Hello everyone,
I'm so happy to have found a place where people with MS have positive outlooks.
I started having MS symptoms at about age 17, after many tests and very vague symptoms I was told that I may have it some day but not at this time (what ever that means). I was not officially diagnosed until the age of 27. Over those ten years I felt vague symptoms and wobblyness in my walking, but I just ignored them.
I don't have pain and most days I am fine. I mostly can't walk for very long distances with out getting wobbly and I don't do well in my beloved high heels these days. I am now 36 and though my symptoms are not horrible all of the time, I am ready to start this diet and be healthy and happy.
All my life I have been very thin and have watched my diet low fat, no red meat, junk food etc. I think this has helped me over the years in the progression of the disease. Of course my neurologist says that there is nothing I can do to help but take my daily shots of Copaxone and wait. He says diet doesn't really matter. Going on my appointments is very depressing and discouraging.
Before finding The MS Recovery Diet, I read another book whose diet was so restricted. The culprit in this book was Candida. It basically cut out everything in my home as well as almost everything in a regular super market. I was so absolutey depressed while trying this diet. I was afraid of everything. I lost even more weight of my 100 pound frame. I was unable to keep up with my active daughter due to lack of energy. Regardless to say I am overjoyed about discovering this diet. I can eat fruit again!!
My question are:
Have most of you stayed on your medications after getting to your goal? Is it best to stay on them?
Do any of you ever cheat on special occasions? I had a glass of wine and a piece of pizza with the cheese taken off with a friend the other night and have been feeling guilty ever since.
I am open to any advice from you....
Thanks.
Hello, It's been a while
Hello,
It's been a while since I ave posted. I am still plugging away with the diet and I do believe it is working! I mess up here and there, mostly allowing soy to sneek in to my diet (it truly is in everything!!) Since I'm out of work, it isn't always easy to follow the diet due to the expense, but so far so good.
Since being out of work I have lost my medical insurance and have been forced to stop taking Copaxone as well as being unable to see a Neurologist. As you all know, nobody is ever going to insure someone like me. So basically I have 4 years to wait until Obama's plan will allow me to get excepted (fingers crossed!)
So now being of meds for a short time, I do believe the diet has kept me stable. I'm happy with the results.
Hi New Dieter, I have had
Hi New Dieter, I have had ms since 1974. It started as the relapsing and remitting type then went into secondary progressive. I started the MS Recovery Diet in May 2009. I have seen small positive changes such as having less fatgue and more stamina. I was on several medications and even had 3 chemo treatments, no change in my condition and feeling this is how it's going to be and accept it, but 2 years ago I stopped using dairy and exercising and started to feel better. I stopped all medications. I then came across the book, The MS Recovery Diet and tried it. My family thought I had lost it and thought I was setting myself up for disappointment, but I continued and I'm glad I did. It has been the only positive change in my condition and I intend to follow through with it. I sometimes get down when I hear of the great results that others are having but I have had ms for 30 years and it might take a little longer to repair itself. I do feel better and I do work 3 days a week as a clinical social worker so things are not that bad. Good luck.
Hello new dieter!
Hello new dieter! Congratulations and welcome to the diet! My comments are merely personal experiences. First, regarding remaining on drugs as "back-up" vs. relying on diet alone: When I began the diet late Oct/early Nov '08, I intended to remain on Copaxone as back-up. However, as I began to see such amazing results with the diet, as well as having tissue damage (necrosis) from years of daily injections, I've cut back to every-other day injections and then to just 3-day/week injections with my MS doc's approval. I've been waiting till my next MRI in Spring, anticipating going off meds and relying on diet alone. My dr. won't agree with that, but he's thrilled with the diet results and even told others about it. I have gained enough confidence in the diet that I'm ready to finish my remaining med. supply and then rely on diet alone. My confidence comes from the fact that though Copaxone may have resulted in stopping MRI disease progression, but as to physical and mental effects, I never could feel any difference. However, with the diet, I had immediate results. I feel immediate symptoms if I eat a personal trigger food, while feeling dramatic physical and mental benefits. I have increased stamina and strength, less heat sensitivity, complete loss of nerve pain, numbness/tingling, increased cognitive focus, concentration, and memory. Second, regarding "cheating": Like a previous response, I wouldn't classify it as cheating so much as experimenting to find your own personal trigger foods, and how much you're willing to suffer symptoms. For me this is not like cheating on a calorie diet where I feel guilty afterward, but a matter of feeling so good on the diet, that I'm not willing to suffer consequences of eating a trigger food. After being on the diet for one year, I began to experiment with one trigger food at a time to see if symptoms resulted. I admit I haven't had the courage to try certain foods, but a few and have found that with those that still cause problems, maybe one time is OK, but repeating it too soon or having too much can still cause problems for me. Sorry that this is such a long response, but hope it helps you. Whether you decide to take medicine along with diet, is a personal decision or between you and your doctor. Most doctors will not recognize diet as having any effect, though they're beginning to recognize a correlation with saturated fat and cholesterol, but there may be hope! My MS Clinic specialist recognizes my positive results and says "whatever works for you", and the results are better than he's seen with anything else, while still preferring that I remain on drugs. My former neurologist's MS nurse wouldn't acknowledge any food effects on MS other than MS Society's generic AMA healthy diet recommendations, but after some patients began asking about the diet, she asked me for info about the book! Word is getting out! Hang in there keep up your good work!
