Was originally DX “Probably Lupus” in 2000. Prednisone & Methotrexate (yuck! throw up city) brought remission with very limited symptoms until last year when pain, fatigue, etc. sent me to a rheumatologist. Now taking plaquenil which is helping and does not have the nasty tummy issues. Am experimenting with glutenfree, sugar free (almost), mostly veggie diet. Drinking raw apple cider vinegar and taking ginger, cinnamon & tumeric. I think it helps the pain & tiredness. At any rate, my blood sugar is great! I’m 69 and also have type 2 diabetes & need to lose weight. Would love to hear from others trying nutritional approach
I was diagnosed with SLE in 2009, began treatment with Plaquenil, Imuran, and Prednisone in 2014. I also have been taking more holistic steps to avoid my symptoms. I don’t drink anything but water, coffee, and tea. I stopped eating refined cane sugar, and I avoid processed food whenever possible. I can always feel it when I eat something that I shouldn’t! I also cook with anti-inflamatory spices - I eat a lot of curries - and do yoga.
Thank you for the reply. Are you seeing benefit from the curry? I’ve never thought of adding that in. I’m walking most days but yoga seems like a good idea. I am in a very rural area with limited transportation so I’m thinking I would need to try a “teach yourself” video or something. Do you have a recommendation of how to get started?
Hi VeeRee,
I react badly to almost all prescriptions, so food has been my medicine. Cinnamon is great for leveling out blood sugar, and ginger is good for stomach issues. You’re on the right track with your diet. I found that mostly plant based is better for me. Meat causes pain, but I eat salmon fillets and tuna and imitation crab instead. here are a lot of antibiotics and chemicals in meat now. There are tons of veggies that have protein. My sister and I found curcumin, which is the concentrated chemical in turmeric, an ingredient in curry. It’s a great anti-inflammatory. I also use Krill fish oil, great anti-inflammatory too. I recently learned that coconut oil, along with the hundreds of other benefits, is also ant-inflammatory and will help any disease that has inflammation such as lupus, arthritis, allergies, alzheimer’s, diabetes, lupus; so I need to start taking that daily. There is a diet called The Anti-inflammation diet". I don’t follow it religiously but I try to avoid foods that cause inflammation. Any fruit or vegetable in the nightshade family cause me more pain. Sugar and flour and processed foods also make me worse. People with lupus need to avoid Kale and alfalfa sprouts, they are toxic to us, some chemical is in them that interacts with cytokines, the chemicals that cause pain. I added high dose vit D (5000 IU) daily or more, and magnesium and vit B complex that absorbs under your tongue instead of being partially destroyed by stomach acid. Gluten free didn’t make much difference for me. They are finding the whole gluten fear thing is overblown and that people who have true celiac disease are only about 1% of the population, but hey, if it makes you feel better, do it.