waynes Posted June 14, 2013 Share Posted June 14, 2013 Hi gang, I'm new to the forum and Paleo. I just ordered ISWF and expect it to arrive on Monday. Boy am I gonna have questions!!! First our history. Becky, my Wonderful Wife, has had chronic pain for about 30 years probably due to a fall at work or a car accident around the same time. About15 to 18 years ago she was diagnosed with “Fybromyalgiaâ€. After not being able to get any relief and her Doc at the time leaving to raise a family, we saw a new Doc. Because Becky's traps were like rocks and obviously swollen she was sent for Phys. Therapy by the new doc. After 3 weeks of that he sent her to an Ortho Surgeon who found an issue in her shoulder and recommended repair of her AC joint and rotator repair which she went thru successfully. The shoulder pain was pretty mush gone and her neck pain was reduced. A year later she had worsening neck pain and her traps were back to being hard and swollen. Her doc referred her to a pain specialist who, after many tests found Degenerative Disk Disease. Because there was no Neurological affects other than pain the only option was therapy, (didn't help), Cortisone injections (epidural), or live with it. She tried to live with it but the pain got severe enough we had to start injections until the Neurological symptoms appeared and we have been going downhill since. In the last 6 years Becky has had 3 surgeries. A 1 level fusion in her lumbar spine and a 2 level fusion in her cervical spine. Last year she had to have scar tissue and bone spurs removed from her lumbar fusion. She is unable to walk for more than 10 minutes' without having to stop. She cannot sit in a chair for more than 15 or 20 min's. She can hold her Kindle or a small laptop in her hospital bed for about 15 min's but then she risks triggering a headache because of the way she has to hold her head. Last year she was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes and is taking Glimepiride. Now for me. I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in 1990. The last 2 years I have been put on Statins for cholesterol and Medication for high blood pressure. That's it. By the way, I'm 59yo 5'11†and 180#'s and in the interest of safety I will not disclose my wife's age or anything else. Let's just say she's younger and shorter than me. We have bee looking at “ The Blood Sugar Solution†but it appears that the program is more about marketing than science. I came across Paleo and Whole30 while searching for answers and hopefully some help and maybe improvement for Becky. After discussing with her we are going to do the Whole30. I get that Paleo will stabilize Glucose levels and I am hoping it will help with the inflamation causing some of Becky's pain. Is this reasonable? I understand exercise is part of this but how do I adjust meals for someone who cannot exercise? I understand that I will have to set aside some time for prep but hey, I'm doing Mr. Mom here, any time saving tips? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJB Posted June 14, 2013 Share Posted June 14, 2013 Welcome! I really hope this diet works for one or both of you. I think it is reasonable to hope for some pain reduction, but it's certainly not a guarantee. My mom was diagnosed with fibromyalgia many years ago and suffered through so much pain, and took tons of medication that made her foggy to the point that she could no longer drive and she was forgetting things like turning the stove off. Well that turned out to be nothing more than gluten intolerance...once she cut that from her diet 2 years ago, all the pain went away and she successfully got off all of that related medication. So it's definitely possible for a diet modification to help out in this regard. I don't think you need to adjust meals because your wife isn't exercising. They recommend pre-and post-workout meals if you ARE doing strenuous exercise, but otherwise everyone should just follow the meal template (which you will read about in the book). Really hope this diet helps you out, good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waynes Posted June 14, 2013 Author Share Posted June 14, 2013 Thanks jjb. The more we learned about Fibro we came to the conclusion that it's what they diagnose you with the they didn't know what else to call it. As I read more about Paleo and get more anaecdotal info I think that this will help her simply because she will be healthier. Healthy. What a concept. W Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GFChris Posted June 14, 2013 Share Posted June 14, 2013 waynes: I'm 17 days into my first W30 and am finding that 80% of the success is prep. Start figuring out recipes, plan out your first 3-4 days at least. I'm not a fan of cooking at every meal, so I like to make things that will generate leftovers for several meals.Some of my favorites so far: - baked asparagus and pepper frittata. I found this recipe, substituted coconut milk for the heavy cream and ghee for butter. You bake it in a 13x9 inch pan and it yields 12 slices, so you have breakfast for a few days. http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Baked-Asparagus-and-Yellow-Pepper-Frittata-101499 - gazpacho (cold tomato soup). The Basic Farmers Market Gazpacho at this link, along with a protein, has been my lunch on many days: http://whole9life.com/2012/07/summer-soups/- Moroccan meatballs (to die for, and I served this with mashed cauliflower): http://www.theclothesmakethegirl.com/2013/02/20/balls-meatballs-is/. I hope eating this way brings you both better health. