Joint hypermobility disorders :
Food Allergys? - - Posted by rhea (rhea), 28 March 2003
Hi Everyone,
I hope you are all doing as well as possible and getting some nice warrmmmm spring air your way. The little chickadees are just coming out along with the squirels in my end of Ontario Canada. It funny how much a thrill it is to hear the birds singing and the snow melting.
Do any of you suffer from food allergys? Are food allergys linked to HMS? For the past six months or so (since my other joint pains have gotten more signifgant) I've been able to tolerate meat less and less. I use to love meat and would eat it all the time, then after eating it I'd feel slightly queasy but okay in twenty minutes, and now just eating a hot dog causes me to bloat up HUGE (my normally slim self developes a stomach that sticks out enough to make me look 7 months pregnant, and I am not exagerating) get so nauseas I pretty near throw up, as well as diarrhea. So my solution is to cut out the meat for a few months (taking in extra protein through yogurt, cheese, soy, etc...) and than try eating it again. Anyways, I was wondering how many other odd bods suffer from various food allergys and if there was some sort of connection between food allergys and HMS etc... Maybe its a long shot, but I have to wonder just the same.
Big (((hugs))) to everyone
rhea
Posted by Stacey (Stacey), 28 March 2003
Hi Rhea
Dont know if its any similarities here or not but thought id post anyways. Ive never been a big milk drinker but would have the occasional bowl of cereal or glass of chocolate milk. Now hoever if i drink any choco milk, 2% milk or ice cream i get horrible stomach cramps and just feel awful!! I can however drink 1% fine and have it on cereal just not 2%. Its very weird. I havent really noticed anything other than that 
Posted by Stacey (Stacey), 28 March 2003
Oh and another quick side note. If you are stoppign to eat meat make sure you have a good multi-vitamin and possibly an iron supplement. I went form eating a mixed variety of meats to just chicken and that mixed with my NSAIDS and low immune lead to an iron deficency. Let me tell you that is not something you want to have on top of bad knees and rotten joints!!
Posted by Shazinoz (Shazinoz), 28 March 2003
I don't know if Food allergies are related but IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) IS as are other bowel disorders (yes you guessed it our bowels and digestive tract are made of our cr@ppy collagen. I suffer from IBS and get the full spectrum of symptoms Cramps, bloating, constipation, diarrhea and MORE. For me I can't pin it on ANY particular foods (except ANYTHING spicy) as it seems to change for me. Allergies do tend to be seen a lot in those of us with one of the collagen/ connective tissue disorders. I know this doesn't help a WHOLE lot rhea (or stacey) but it is a thought. I take buscopan for the cramps and normacol for constipations and basically put up with everything else (I only take these 2 things if NEEDED). I have learnt to put up with my IBS (but it STILL sux big time).
Try looking up IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) on the NET. Oh yeah also some of our meds and such can make our stomaches etc more "sensitive" than normal (It is thought that my IBS started either from a medication sensitivity or a possible infection from a water borne bug (Giardia sp??). It seemed to sensitise my tummy and BANG I have IBS (I have had it for more than 5 years now and am likely to have it for LIFE>
Good LCuk in your quest and geting to the new and ever chaning symptoms that belong to these Oh so Fun <NOT> disorders.
Sharon
Posted by AC (AC), 28 March 2003
FYI, as for food allergies, I am allergic to Nuts, but it doesn't affect my stomach, I get a rash, etc.
As for food I can't tolerate, I also have IBS (like Shazoniz) and find that eating too much dairy can make it worse, but most of the time it gets bad for no reason at all.
Some days it is hard to decide which problem is harder to live with, bad knees, or a bad gut. Both suck big time!
Goot luck.
Posted by Rosa (Rosa), 28 March 2003
I've tried cutting out certain food groups to see if it will help reduce the swelling in my knee. I also get stomach cramps and constipation. Havent been dxed with IBS, and GP just said the symptoms are common in young women (I was just pleased to be called young!).
Anyway, I also have hypermobile legs (at the knee) and probs with the right one.
First I tried cutting out wheat (gluten) - no effect on the knee swelling, but stomach a bit better but not easy to tell.
Then I tried cutting out dairy - very difficult to do. I am a 'nearly' vege anway (but eat fish) so have to be careful to get all the right vitamins etc (you can get soy milk with added calcium). This hasnt helped much either. These are 2 food groups which people are often intolerant of (I think it is the lactose in the dairy products).
Just a thought for those of you who suffer from constipation (nasty word) - have you tried taking a pro-biotic supplement? I take multi vits with pro-biotic and this has helped me a lot.
My rheumatologist has also offered me a drug called sulphasalasine to bring down the swelling in my knee. It is a drug which is commonly used to treat irritable bowel and Chrons disease - so if I do take it, it will be interesting to see if it has an effect on my stomach cramps.
Good luck for any of you who decide to try cutting out certain foods. Anything is worth a try...
