RA changes and AIP

 About three years ago I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. For about a year I was on steroids and then switched over to tier two medications. (There are three levels of medications for people with RA). I was good for about a year, then late last fall I started to feel worse again, but because of the way my pain manifests, it happened so slowly that I didn´t realize what was going on. I just got more and more exhausted and the pain just becomes so normalized. (This isn´t surprising as I was probably living with RA for more than ten years before I was diagnosed.) In February I did a short bout of steroids and for a week felt so much better. But I had be suffering so much that I was struggling to do my daily yoga routine. I decided about a year and half ago to invest in private yoga lessons and it has made the world of difference for my well-being. (I will do a post on that soon.) I met with a cranio-sacral healer a few weeks ago who pointed out that my gut was a mess. So I decided to make huge dietary changes. I always ate well, but as I got more tired my desire to cook decreased rapidly. It is hard to want to cook when you can barely get out of bed. I started reading the Plant paradox and decided to try the diet which works on removing lectins from your diet. It starts with a three day elimination diet that is focused on eating greens of the cabbage and salad groups and a lot of avocado. On day two I started to notice a break out on the back of my thighs and it moved over the day up my back and on to my breasts. I spent a day trying to find people who had had similar reactions. I finally found one women and she had immediately stopped the elimination process. I eliminated the avocado and avocado oil, and by day four the rash was gone. I switched over the the AIP diet. I have now been on as strict as I can living in Iceland AIP diet. I have gotten lots of supplies, been able to eat most of the things I love aside from chocolate. In desperation I bought carob powder to make "chocolate" cookies. I have made lots and lots of food the last two weeks and I will post about the things that were tasty and memorable, but what really surprised me was I realized that I have been cooking a lot. Much more than I have in the past 8 months, and it is not exhausting. I feel overall so much better. I have more energy for longer walks with the dog, to make more than one meal in a day (although I do have days where I just eat leftovers), I have significantly increased my vegetable intake every day. And so far I have slimmed down a bit, mostly what I think is water weight and I have the energy of thinking about reviving this blog and creating recipes that work with this diet. And most of all my pain has decrease significantly.