[Marym]

Hi, I have fibromyalgia after I went to the doctor and gave him all my symptoms and told him what I had. He ruled out a bunch of other things and settled on fibro.
My question is - I had started exercising and was in A LOT of pain so I stopped. Does going gluten-free help with that?
And have people lost weight from going gluten free?
Thanks!!!!

[Ursa Major]

I also have severe fibromyalgia with intolerable pain........... But only when I eat gluten, lectins and foods high in salicylates. As long as I don't eat those foods, I am almost pain free. When the pain returns I know I have to cut back on certain foods (there is a threshold to how much I can tolerate, and it is a fine line). Mind you, I can tolerate zero amounts of gluten. I get the classic gastrointestinal symptoms when I eat even tiny amounts of gluten.

In my opinion, fibromyalgia is always caused by food intolerances.

Check out these links, try an elimination diet and see if it helps.

http://www.krispin.com/lectin.html

www.foodcanmakeyouill.co.uk

Also, you might want to get tested for celiac disease. There are a lot of us here who were diagnosed with fibro, who are much better on a gluten-free diet. If you decide to do celiac disease testing you need to keep eating gluten until after the testing is done.

But even if you test negative you ought to try the gluten-free diet, as false negatives are common.

[Marym]

Ursa Major, on Feb 13 2008, 02:21 PM, said:

I also have severe fibromyalgia with intolerable pain........... But only when I eat gluten, lectins and foods high in salicylates. As long as I don't eat those foods, I am almost pain free. When the pain returns I know I have to cut back on certain foods (there is a threshold to how much I can tolerate, and it is a fine line). Mind you, I can tolerate zero amounts of gluten. I get the classic gastrointestinal symptoms when I eat even tiny amounts of gluten.

In my opinion, fibromyalgia is always caused by food intolerances.

Check out these links, try an elimination diet and see if it helps.

http://www.krispin.com/lectin.html

www.foodcanmakeyouill.co.uk

Also, you might want to get tested for celiac disease. There are a lot of us here who were diagnosed with fibro, who are much better on a gluten-free diet. If you decide to do celiac disease testing you need to keep eating gluten until after the testing is done.

But even if you test negative you ought to try the gluten-free diet, as false negatives are common.

[tarnalberry]

I have fibro, but it does not appear to be connected to food intolerances. (I do not subscribe to Ursa's theory that it is *always* caused by intolerances. Sometimes, perhaps, but not always.) You may find improvement, to a greater or lesser degree, going gluten free. Same thing with weight loss. It varies by person. I would suggest trying the diet (rigorously - no cheating!) and seeing how it works for you.

As for exercise, it's important to not give it up! I know that's hard. What is it you were doing? Even if you can do nothing more than walking around the house for five minutes a couple of times a day - do it! Movement is VITAL!

[Marym]

tarnalberry, on Feb 13 2008, 04:09 PM, said:

I have fibro, but it does not appear to be connected to food intolerances. (I do not subscribe to Ursa's theory that it is *always* caused by intolerances. Sometimes, perhaps, but not always.) You may find improvement, to a greater or lesser degree, going gluten free. Same thing with weight loss. It varies by person. I would suggest trying the diet (rigorously - no cheating!) and seeing how it works for you.

As for exercise, it's important to not give it up! I know that's hard. What is it you were doing? Even if you can do nothing more than walking around the house for five minutes a couple of times a day - do it! Movement is VITAL!