Deb
Hey there fellow dieter! So
Hey there fellow dieter!
So glad to hear you're doing well after all these years! And "yes", it was the diet that saved you all this time because if you had symptoms at 17 then it means you have had MS for all this time.
Wanted to write something about cheating the diet as you asked.
First of all it depends on your symptoms after eating wrong food. For example wheat is a trigger (i have food sensitivity to it as well) so I leave about 3 weeks between any wheat consumption (in all it's forms, such as 'modified starch' which is almost everywhere). I noticed that if I had a 3 week break from it then if I eat a pizza for example I experience no symptoms, but if I eat more than that then the symptoms will start developing (tingling in my left leg and l'Hermittes). They do subside in a few days but it's just not worth it. One pizza in 3 weeks is enough.
Then there's the milk, another trigger but milder. That I can have once per week, sometimes every 3 days if it's smth small like candy or cheese. I get sensory symptoms from milk (burning sensation and cold sensitivity) but keeping breaks in between stops symptoms from appearing.
I don't know if I am harming myself by still consuming trigger foods sometimes, but I believe that it's the constant consumption that will lead to myelin breakdown, not eating trigger foods rarely.
I am a bit brave because I am taking medicine (being a guinea pig for the oral medicine) so I kinda hope that the medicine protects at least somehow if I am overdoing it with my little 'cheatings'. However why I get symptoms if I eat wrong food I can't explain, I might be tolerant to my medicine already or as everyone knows no medicine stops MS completely. My doctors are already considering me as a "mild" case because they can't figure it out why I've had only 1 relapse in 3 years and why I am in total normal shape.
There is only one explanation: IT IS THE DIET
P.S. However, once this research is over (half a year more I think), I won't be continuing with the meds and will totally rely on diet. I have to say that I won't be cheating as much because I am just too scared of another attack. But I am prepared to take that risk.
Ah yes, about alcohol. Alcohol doesnt produce any symptoms in me, I only drink ciders or grape/herb based drinks, and I can drink a lot (not that I am proud if it). Avoid beer and wheat/milk based drinks though!!!
Hello! and congratulations
Hello! and congratulations on starting on the Recovery Diet! I hope you experience some good results. In quick response to your questions, it seems that some of the folks on this site are on medications, while others are not. I, myself, am doing this diet, along with taking various supplements, as a means of avoiding the medications--namely Copaxone. Others are on the diet and have been for a while, but continue to take the medications "just in case." It seems to be a personal choice and a bit of whatever works! As far as cheating goes, we're human so cheating can come into play. I think the bigger issue over feeling guilty is how did it make you feel? It's very important to note all physical (and mental) responses to the foods that you eat to be able to identify the impact that they have on you. Also, the goal of not cheating is to allow the immune system to calm itself as much as possible. The best advice is to probably stick to it as well as you're able--the more careful you can be, the more you'll be able to test your reactions to certain foods and relations to symptoms later on. With that said, I've been known to cheat here and there for sure, so don't feel bad! But, I've also learned that for me personally my cheating is usually not worth it, and, so, I've become much more disciplined just as a result of not wanting those familiar symptoms to come again. AND because I'm doing this to try desperately to avoid the drugs, I don't have that security blanket of hoping that something else might be working! So, I hope this helps you a little. It's not so much information but it is a bit of experience talking, since I've been on the diet since October of 2008. Best of luck to you!