Why Is My Arthritis Getting Worse?

[mythreesuns]

Arthritis was the last straw that drove me toward a gluten-free diet, so in that sense it's a *new* symptom. Is it normal for it to get worse, spreading to more and more joints, even though I'm gluten-free?

Only been gluten-free 3 weeks or so.

[jerseyangel]

Hi Toni,

I have never been diagnosed with arthritis, but I had severe hip pain (worse upon awakening) and painful, red, swollen joints in my thumb.

They did respond to the gluten-free diet, but it took probably closer to 3-4 months before I noticed a difference--especially with the hip pain.

I would give it some more time

[queenofhearts]

Arthritis was the last straw that drove me toward a gluten-free diet, so in that sense it's a *new* symptom. Is it normal for it to get worse, spreading to more and more joints, even though I'm gluten-free?

Only been gluten-free 3 weeks or so.

Toni, I was diagnosed with arthritis, but I'm not entirely sure that's what it really is. I've been gluten-free 2.5 mo & it seems to be (slowly) improving. One thing I really recommend that helped me a lot even before gluten-free was daily (or better yet twice daily) stretching. I do a combination of yoga & active isolated stretching & it has greatly increased my mobility & decreased pain. I had horrible knee, hip & shoulder pain & stiffness that responded rapidly to a really dedicated stretching program. It hurts like hell while you're stretching, but makes the rest of the day much better.

Leah

[Jestgar]

I had all kinds of annoying joint pain that went away after about three months gluten-free. I've recently starting taking one advil every night before I go to bed and I am no longer even stiff in the mornings when I wake up. I figure since the new recommendation is two baby aspirin once a day for overall health, I'll eventually switch to that, once I feel like I've gotten the generalized inflammation in my body under control.

I'm only 40. Way to young to have that old-lady shuffle in the mornings....

[Nancym]

You might want to check into trying a paleo diet, there are other foods linked to arthritis.

Also, I suppose it depends on the source of your arthritis. If you're like me, with an autoimmune disease causing the pain, then gluten-free probably isn't going to be the cure. However, it was probably the cause of the autoimmune disease in the first place. I'm sure I'd be getting worse faster if I continued on with the gluten and dairy.

[mythreesuns]

I'm only 40. Way to young to have that old-lady shuffle in the mornings....

Well, I'm only 33 and the dr already confirmed mild osteo-arthritis in my toe, so how's THAT for too young? LOL

You might want to check into trying a paleo diet, there are other foods linked to arthritis.

As soon as I can muster up the cash, I'm going to go through EnteroLab to test for the full range of intolerences.

I've never heard of the paleo diet...I'll look into that. I'm going to the dr this afternoon to further explore my arthritis, because I don't think he adequately checked into causes before.

[lonewolf]

I was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis, in almost every joint in my body, at age 32 - THAT was way too young. I had to eliminate almost everything from my diet - gluten, dairy, eggs, soy, red meat, poultry, beans, peanuts, tomatoes, potatoes, peppers and several other things. Actually, all I ate for a year was fish, most kinds of vegies, sunflower seeds, rice and fruit. Within 5 days of that diet I started feeling much better and after a year I felt well enough to start adding foods back. I still avoid gluten, dairy (except for occasional butter and raw goat cheese), soy and eggs. Today I am arthritis-free, although if I eat dairy and soy one toe will start to ache and I get extra careful.

You might have to eliminate more than just gluten too.

[Nancym]

I was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis, in almost every joint in my body, at age 32 - THAT was way too young. I had to eliminate almost everything from my diet - gluten, dairy, eggs, soy, red meat, poultry, beans, peanuts, tomatoes, potatoes, peppers and several other things. Actually, all I ate for a year was fish, most kinds of vegies, sunflower seeds, rice and fruit. Within 5 days of that diet I started feeling much better and after a year I felt well enough to start adding foods back. I still avoid gluten, dairy (except for occasional butter and raw goat cheese), soy and eggs. Today I am arthritis-free, although if I eat dairy and soy one toe will start to ache and I get extra careful.

You might have to eliminate more than just gluten too.

Wow! This is good news. I have ankylosing spondylitis and the drugs that have been working so well for me seem to be failing. Maybe I'll give your diet a try. What sort of fish did you eat?

[lonewolf]

Wow! This is good news. I have ankylosing spondylitis and the drugs that have been working so well for me seem to be failing. Maybe I'll give your diet a try. What sort of fish did you eat?

I ate mostly salmon, halibut, sardines, tuna (fresh and canned) and whatever I could get for as inexpensive as I could get. I also took 1 tbs flax oil every day.

Good luck - I hope it helps you!