Kickas.org Forums Treatments, Drugs and Alternatives NSD and diet-related; Two AS Sub-groups?

Wally, Deborah, we do well to emphasise the exercise as i don't see anything else touch general stiffness except for fasting which is no long-term solution...
A mate gets chronic migraines (which lasted up to six weeks!!!!!) so i coaxed him into looking at starch and glucose index and stuff - not because i knew anything about diet and migraine, but to get him to get out there to study it and take control. He eventually found out cheese (which he loves to bits) was a pre-cursor and that certain exercises gave him the same general malaise that heralded a migraine attack....
So he practices hard at those exercises until they give no such feeling, then moves onto a different muscle. Real success story as he is now TOTALLY in touch with his body and aware of what is happening to it/with it.....
Stress in the neck and shoulders was a huge factor for stiffness which only unfamiliar exercises could alleviate. A lot of these were based around isometrics and becoming bi-laterally equalized.


Ted

HI John,

I am not sure I totally agree with my dr. about it not being active inflamation over soft tissue damage. It is very difficult for me to tell the difference between the two as it feels just the same only not as intense. She is judging her opinion on my blood work ESR was 6 this month, but my ESR has never gone beyond 20 which was excruciating pain. So this is 2/3 better than last year at this time.

I take quite a few supplements but not the glucosamine, maybe I should add that to my list. I am thinking of taking HGH. It is very expensive but is supposed to help with healing. My GP has a sideline of anti-aging which includes HGH and am going to ask him if it could help in my positiion. I have tried just about everything else why not add that to my list.

In the meantime I will continue with the diet though lately I have been testing the waters cautiously with things like brown rice, oatmeal and sprouted wheat bread. So far, it does not seem to increase the pain but it is hard to tell as I have never been pain free for any length of time.
Thanks for the suggestions and I will let you know if I try the HGH if it works.

Good Health to you John.

Debbie

There is no drug stronger than a good attitude.

Bilko and Wally & Ted

I agree about the excercise as well and do make an effort to excercise regularly. I joined yoga and try to walk or bike everyday. Maybe I am not doing the right excercise. I am going to start swimming soon as well. I have a cold right now and want to get rid of it before I start swimming.
I must say though it is hard to be motivated when you are in pain but that is probably the time you SHOULD excercise. I enjoy being active and I guess I should consider myself lucky that I have a disease whose prescription is excercise.



There is no drug stronger than a good attitude.

I don't exercise anymore. I don't take supplements. I get better each week. Just hardcore NO STARCH, NO SUGAR! There is a difference between the pain and the inflammation. Gets easy to tell once you get use to the two conditions. Trunk turn versus no trunk turn.

You wouldn't know I had AS if you met me. Not anymore anyways.

Just bragging!
Allan

Hi Allan,

Glad to hear your good news. You are an inspiration to all who doubt the diet. The more I think about it though the more I do not believe what my dr. says that I do not have active inflammation. She is making her judgement on my sed rate which has never been out of normal range. Now it is much lower and my pain level does correlate with that but I do believe my disease is still active. Anyways I will follow her instructions until next appt. and go from there. Keep up the good work Alan, you deserve to brag.

There is no drug stronger than a good attitude.

Hey Deb,
Seems the pain I get can mimic inflammation somewhat. I believe most people who have a fused SI are probably fused a little to the left. AS is suppose to cause a pull to the left on the spine, curling that way until fused. My SI is fused and looking in the mirror without a shirt I can see that my trunk is turned and set slightly to the left. Of course this may be just in need of a couple of weeks of adjustments from a chiro, but with the fussion, who knows. Everything else all the way up get looser and straighter each week. I have constantly strecthed for years. Whether sitting in a chair or just standing around, I'm usually testing my ROM limits and trying to push beyond. Previously while inflamed I would do this type of stretching and after stopping and relaxing I'd find I was just like before, tight and tender, within a few minutes of stopping. That's inflammation at work. Now without inflammation I sometimes wake up stiff and sometimes not much, but movement relieves the stiffness and it doesn't just come right back. I work 10-12 hour shifts and by the end of the day my back is tired and I have to consciously work at remaining erect, but I'm learning a little stoop by days end is ok. It resets after my sleep and I start over again. But, I am gaining ground very quickly. I had almost come to the conclusion that I was fused everywhere except about 5 vertebra in the middle of the back that I needed to pop a couple of times a day to stand erect. My ROM was horrid throughout my spine and neck. Now that it is all releasing I'm finding that my SI is all that fused and I only know that because my Doctor had it xrayed. I'm amazed at how strongly the the muscle must be to have held me trapped like they had.
It's a slow process of release or fast depending on whether you view months, days or hours in the overall of it.
I believe exercise really helps and I going to get back to it. Mostly just walking and stretching exercises. I still stretch constantly where ever I am, not a routine, just pushing the limits on the ROM.
So anyway, if you can exercise, just walking, and you get relief from inflammation and it doesn't just come right back within a few minutes of finishing. Then your probably not suffering from active AS so much as just misalignment.
Watchout adding stuff back into your diet. It'll creep back up on you in a stealthy sorta way.

Allan

Hi Allan,

When you put it that way then I do not have active inflamation just left over pain from the inflamation I guess. Hard to know exactly. It makes me see red when they say fibromyagia. I excercise every day ( except lately because I am getting over a cold) Walk one day, ride on my recumbent bike the next and every day stretches and yoga 2x per week.
Anyway I have been testing the diet more and more lately with no changes in pain levels. To date I have eaten brown rice, rice crackers, oatmeal and sprouted wheat bread. No specific reaction or increase in pain. I also have slippery elm and apple cider vinigar every day. I have also started the Roadback protocol. I have been on it since Aug. 2003. Hoping it is the answer to my pain? I will be sure to let everyone know if it works.
In the meantime, good luck with your diet and your amazing progress. Hope it continues and each day finds you a little better!

There is no drug stronger than a good attitude.

Hey Deb,
I had a weird thought as to a new name for the NSD. Just, 'Nothing Works!', profound, huh? hehe.
It took me three tries in the last ten months to get to where I am now. Week off the first time and 2 months off the second time. Though the second time I tried to eat mostly NSD, but added some other stuff a couple of times a week. It didn't work. I'm happy with the food these days and I find I'm not hungry. I just feel empty and I refill. I think I'm sitting at about 167 so 5 lbs. went some where. Great energy and mental clarity though. I feel like dancing, I had forgotten what normal really felt like. I hope I don't take it for granted later. I'm see the body as machine that gets us around in this life. Funny to think in those terms. I was adding disel to my tank though I ran on regular, hehe.

Sorry to be a little repitious, but there's not enough post these days for people to read in here.

Anyways, If wishes were pennies you'd all be cured and I'd be broke....
Wishing you well anyways!

Allan

Well, I read it awhile back. I don't remember if it was a post or a...Hmm, are you going to make me look around or are you going to re-enlighten me?

Perhaps we are all just a little twisted in one way or another.....

Allan