I have been struggling to get diagnosed for 7 years. 2 years ago I adopted a lifestyle that I refer to as "mostly vegetarian with vegan tendancies" it helped me manage my flairs down to about 2 a year instead of being debilitated for the majority of the year. I did it for many reasons, none of them related to AI, as I didn't know what I had then. However, even though my problems didn't have a name cutting out meat and dairy helped tremendiously for my health. Enough of an impact for me to keep it up for last 2 years. Now, my symptoms have a name - lupus with a possible Sjogren's as secondary. So, I can't tell you they are linked, but I can tell you the change allowed me to have more good days than bad, and that meqnt the world to me. If you're interrested in my food journey, I blogged it so I could keep a record for myself, and help others, as I found it to be overwhelming when I started paying attention to nutrition.
PM me if you want the link.
Good luck, and extra spoons to you!