Autoimmune plan, what worked for you?

[TheyreLikeUsButRichAndThin]

TL/DR:
What helped you calm your immune system if you have an autoimmune problem?

My current plan is:

Trialling gluten free and dairy free to try and reduce inflammation

Exercising as much as poss (hard)

Eating minimal sugar

Trying to rest (I have 3 kids)

Take daily berocca, liver support, high dose vit D and probiotic. Should I try turmeric? Don’t know if it’s bunkum.

I just feel like I’m missing something and there’s something big I could be doing for myself? What helped you? I want the doc to say there is some anti inflammatory drug they can prescribe me to kick start things healing. Or am I confused and my autoimmune symptoms won’t be helped by reducing inflammation?

FULL VERSION!:

Right it’s long! I just need a chat really about autoimmune stuff. It’s a minefield. I’ve felt for years that I must have lots of inflammation and it seems I’m right. Can inflammation really just be controlled with diet??

Potted history:

2017 had blood transfusion. Following this I started developing the most horrendous body aches, terribly dry eyes to the point I couldn’t open them in the morning , just loads of random odd problems which turns out are all related (thankfully really as I’d rather have 1 problem than loads of separate ones?) I’m pretty convinced this autoimmune disease is triggered by trauma (blood loss).

July 2021 finally got to see a rheumatologist, who ordered lip biopsy, bloods etc

early 2022 had another baby

July 2022 finally had lip biopsy appt

dec 2022 diagnosed with Undifferentiated Connective Tissue Disease. Vague diagnosis of elimination but I’m glad it’s not full blown lupus etc. But for me this consists of malar rash, joint problems, dry mucous membranes etc.

Have felt WAY better since having baby last year which is classic autoimmune, but niggles starting to appear again.

Over the past year I have had a few liver scans as I had some kind of raised enzymes and daily pain. Some of my googling has shown this is likely to be connected too.

This week being tested for inflammatory bowel disease which was a surprise to me that the doc ordered that, but would make sense with all this other inflammation going on!

So obviously I am seeing GP in a couple of weeks once my IBD test results are in, but I just feel I need to be doing something for myself.

Currently:
Trialling gluten free and dairy free to try and reduce inflammation

Exercising as much as poss

Eating minimal sugar

Trying to rest (I have 3 kids)

Take daily berocca, liver support, vit D and probiotic. Should I try turmeric? Don’t know if it’s bunkum.

I just feel like I’m missing something and there’s something big I could be doing for myself? What helped you? I want the doc to say there is some anti inflammatory drug they can prescribe me to kick start things healing. Or am I confused and my autoimmune symptoms won’t be helped by reducing inflammation?

Thanks for any pointers 😭

Bump :)

Towards the end of last year it seemed that so many foods were causing allergic reactions. In January I tried carnivore for 30 days. Mostly red meat, cheese, eggs, butter, heavy cream in my coffee because I did not want to give that up. The reactions completely stopped. Occasionally I now add something back and have a reaction or not helping me see what I can eat again. I mostly stay on the diet because I feel so much better and have lost 28lbs. No more blistery rashes or joint pain and a lot less headaches.

Hmm I tried vegetarian keto and did feel amazing on it but it was just so hard working it around carnivore DH and picky kids. But the lack of sugar obviously had a big effect. I’m tempted to start reintroducing meat but I do not miss it at all (been pescatarian for a few years) and my tastebuds seem to have changed and now it just tastes like dead body IYSWIM.

Do you have an autoimmune disease @Carnivore?

I have Hashimotos and during all my allergy testing popped positive on a lupus blood test without Lupus symptoms. Just poison ivy
like rashes and painful arthritis type joint pain. The allergist wouldn’t test me for things I thought I was allergic to like tomatoes, avocado, cashews. Their tests showed broccoli, cucumbers, black pepper, green beans, lemon, peaches, milk and tuna. Since quitting all veggies and fruits I can have butter and heavy cream without a reaction. Cheeses didn’t bother me before and don’t now.