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Tom Denham Posted June 14, 2013 Moderators Share Posted June 14, 2013 Yeah, doing a Whole30 should help with a lot of your symptoms. To get you going before the book arrives, you might want to download the free info linked on this page: http://whole9life.com/itstartswithfood/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waynes Posted June 14, 2013 Author Share Posted June 14, 2013 waynes: I'm 17 days into my first W30 and am finding that 80% of the success is prep. Start figuring out recipes, plan out your first 3-4 days at least. I'm not a fan of cooking at every meal, so I like to make things that will generate leftovers for several meals. Some of my favorites so far: - baked asparagus and pepper frittata. I found this recipe, substituted coconut milk for the heavy cream and ghee for butter. You bake it in a 13x9 inch pan and it yields 12 slices, so you have breakfast for a few days. http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Baked-Asparagus-and-Yellow-Pepper-Frittata-101499 - gazpacho (cold tomato soup). The Basic Farmers Market Gazpacho at this link, along with a protein, has been my lunch on many days: http://whole9life.com/2012/07/summer-soups/ - Moroccan meatballs (to die for, and I served this with mashed cauliflower): http://www.theclothesmakethegirl.com/2013/02/20/balls-meatballs-is/. I hope eating this way brings you both better health. GFChris, I've been browsing some of the recipies here and on the recomended sites. Holy cow these look good. I'm not much for daily cooking either. Planning on doing pre prep once or twice a week, then just assembling. Tom, Thanks for that link. I missed that page in all my lurking about. Wayne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwihoney Posted June 15, 2013 Share Posted June 15, 2013 Waynes, my husband has fibromyalgia, high cholesterol and some other health issues. I struggle with chronic neck and back pain, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and chronic depression. I started feeling better at about day 4 of my Whole30, and have been mostly pain free since then. I'm still on my meds for the pain but they used to just lessen the pain, make it bearable. Now, as long as I take my meds - I generally have NO PAIN at all. I can't believe it. My cholesterol and blood pressure are both in the normal range again as well! My chronic depression also got significantly better. It took my husband 2-3 weeks to see any improvement, but he is now startingto feeling better. Still having bad flare days but not like it was before. There were days he couldn't get out of bed, and that's not happening now. I believe it may be a longer road for people with fibro, ME, or chronic fatigue types illnesses. We just finished a whole30 about a week ago and were lazy with our reintroduction... So we are starting again. I have every confidence that we will both feel even better this time around. Of course these are just our experiences, but I wanted to share it with you so you know that there are people here who understand and have some of the same struggles. We can do it. You can do it. I wish you and your wife success! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waynes Posted June 15, 2013 Author Share Posted June 15, 2013 kiwihoney, I was hoping to hear from others dealing with this stuff. THANK YOU!!! Our hope is that Becky will be able to cut back on her pharmacy stock. She has to take a lot of med's just to be able to get about the little that she does. Sleep is so important for the body to recover and heal and she can't remember the last good nights sleep she has had. Your experience is really motivating to both of us and was great to hear. Wayne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkbk Posted June 15, 2013 Share Posted June 15, 2013 Hi Wayne - I agree with everyone that just removing the inflammatory foods will help both of you. And as a type 1 diabetic (diagnosed in 1988 at age 8), i can tell you that you will DEFINITELY see improvement in your blood sugar control, though your insulin dosages will require lots of tweaking. I don't know what your diet has been like, but i found that once i removed grains, my basal rate/long-acting insulin dose dropped by about 1/3. It has also helped me learn more about how my blood sugar reacts to certain foods, like fruit and nuts, over the course of several hours. It's magical for blood sugar control. As for food prep, i highly recommend you get Well Fed, Melissa Joulwan's cookbook (http://www.amazon.com/Well-Fed-Paleo-Recipes-People/dp/061557226X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1371316414&sr=8-1&keywords=well+fed).%C2'> Best of luck to you both. There are some previous threads about T1 diabetes that you might want to search for. Bryn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkbk Posted June 15, 2013 Share Posted June 15, 2013 Whoops! Somehow everything i typed about Well Fed got deleted when I posted. I recommend the book for her amazing recipes, but also for her "Hot Plates" strategy. It's a system for prepping a whole week's worth of meals in a few hours. Essentially, it's cooking up massive amounts of meat and veggies to the point where they're ready to be thrown in a skillet with fat and seasonings when you're ready to eat. That way you can have something different at every meal with minimal fuss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirsteen Posted June 17, 2013 Share Posted June 17, 2013 Just wanted to add, you can totally do a W30 without any exercise. I have ME and cannot exercise at all due to post-exertional malais. If I even walk an extra block or stand too long in the kitchen, I end up the next day getting swollen glands and flu symtoms. W30 hasn't cured my ME but it really has helped. I used to be on Tramadol and sometimes diazepam daily for pain and I can't remember when I last took them. I'd already had to cut out gluten about 12 years previously and that hadn't helped the ME but W30 did. I really wish you and your wife all the best. good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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