Day 9: Tendon pain

[shootermcgee]

I am on Day 9 today and noticed a worsening of tendon pain in my elbow over the past few days.  Last night, my wrist was a little sore.  Woke up this morning to worsened pain in my wrist and both elbows.  I usually have joint and tendon pain with gluten/dairy/sugar binges, but I've been on program for 9 days.  I also had a bad headache last night that went away with tylenol and sleep (I made it to 9:30 before zonking out, which is very early for me).

 

Usually for tendonitis flare ups, I take advil.  Since they are NSAIDs I am trying to refrain, but the pain is occupying my every thought today.  Could I be eating something that is making it worse? 

 

My eating yesterday:

 

Breakfast:  4 fried eggs, diced potatoes, cantaloupe, 1 coffee with nutpods original flavor

Lunch: Baked sweet potato with pork carnitas

Dinner:  Pork chops with spiced applesauce, green beans with dill and ghee

 

I think I didn't have enough protein at lunch, because I was starving all night and snacked on white cherries and macadamia nuts.  I usually don't need a snack, but last night I was a'hungry.

 

Anything thoughts/suggestions?

 

Thanks in advance!

[shootermcgee]

Wow. Ok thanks for the non support. I guess there's no welcome here.

[ShannonM816]

I'm sorry no one responded to this before. Honestly, I'm not sure what to tell you. Nightshades can cause inflammation for some people, that would include potatoes and any peppers you might have used for seasonings (not black pepper, but chili peppers or jalapenos or other peppers), but you don't seem to have a huge amount of them listed here. If you want to double check if you've been eating more of them than what's listed here, check out this shopping list and see how many of the grayed out items you've been eating -- if it's a lot more of them than usual, you might try to focus on having the non-grayed out items instead for a while and see if that helps.

 

For meds, if Tylenol will relieve the pain, it's less likely to cause gut issues than NSAIDS and from that perspective would be the better option during Whole30.

 

Your best bet is to figure out why the tendon is hurting and address that issue -- could it be a repetitive motion problem, or did you injure it at some point and it still needs to heal?

[shootermcgee]

Thanks for responding. No injuries. My wrist was better yesterday then last night at bedtime the pain came back and this morning it's bad again. Here's what I've eaten the past few days.

Thursday

M1 4 hard boiled eggs, 1 avocado, salt and pepper, banana, coffee with nutpods

M2 zucchini "pasta" with 1/3 lb shrimp cooked in evoo with garlic and dill and a few grape tomatoes, apple, seltzer

M3 2 bubby burger patties, 1 avocado, 1.5 to 2 cuos cauliflower with garlic and herb spice mix

Wednesday

M1 4 fried eggs, about 1 cup of potatoes, about 1 c. Cantaloupe, coffee with nutpods

M2 chicken breast with red pepper mayo, about 1 c broccoli, seltzer

M3 zucchini "pasta" with 1/3 lb shrimp cooked in evoo with garlic and dill and a few grape tomatoes

Tuesday

M1 4 fried eggs, about 1 cup of potatoes, about 1 c. Cantaloupe, coffee with nutpods

M2 drawing a blank

M3 chicken breast with red pepper mayo, about 1 c broccoli, seltzer

I had the same breakfast today as yesterday...and my stomach is hurting so bad. I think it's the Avocado because I've always been a regular egg eater and I haven't had tendon pain in years. I don't typically eat Avocado on a regular basis and I have had 3 in the past 24 hours. I feel like I'm dying! Could that be it??

[SugarcubeOD]

It sounds like perhaps you need to go to a physical therapist or to your doc for an assessment.  While food can cause problems and it can also heal us to some degree, it can't actually repair strained tendons, torn ligaments or the onset of possible arthritis or other degenerative disease.  

 

You could try taking out the avocado if you think that might be the problem... the only way to tell is to remove and see what happens... 

[shootermcgee]

I have seen numerous doctors (primary care, integrative holistic doc, rheumatologist, orthopedic, acupuncturist, chiropractor) over the past 10 years, and none has been helpful regarding the tendon/joint pain I have had.  An ortho doc had NO idea what was causing my wrist tendon pain and sent me to a hand specialist.  He didn't have a clue either, and ended up giving me a cortisone shot.  While it did help, I wouldn't wish one of those on my worst enemy.  And obviously not a permanent solution.

 

After experimenting over the past few days, I seem to have narrowed it down to avocados and macadamia nuts that are causing me issues.  So both are off the list.  I shopped using the low FODMAP list (other than rainier cherries...I can't pass those up!)  And even with an over-consumption of said cherries, I am feeling pretty good physically.  The pain isn't gone, but it's much less pronounced. 

 

But I am very tired.  I have had more energy in that I am able to cook every night and pack up my lunch and breakfast for the next day before hitting the couch, which is a marked improvement.  But by 9 PM, I am DONE.  I watch a little TV and am asleep between 930 and 10.  Some nights I don't make it that late.  I have been having more frequent headaches during week 2, I didn't have any the first week.  I am on day 15 and there's no tiger blood in sight.  Feels more like tiger poop running through my veins

[SugarcubeOD]

Thursday

M1 4 hard boiled eggs, 1 avocado, salt and pepper, banana, coffee with nutpods You have no fat here and no non starchy veggies.  Trade the cantaloupe for vegetables.

M2 zucchini "pasta" with 1/3 lb shrimp cooked in evoo with garlic and dill and a few grape tomatoes, apple, seltzer  zoodles are mostly water so unless you ate a bucketful, you don't have enough veggies.  How much is a 1/3 pound of shrimp?

