SassyPantaloons's Journal, 27 July 2021

Some foods are highly inflammatory. We often do not notice that until we eliminate them and then add them back into our diets. Google a list of inflammatory foods and see if those are on the list. Inflammation is known to cause joint and body aches in people like me who have some arthritis. Keep up the great work!! 

Could you possibly have an issue with gluten? I have problems with sugar and red meat. Gout! 

Thanks so much! I will research both of these suggestions. It’s absolutely miserable, like having the body aches with the flu. I actually thought I WAS sick at first… but then I starting noticing that it’s consistent with sugar & carbs that come from breads/pastas/etc. I also get very fatigued.  

Some foods are also anti inflammatory. Like cabbage and asparagus for example amongst many others.. So what I try do is if I am eating pasta it will be with a side of asparagus. You can balance out the inflammation by eating the right combinations.  

As I approached the ripe old age of 70, I was finding that I had so many aches and pains, and they jumped from place to place from one day to the next. I sought a referral to a dietitian after consulting with my PCP. Blood tests had shown high inflammatory markers The dietitian recommended an antiinflammatory diet which helped me a lot. It is quite stringent for the first two weeks but you gradually add thing s back, monitoring closely how you feel. My inflammatory markers went back to normal very quickly and I began to lose weight that I had been carrying around for a long time. That got me started. I added some exercises including yoga that also helped to alleviate the aches and pains and go through most days without any. I do restrict gluten, white sugars and a lot of meat but I never go hungry and feel quite well these days. 

that's your body telling you not to eat those things because it has an inflammatory reaction. 

All of these suggestions are very good ones. I have Lupus as a primary auto-immune disease plus two others and a couple other things plus symptoms that go with all of that. My Rheumatologists office assigned me to their Nutritionist who suggested that I try an anti-inflammatory diet and cut sugars, "white carbs", gluten and processed foods. It made a world of difference. I experience the same symptoms that you describe (perhaps more painful due to the severity of my disease progression) and extreme exhaustion/fatigue for at least a week, sometimes longer if I have sugar, bread, pasta etc...but especially sugar. It doesn't mean that you have a terrible disease when you react to inflammatory foods, I'm just pointing out that some foods can affect how you feel physically. On the flip side, there are tons of anti-inflammatory foods out there! Go online and you'll find yummy lists and recipes that you just can't resist and that will allow you to maintain the weight-loss that you've worked so hard on!! 🤩 

Dragomfli's answer is helping me too. I had bread yesterday and I have a nagging headache today And my regular breakfast left me strangely unsatisfied. I believe it's the bread and pasta (20 carb portion only)! I only had ithem once a week and it's the only times I have headache and upset stomach. Nothing tastes good enough to be sick after eating it. 

You are all so helpful and amazing. I love this community so much!! I am relieved to read that what I’m experiencing isn’t super unusual (although I hate that others suffer!). I’m going to look into all of these things and ask my dr to check me for celiac disease at my next appointment in a couple weeks! And I agree: NOTHING is so good that it’s worth feeling awful for. And that fatigue is the WORST. Thank you thank you!!  

I had this symptom for many years and finally learned that high carbs>high blood sugar>high cortisol>thyroid suppression>high reverse T3. Reverse T3 being an anti-thyroid situation. I finally learned that if I kept my carbs to 50 g per meal, I did not wake up aching all over with bloat and a migraine. You may not be able to eat that many carbs per meal, but that is what works for me. I like to bake bread and I can eat bread as long as I keep the total carbs per meal down to 50. (It doesn't work to eat 150 g carbs per day. It has to be spread out over at least 3 meals.) I tried a ketosis diet one time and did lose weight, but I gained it all back in half the time and it ruined my skin (wrinkles). Plus I could not keep it up indefinitely. I also discovered that I lost NO weight on 1200 calories per day for months on end, but when I started eating 1600 calories a day, I started losing weight. I have the kind of genes where my body thinks it is starving if I diet strenuously and it will lower my thyroid level within 3 days of such a diet. Then I start having the extreme fatigue, brain fog, joint pain, water retention, hair loss, etc. So I've been doing well on this new diet and it is not very restrictive at all. On this diet I don't feel the hunger and cravings I did before. 

Lots of news. 

Ten percent of Celiac patients get psychiatric symptoms. I'm one of those. Eating bread and pasta makes me depressed, angry and volatile. It made my PMS much worse and I was miserable. Learning to avoid gluten was a great gift in my life. I'm no longer prone to depression. I avoid all grains now and this helps me control my aches and pains and my weight. Think of it as a gift to learn how to eat in a way that supports your body. You are not the only one; many people can't handle wheat and sugar. 

Since taking gluten out of my diet I no longer have joint pain. When I added it back in, joint pain returned. My celiac test came back negative, but the doctor said it might be because I had removed gluten from my diet. Either way, it’s not my friend and I have adjusted to life without wheat. I do not have trouble with other grains. I wish you luck on your journey. 

I agree with above re: wheat. I've also eliminated almost all grains and have to rotate some foods in every 3 days. I was diagnosed with multiple food allergies decades ago and only got things back after, very reluctantly, putting myself in the hands of a naturopath. Now I can eat almost anything again. If simple carbs are an issue, and I find them so, It may be a candida overgrowth problem. Dr's don't recognize this but naturopaths do. Every time I hit carbs too hard, too long, holidays etc., I become very sensitive again. The nasty thing candida does is burrow into gut wall and let too large of particles through = you become sensitive or allergic to foods ( leaky gut). It is all about the carb load. I find life is too short to deal with all the nasty symptoms. I fall off the wagon and get reminded why I'm careful. Hope this is helpful and prompts some investigation. Be well. 

Refined sugar, dairy, and gluten are all extremely inflammatory 😬 

I am so thankful for y’all! I had no idea that the things I listed are considered inflammatory foods… and I’ve done some interesting reading tonight, thanks to you. I’m now wondering if I don’t actually have IBS, but have just had food sensitivities my entire life. I will definitely be looking into a WOE that my body is in harmony with, and getting checked out with my doctor next month at my regular follow up. Keep that info coming, if you’ve got it!! I love this community!!!  

You might try using a gluten free bread instead of regular bread and making the same meal that caused the issues. A little single-variable science experiment per se. 

You can also try an elimination protocol. Google it and you'll find instructions. From your description above, it sounds like you already have your answers about sugar and gluten. You might enjoy Dr. Berg or Dr. Berry videos on YouTube. I find them very helpful. 

So much great information! I'm glad that you got a start to look into some things before your doctors appointment! I really like what one commenter said: Nothing tastes good enough to be sick after eating it! Good luck and I hope you are feeling better!