Re: Patsy to regarding Gluten Free Diet

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

I just wanted to tell you that someone my daughter knew had a mother who went

into remission from severe RA after going gluten free.  She lived in Arizona,

but came here to California to an alternative medicine practitioner

..

I hope you will be happy with your VA care.  I go to the Sepulveda VA here in

southern California, and feel I have had the best of care.  I went on Enbrel as

soon as it was approved by the FDA.  It helped me almost immediately.  I took it

for eight years, but I am now on Arava.

I was in the Navy a long time ago.  I was an air traffic controller.  I was

stationed in Milton, Florida -- Pensacola area -- and Barber's Point, Hawaii.

I can't imagine having gone through those early years of RA with small

children.  I could barely take care of myself!!

Good luck with your gluten-free diet.  I love the gluten-free rice crackers at

Whole Foods.  I have not found bread that I like though.

Sincerely,

Patsy

________________________________

From: Fair <kalfoley@...>

ra support < >

Sent: Thu, October 22, 2009 7:03:38 AM

Subject: [ ] update: gluten free diet , H1N1 vax, and genetics study

 

Hi everyone, just wanted to update on my gluten free experiment. I've been off

gluten for about a week. Although I crave carbs, I find it easier to follow than

other plans I've tried like Weight Watchers or South Beach. I just avoid grains,

but I can still have dark chocolate which helps! I didn't weigh myself last week

before starting, but I'd noticed my clothes seemed looser. I stepped on the

scale this am and I'm back to Navy standards for the first time since I had

Tommy 16 mos ago. I'd estimate I lost 3 pounds in the past week. Very

motivating! I'm going to keep it up for another 2 weeks and see what happens.

I also scored an H1N1 vax and did just fine with it. I'm overdue for an Enbrel,

but wanted to wait a few days for the vax to start working. I also got my DTAP

booster and that was fine too. I was encouraged that when I was in officer

school and didn't know I had RA, I got a zillion shots and didn't have a flare,

so I don't think immunizations are a trigger for me. Who knows, maybe it gives

my crazy immune system something to do with its spare time instead of bothering

my joints.

I'm struggling to coordinate flu vaxes for the boys. Charlie has had the flu for

a week (took Tamiflu) and with his reactive airway, it's tough to coordinate.

He's fever free and back to school, but at night if we don't give him Motrin he

gets increased respiratory rate. I have a call in to peds to see what they want

to do. Tommy got his 15 mo shots 3 weeks ago, so he's still within the window

that the CDC recommends waiting for H1N1 vax. Hopefully we can get both boys

vaccinated soon.

I also completed my participation in the Long Island Health Center's RA genetics

study:

http://www.madgc. org

It was very easy, a few questionnaires, medical releases for info from my docs,

and 5 vials of blood I threw in a Fed Ex envelope and that was it. It was a good

feeling to contribute to science. My two cousins with RA are also participating

and they're comparing our genes with those of our non-RA sibs. Very neat!

Hope everyone is doing well! I start with the VA on Monday!

Kate