Food for thought

When the moderators put a kibosh on discussing food and how it relates to fibromyalgia, I for one was disappointed.

I have not said anything yet because I wanted to think about the issue and try to see both sides of the issue.

Since it has come up again I thought I would chime in.

My story is very similar to many on here, pain, fibro fog, nausea, fatigue, low energy and insomnia. I tried all the usual things--low impact exercise, supplements, medication, pacing and diet. I kept a journal of everything I did and took and ate, I would be better and then have a flare--I just could not see a pattern to it all.

'Almost medfree' and 'fishchris' kept me motivated on the eating and I would read what they and others said on here and kept searching for the answer. I have discovered I have fructose malabsorption and started following a low FODMAP diet and feel so much better.

I still have pain, but I sleep better which gives me more energy, less fatigue and therefore less pain. And best of all the brain fog has gone way, way down.

Food is medication, in fact it was the earliest known medication, it needs to be talked about on this forum along with exercise, other medications, supplements, brain fog, humor and other  issues new members maybe reading about for the first time.

I wish I had know about fructose malabsorption 5 years ago. It may be common sense to eat a healthy diet, but what is healthy for one is not always true for another.

Sharon

 

I think the moderators were addressing a situation where food and diet were the subject of all threads or they were becoming the answer to everything. I agree with them.

I'm on a strict diet (I have a condition where my throat swells shut). I have no good allergies but keep my diet light (1200 calories a day) and watch my vitamin, carb, and protein carefully because of kidney issues. These diet changes have made no impact on my fibro. So while its changed things for you, I don't think it's the end all answer that somehow people have made it into.

Or those that diet helped, do you think maybe you had a food allergy or intolerance before the fibro. That maybe it was always there bug you didn't feel it. Then when fibro hit you tried many solutions and happened to find this hidden allergy/intolerance? I think it's possible that fibro may amplify certain health problems. Maybe that is what happened.

Sharon,

I think the problem with bringing food into our discussions lies in just what you said - the fact that it affects us so completely differently. Beyond basic nutritional sense - (and I think all of us are already cognizant of the fact that we should eat the most nutritious foods we can, since we are hyper-aware of our bodies) - one person's experience is not going to translate to enough others' to be relevant. Interesting, maybe...but not relevant. So a continuing rundown of what someone eats truly is off-topic. We can all search and experiment for ourselves....I do. But I don't share it here because I don't think it will help anyone else.

Eating is a given, something we all have to do every day, unlike exercise or taking meds or any of the other things we do to try to feel better...so we are, all of us, already tweaking our diets all the time, as we notice that this food didn't settle right, or helped us sleep, or whatever the case may be. This is true for everyone, not just Fibromites. I really think we just do it more consciously than many others, again because of our level of body awareness (a hangnail can wake me up in the middle of the night - but my hubby could probably lose a finger and not know it until he tries to grab a spoon ;)

I'm tired and I don't know if this is coming out right, but food and its effects is such a huge topic...that's why there are whole forums dedicated to it.

I'm really glad that diet has helped you...it's such a good feeling to have figured out something that makes you feel better.

Debbie

I don't mean this in a snarky way at all, but I believe you actually proved why diet discussions are off topic here. If fructose malabsorption was causing many of your symptoms, then they were caused by something other than fibromyalgia. I'm not saying that you don't also have fibro, but not every symptom we have is caused by it. As you stated, in your case some of it was cause by a problem with fructose, which is a different condition.

I have a myriad of health problems, some of them dietary. But other than a brief mention here or there, I don't come to the fibro forum to discuss my other health issues.

This is a fibro forum, and it was turning into a diet forum. Most topics were either started about food or turned into discussions about food. It would be the same if I turned every discussion to the topic of breathing. I have pretty bad asthma, and it greatly affects my fibro. But if I turn every topic into pollen levels, indoor dust and mold, pollution, relaxation breathing, allergy treatments, etc., or if every time someone mentioned a fibro related problem I suggested maybe they had asthma or weren't breathing right etc., then this forum would become about asthma and not fibro. We all have to breathe, and maybe if people learned how to do it better they wouldn't have fibro - that was said tongue in cheek - but that is how this forum was developing in relation to food.

We are all guests at Healing Well. The rules were established by the founder and are enforced by the volunteer efforts of dedicated, caring, selfless moderators. Their goal is to keep this forum on topic (which is fibromyalgia) and relevant to the majority. Their decisions are not always popular with everyone all of the time. But I believe they are made with the good of the entire site in mind. I don't always agree with everything the mods do or say; however I do think we should all respect their decisions. I've been to other sites that aren't well moderated, and it isn't a pretty site (pun intended ).

I see your point, AustenFan, and I respect it,  but I still believe there can be a way where everyone can at least somewhat agree and feel satisfied about this. I don't think it's that complicated.

I totally agree with you that issues like this can become argumentative, and that's why I, too, will not post any more about this.  But I do believe that if people try hard enough, there is almost always a way to find a "happy medium" for just about any problem. 

As for this issue, I just threw out the one idea of marking the food posts in the future for consideration.  It doesn't necessily have to be that--there could be other ways.  And I don't think we want to become too stringent in our discussions, as if, for example, food and the fibro connection is totally off limits. 

We are a good group of people, I think, respectful of others, and I don't think this 'problem' is really all that hard to solve, and everyone can feel good about coming here. I hope so!

If food is so important to above posters, why don't you email eachother? Or join eachother on facebook or something? You can create groups there.

It was just a suggestion, I thought this topic was important to you. You don't have to get snippy about it, I wont respond anymore. See the trouble???

I never said food was off topic, did I?

I tried to explain last night, in this thread, why the topic of food is different from others - it can so easily become all-encompassing. Once again, it's getting out of hand.   

AM, I can assure you, feeling guilty about what I eat has NOTHING to do with my food choices. I have been willing, throughout my adult life, to eat anything - and I do mean anything - that would help me feel better. I could write a term paper about all the ways I've tried to eat to help myself with diet. I've been very aware of the correlation between what I eat and how I feel for, oh, 43 years....but it only applies to me.

And I think it's wonderful that you have both a supportive husband and a psychologist to discuss all this with. From my experience, and what I've read, I would guess that's probably unusual.

Debbie