Day 32, terrible low back pain! pls help!

[gladys_boza]

Need help!

I am on my day #32 and noticed the benefits by the second week (more energy, better sleep, easier breathing, etc)... however, in the last 2 weeks I started having low back pain.. and it has been getting worse to the point that I can barely move today w/o feeling pain - it is BAD

I have never experienced anythying like this in my life!... could it be that my body is not liking something I am eating that is causing inflamation?...is this a healing crisis? has anyone experieced this?

Please help! any advice will be greatly appreciated

[Kirsteen]

I've, personally never heard of a W30 causing back pain like this. I've had low back pain associated with a UTI but never from anything I ate. If it doesn't clear up it might be worth getting it checked medically. Hope you feel better soon

[gladys_boza]

^{Thanks for your reply Kirsteen! I read some more and found that oxlate is a component that cuases inflamation...and it looks like this component is in most of the foods I am now eating with Whole30! see the list I found I literally eat these items almost every day (especially almonds and spinach) - I thougth they were good and I was being very healthy!!}

^{"Here are a few examples of high oxalate foods:}

^{· Almonds}

^{· Spinach}

^{· Sweet potato}

^{· Tomato}

^{Meat, dairy, and eggs contain negligible amounts of oxalate. However, eating large amounts of meat is not advisable as this can also contribute biochemically to increasing oxalate levels in the body. There can be a short term increase in symptoms when the diet is started and symptoms can flare periodically while on the diet. One theory is that during the low oxalate diet a chemical shift occurs at a cellular level from time-to-time causing larger amounts of oxalate to be released from tissue and therefore symptoms as well. The term “dumping†has been coined to describe this feature. Ascertaining whether symptoms are due to eating too much oxalate or simply a biochemical shift is not necessarily easy"}

do you think this makes sense?

[Robin Strathdee]

gladys_boza -

I wouldn't get too hung up on inflammation causing compounds in Whole30 foods, especially oxalate (unless you have some specific medical conditions). Around here, we call that food reductionism - reducing our perspective on a food to a single or a few aspects of that food. Your body makes oxalates from other compounds, they're in your food, and they're a normal part of every day function. It's more likely that there's an external cause (like Kirsteen mentioned, UT or kidney troubles, muscle strain, misalignment, needing a new pillow...) for your pain. If it's severe, I'd recommend seeing a doctor.

[gladys_boza]

Thanks a lot for your advice Robin! I greatly appreciate it.. I will go to the dr and keep you posted

thanks!!