Hi Kylie
Thanks for your very informative reply. It's great to see how other people are attacking their condition. Before I came to this site I was frustrated by not having any personal contacts who had a spondylarthropathy so had no idea whether I was typical or atypical. Now I would categorise myself as a bit atypical. I did not manifest any significant symptoms until about 2004 (then 47 years old). I had a bout of infective diarrhoea in Nepal in 2002 (probably Salmonella or Shigella) and on returning home a few months later had what I thought was a pulled intercostal muscle at level of 8th R rib. Although I recovered in about a month a bone scan (OCT 2006) revealed that there was a hot spot at that precise spot. Turns out there are some intercostal synovial joints that link 7th-8th rib and 8th-9th rib so that was my first joint involvement. That was followed by a mild inflammation of the sterno-manubrial joint which has persisted and worstened to this day. In 2005 had acute dactylitis of 3rd and 4th toes of right foot and then diagnosis of undifferentiated spondylarthropathy with psoriasis (scalp). Had conventional treatments with salazopyrin and then MTX for about a year before switching to LSD in August 07. Had fantastic initial response to diet but unfortuneately stiffness slowly worstened in thoracic and cervical spine so that have gone to NSD and now to looking more closely at fruits. In recent months I have had burisitis and some tendoitis in left hand which I hope will resolve in the absence of the more sugary fruits and DATES.
Re processed meats - I'm sure processing probably involves being steeped in some sort of sweet fluids. Probably same for smoked fish and smoked meats which my IBS can't cope with.
Re strawberries - I wonder if the seeds are the culprit - tried to test for starch but appear negative. Same might apply to the seeds of kiwi fruit. I don't eat mangos only because some previous posters say they contain starch.
Re goats yogurt - Have not tried this though have come to terms about not eating yogurt and cheese. Note that most feta cheeses are packed in milk.
By starting with syptoms of spondylarthropathy in middle age it is assumed I will be a mild case (I sure hope so).
One thing I think is interesting is that the manubriosternal joint and the SI joints are near to sites of bone marrow, sternum and iliac crests respectively. Of course the bone marrow contains elements of the lymphoid cell lines that pump out Anti-Kleb antibodies that unfortuneately also attack the self.

Thanks again for your thorough reply.

Regards David P
Thought for the day
He has his wish, whose wish can be
To have what is enough.