This all new for me, simply very hard to find ways to cook now being on the 4 f diet. Never knew how very little I'm allowed to eat, chicken,shrimp, lobster, veal which I've never eaten before. No reciepes on how to cook it differently, it gets old boring, to the point I don't want to eat, don't take much med's only Bi polar medi's synthriod, because of no thyroid killed, so can't have anything with msg in it. I've had 2 nerve blocks in the thorax to get to the right arm hoping to wake the nerve that is blocking the artery to flow the blood in the right arm naturally but now we have to start physical therapy, right after each procedure,didn't get authorization back in time for it to start as my dr. wants 3xwk so that means more blocks, very very lightly sedated,and local in the neck or entry threw the front of neck or throat area,not so bad but mean while I can use so much greatly needed ways to cook foods, differently so I'm not so not even wanting to eat.I can only have skim milk,Oh by the way I'm Dianne 54 yrs old, just recently diagnoised, as you can see not very computer literalit,or spell either.I live in bakerfield, CA., and engaged, he's very helpful, I also have fibromyalgia, 3 herniated dic in neck, 4 herniated disc in lumbar, 1 bulging disc at tail bone, and allergic to all steroids, cortiezonesshot, morphine sulfate, all anti-flamitories, lyrica , celilbrex, close to 48 med's not all just for medical mostly anit depressant, or trying to find the right med for my bi-polar disorder, which finally got blessed for thank my heaven father each day, now hoping I can be blessed again for some feed back on ways to cook I'm on a very low low income half a gallon off brand of skim milk is 4.69 and to roder the turkey deli lunch meat is 10.91 for 1,pound. Yes very exspensive diet for to have to eat by fresh vegetables are very high to so once again thank you for listening to me and hope to hear from someone soon. Thank you sincerely Dianne may you all be in my prayers.

Hello Dianne. Welcome to the forum and sorry for your troubles. Can you ask you doctor for a referral to a nutritionist? My daughter was on a restricted diet, and we had a nutritionist who helped figure out foods that would appeal to her so she would eat enough.

thank you for your advice.We have tried but no chance at this time.So far they have only givin me a web site with Dr Hooshmans four f diet for chronic pain.We decided to go online for RSD and here we are.Thank you once again for replying.At first I was thinking no one was going to even reply

Welcome! Sorry you have to join us. This is a great group for support and advice. I tried to do at least part of the Dr. Hooshmand four F diet and it did help so I need to go back and try to stick to it better. However, like every thing else so far no magic bullet for me yet. I'm also 54 so I do not think youth is on our side on this one. What I've read is that remission is more likely for the younger ones. Lots of us have tried various treatments with various results so there's a lot of information here as well.

Hi,

** Just re-read your post, sorry - it was a bit confusing - and I think I've got the wrong end of the stick completely!!! I'm leaving the rest here though in case it's any use. SORRY! Lol. **

I'm a coeliac (no gluten - ie anything nice like pastries, bread, pasta etc, although I do eat the GF versions!) and I've recently started a mediterranean diet for health and medical reasons, along with a very chequered family medical history which makes it sensible for me to eat well...

We are perpetually strapped for cash (lost my job to the CRPS, and am self-employed now), so of course it's awkward to shop, especially with two children in school who strip the cupboards like vultures! When I was researching a healthy diet I had to do a lot of manoeveuring because I can't just go and buy nice posh expensive ingredients

The Mediterranean diet is the healthiest in the world and the one which stands up to scrutiny and research again and again (most diets are discredited after the initial enthusiasm), it has been shown to cut the risks for many health problems which are prevalent in the modern world. Basically your body needs certain fats, vitamins and minerals and we tend not to supply enough of them, and overload our bodies with saturated (bad) fats, salt and sugar.

Basically you need to do a few basic things which make the most difference:

- Use extra virgin olive oil every day in your food, drizzled on pasta and salad, used to cook meals etc.
- Eat nuts (as long as you aren't allergic!) every day. Not salted ones, just normal nuts like almonds, Brazils, hazlenuts, walnuts, cashews, unsealed peanuts. Many nuts contain very important minerals that our bodies need.
- Drink a glass of red wine with your evening meal if you can (be sensible re meds etc)
- eat fruit or veg with every meal, as much as you can. This one is like a habit - the first few days are hard, then it becomes normal and not a chore. Even my kids are fine with it now
- swap any sugar you use to brown (unrefined)
- eat oily fish (mackerel, salmon, sardines, etc) once a week
- eat red meat only once a week.
- switch to whole grained foods (brown rice, pasta and bread)

And of course a few things you need to try to stop. Try to cut out completely:

- saturated fats ie butter, lard
- processed foods like biscuits, ready meals, etc.
- foods containing processed sugars like corn syrup, ie sweetened cereal
- processed meat like bacon and ham (lots of additives)
- white bread, white pasta, white rice (all very processed)
- 'low fat' food like yogurts etc - tend to be stuffed with sugar and additives.

