June 23, 2006

Health Problems and their resolution

Having Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS) seems to predispose a person to a multitude of other autoimmune disorders such as: iritis, psoriasis, IBS, etc. Not only that but the disease process and the drugs end up doing harm to some organs eg: liver, gallbladder, kidneys. This post will list some of the health problems and what ways I have found of coping with or resolving them.

Key:
  • * = safe
  • ** = helpful
  • *** = very beneficial
  • --- = detrimental

Symptom
 Resolution
Anxiety

(reactions seem similar to that of brain fog)
*** fasting
** greens
** tofu
** fruit fasting
** eating heaps of green vegetables
* meat
-- Some sugary foods
Ankylosing Spondylitis
 *** No Starch Diet. See http://www.kickas.org/
*** fruit fasting. Use only fruits that are low in starch eg: apples, pears, grapes
*** ? Raw Wheatgerm. Probably works due to laxative effect.
*** infrared lamp treatment
** eating heaps of green vegetables eg: cabbage, spinach, lettuce, brocoli
* low starch fruits
* low starch vegetables eg: cauliflower, cucumber, etc
* meat, fish, eggs, mushrooms, etc
* fat, mayonnaise, oils, etc
--- grains
--- legumes, beans, lentils. Most beans, peas, etc are starchy
--- root vegetables
Candida
 *** coconut fibre
*** yoghurt
** dietary fibre
* greens
* fresh fruit (not when juiced)
-- refined sugar
--- rice
Cystitis
 see: UTI
Eczema

*** Essential Fatty Acids (EFA's) such as those found in evening primrose oil (EPO), flaxseed oil, fish oils, cod liver oil, etc. I hear that flaxseed and evening primrose oils are particularly effective.
*** infrared lamp treatment
*** ? Raw Wheatgerm. Seems to work better than apple cider vinegar.
*** (?) Live apple cider vinegar seems to work very well. Others have sung its praise on forums (ref-a, ref-b, ref-c). Make sure it is live apple cider vinegar (unpasteurised) with that weird slimy sediment which they call 'the mother' of vinegar.
** salt. Adding salt to sweet / starchy foods helps a little to reduce the reaction.
** green vegetables
** fat, mayonnaise, oils, etc
* meat, fish, eggs, etc
* yoghurt
--- sweet foods
--- winter
--- scratching
Enthesitis
 Symptoms: hand, knee or foot pain. Caused by inflammation at the point where the tendons connect to bones.
*** No Starch Diet
* rice
- oats. Only a mild problem, have to eat quite a lot of oats for a reaction.
-- Dairy. Yoghurt, cheese, etc are all problems.
--- Wheat. Perhaps other grains are an issue. Rice is safe.
--- Sugar mixed with butter / dairy fat / coconut.. a big problem when it is hot or liquid. So the worst reactions are things like hot chocolate, hot caramel, hot chocolate syrup. Give it a test one day and see if you react to one of these.

See also iritis entry as there is a great deal of similarity.
Hand pain
 If you have AS and hand pain then it is probably caused by 'enthesitis' (see: enthesitis)
Iritis

Symptom: painful inflammation inside the eye
Some similarities with enthesitis in terms of what foods trigger it (see: enthesitis)
*** oral prednisolone
*** No Starch Diet
* yoghurt
* rice
* corn ? (I think this is safe)
- banana. This suggests that Inulin or FOS are a problem for iritis.
- oats. Only a mild problem, have to eat quite a lot of oats for a reaction.
-- milk.
--- sugar mixed with butter / dairy fat / coconut. eg: Hot chocolate, chocolate, caramel, ice cream, etc. A bigger problem when it is hot or liquid. So the worst reactions are things like hot chocolate, hot caramel, hot chocolate syrup. Give it a test one day and see if you react to one of these.
--- wheat. Perhaps other grains are a problem too?. Wheat is really bad when deep fried or fluffy eg: donuts, tempura, battered fish, sponge cake, etc.
--- echinacea
Tendonitis
 see: enthesitis
UTI
 Urinary Tract Infection, aka: cystitis
*** Bearberry leaf tea (aka: Uva Ursa, Uva Ursi). Must follow a diet that has a low Renal Acid Load in order for this herb to be effective.
*** Juniper Berry tea. Use this in conjunction with the Bearberry leaves in a tea. Stick it in a thermos and have a little drink from it regularly. Make sure you don't eat too much protein or it wont help.
*** Low Renal Acid Load diet. Greens, fruit, and vegetables.
*?? Sandalwood oil. I hear that this is good for cystitis, but I am not certain.
--- High Renal Acid Load Diet.
--- High protein intake. Meat, nuts, etc. (protein foods give a high renal acid load)
Uveitis
 see: iritis

Posted by zarkme at 07:23:03 | Permanent Link | Comments (6) |