hi, Daniella, I live in Las Vegas and my joints absolutely love this dry climate. Even when I go to California, which is not considered all that humid, my joints will act up for about a week.
Really, I do not have any swelling problems until recently. The diet I am attempting to follow is a modified Mayo diet, aka the grapefruit diet. Obviously I cannot have the grapefruit, so I have substituted orange juice. I used this diet years ago and lost 50 lbs with going to the gym 3 times a week. Walking on the ground does not help with my balance problems. The treadmill with holding on and moving consistently does help me. When the weather warms up (and after I have lost some weight to feel not so self conscious in a bathing suit) I will do some water walking in the apartment complex pool. It is not heated and the water is still too cold for me.

I hate to have to tell you this...but orange juice may also be problematic, esp in high amounts.

All citrus is being investigated slowly as similar in many ways to grapefruit.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21039758

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14641551

oh, crap!!! What's a girl got to do to find a decent catalyst around here?! Seriously, I consume at most 16oz per day of OJ between breakfast and lunch. I will stop that immediately. Is there a safe catalyst that can be used other than the citrus group. If not, then the diet will not do its job in terms of consistent weight loss each week. Yeah, I know, just watch what I eat and lose weight very slowly. (sigh)

There is this guy... from Dr. Oz.... He only recommends the grapefruit juice (but he also says lemon works...in his book), but he does not go into the drug interactions.

He claims if you eat 30 grams of protein within 1 hr of getting up in the morning you will lose fast. Also there are other things...
He uses beans and legumes instead of other carbs. I bought his book on Amazon --The 4 hr Body: I've lost about 25 lbs since Feb using his ideas.

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread144410.html

In the book he also recommends alot of spinach... claims he has evidence that it improves the action of insulin at the cell receptors. So I have been doing that too. Eating his way, you don't really get hungry, if you do it correctly. For your protein, he says you can do protein shakes. But you have to avoid most sugars, including fruit on his plan.

I typically have eggs with meat, some spinach and some salsa mixed in a bowl for breakfast. Or with beans. I use black beans, because they don't upset my GI tract. I also use Edamame for dinner, or in the mix, or lentils. Watch your carbs with the foot swelling. High carb intake irregardless of calories for the day...if most are carb you are not going to loose even if the cals are low.... leads to swelling.
One advantage to all the beans, etc, is that they are high in magnesium, and that is helping my blood pressure, and other issues too. A can of black beans typically lasts me 3 meals. About a buck a can (or .92 at Walmart).

The drug most affected by the citrus would be your amitriptyline.
Gabapentin probably not, because it is not metabolized in the body. You should plug in your drugs into the drug checker at
http://www.drugs.com/drug_interactions.html

I have been using the lotion, suggested on the Magnesium cream thread recently. And it is taking down my foot edema dramatically.
It is CVS Epsom lotion. It might work for you.

Thank you, mrsD. I carefully read all the info you provided. I have never used grapefruit or orange juice more than 2 8oz cups per day and never with dinner while doing the "mayo diet". Since my amitriptyline is taken at bedtime, levels of the juice in my bloodstream is low. My bigger interaction problem is my fentanyl which is in my system 24/7 without a break. The citrus juices have the effect of intensifying the fentanyl. I am already on a high dose and this could be dangerous.

Also, I have been using high carb meal replacement bars (44g) as I usually don't get to eat 3 meals per day and I know I will be exercising when I use one. Turns out this may be the cause of my imflammation. The sketchers have been off for a week now. Since there has been no dramatic change in the swelling of my feet and ankles, that rules that cause out. It's down to my hypothyroid problems or using those hi carb bars.

I went to my rheumy yesterday and asked about Hashimoto's. He said he doesn't deal with that and I would have to see my regular doctor or an endocrinologist. He said to me that he only handles my enbrel. So now I have an appt with my internist for tomorrow.

Yes, I have the epsom salts cream and it temporarily helps me a little bit at best (as long as I stay off my feet).

Thanks to all your wonderful info, I am sufficiently armed to see my internist and get him to do SOMETHING. I will let you know when I find out what is going wrong: my thyroid or my stupidity. Thanks, Cat