Psoriatic Arthritis Journal - 2.5 year Update Page 63

[nicoles]

Thanks Eri! I will let you know. My appointment is for April 12th.

I am not very worried, actually. Just a little.

[eri]

Well, at least you're on pg 50!! LOL

[nicoles]

Well, at least you're on pg 50!! LOL

Right you are, Eri! I am a winner!! Where's my prize?!?!

Also, This made me laugh today, off topic but I had to share it.

[nicoles]

I feel like I am coming out the other side of my faith being greatly tested, and thankfully I was wrong! This WOE works, and things that seem just awful are sometimes quite the opposite!

I guess the lesson here is to react less, observe and trust more. And patience. It always comes back to patience for me.*

I can't say much more now, but big things are on the horizon, and I am excited, anxious happy and scared all at once. I guess this means I am alive!

*ETA: and also not trying to control everything. It is not all up to me, and even if it was, it would not be even half as good as it is when things unfold of their own design.

[nicoles]

I have made a new discovery, and it is bittersweet.

The good new is: I have found another trigger for my disease activity, so I have a little bit more control over how I feel! Nice

The "eh" news is: The trigger is overeating, a pleasure I indulge in somewhat regularly because of all the other foods I cannot have.

I have noticed over a period of the last three months of tracking that if I overeat - even only very slightly beyond full - I will get mildly increased joint pain immediately,a stuffy nose, snore when I sleep, not sleep well, and then wake up with a bit more joint pain because lack of sleep is another trigger. The next day I will have the mild beginnings of itchy skin and dryness in the areas of my skin that get psoriasis.

Phooey.

This one is hard. I will not lie. I LIKE to eat. I like to OVEREAT. I did not want to believe it when Dr Fuhrman said that overeating can trigger more pain and AI activity. I did not want to be like someone else I have met online elsewhere with my exact disease who follows plant based eating and has increased psoriasis and joint pain after overeating. But it looks like the results are in. I am someone like that.

I have been tracking my food and eating patterns since the 1st of January. I have eaten and overeaten and two weeks ago I reviewed what I tracked and, unfortunately, the pattern is quite clear.

So then I tried not to overeat. It is really hard.


My husband suggested that there might be an emotional component to my overeating and while I did not like that idea, I thought it looked very possible. So I went to an OA meeting and realized that a lot of my behaviors around food, both now and before I got sick and changed my diet, are dysfunctional, and not just on the overeating side.

So I am going to keep on working on the overeating, for my physical and mental health. And keep in mind a saying they have in OA that I really like: Progress, not Perfection!

[moonwatcher]

HI Nicole,

Sorry to have been away for a while. Gee, I missed some big stuff!! I am glad your cousin is doing well. She sounds like a tough, brave lady just like you!!

big things are on the horizon, and I am excited, anxious happy and scared all at once. I guess this means I am alive!

*ETA: and also not trying to control everything. It is not all up to me, and even if it was, it would not be even half as good as it is when things unfold of their own design.

What a beautiful and true mouthful!! And so wonderful you can apply this to your overeating epiphany as well, even though it's a hard one. It's more subtle with me, but I do notice that if I eat too much, I don't feel as well. It's just too hard to tax my digestive system that way. So what you've learned makes sense to me. It's not a huge problem for me, but I do know what you're talking about. I know you'll see progress, too, like the OA saying--wise words to live by!!

Sending you a big hug and lots of solidarity!!

xoxoxo

moonwatcher

[nicoles]

Thanks Moonwatcher! Three cheers for solidarity!

Very interesting that you notice an "offness" when you eat too much too.

Just dropping in to post links to three decadent recipes I want to try one day, perhaps when I have a bit more of a handle on the whole overeating thing:

Dandelion Root Chai Tea

Homemade Hemp Milk

Homemade Cashew Milk

[moonwatcher]

Hi Nicole,

These look good! I'll soon be eating the dandelion greens coming up i my garden, but the dried root tea chai style looks inviting.

