Kickas.org Forums Treatments, Drugs and Alternatives NSD and diet-related; How the HELL do you guys do it

I have read some of the info on the site. Tried to find a good book.
And it seems everything I eat or want to eat has starch.
My docter says I am not going to see proven results from NSD.
And this apple diet, I followed the links and it is very vaugue about why I would do it.
Someone give me a pep talk.

I am thinking about the south beach thingy though

My rheumy said the same, glad I did not listen to him.... doubtful I would be working listening to him.

Apple diet has many benefits.... helps to clean out GI tract (digestive) and therefore reduces klebseilla numbers (and improves AS if in flare), improves assimilation of food so become more efficient eater and gives GI a rest so can heal GI tract.

Many benefits...

Tim

"W..H...E...E...L -...C...H...A..I...R.......A...D...V...E...R...S...I...O...N"

I read the South Beach Thingy. And then I put it back on the shelf as it was not my bathing suit that was my most vexing problem.

Hiya

My husband Jon's rheumy also said the diet wouldn't work - "no scientic evidence blah blah blah". Well that was nearly 2 years ago and Jon hasn't been back to him since and was off all meds 9 months into the diet (not even a Tylenol) since March 2005. The diet DID work. My husband would be in a wheel-chair by now if he hadn't gone on the diet as his AS was very aggressive and running rampant thru his body.

A good book to buy is "The IBS Low Starch Diet" by Carol Sinclair. She has AS and also IBS. The book explains the theory behind diet really well and spells out exactly what's starchy and what's not.

Have you read the info in the Diet Centre on the main homepage www.kickas.org
This explains the theory behind the diet and why it is starch elimination that helps.

If your AS is very aggressive and you are in a lot of pain and the meds from the doc just don't seem to be helping then your motivation factor for trying the diet should be pretty high. Makes it easy to stick to once you start to see results in a couple of months.

Everyone progresses at a different rate. It's important to stick with it for at least a few months before expecting results. It took 9 months till Jon was able to give up the NSAID's for good - he still needed them until then. He had slow but steady improvement over those months. And now he just maintains it by sticking to the diet. If he wavers from it the old pains start to come back.


Chelsea

Hey Bridgesan,

My rheumy said "diet has no effect on AS" as well. In my opinion you should perceive prescription drugs not as a way of life but as a crutch to allow you to function in the short-term. Your long-term goal should be to wean yourself off of these because the side effects are usually too costly for a life-long solution.

Just like Kiwi's husband it took me around 9 months on the NSD to fully wean myself off NSAIDs. Its hard and it takes discipline but every day that you're on it becomes easier. I still have pain flares but they are much less common and shorter. Every day I wake up I feel better, more alive and in more control.

If it seems intimidating then start small. Spend some time reading about the starch content in foods. Stop drinking milk by the glass if you do. Pick salad instead of potatoes/rice. Aim for one starch free meal per day and progress until all meals and snacks are dairy free. Keep at it with patience and discipline.

Good luck

PS: A book that John referred to me is a great supplement to this site:
Arthritis : An Alternative Medicine Definitive Guide
ISBN: 1887299157

They say that the answer to anything lies in the question.

How the HELL do we do it? Given the choices we realise that we have, how the hell do we do otherwise?

Don't give up! It is worth trying, plus it doesn't cost a thing. What we pay each month in medicine should be an incentive as well as the idea of being pain free.

My son Drew did it cold turkey. We purchased a small bottle of iodine and test everything. After a while, you get a group or list of foods that you prefer. One holistic doctor highly recommend people be on Omega 3 so we did include that in the daily routine. We never took milk out of the mixture of foods and he eats cottage cheese and cheeses. Meats are all grilled no breading. Salads, fruits, jello, jello, jello, jello.......(diet jello). For a teenager, its was hard to imagine no pizza, burgers, fries etc. Now he tells his buddies they have to go to Perkins or someplace he can order an omlet or grilled meats and a salad. With the exception of one known slip up, a brownie, he has done an awsome job! I do have to admit, my husband and I cheat behind his back when he's not home and fix a pasta dish or make homemade pizza.

Like everyone else, I asked our doctors about the diet and neither of them felt it was worth the time or the paper the research was written on. It is VERY frustrating!

Give it a serious try. I'm positive you won't be disappointed!

Don't give up. When I first started it was the same. Everything seemed to have starch. Was sure I was destined to a diet of broccolli, eggs and apples. Then when I was sure I was starch free, and still hurt, I'd find a pill that had starch or something equally annoying. It takes time to sort it out.
I don't know if everyone else on the diet experiences this but I don't need such a variety of tastes anymore. I really just enjoy simple food. Veg, fruit, chicken, fish. I snack on chocolate, nuts. I'm quite happy now. My pizza, burger, chinese, fried chicken,.. etc cravings are gone.

Good Luck !!