Ros
Posted by rhea (rhea), 4 April 2003
Thanks Stacey, Shaz, AC, and Rosa for your replies. I don't think I have IBS but who knows. Cutting out the meat seems to have helped. I've been meat free for over a week and haven't had cramps, nausea, bloated stomach, diarrheoa or anything so I think that did the trick. In two months time I'm going to try to eat a little meat again and see what happens. Maybe I'm not reacting to the meat, but perhaps the preservatives in the meat? Who knows! I've been eating a lot of soy products to make up for the protein and even discovered Natures Gourmet vegetarian meals which have soy morsels in the spaghetti meal that taste just like meat!
Well here is to us living as comfortably as we can, mind, joints, organs, and soul!
(((hugs)))
rhea
Posted by SL99 (SL99), 4 April 2003
Hi Rhea,
Like Shaz I have some IBS troubles and I have quite a few food allergies too. Actually I find that I can develop a reaction to foods I've eaten without trouble for years too...which is rather odd. Just recently I've become allergic to carrots which were a favourite food on mine for years! 
It might be worth getting the IBS thing checked out Darl as there are some good treatments and supplements that can help these days if it gets too unmanageable. I'm glad that cutting out meat has helped settle things down for you at the moment Darl and hope that as you increase your intake again things remain calm and harmonious! I've never fully cut anything out, but i tend to limit the amounts of certain items I drink/eat at given times. I try to have a detox day each week where I avoid tea, coffee and caffeine based drinks and only eat very natural foods. That tends to help both my digestion and my overall well being.
One note on foods though, I read a report that citrus fruits and acids can make hpermobility problems worse. I don't have any concrete evidence of this as yet and will continue looking into it, but it might be worth cutting down if you eat a lot of such things and seeing if it makes any difference to you personally.
Another thing to bear in mind with this kind of situation is the effect drugs can have on the stomach and how food is digested etc. I know you've had trouble with the Vioxx recently, and i too have struggled terribly with those and Ibuprofen for the effects they have on the digestive tract.
Take care and I hope things continue to settle down for you Sweetie.
Love and hugs......Jo
xxx
Posted by rhea (rhea), 6 April 2003
Hi Jo,
I can only imagine what all of these drugs have done to my digestive system. Yecks... Two year of taking 8 aspirin a day, lots of ibuprofen, tylenol, a whole slew of prescription NSAIDS (like our friends celebrex, apo diclofenac, naproxen and vioxx to name a few) and then narcotic and opiod pain relievers... I guess its no wonder my bowels make me feel uncomfortable and I get waves of nausea.
That's funny about you and the carrots!! That is just like what happened with me and the meat. I loved meat and it was my staple food for 18 yrs, and now suddenly my body balks at it. I've been having pizza with a little bit of peperonni on it, and even that little bit of meat caused a reaction. Not as bad as say eating a hot dog or a pork chop, but I still got a bit bloated and sick feeling none the less. I know I should really get this IBS checked out for my own good, but I am too darned sick of doctors and thanks to my trying to get my other joint pains sorted out I now have the reputation of being a physchotic make believer. If things get out of hand then I suppose I will have to investigate it, but right now I want to keep a 10 mile doctor free radius around me. LoL, I better watch out or I'll develope a reaction to them too! ha ha ha.
I hope you are feeling all right Jo... I guess I'll sign off and shoot you an email.
Byes for now and thanks for your input on this hun!
(((hugs)))
rhea
Posted by rhea (rhea), 7 April 2003
Hi M,
Wow, that is a really interesting article. Thanks for sharing it M! Fruit is one thing I can thankfully eat mountains of without any adverse reaction and oranges I especially enjoy.
Thank you for the birthday wishes! Yes I did have a very nice little get together with 5 friends, watched a movie, ate pizza, and got to feel like a teenager instead of a 90 yr old lady at least in spirit for three hours.
I hope you are doing all right M. Have you gotten your teeth looked after?
Byes for now
(((hugs)))
rhea
Posted by Shazinoz (Shazinoz), 7 April 2003
I personally cant eat Oranges or ANY citrus fruit or drink there juice (or raw tomatoes either as I find the Acididy makes me want to be sick). I do take a LARGE Vitamin C Dose in tablet form though (after my last surgery I was on 3 grams (3,000 mg's, or 0.106 ounces) a day. I also have troubles on and off with simply foods like Bread, rice, meat and almost anything else, it seems to depend on how bad my IBS is palying up and what it has decided it hates at the moment. This makes it hard as I don't know in advance what to avoid (which can be embarrasing when out to dinner,a nd you have to RUN to the toilet with Stomach Cramps and Diahreah sp??)
Oh the Joys of an ODD Bod !!
Sharon
Posted by SL99 (SL99), 17 April 2003
It's really strange as there are so many conflicting reports surrounding the hypermobility and Citrus fruit situation. Some say that they can make the actual hypermobility of the joints worse and should be avoided, yet other say that Vitamin C is good for the connective tissues and should be taken by sufferers.
I guess it's one of the underlying frustration of having HMS, EDS and such likes...the fact that so little is accurately known about the conditions and how each different person react to a given incedent and /or treatment. 
Love and hugs......Jo
xxx
Updated Thu Apr 29 2010
