Unbelievable!

[bartfull]

As most of you know I was diagnosed with lupus a couple of weeks ago. My biggest complaint was the arthritis in my wrists and fingers. This has been going on since last winter and getting much worse.

 

Yesterday was one of my worst days yet. Not only could I barely turn the steering wheel on my car, but even turning the key to start it made me flinch. Couldn't turn the faucet, couldn't lift my coffee cup, and even giving change out of the register made me flinch.

 

This morning (and mornings are always worse), I woke up pain-free! It's really hot and humid today too and of course humidity always makes it worse. Could it be that the gin-soaked raisins have finally kicked in?

 

It has been almost six weeks since I started taking them. I truly believed it wouldn't work. Maybe it's just a fluke and tomorrow will be bad again but honestly, there is NO pain at all today. None. I've had good days and bad days since all this started but even the good days were pretty bad. Today I drank my coffee like a normal person, I cut my toenails, I took out some very heavy things I wanted to throw away, turned the faucets with one hand, Started the car and turned many corners on the way down here, and did it all with absolutely no pain whatsoever.

 

I was at the point where I was seriously considering selling all of my guitars and turning all of my lessons over to another teacher. I was thinking it wouldn't be long before I'd have to sell the store because I couldn't even do a string change or turn the tuning keys on a guitar, let alone open boxes of new stock.

 

Maybe it'll all come back tomorrow. Maybe this IS just a fluke. But I have hope for the first time in a long time. If any of you have tried the gin-soaked raisins and gave up after a month (the way my friend Bonnie did), please, give it time. They say it can take up to eight weeks before it kicks in. I'll keep you all informed of how it goes in the future, and if you missed my post about this six weeks ago, here is the recipe: Open Original Shared Link

[notme]

i'm so glad you are having a pain-free day, barty!  what time of day do you take these raisins?  if i do a few 'moonshine maracshinos' (<sp) i am generally in no pain, lolz, but the next day is a b!+ch  j/k  i don't have arthritis........     yet  

[bartfull]

 

I wish I could do tequila soaked blueberries. I would have the same problem the next morning though.

 

But for those who are wondering, you can take them any time of day, but take them all at once. I do them at six in the evening when I get home from work. That way there is no gin on my breath when I get to the shop.

[nvsmom]

Yeah! 

[cyclinglady]

So glad that you are feeling better!

[ravenwoodglass]

That is really great news! I may have to give that a try myself even though I really can't stand gin. Would rum work?

[mamaw]

bartfull....... it  is so  great  to hear  your news & wonderful  that  you are having  a  well deserved  respite  form  pain...My  hubby  did  this years  ago  & worked well for  a  period  of  time but  as he  said "  any time  minutes, hours  , days   or  month's  is  worth  it  ,not being  in  unbearable  pain.... I  pray  it  lasts  & lasts  for  you....

[bartfull]

Thanks everybody! Have I mentioned before that I love you all?

 

Raven, I think it has to be gin. Something about the juniper berries and the sulfites in the golden raisins reacting with each other. That's why you can't use cheap gin - it is only juniper FLAVORED. And honestly, I don't like gin and I don't like raisins but after a while they blend so much it doesn't taste like either. As a matter of fact when it got down to the end of the first batch I made it was syrupy and sweet and not bad at all. Besides, you only eat nine a day and you can wash 'em down with something you do like to get rid of the taste. I told someone this morning that I would eat milk soaked green beans (my two least favorite things) if it helped. I said I'd eat them with relish and laughed because I don't like relish either.

[ravenwoodglass]

Thanks for the info. I am assuming you just need enough gin to cover. Is that right? Well worth a try as it would make my hours after work easier and in the morning the stiffness is awful so maybe it would help with that also. It would be nice not to have to get up at least four hours before work so I can move. I could sleep past 4am if that happened.

[bartfull]

Yes, just enough to cover. If you click on the link I posted in the first posting here there is even a video showing how to make them. Please, just make sure you don't quit after a few weeks. Give it at least eight weeks.

[icelandgirl]

Wow! Cool! So excited for you Bartie!

[LookingforAnswers15]

 Awesome news and thank you for sharing the recipe with us (plus clarifying gluten-free brands for me). 

[squirmingitch]

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy Barty!!!!I am so hoping this is no fluke of any kind and that you go on feeling no pain forever! Heaven knows there are enough people out there who say they've tried this & it works like a charm so I'm going to believe it will for you too. Positive thoughts can't hurt right?

[bartfull]

I just played for over two hours! I started on my classical guitar because I have no callouses left and they nylon strings are easier on the fingers. Then I played a few on the banjo but it tore up my fingers. So I finally switched to ukulele. Now I'm done. My fingers are all torn up. A lot of it is from no callouses but a lot is from the psoriasis too. But it felt so good to play it's a GOOD kind of pain. I think I'll take the uke home tonight to work on my callouses some more. I wonder if Patches will like it. Grommit hated it when I played because I wasn't paying attention to her. Maybe Patches will sit and listen.

