Giving up gluten

About five months ago I started to have pain in my right knee and the only thing I could faintly remember that could have caused the sudden pain was twisting it one evening during bath time with the girls, nothing drastic and nothing overly physical.  It was a busy time at work and at home and I knew that there’d be no easy diagnosis; so, Advil, elevation and ice (when I remembered) were what I hoped were the quick fixes.  Mid-December I finally saw an orthopaedic surgeon at the practice that treated me when I broke my arm in 2009; three office visits and an MRI later that I learned a cyst had formed on my knee joint and was causing the pain and swelling.  Synovial chondromatosis was the official diagnosis and the first course of treatment included a steroid injection, a compression sleeve (for high impact activity), ice, elevation, and four weeks of physical therapy. 

None of which worked.

So, arthroscopic surgery it was.  In early February I went under the knife for the second time in my life.  Luckily this time I didn’t wake up to learn I had cancer.  Whew.  (Kidding … sort of)  They were able to remove the cyst and the inflamed lining of my knee joint in about 30 minutes.  The recovery process was fairly quick, I was back doing most normal activities within a week and felt much better than before the surgery, but still had swelling and some pain.  Physical therapy helped me to regain strength I’d lost, but at a post-op visit my surgeon noted that the synovium (joint lining) was extremely red and inflamed; more so that he’d ever seen in a patient without an underlying tear or dislocation.  The cyst he removed was about 1 cm in diameter, there’s no rhyme of reason to why it formed, and I’m now at risk for future cyst formations.  In the meantime a synovial biopsy and follow-up blood work revealed that I have the early stages of rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

But, I’m not even 35?!?!  What the what?

I’m almost eight- weeks post-op and still having aches and pains in my bad knee, and still have some physical limitations.  I have swelling in both knees, more pronounced in my right knee and blood tests lean toward a full-blown RA diagnosis.  I’m on a high-dose pain reliever and anti-inflammatory twice a day that’s helping very little and still has me hobbling at times and awake with aches and pain in the middle of the night. 

Enter all the talk of gluten free diets. And how it seems like a bunch of hooey and another fad diet to me. 

Until I talk to a neighbor that has been gluten-free since last June and started the diet as a means to see if it would help with swelling she had in her foot, a running injury.  And, it did, and she feels great!  She doesn’t have celiac disease, but clearly has some level of gluten intolerance.

I spent a few days reading up on joint swelling and going gluten free and have read countless stories of people that found relief by giving up wheat.  And to boot they have more energy, have lost weight, and ditched prescription medication, not to mention the digestive benefits.  

So, I’m giving it a try.  If giving up a few things on my plate means that I’m able to more naturally get back to my more active self, then I’m game.  If it means there’s a chance I can ditch the prescription medicines, count me in.

As I sat in the rheumatologist’s office during my first appointment, I read in Arthritis Today (yes, this is a real magazine, and yes, I was reading it), that losing one pound of body weight takes the equivalent of four pounds of pressure off your knee joints.  This gave me the swift kick in the rear that I needed to truly focus on losing those last 10-20 pounds that have been hanging around the last few years.  Imagine lifting 40-80 pounds of pressure off your joints just by eating better and exercising regularly?!

Gluten is found in a wide variety of foods, but mostly those that I don’t really need to be eating anyway.  I’m three days in and realizing that it’s a lot easier to stick to diet restrictions for your health and not just a number on a scale.  Did I ever need to nosh on those goldfish snacks or graham crackers the girls left laying around while I'm making dinner?  No. Will I miss the bread basket when eating out?  Heck yeah!  Luckily wine and dark chocolate are still on the menu : )

I’m taking it a day and a food at a time, adjusting our meal plans to accommodate some newer foods and some healthier options.  Lucky for me, I know several people going down this diet-road and because it’s a popular diet there are a ton of options at the grocery store down the street, no specialty store needed.  Sure I’ll miss bread and pizza crust, but it’s a very small price to pay for my health.  And, if I see results after a month, there’s nothing to say that I can’t cheat here and there.  I’m a Kentucky girl, after all, I’ll HAVE to have my fried chicken from time to time. 

My goal is to regain full use of my knee, including the ability to run.  Charlotte is weaned and I'm ready to hit the open road!  I’ll keep you posted on my progress and any good gluten free recipes I come across. In the meantime, wish me luck ... and enjoy a piece of bread for me.