RA I hate you. 

I hate the way my hands look. 

I hate the fear that sets in.  .

I hate the tears.

I hate doubting myself.

I hate wondering what the morning will bring.

I hate dressing around my abilities to maneuver zippers or buttons.

I hate not being able to do everything I want to do.

And I especially hate the fact that my gratitude for my good health is completely overshadowed by my bad health. 

I Can Play!

I played wiffle ball with my family tonight!!

You never realize how much of your body goes into a game like that....or kickball or skating or soccer or whatever.   I am super thankful to be feeling this good. 

The particulars....
Wrist is sore when moved to the extreme. 
I can make a left handed fist in the morning.
My right hand is not great this week. 
I can jump, run, and stand on my tippy toes.
I've been walking nearly every morning, stretching, lifting, crunches, and squats


Supplements....
fish oil
Vit C, D, and E
Calcium
MSM
Milk thistle
Zinc
PB8 (probiotic)

pharmaceuticals...
Arava

So after a week or so of going back to my regular foods I was feeling much better.   And still am.

I did have an issue with my wrist that was getting pretty bad.  Maggie worked on it for me but couldn't do anything.  However, the morning after I could actually move it a little more than the night before!  Oh happy day!  So she worked on it every day after VBS until it was finally at a place where she could put a shot in.  She does not do steroids and I appreciate that. 

That all meant that I did not have to go to TX to visit my family in a brace.  My wrist is not perfect, but I would call it very good.  With time I'm thinking it'll get better.

I'm exercising a ton more.  I'm going to ask Dr. B if there is some case study I could be involved in that deals with nutraceuticals or exercise. 

It Didn't Work

I guess if I could just live without food I'd do pretty good.  I thought the chicken day would work out ok but when I woke up this morning my hands were terrible. 

Very disappointing.

I didn't just pick chicken to start with out of the blue.  I was trying to go closer to a candida diet and also eating for your blood type.  Thus chicken.  I don't even like chicken that much.  I especially don't like it now. 

I suppose the die hard would just place it on the suspect list and go to the next food.  But since my first attempt bombed so badly I'm pretty discouraged with the whole thing. 

So I give up.

Back to my vegan-ish fare which is a very comfy place to be. 

The Results Are In

Let me start by saying that I'm very impressed with how well I feel.

It's not perfect.  All the inflammation is not gone.  My wrist is still flaring. And waking up on day 4 was actually a little worse than day 3.  But here's the thing....this is the best I've felt in a loooong time.  I really think that if my cysts were gone then I could make tighter fists.  The cysts seem to be holding everything up.

I also noticed more popping yesterday.  I don't like that.  Popping doesn't hurt, I just hate the sound of it. 

So it wasn't the miracle I was hoping for but it sure did help.  A lot.

The next step is trying a rotation diet.  Today I ate chicken.  All day.  And I still feel great. 
My man is not happy with the results and wants me to get my meds back on board before I start to go downhill.   I took them for 3 weeks and nothing changed so that is not my favorite idea.  But I try to listen to him I started them back up. :-(  My doc thinks it might help with the cysts.  Well see.  If so, I'll be a happy girl. 

A thought:  I hardly slept at all last night.  I woke up at midnight and stayed up til 5am.  That never happens.  It takes so very little change in my body to affect RA.  So that might be the reason that day 4 was not as great as day 3.  (?) 

The Home Stretch!

I'm hungry, grumpy, snappy, and about to cry. 
But.....

MY JOINTS ARE FEELING GREAT!

Not perfect, but great.  And I'm so thankful. 

I'm officially done but will carry it over to the morning b/c the mornings are the true test.  Then my man told me he'd bring me some chicken in bed for breakfast.  Is he a love or what?  I'm just wondering if he knows how early breakfast might be! ;-)

We spent the afternoon touring a farm.  I was outside, in the heat (which wasn't so hot), and on my feet the whole time.  Usually this would be a situation that would bring some big swelling.  Temporary and not too painful, but big.  Today my hands were very minimally swelled by the whole thing! 

My wrist is my worst joint right now and that surprises me.  But even that is ok.  And when I say worst, I mean that extreme bending brings mild pain.  Not that it's slowing me down or putting me in a brace.  There is no noticeable swelling.  Maybe the morning will bring even more freedom. 

I am perfectly aware of the temperamental disease that RA is.  People can do great, even go into remission for years only to have it come back when you're least expecting it.   I am holding all this loosely and just concentrating on thankfulness knowing that tomorrow could bring something entirely different.  As for now I am praising the Lord "who heals all your diseases" (Ps 103) and still asking for a miracle. 

YES!

I went to bed last night praying for a miracle.  That the Lord would indeed bring me out of this with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm.  As as far as food goes, that the boundary lines would fall in pleasant places.

6 am on the morning of day 3.  Every morning starts the same.  I immediately move certain joints to see how bad it's going to be today.  But today!!......I can make a fist with my left hand!  And not just any fist but a TIGHT fist with strength!  My right hand makes a closed fist, not as good b/c of the cysts, but even so the swelling is not first-thing-in-the-morning-swelling, but the much better swelling of the middle of the day.  My left wrist is a bit sore (that's been going on for about a month now) but still nothing like it usually is first thing in the morning. 

Guess who got woken up to celebrate with me?  I couldn't resist.  And if you're reading this, you're lucky I'm not calling YOU and waking you up to hear about it too!  I'm SOOO excited. 

And that's with storms thrown in the mix, ya'll. 

Here's the site I'm following where I'm getting most of my info....http://www.arthritis-alternatives.com

Other than waking up shaky and obviously being hungry, I feel great.  I have good energy and a happy mood. 

3pm is my ending time of the 3 day fast.  I was going to carry this through to the morning but I'm waking up shaky so I'm considering eating dinner.  Chicken.  I bought the Smart Chicken instead of my usual $.88/lb chicken from Aldi. 

As I incorporate foods, one of my main objectives is also eating as clean as we can possibly afford.  And closer to the source. 

We have a farm close by that sells fresh cow and goat milk, goat cheese, butter, cream, eggs, and other stuff.  Today we are taking a tour.  Doesn't that sound like fun? 

Fast Day 2

It's not that bad.  I'm trying to keep busy and stay out of the kitchen! 
Picking blueberries today was a challenge b/c I sooo wanted to pop a few in my mouth!  But its ok.  And the time is flying by. 

The mornings may or may not be better.  I think they are but I'm also aware that it could be my imagination.  One thing is for sure.  Right now it's not worse..and that's without meds and supplements.  So that's good!

I'm going to carry this until Sunday morning since the mornings are the hardest.  It'll give me one more morning on the experiment.