Low Carb/ Keto for Pain Management

Hi again! It's been a looooong time since I've posted anything. Not that a zillion things haven't happened or been going on...a ZILION things have happened and have been going on. I have just been uninspired to write about them or share my feelings. The past 5 or 6 years I have felt guarded and haven't wanted to share much. Who knows? Maybe I will still feel that way tomorrow.

But today, I feel like sharing. :)

I wanted to talk about chronic pain. Do you have chronic pain? The kind that no doctor can diagnose correctly? The kind that sucks the very life out of you, leaving you an exhausted heap on the couch, unable to physically or mentally move? The kind that hurts everywhere, and no amount of ibuprophen, or pain killer seems to help? The kind that leaves your emotions in a wreck because you feel ashamed, judged, lazy, and useless around your house, to your children and at work? Then maybe you are like me, because this is what I deal with.

Pain
Immobility
Exhaustion
Fatigue
(and as a result) Depression and Shame

It's such a hateful, bitter cycle.

So, that's where I am in my life. I have chronic pain.
One doctor called it "fibromyalgia." Another called it "chronic fatigue." Another called it "inflammation." What does this even mean? Of course I know my body is inflamed! I feel it every day! And in my opinion, the diagnosis of "fibromyalgia" and "chronic fatigue" is just giving my large swath of complaints a name so that the doctor can send me away with a pat on the head and the advice to bump up the ibuprophen. They just offer a name. I don't blame them. There just isn't that much recent or concrete research to help them. There definitely aren't any cures. Some doctors don't even believe these mystery ghost pains exist. Chronic pain isn't life threatening, so they aren't treating it with any kind of urgency. But we sure are urgently seeking some relief, aren't we?!

One doctor told me that studies have shown that antidepressants help fibromyalgia pain, so he prescribed me Cymbalta. Despite the horror stories I read about people who found great difficulty coming off  this drug, and my own aversion to taking any kind of drugs or medicine, I decided to give it a try. I took just one dose of this medication and felt like I was going to die! My heart raced, I was dizzy, my vision became blurry, and my jaw hurt. I became dizzy and lightheaded and just had to lay down. I slept for hours and still had blurry vision when I woke up. I had such a foul reaction that I vowed to never take it or any other medication ever again! I knew then that medication was not going to be the answer for me.

Despite my disappointments in the doctors and the medications they prescribed, I continued to search for relief. The more I read, the more I saw that sugar was a major cause of inflammation in the body. I had a nagging feeling that diet was going to be what made the difference for me, so I decided to try eating a low carb or ketogenic diet to eliminate all but a few carbohydrates.

I was amazed to find that the pain in my joints and muscles went away within a few days and was noticeably better! I will give you a real life example of how it affected me. The week before school started (pre low carb diet) I moved desks, shelves and tables around in my classroom. By the end of the day, I couldn't walk. My body was destroyed and I spent the next 3 days on the couch, unable to do even the smallest of tasks at home. It was depressing for sure! Then I began eating low carb and took to moving furniture again in my classroom. At the end of the day, it hit me. "Wow! I don't feel like crap!" I went home and I still felt good. The next day, I had another great day!

I tell more about my experience with eliminating sugar in THIS video

Light bulb moment!!! It was the sugar! Eliminating the sugar and carbs from my body diminished the inflammation and I wasn't in pain for the first time in a long time!

But I fell off the wagon after a bout with some serious keto flu (we'll discuss that another day) and I was right back to square one with the chronic pain. Indeed my diet does have something-if not everything- to do with inflammation in my body. But how many of us are able to face the fact that sugar, while pleasurable in one sense, is detrimental to us in the sense that it diminishes our quality of life? How much better, healthier, younger, more happy, more energetic, lighter and freer would I feel if I made this lifestyle change for good? My guess is a thousand percent better!

So why don't I do it? Why do I choose to suffer when I know there is a way to feel better? My guess is it's the flesh. "The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak," so the Good Book says, and isn't it so true! We often know and even really want to do the right thing for us, but because we get pleasure or some sort of satisfaction from our vices, we continue to do them, ignoring the ill effects they have on us. Continuing to eat my sugar and my carbs gives me immediate comfort and a feeling of satisfaction. This overrides the feeling of constant pain and everyday brain fog. "At least this cookie will make me feel better," I tell myself. But in the long run, it doesn't. It exasperates the problem.

Now don't get me wrong, eating low carb (for me) has immediate, even sudden good results. For instance today, as I decided to start the day with no sugar, by mid-morning, I felt a little lighter, my stomach didn't feel bloated and distended (it even felt somehow flatter amazingly) and I had a bit more drive and energy. Usually after my cup of coffee with 3 spoonfuls of sugar, milk and my bagel with sweetened cream cheese, I feel bloated, lethargic and want to crawl under my desk! But not today! Perhaps that's why I felt inspired to write!

So here we are, at another cross roads taking that first step on the path to wellness via a low carb/ketogenic diet. I hope to blog about this journey and make more videos. I can't promise, but I will try. One of the great joys of my life is helping others and being someone that others can look at and say, "I don't feel so alone because I know she gets it too." I hope that is enough motivation to keep encouraging you and myself by writing, journaling, blogging and vlogging.

If you suffer from chronic pain, you have my deepest respect. I know how hard it is and the fact that you got up today and put your feet on the floor and got through another day is a true feat! I get it. I can't say that what I am doing will be your answer, I can only share how it is helping me or not helping me. You may have tried antidepressants or other drugs and they have done wonders for you. I am so so happy! I hope you will leave a comment and perhaps advise someone else as to how it helped you. We are all just here (hopefully) to encourage and lift up one another.

I'll keep you posted. :)