In the last while since I have written, I have undergone many changes in my life. The biggest instigator for change, however, was my oral surgery at the end of August. I had three wisdom teeth removed, as well as a few others broken and damaged beyond repair by the invasion of knowledge into my mouth.
If you’ve gone through this type of surgery, you know that it makes it difficult for you to eat for a few days. I had wanted to start an elimination diet to search for triggers for my Rheumatoid Arthritis several times before, but never ended up doing it for one reason or another. I also had taken the week off of my job to recover – and to see how stress played into my pain.
What I found out was pretty cool.
First off, being a manager, you never really do get days off. People are still calling, texting, and emailing asking for help or advice. Still, my pain was very low the whole week… up until the Friday after my surgery. I had to deal with a fight between two of my employees, requiring me to go to work for an hour and deal with crying and screaming.
Stressful? You betcha.
As for food, I ended up eating refried beans, pieces of tortilla, and slowly moving up to soup and more solid foods. What I found during this time was that dairy made me sick to my stomach. I have always had stomach problems, and my love of dairy I’m sure does not help. But I also found out that the horrible aching pain in my hands seems to come from products full of gluten – power bars, breads, etc..
So I have made some changes to my life.
I was thinking about finding a new job prior to having to deal with that fight, but that was really the last straw. I have recently quit that job and find myself working a much easier job that is really a lot more fun for me. I am captioning phone calls for people who are deaf and/or hard of hearing. I love being able to help others who face a disability, and the people I work with are wonderful. I am almost done with training.
I also found myself moving towards a healthier way of eating. As a couple, my boyfriend and I were already looking to eat healthier and were doing a relatively good job of it. But since I have found which foods cause me problems, it has gotten better.
I am now completely in love with soy milk – not that I wasn’t before, but I really am now. I am eating way more vegetables and salads, and making sure things are (for the most part) gluten and dairy free. If I break my diet, I will choose one or the other – maybe I will put cheese on my salad. I’ll regret it later, and promise myself not to in the future… But you know how that goes. I really really try, though, to avoid the gluteny foods.
I encourage everyone to take a look at their diet and see what kinds of things could possibly be adding to ‘normal’ pains. Lyda, one of our other health bloggers, follows a paleo diet and that seems to help her immensely… even though we all like to cheat a little bit sometimes.
Guest Blogger Bio
Name: Kirsten W.
Homebase: Madison, WI
Blog: http://notstandingstillsdisease.blogspot.com/
Diagnosis: Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis
