any problems after this so I started adding back even more. Today, I eat anything I want and have never had another episode of this and I hope I don't. Every so often, just to be on the safe side, I will go on that same diet for a week or two just to get the "bad" stuff out of my system. I don't know if it helps but I figure it can't hurt anything.
I know my symptoms and story are not as severe as most on this site but I told myself that if I could find something that would help me, that I would pass it along just in case there was someone else out there, scared and looking for answers just as I was. Hope this helps someone out!

Hello all,

I was recently diagnosed with AS after having years of backpain and pain in my hip (Yes, i avoided going to Doctors)I am 27 but i've had the pain in my back and hip for 6-7 years now. Well before i said "That's it!, I'm going to a Doctor" i had a really bad flare in my groin that pretty much kept me in bed for 4 days. I was floored when i found out what AS was and i am the first one in my family as far as we know.

To my surprise my PCP quickly identified my symptoms (morning stiffness that goes away with exercise, chronic back-pain) and referred me to a rhumy, and acute SI and Early onset AS is what i have.

I am on Naproxen 500mg x2 and i feel a little better but my last visit my Rhumy wanted me to start considering Humira as he saw slight changes in my SI joint from the last xray and blood-work regardless of me feeling better than ever before for the last 5 years. My world again was in dark clouds and all i could see was life long of heavy medicine that will lead to other related problems as Anti-TNFs mess with your immune system.

I had a flare again 2 weeks ago which i had to miss work for 2 days and i knew i didn't want to live this life forever this way. I started searching online relentlessly as i knew there had to be other people looking for a cure without getting sucked into pill popping wars or having to inject yourself with chemicals that cost $20K USD per year. That's when i stumbled across KickAS and my god! I think i found my new favorite site. I learned about the NSD here and i have just started it last week. I am still learning all my foods, keeping a log of what i eat and my pain levels and trying to figure out what's good or not for my system.

I feel better already within a week of No starchy foods but i know that might be psychological. I am committed to sticking with this diet and thanks to the users already posted up a list of foods and all the other priceless information about this nasty disorder. I've learned about the iodine test which i will start conducting my own test next week.

I just want to thank to all who are involved in helping us with nothing asked in return and what an unbelievable community this is.

I can only look forward to getting better reading your success stories and doing the things i love to do with my loved ones!

I've just started the NSD so wish me well, any further breakfast Lunch and Dinner suggestions as well as whats in this forum would be really helpful thanks. I will miss my potatos and bread big time but I need to reduce my current inflammation and will do anything as it's been driving me mad!its in my lower neck and shoulder area at the moment...which is new to me.

My wife told me to go for a surf yesterday and I thought I'd never be able to paddle out but I gave it a go and it was the best thing I could have done. I felt the cracks and popping in my shoulders and after 45mins of paddling around I felt loose again and better, not great but better, mixed with this NSD I hope works and my body needs a break from the drugs.

Thanks

completely cut out potatoes, limited other starch (breads, pasta, rice, etc)

back pain is 99% gone

still have occassional SI joint discomfort (goes away with a few days of healthy eating)

Hello Phil,
I want to know since when you are on NSD to get 99% pain control.

Landis-
I am totally remiss in not visiting the KickAs site more often. I guess it's a testament to the NSD that I've been mostly symptom free for the past three years!
I'm glad my story resounded with your case and that maybe it helped you in some small way. I also believe that the probiotics helped me the most. Perhaps flooding my gut daily with good microbes has helped keep the klebs down. Anyway, that's what my gut tells me.
I hope you're doing well!
Warmest regards,
Chimike

I started it back in October I want to say ... however I was also exploring many other things to relieve pain around the same time (started humira, epidurals, natural supplements, antibiotic therapy).

I am not sure 100% now if the LSD is what helped me, but I haven't eaten many potatoes since then and my morning back pain has been gone. If the epidural is what alleviated my pain, then the pain should come back in about 6 months, June of this year. I do not think the humira had anything to do with it because My pain was gone before I started it.

Anyway, my morning back pain and stiffness are gone. I still have some minor joint discomfort in the morning occasionally. I am thankful for every weekend that I can sleep in now. No more waking up at 4:30am and struggling to get to the shower or bath, then back to bed for hopefully an hour more of sleep ... no more 4-5 hours of sleep a night. I now can sleep 10-12 hours on the weekend, and I take full advantage of it ... I love sleep now ... I missed out on so much sleep last year and it was making me a miserable person, I am so thankful for the ability to sleep in now, I don't think my wife is so thankful though because I sleep half my weekends away.

I hope everyone with USpA & AS can find relief. This summer was horrible for me, it took many months for me to grasp the thought that I may never be able to rest again like I wanted to for the rest of my life. I feel that the LSD/NSD had some positive affect on my change in well being, but I also think that starting the probiotics had something to do with it too. My gut feels in a much better state now compared to last summer.

So, I urge anyone who is trying the NSD to also take probiotics. Also, if you can find a doctor to perscribe minocin, I recommend that too. I am only a month in to antibiotic therapy, and won't know for many more months if it is working or not, have not had any blood work done yet to show results.