A Survival Guide

Bones, joints and muscles
1

I have started to read the survival guide book by Dr Kate Gilbert and can recommend it also the royalties for the book go to the PMRGCAUK so another reason to buy it.

Can anybody tell me please if they have lost weight since taking pred, i know i had a bad cough and chest early this year for a month and did not eat as much!, and also since then i dont seem to eat as much, i have lost a stone, which is no bad thing for me.

Also i notice some of you dont eat a lot of carbs, which carbs dont you eat as i thought our bodies need some.

I must admit i love bread, potatoes, more so sweet potatoe, i like rye bread made only with flour, salt  and water, should i be cutting more carbs out, would love to hear from you on this subject please.

2

when i get ae i will look for the book in down load  form so i will hve something to read on my hols.    as for  carbs i did   cut  down on  potatoes   an dont eat any bread.   maybe   4  brown lices  per  week,  and  after  saying that  my food intake

dropped,    i  dont ever  feel    hungery. no  longer want big  meals. only  sunday

unch   is the  only big  meal     i have

3

Hello Margaret, I lost about half a stone when I first became ill with PMR I also picked up some sort of a bug that made quite ill and I took to my bed for a few days! Since then being on 20mg pred I have cut out bread and potatoes altogether! And have maintained that  weight. It's coming up to Easter thou and there's lots of preparation including chocolate and I bake quite a bit so the temptation for chocolate is all too much for me at the moment! So hopefully after Easter I'd like to TRY to loose a little bit more weight as I become more mobile!! Hope is good advice! Xx

4

Margaret, I think many people on steroids would feel quite envious of anyone who actually loses weight on them!  You say that having lost a stone, that "is no bad thing" for you, so enjoy the fact that you are not experiencing steroid-induced weight gain!

Carbs are fine as long as you avoid/reduce refined carbs such as white bread/potatoes (they turn to sugar in our bodies), replacing them with sweet potatoes and wholegrain versions of bread, rice, pasta, etc.  Oat based cereals are excellent.

 

5

I meant to add that I've also got Kate Gilbert's book - just so wish that it had been arund when I was first diagnosed.  You never know, if you leave it sitting in a prominent position, Margaret, even that hubby of your's will eventually realise what you are going through!

6

Hello Margaret,

thankyou for for recommending Dr Kate Gilbert's Book, which I will buy,

but looking at the reviews on Amazon, it seems it's  about PMR

I have GCA does she cover that?

JR

7

I have cut out simple carbs and gluten, although I do sometimes succumb to the odd biscuit. Fruit and veg have carbs in them as well as biscuits! It is the sugary carbs that I have tried to cut out. I have tried to include anti inflammatory foods and also foods with calcium, potassium, vit D etc. You are very lucky losing weight. Pred made me very hungry.

8

JR (that reminds me of Dallas days!).  Yes, Kates' book very definitely covers GCA - page 53 onwards.  I had both PMR and GCA and I would have found this book so helpful during my journey with these conditions.

9

thank you pauline, when do you go on holiday and where.

10

thank you Andrea yes i too love chocolate, i used to have 2 small pieces of 80% dark on a night but stopped, maybe once a week might not harm

11

thank you MrsO, one lives in hope, still it cant be pleasant living with me at the moment.i will  cut out white potaoes, and i do eat brown bread ,  spelt pasta and wholewheat pasta as well.

12

yes she does Jersey royal and i was a bot scard to read, but it is very formative for you, its a must if you have GCA, take care Margaret

13

 i thought i read that parsnips convert to sugur but maybe some one will correct me on this.we surly cannot cut all things that are good for us tho.

do you drink nettle tea oh sorry thats an histime i think, when you say anti inflammatory foods, i think turmeric is good, what else do you use.

14

Margaret, yes you are right, parsnips turn to sugar in our bodies.  Turmeric is a good anti-inflammatory.

15

That is correct they do suggest not to have parsnips, veg  grown above the ground is preferable. Luckily parsnips are not around all the time. I must admit I do sometimes add one to soup. I do drink green tea as well, which I have really grown to enjoy.

16

Dark chocolate is supposed to be an anti inflammatory and so is red wine!

17

Thanks I have just ordered it,  I remember Dallas too, loved it.

as for red wine and dark chocolate. -  Happy Days.

 

18

I have and read the book, and I can highly recommend it.  It is full of inormation about her own experience with PMR and how she survived.

19

i found as well the idea regarding reducing pred, do 5 days at the high dose two days at the low dose, till eventuall you have all 7 days on the low dose, might discuss this with my doctor

20

what about carrots lol