Dietary change and not for the better

[gymbuff]

I recently changed to a largely organic diet with no wheat or gluten and little or no dairy product. My legs are weaker and my night time has changed utterly. Before the dietary change I would normally get at least 5 hours in bed without getting up to the toilet and sometimes up to 8 or 9. now I am getting up 2 or 3 times in the same 5 hour period feeling that my bladder is full but with little flow when I get to the toilet. The only other dietary change was Chia seeds which I take with my cereal in the morning. Could the change in my diet have led to the changes or is my body just detoxing. Any thoughts?
Gymbuff

[jimmylegs]

hi not sure.. how are your dietary and supplemental intakes of essential nutrients? removing gluten and dairy can reduce related nutrient depletion, but it doesn't make the rest of the diet nutrient dense (even though one could expect organic produce to be more nutrient dense, or at very least more nutritionally diverse)

[ElliotB]

How recent is "recently"? Health benefits from to diet change may take a lot of time to kick in. Changes to your body/condition from MS can be swift and can obviously change over longer periods of time as well. Be patient. IMHO, you are on the right track. I am also wheat, gluten and dairy free, and also among other things take Chia and Flax, and have been doing so for over a year with no issues I can detect.

[gymbuff]

Thanks for the repies Recently is 3 weeks ago. I accept that changes take time but I didn't expect a change for the worse. The old adage 'it will get worse before it gets better' springs to mind. I will keep plugging away. Anyway thanks again for taking the time to reply.

[jimmylegs]

no probs have you done the math? how are your dietary and supplemental intakes of essential nutrients? how do they compare to recommended daily intakes for pwms?

[gymbuff]

Hi jimmylegs, I haven't done the math recently because the only change I made in the last 2 years was to go largely organic and cut out wheat, gluten and dairy products and also the daily dose of chia seeds. I really was doing fine up to this. My legs are definitely weaker/sorer more uncomfortable during the day but no real problem with bladder/bowel. The bladder issue seems to only occur at night. Strange but I will work through it.

[jimmylegs]

might be some interesting info here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nocturia
and here
http://ajpregu.physiology.org/content/251/3/R525

[gymbuff]

Thanks for the links jimmylegs. I have spoken with my neurologist and believe it is a relapse (not a bad one) but since it is 4 years since I had steroids he is going to organise an IV course. The timing of the relapse is coincidental with the dietary changes. I will find out for certain over the coming weeks.
Gymbuff

[jimmylegs]

if you ever do get in the mood to do the math, i can help you assess whether your personal diet is meeting the mark in terms of nutrients required for general health, athletes, and/or ms patients. my situation was super atypical, but still i had been fine on my diet, so i thought, for over a decade. when i made the critical change, it was to get rid of processed foods.. permanent damage as a result.

[Pokey182]

Hi. I am a 55 year old female diagnosed with PPMS October 2012. I did alot of reading, especially the Wahls Diet. I did a modified version of it ,eliminating gluten,dairy,legumes,yeast. I admit I cheated some and did not get 9 cups of veggies and fruit. I felt pretty good, had lots of energy and fewer comments about my walking. However I am 5'5" tall and weighed 140 lbs. In 6 months I lost 20 lbs. My neurologist and my GP said too much weight loss, go off the diet. I stopped the diet 1 yr ago. In 6 months I gained 10 lbs and have maintained that, but I don't feel well , I feel more tired and my walking is becoming more difficult and tiring.So, I decided to try the Wahls Diet more aggressively this time. I'm eating 7 to 8 cups of fruits and vegetables,no dairy,no gluten. BUT, now I have diarrha, which is getting worse. Anyone else experience this?

[NHE]

Hi. I am a 55 year old female diagnosed with PPMS October 2012. I did alot of reading, especially the Wahls Diet. I did a modified version of it ,eliminating gluten,dairy,legumes,yeast. I admit I cheated some and did not get 9 cups of veggies and fruit. I felt pretty good, had lots of energy and fewer comments about my walking. However I am 5'5" tall and weighed 140 lbs. In 6 months I lost 20 lbs. My neurologist and my GP said too much weight loss, go off the diet. I stopped the diet 1 yr ago. In 6 months I gained 10 lbs and have maintained that, but I don't feel well , I feel more tired and my walking is becoming more difficult and tiring.So, I decided to try the Wahls Diet more aggressively this time. I'm eating 7 to 8 cups of fruits and vegetables,no dairy,no gluten. BUT, now I have diarrha, which is getting worse. Anyone else experience this?

Hi Pokey,
Other people have lost a lot of weight on the Wahls diet. You might want to read the following thread if you haven't already.
http://www.thisisms.com/forum/diet-f9/topic21310.html

[gymbuff]

Hi jimmylegs- when you say "it was to get rid of processed foods..permanent damage as a result" I'm presuming the damage was done while processed foods made up a part of your diet. Am I right? Was it all processed food or were there particular offenders? and what damage did they do. I loved my sausages and puddings but stopped a while ago and really never ate a lot of processed foods anyway.
Gymbuff

[jimmylegs]

in my atypical case (as a vegan) the processed foods contained the last shreds of nutritional supplementation that were holding my nervous system together. without enriched soymilk etc i was done. for a while the symptoms were reversible with b12 supplements (I had NO idea at the time about the rest of my nutritional issues) but then i had a snowboarding crash and never came back all the way after that.

[gymbuff]

Wow! I never thought that a change in diet could do so much damage. I will do the math with you over the coming weeks, if the offer is still open?

[jimmylegs]

it certainly is