It's hard to do on a budget, but to be honest not half as hard as I expected. A lot of processed food is very expensive compared to the calorific goodness If you shop around to start with you get wise very quickly to the places you can buy cheap decent food. Veg is actually pretty cheap, but avoid supermarket bagged veg (even offers) as it tends to be expensive, it's better to get veg from a market or local store, especially at the end of the day when they often put things out cheaply. Buy things like chicken thighs (cheaper and tastier than breast anyway) in big packs, then split the pack into food bags and freeze them for defrosting when you're ready. Nuts and dried fruit are best bought in bulk from a health food shop or market etc, then stored in glass jars. There's lots you can do to save money.

The biggest thing is to plan your food for a week and buy accordingly. If you use up leftovers, use up everything you buy and try not to throw away uneaten food, you can do it fairly cheaply. If you can't do the whole thing, just eating olive oil, veg and a variety of nuts every day, and cutting back on sugary or processed foods will make a big difference to your body.

Any questions do ask, it seems daunting but it is possible

Bram.

Hooshmand's info is not perfect. Although it's a good place to start, advice such as diet soda is fine, is outdated. Skim milk is actually higher in sugar and a bad idea IMO. Deli meat is processed--better to buy a whole organic chicken and roast it yourself--Costco or Trader Joes is a good source. You can be non-farmed fish from Costco, such as Salmon and Cod frozen for a few dollars per serving. You should research farmed fish and shrimp btw--lower nutrients and full of antibiotics. Bakersfield has some great local (organic) produce.

You might want to check out the Paleo food method. The forums at Marksdailyapple.com will help with recipes.

Just want to say thank you for being there! Change is always hard at first,especially without enough information. It seems easier now knowing someone is there to put it in perspective .At first it seemed as if all food that had any flavor or that I liked was off limits,so I came to you wonderful people searching for information .Being a new member to your community,I went about it all wrong.I should of just said ,Hi I am Dianne .Is anyone in your community on Dr hooshmans four f diet .Like I say, without enough information you are lost and bond to do it wrong...I know tho Iam on the right track now.

Silly Diane.. there is no right or wrong way to post information You did just fine!!

I am following Dr. Hooshmands four F's diet although or Paleo way of eating and it does at least for me seem to make a big difference. One thing I have noticed right away is that my weight has stabilized and I am actually eating much more than before eating this way. Since many of the nerve medications like Gabapentin (which I am on a high dose of) and Lyrica etc., all seem to cause weight gain this has been a nice bonus! The other thing I have done regarding my eating habits is to completely remove corn and anything made with corn including or corn fed. I've also almost eliminated Soy which in the US is hard to do considering most everything has some type of soy biproduct in it. This I believe is actually the reason for the weight loss/stability.

At the end of the day most of the information regarding RSD/CRPS is a guideline. Each person responds differently to all forms of treatment whether that be medically based, diet, therapy etc., The best advice we can all give you is to keep a detailed journal of your symptoms, pain levels, environmental factors, eating habits, sleep patterns etc., so that you and your care team can hopefully see patterns in pain triggers or relief. Keep in mind that this is a complex condition in that something that triggered or helped you today may not trigger/help you tomorrow.. it can change like the tide. For me.. keeping out of routine anything helps. What I mean by that is as soon as I find that something is helping me less I stop it for a few days and then try again. Try not to get into the mindset that things will always trigger pain or always relieve pain.. its just not so, and can cause depression on top of everything else we deal with.

Having many ways to distract yourself even if that means just changing your "view" going from inside to outside or reading a book then chatting on the phone; distraction is one of the best ways to get your mind off of pain and or the condition itself.

If you find that the "diet" is to overwhelming to change all at once, try just 2 days per week or one meal per day.. and slowly add another day or another meal. Stressing yourself out about it isn't good either. Just do your best and reward yourself verbally for every good thing you do for your body from here on out, trust me it works!

Hang in there and again.. keep posting without hesitation this isn't an essay board where we are graded

God bless,
Tessa

Can you get ahold of "game" meat like venison elk or that kind of stuff? There are tons of healthy and very flavorful ways to cook them and they taste really good. Also Oryx is an awesome alternative and very flavorful. I eat a lot of game meat because my husband and I are hunters (well I use to be) and we prefer them to store bought meat because they are healthier for you and do taste better than all the meats that are loaded with hormones and preservatives. Also make "chips" out of the fruits and veggies. Slice them really thin and bake them till they dehydrate. I do this so we have a healthier alternative to the chips at the store that are loaded with salt and preservatives. You can even sprinkle a little sugar not artificial sweeteners. Good old fashion sugar for a sweet treat. At 2 yrs old I can get him to eat any veggie. Even the yucky green stuff lol. I have had to learn a whole new way of cooking. I am trying to get as many preservatives out of our diet as I can. You never know it might all these preservatives that are jacking us up and messing with our heads to where it amplifies our emotional state with this disease.

Thank you so much for your information I wish I knew someone who this kind of meat my father use to be hunter but no success again very helpful thanks again hope to hear more from you God bless you circlelove::