 

And speaking of music and animals, one of my students has a cat who comes and lies at his feet whenever he plays "Free Bird". That's the only song the cat pays attention to. Well last week he was playing plugged in on the porch and when he started on "Free Bird" all of the cattle came over and stood in a line at the fence and listened. As soon as he started the next song they all drifted away. True story! So if your cat or your cow ever wander off and get lost just play them that song and they'll come home.

[LauraTX]

I have lupus with my main symptom being arthritis as well.  Lupus is a disease you have to kind of get to know with your personal circumstance.  It is a really up and down thing- some days you feel like death, and others you feel just fine.  On the days you feel great, you have to be mindful to not overdo it and pay for it the next few days.  It is all about managing those waves of inflammation.  Methotrexate is what helped me with my joints the most.  As for the Gin and raisins, things like that can't hurt as long as they don't interact with something you are taking.  If you are on any lupus meds that require liver and kidney function monitoring (such as the mtx), make sure you go get your blood work done regularly, because alcohol intake can increase the risk of those issues.  

 

Glad to hear you finally had a good day, and hope it keeps that way!

[Celiacandme]

Yay for a painfree day, bartfull! Did they start you on plaquenil or something when they diagnosed you with lupus? I hope you find that today is pain free as well and that good days always continue for you!

[bartfull]

The doctor wanted to put me on prednisone and I refused it. He knows I have no insurance so for now I am just on Advil for the pain with orders to stay out of the sun, don't drink (but the raisins are OK), don't smoke, take naps when I feel like it, and try not to overdo anything. If anything changes I'm supposed to go back. Right now the fatigue and arthritis are the only problems.

 

This morning I had some pain but it quickly went away once I had been up and moving around. I'm looking forward to another good day.

[nvsmom]

 I was wondering if you'd be sore today after yesterday's hours of guitar.  I'm so glad you are still well.  

 

I agree about the prednisone, avoid the steroids when you can.  I think mild steroids are part of the reason that I ended up with insulin resistance.... It did help my other health issues though.  

[janpell]

Whaaaat? I thought I heard everything for joint pain. I don't have lupus but psoriasis and PsA. If I am extremely strict with my diet I can be completely joint pain free but then it is a very, very limited diet and I have to be honest with myself that I just can't do it. I keep out gluten, dairy, soy, tomatoes but need corn sometimes and rice. This will be amazing if it works. Were you sure to use golden raisins? If not I am making in tonight with my Sunmaids. I will get the goldens tomorrow if I really need them! I have some ankle swelling to clear up which has been reoccuring too often this past summer.

[bartfull]

Golden. Definitely.

 

I'm curious about the psoriatic arthritis too. My doctor said it was a distinct possibility that I had that too. I have palmoplantar and it was fine until my last glutening. Usually it goes away in three weeks or so, at least on my hands. But it's been since the middle of June this time and it's still flaring badly. Usuall I get the white/greenish pustules. Then they fade to red spots. Then the skin dries and cracks during the healing stage. I'm not getting any new pustules but the skin is all cracked open still and REALLY sore.

 

It used to be that corn and soy made it flare really badly. After my gut finally healed I was able to add them back. Maybe if I give them up again it'll heal? It's so hard to think of going back to such a limited diet but looks like I'll have to. (And I've got a freezer full of Udi's too! )

 

So tell me, how long have you had it and do you have any joint deformity? That scares the stuffing out of me. When the doctor said he thought I might have it I just said, "No, I don't want that." I need my hands!

[janpell]

I was diagnosed almost 10 years ago but had joint pain for about 20 plus. It was the worst in my late 30's/early 40's. I couldn't even close my hands. My right knee made me feel the worst as it took away comfortable mobility. I have been gluten free for about 4 years now and can make a tightly closed fist. I have no deformities. I do have some tightness in my right leg as getting full extension isn't quite there yet but almost. This is a muscle thing though not joint. I don't think I have any joint damage either. I noticed I was getting a slight twist on my index finger two years ago (as the fine hair on my knuckles was more to the side) and now it is more centered again as if it self corrected.

Can't wait to try this!

[bartfull]

Make sure you stick with it and don't give up after a few weeks. It can take up to eight weeks. And keep in mind it doesn't cure anything, just gets rid of the pain. People with RA who use these still have RA and still get joint deformities. It just doesn't hurt, or at least not as much. It won't cure your psoriatic arthritis or my lupus either, but if it gets rid of the pain, I am grateful.

[janpell]

Well, I don't really have pain but inflammation and stiffness in my ankles right now. I should be happy where I am but I have had a few days where I felt nothing - no tightness or inflammation and that is what I am really striving for (and for my CRP to be 0). But I am too weak (diet wise) to keep it up though.

[Pegleg84]

I like gin AND raisins! Is it known to work just on joint pain, or for muscle pain/inflamation as well?

Keep it up and hope it keeps working! I have bouts of neuropathy/mild joint pain, and arthritis definitely runs in my family so I think I have that to look forward to.

Don't sell your shop!!