ACB Posted April 18, 2011 Report Share Posted April 18, 2011 Several weeks ago, while pushing through a recumbent bike ride, I stumbled upon a series of youtube videos of Loren Cordain, PhD giving a lecture on the potential of using the paleo diet to treat multiple sclerosis. The title of Cordain's talk was "Potential Therapeutic Characteristics of Preagricultural Diets in the Prevention and Treatment of Multiple Sclerosis." (OK, I'm tired after just typing out that title.) The link is MS is considered to be an autoimmune disorder in which the body attacks the central nervous system, specifically myelin in neurons. No newsflash here: MS and POTS are quite different. However, in some people, POTS is considered to be an autoimmune problem. And, from the way my symptoms have developed, it appears that there is probably an autoimmune component to mine. So, in my attempt at grasping for any evidence based treatment that could potentially help with POTS, I decided to watch the videos.Because I'd already been reading quite a bit about the paleo diet for a couple weeks when I found this series of videos, after I watched them, I decided to give the modified-for-treating-MS paleo diet a go. I've been on it for 2-3 weeks now. The past two weeks, I've been feeling better, overall. I still can't stand up for more than a minute most days, but when I'm sitting I do have more energy than I have over the past several months. Whether this change has anything to do with the paleo diet, I can't say - too many confounds. I've been salt and water loading, elevating the head of the bed, wearing compression hose, and exercising for several months now. Maybe those behaviors are starting to have an effect. Maybe it's something else. Who knows with this crazy POTS. What I do think I can attribute to the paleo diet is decreased bloating, improved regularity of bowel movements (sorry, TMI), and decreased symptoms I experienced right after eating large amounts of sugar. A couple days after starting the diet, these changes happened and have been constant during the past few weeks since starting the diet. So, that's nice.Anyone heard of this approach to treatment of MS or other autoimmune disorders? Anyone have thoughts or other areas research you could point out related to dietary treatment for POTS? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ACB Posted April 18, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 18, 2011 Oh, wow! I didn't know the pasting the link would put the video in my post. Just an FYI: the video is almost 10 minutes long and is the first of seven (yikes!) in the presentation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lgtaylor100 Posted April 18, 2011 Report Share Posted April 18, 2011 I just looked up the diet and it looks great. My question to you is about salt loading. The diet discourages use of salty foods. I would love to try the diet since I believe my dysautonomia may be autoimmune but I am concerned about getting enough salt. How are you handling this.Lynne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ACB Posted April 18, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 18, 2011 Good question. I'm going ahead with the salt and water loading, even though they're not a part of the diet. In one of Cordain's scholarly articles about the paleo diet, it is estimated that a typical hunter-gatherer would eat approximately 700-800mg of sodium per day. Makes sense, given that sodium would come solely from food sources rather than being additive.On Levine's exercise protocol, I'm supposed to take in 10,000mg of sodium per day. (Yikes!) The most I'm able to get is in the 3,000mg range - and that's with dumping salt by the 1/4tsp-full on my food. I'm just working with what info I have and doing the best I can. Who knows if I'm doing the right thing. If you try the diet, I'd love to hear about your experience with it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icesktr189 Posted April 18, 2011 Report Share Posted April 18, 2011 If you think you have an autoimmune disorder, you should definently look into low dose naltrexone. All my family members who have crohns and ms have gone into complete remission from it.Go to lowdosenaltrexone.org Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramakentesh Posted April 19, 2011 Report Share Posted April 19, 2011 Sodium isnt helpful for everyone with POTS. Ive tried this diet and it was quite helpful - more so for my Ankylosing Spondylitis but also my POTS symptoms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ACB Posted April 19, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 19, 2011 Sodium isnt helpful for everyone with POTS. Ive tried this diet and it was quite helpful - more so for my Ankylosing Spondylitis but also my POTS symptoms.True about the sodium. My cardiologist hasn't had my blood volume tested and I have forgotten at every appt to request it. I don't know if I should be salt loading or not! Awesome that the diet was helpful for your AS and POTS! Would you care to give details about how the it helped your POTS symptoms? And, did you discontinue the diet? If so, why? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzysillyak Posted April 19, 2011 Report Share Posted April 19, 2011 I've been on this diet for at least 2 - 3 years now and it's helped me quite a bit but didn't help my orthostatic intolerance. What it did help is in my signature. IMHO, the main reason it helped me was that it eliminated my food and chemical intolerances .. I'm super sensitive to gluten, casein, soy, etc ... BTW. I don't know if Cordain has updated his info yet, But I understand that he's recommending more healthy fats now. Regardless, we need healthy fats for our brains anyways ... tc ... dizzy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramakentesh Posted April 20, 2011 Report Share Posted April 20, 2011 If you think you have an autoimmune disorder, you should definently look into low dose naltrexone. All my family members who have crohns and ms have gone into complete remission from it.Go to lowdosenaltrexone.org Yes! Im about to myself for AS and Im curious to see how it affects POTs as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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