M3 2 bubby burger patties, 1 avocado, 1.5 to 2 cuos cauliflower with garlic and herb spice mix How big are these burgers as related to your palm?

Wednesday

M1 4 fried eggs, about 1 cup of potatoes, about 1 c. Cantaloupe, coffee with nutpods You have no fat here and no non starchy veggies.  Trade the cantaloupe for vegetables.

M2 chicken breast with red pepper mayo, about 1 c broccoli, seltzer How much chicken as it relates to your palm?  Up the veggies.

M3 zucchini "pasta" with 1/3 lb shrimp cooked in evoo with garlic and dill and a few grape tomatoes zoodles are mostly water so unless you ate a bucketful, you don't have enough veggies.  How much is a 1/3 pound of shrimp?

Tuesday

M1 4 fried eggs, about 1 cup of potatoes, about 1 c. Cantaloupe, coffee with nutpods You have no fat here and no non starchy veggies.  Trade the cantaloupe for vegetables.

M2 drawing a blank

M3 chicken breast with red pepper mayo, about 1 c broccoli, seltzer How much chicken breast as it relates to your palm?

I had the same breakfast today as yesterday...and my stomach is hurting so bad. I think it's the Avocado because I've always been a regular egg eater and I haven't had tendon pain in years. I don't typically eat Avocado on a regular basis and I have had 3 in the past 24 hours. I feel like I'm dying! Could that be it??

I've quoted this post to answer your last post about being tired.  You are not eating enough, which can manifest as being tired.  Take another look at the meal planning template linked below and up your intake.

[shootermcgee]

Thursday
M1 4 hard boiled eggs, 1 avocado, salt and pepper, banana, coffee with nutpods You have no fat here and no non starchy veggies.  Trade the cantaloupe for vegetables.  Isn't the avocado the fat?  I don't plan on eating anymore avocados because they seem to not agree with me, but I thought I was doing the right thing by adding it.

 

How much is a 1/3 pound of shrimp?  I took a 1 pound bag of shrimp and divided it into 3 servings.  Dinner for my son and I, then lunch for me the next day.  Should equate to over 5 ounces each - it was at least a palmful. 

 

zoodles are mostly water so unless you ate a bucketful, you don't have enough veggies.  Noted.  I will ensure I add another veggie when I make this again (it was delish)

 

How much chicken as it relates to your palm?  At least a palm sized serving.  Probably closer to spanning my whole hand. 

 

How big are these burgers as related to your palm?  That should have read "Bubba" burgers, the ones you buy from the freezer section.  They were large patties, easily over a palmful

 

I was cheating and getting breakfast at the deli downstairs last week, but have started packing my own.  Today I had 4 HB eggs and at least a cup of kale with ghee for the fat.  I was so full at the end, I had to force the last few bites.  Which is unusual because I never say no to food.  I got too much sun yesterday and that affects my stomach (I'm a ginger).  Lunch today is half a roasted spaghetti squash with the tomato sauce from Whole30 book.  I added ground turkey cooked in EVOO to make it a meat sauce.  I have a large handful of black olives for the fat.  I brought a banana to eat with either breakfast or lunch, but it's just sitting there looking at me.  I don't really want it today.

 

Thanks for the response, I will pay better attention to the template.  I should just slather the red pepper mayo on everything, I can't get enough of that stuff!

[jmcbn]

THe avocado IS fat, yes - I think SugarCube just replied to the wrong section there as she has also mentioned cantaloupe which isn't in that meal.

Re the joint pain, have you considered that eggs might be your culprit? I only say this because I had a bit of an issue with eggs myself recently and when I chose to exlcude them some niggly pain I'd had in my knee for some time pretty much disappeared. I've reintroduced eggs, but now pay close attention to the quality of the egg, and in particular what the chickens are fed... we are what what we eat eats...

Also have you thought about having a sports massage? The issue could stem form trapped nerves,lack of stretching, over training, any given number of things - but a decent Sports Massage Therapist will be able to pick it up right away where a Dr may not - again, speaking from experience here.

 

[shootermcgee]

I doubt very much it's from over training...I'm a couch potato I have been having monthly massages for the past 6 months.  Not sports massages, but my guy is really good and is actually working on becoming a physical therapist.  

 

I've always been an egg eater, and the wrist pain has been gone for about 7 or 8 years.  I do buy organic eggs, but I have not paid much attention to checking what it says about the chicken's diet on the carton.  I'll have to look into that.  I would be wiling to give it a try, not eating eggs for a bit and seeing if that makes any difference...as soon as my pricey egg supply is gone  

 

Thanks for the suggestions!

[jmcbn]

I've always been an egg eater too - I've been eating Whole30esque for well over a year, and was paleo for 3-4yrs before that - I ate at least 3 eggs daily, and some times as many as 9 or 10. The thing is that over exposure of ANY food can result in a sensitivity - a senstivity which will often be resolved by a brief period of exclusion. If you're not get any joy from any other avenue then it might be worth pursuing - eggs are known to be inflammatory.

[shootermcgee]

Noted, thanks!

 

Something new did happen, and I almost cried in amazement.  The cracking in my ankle that I hear and popping I feel EVERY time I go down the stairs...it was GONE GONE GONE this morning!!!!!  And my wrist pain is markedly better.  The only change was that I eliminated avocado then nuts over the past few days.  I almost wanted to run back up the stairs just to NOT hear it again!!!