The milks look good, too, though these are probably higher saturated fat milks than some. Certainly the cashew is. But I bet they're both really tasty. I make my own almond milk when I am not being Lazy Girl. It's pretty easy. I finally got a nut milk bag, and that makes it even easier. I ve also made pecan milk, and even pistachio nut milk. That was really fun.

I don't doubt for a second that you'll get a handle on this overeating thing. You boldly go wherever you need to go. Even if it is difficult.

You are awesome!! Hope you had a good Easter.

xoxo

moonwatcher

[nicoles]

Hi Moonwatcher,

You are very sweet! I know, those plant milks look a bit excessive, definitely a "treat" food! I am thinking of using one as a nice addition to a hot herbal beverage for holidays or something.

I don't remember if I already posted any articles on the recent research suggesting a possible link between high-salt consumption and MS, RA and psoriasis, but I guess I did now!

[moonwatcher]

Well, this doesn't surprise me. I feel much better using the guidelines the Esselstyn's and the True North guys suggest: not using it in cooking, and using salty condiments sparingly. If I want to "salt" recipe without using salt, just a dab of chickpea miso will do the trick. And it's loads lower ini sodium than the equivalent of salt. I know it is an adjustment for some, but really the food tastes better once you get used to that [i]because[i] I can actually taste it!!

You're probably already on the low sodium wagon as well.

The fact that the processed puffed toasted, baked stuff made with flour sugar and salt does nothing but make the fibromyalgia worse almost immediately is another way I end up cutting down on salt.

I tell ya.

xoxo

moonwatcher

ps: If you ever feel like sharing more about it here, Nicole, I'd be interested to know what constitutes overeating at Overeater's Anonymous. I've read so many posts on this board about people having these challenges and I'm trying to wrap my mind around what that means in a concrete way.

[nicoles]

Oh yes, salt and me are not close friends! I definitely dislike how I feel after eating salty anything, except celery. Interesting that all that other stuff makes fibro worse. It just cannot be good for us, plain and simple!

I don't mind sharing at all, but I don't know very much. As I understand it, in OA, people aim to eat soberly, that is, not using food as a drug or an opiate, and not hiding from/not dealing with life's challenges and emotions with food. If you are eating soberly, you are practicing abstinence, and that is something different for every person.

I don't even know what my abstinence would be yet, I am just becoming aware of all the ways I am using food other than eating, if you know what I mean.

My overeating is definitely eating beyond full, and eating as entertainment, or to comfort or soothe me when times are tough, or to deal with a situation that makes me angry or hurt my feelings. I turn to food for all those things and more, even withing the rather strict parameters of this ED and AI diet I am following.

Here is a list I wrote about it:

I eat when I am tired
I eat when I am happy
I eat when I am anxious
I eat when I am sad
I eat when I am scared
I eat when I m frustrated
I eat when I am angry at myself

I overeat when I am too hungry
I overeat when I am worried that I won't have enough food later
I overeat when I am tired
I overeat when I am happy
I overeat when I am anxious
I overeat when I am sad
I overeat when I am scared
I overeat when I m frustrated
I overeat when I am angry at myself


And although I can not eat for long periods quite easily, once I get started, it is hard to stop, probably partially because I am rebelling from the strictness of my diet, and from the long periods of not eating.

[moonwatcher]

Thanks, Nicole. This al makes sense. You are, as I said, intrepid.

xoxo

moonwatcher

[nicoles]

Just had to post this. From a FB friend:

"Grass is not greener on the other side. It's greener where YOU water it." - random guardian angel I met today.

[nicoles]

Hi Moonwatcher, I just came across this, as a further answer to your previous question:

"Abstinence in Overeaters Anonymous is the action of refraining from compulsive eating and compulsive food behaviors while working towards or maintaining a healthy body weight."

[moonwatcher]

Thanks, Nicole. Like the 'grass is greener' quote too.

xoox

moonwatcher