Time for me to come clean too!

Although, since diagnosis, I have pretty consistently adhered to the Hooshmand CRPS diet as well as modifications I selected from the MS diet I too ate not one but two Reece's cups. (after all there were two in the package)

I was in absolute heaven!!!!!!!!!!

No worse for the wear it was a treat that I will now occasionally allow myself!

I have slowly gotten myself on board with making changes to my diet. With everything else not working and knowing that we are taking it slow in getting me back on various meds after my disaster this past year with those...I figured it was worth a shot. I'm not crazy strict...but I have tried to add in more of the good foods...which was difficult because I have always eaten like crud...lots of fast food, tv dinners, etc. But now I find that it's really not that hard to eat fresh vegetables, fruits, fish, etc. In fact...I can't stand some of the food that I used to eat now. I've also tried to cut out the bad things. I was never big on candy so that hasn't been too difficult...but I have only ever been a soda drinker and trying to drink more water (read into that ANY water) and cutting the pop out of my diet is still proving to be a struggle. But for someone who hasn't had ANY water to drink for the past 20+ years I am proud of myself for being up to 3-4 bottles worth a day and down to one can of pop (just with meals). But changing my diet has definitely helped...after almost 2 months I am noticing a difference. It's still an evolving process as I learn to love good things that I can substitute for the "bad" things...but it's worth it.

Catra--I ate what was considered a "healthy" diet prior to switching my diet. I ate lots of fish, chicken, veggies, and fruit--mostly organic. I was paying attention to calories and eating lots of whole grains.


Our food pyramid base starts with grains. A typical American diet has about 300 grams of carbs per day. That can account for 50% of a person's calories. Someone with diabetes is encouraged to eat roughly half that amount in carbs. I try to stay around 50 grams of carbs per day, with the majority coming from fresh organic fruits and veggies, and whole milk dairy.

In order to figure out your body's sensitivities you have to fully commit to trying this food plan out for at least 1 month.

As RSD patients, we're subjected to all kinds of medications and treatments that have nasty side effects. Changing our diets is one of the few things we have total control over, that has no potential risks associated with doing so...

I completely understand and agree. I've been using the Four F's diet as a guide for me. I think my biggest problem is that my prior diet was SO BAD and unhealthy that this is a complete 180 for me and I keep slowly adding good things. I eat almost no carbs outside of what comes from the list of "good" foods. I've actually just looked over the list again today and I have done a great job of cutting out everything bad except for the one can of Coke I drink a day. I've learned to make things with olive oil instead of butter or margerine, no longer use salt of any kind (I was addicted to using Garlic Salt on EVERYTHING), and was never a fan of cake, ice cream, and only ate candy sparingly before so that part has at least been easy.

The hardest part for me has been adding in the good stuff (like drinking water, eating fish, eating FRESH vegetables, etc) and learning how to prepare it in a way that is good for me too. And I can see the results...it just took a while to really get it all aligned so I didn't starve. The first day I tried to drink just water I drank 1/2 a bottle...ALL DAY with nothing else to drink either! That wasn't good...so to keep from getting dehydrated I added in one can of Coke as I increased the water. My problem is that when it's something I don't like that I just don't have the urge to eat or drink it...so I end up eating and drinking NOTHING in it's place. Well...that's not good for anything. I like to eat...so I have over the course of the past month and a half or so gotten myself on board. I can only hope that as time goes on I see even MORE of an improvement.

The key for me was the idea that doing this with my diet can't HURT me and if it HELPS me then why wouldn't I do it?

A few of Hooshmand's ideas are outdated. Diet soda is a toxic mess for example. I believe butter is ok in small quantities.

If you're having satiety issues, then you're not consuming enough good fat. Do you drink whole milk?

Adding organic apples (if you're on opiates this is a great help) and a little peanut butter or full fat cheese is a satisfying snack or even replacement meal!

Farmed fish is not as healthy as people believe. Only buy wild caught!

If you insist on coke, buy the version made in Mexico with sugar instead of corn syrup if you can find it. They're available at Costco in CA.

There are designer cola's that are organic that would also have fewer chemicals too.

Check out Marksdailyapple.com for recipe ideas.

Try coconut and palm oils!!!

It's sounds like you're doing really well btw!

Thanks...I am trying...it's just hard breaking a lifetime of bad habits. I think back to my days (just a few years ago) before I got hurt and I shudder at the sorts of things I was eating. If I did that now I would get so sick. My mom is always complaining of stomach problems and now I totally understand that it probably has everything to do with the junk she eats. And I mean junk...eats chips and candy all day and no real FOOD. I'm going to visit them for Thanksgiving and I already told my dad I have to go with to the grocery store so I can get some real food in that house for me. They don't have to eat it if they don't want...but I cannot let my body go to heck by eating all that garbage after all the work I've done.

I'll definitely try some of your tips...I'm still new to the whole thing. I think part of my problem is just that I am not eating ENOUGH...some days I think I spend all my energy on my exercises and stuff and then I am too exhausted to get myself something to eat. That's getting better though as my endurance has improved a lot over the last month. The physical therapy, new diet, and the new doctor who has a much more methodical plan for getting me on meds that help are all working together to help me reach my goals of being a functioning person again. As bad as things can get...they are slowly improving and as long as they are headed in the right direction I will do whatever I have to so they keep going that way.

Couldn't do it without everyone here though...I've learned so much from everyone on here and it has showed me that you just can't give up. There's always something else worth trying...and I have come to realize that meds alone just cannot be counted on long term...you need to use a variety of things to get you through each and every day.

FWIW, I'm using the diet for chronic/intractable pain outlined in the back of Dr. Forest Tennant's Intractable Pain Patient's Handbook For Survival.
http://pain-topics.org/pdf/IntractablePainSurvival.pdf (Pg 34)

It's protein/good fats based (at least 50%), but has improved my overall pain levels (when I stick to it) and it's the only diet I've been able to lose weight on (since chronic pain began).

Doc

I haven't made it through reading the entire thing (my inability to focus for that long just KILLS me) but I did skip ahead to the part about the diet and that is very interesting. I'm definitely going to keep that in mind (saved the PDF to my computer for reference). Thanks for posting it!