I'd be interested to see how you get on, OP, as I'm currently doing something similar. I have Rheumatoid Arthritis and have recently cut out caffiene, sugar, alcohol, gluten and dairy and nightshade vegetables, plus no processed meat just proper fillets of chicken or fish - the idea being that maybe if I improve my gut health it might reduce my RA symptoms as there seems to be a lot of info out there about gut health being linked to autoimmune diseases. I'm also taking a probiotic daily to try and encourage good bacteria in my gut. I was already trying to lose weight, but I had a eureka moment about 10 days ago and so have gone further and cut out all of the above - really not easy and it's hard both because I miss things but also it's hard to work around what my family is eating different to me and also keep the weekly shop on budget. My hope is that if it helps I might be able to add things back in one by one and figure out any triggers. Really missing my vodka and diet coke 😭.

High dose vitamin D. Supervised by a doctor specifically trained in this: www.coimbraprotocol.com

Have you considered the carnivore diet? If you check out Makhalia Peterson or Dr Shawn Baker, you will discover that many people are putting their AI diseases into remission via just eating meat. Cutting out vegetables (which contain defence chemicals like oxalates) have a positive effect on people with AI diseases as these chemicals can cause flares.

Get listening to some Zoe podcasts and follow them for recipe ideas if you can. You can tailor to suit you.

Ugh just lost a reply 🙄

@Childhoodnostalgia I did the Zoë study last summer :)

I have had more tests since my last post (missed some replies at the time I see!) and heard today that there’s nothing wrong with me other than UCTD stuff so that’s good! Was getting IBD symptoms - still am but at least nothing bad enough to show up on tests.

@Samcotton85 yes I have considered the carnivore diet, PP suggested it too and have heard lots about it over the years, but I’d really rather not. I’ve just stopped being veggie though as I am cutting out gluten and it’s just too many factors to consider alongside fussy kids.

Current plan:
no gluten
reg exercise (great for inflammation)
giving body a rest - 16:8
mushroom tea - for microbiome
collagen - for joints
All the usuals - fermented foods etc.
Looking into l-lysine , l-glutamate etc although am not convinced.
Everything I’m reading says microbiome is absolutely linked to autoimmune as I have suspected so fingers crossed!

@Magicpaintbrush sorry I missed your reply last month - sounds like the AIP diet which i mentioned to my GP and she had never heard about. But she’s not a specialist, so. I’m not there yet, feeling generally OKish but one to put in my back pocket for sure.

Autoimmune just seems to be everywhere at the moment. We have at least 5 in the family. Likewise I’m hearing about the microbiome everywhere but that may be my algorithm 😄

Hoping that I can get my microbiome so good that I can come off my sertraline as my guts will be making lots of lovely serotonin for me… wishful thinking perhaps haha!

You need to try the carnivore diet.

I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease 5 years ago now and started looking closely at my nutrition. I’ve always exercised but was a great fan of low carb, mainly Atkins which I now think did me no favours. Don’t get me wrong, I know genetically I was susceptible but I’m pretty sure that eating so little fibre can’t of helped, especially when we’re learning so much about the gut biome now and how vital plant variety is.

I was eating low carb veg , salad and fruit every day but not the variety that I have now and certainly not the legumes and lentils. I also consumed far too much sweetener - in fact I’m horrified now just how much! My diet these last few years is more Mediterranean but with lots of fermented food too and I’m forever reading the latest research. Health wise I’m pretty stable, which I’ll take but it’s a constant work i’m progress.

It sounds like you have a good protocol going there and I think it just takes time for the body to adjust.

I've got Hashimoto's, have tried gluten free (for 3 yrs) and dairy free (for 1 yr) but that didn't help and in fact led to more problems as I became more vitamin deficient from excluding foods! And developed histamine intolerance and oxalate issues. So for me I am trying to add foods back.

I do react to wheat and to a lesser extent oats, so try to avoid those. I think the idea of eating 30 different plant-based foods a week is probably a good one, it helps the gut microbiome. I only eat about 15, if that, due to intolerances, but if you can, it may be helpful.

I found riboflavin (B2) to be incredibly helpful, my pollen allergy reduced to almost nil after a lifetime of problems!

I have been diagnosed with autoimmune disesases for about 7 years and have tried gluten free and vegetarian diets.
Eating gluten free marginally improved my energy levels but it didn’t make a huge
difference overall and I felt it was quite a sacrifice for a small benefit so I decided not to continue with it after a year.
Eating a vegetarian diet seemed to make me feel worse and I lacked energy (presumably due to lower iron intake).
Now I try to eat a balanced and homecooked diet and try to limit processed food. Overall reducing stress levels and getting enough rest seems to be the biggest factor that has helped me