Has A Food Elimination Diet Helped You With Pots Symptoms?

[looneymom]

I've been reading about food elimination diets and wondering if anyone has tried it for themselves. Did help with any of your symptoms? If you tried it, how long did you stay on it and when did you start adding back foods? I'm really thinking about trying this with my son. Just wanted to know about your experiences and if you were able to see any improvement. One other questions. How long did it take to see improvement?

[tachyfor50years]

I don't know about this topic much but I have noticed that some foods provoke and worsen my symptoms such as:

1) Artificial sweeteners.

2) Preservatives.

3) Hormones and other bad ingredients added to Cheese, milk and other diary products.

4) Non organic eggs

5) MSG

So, for me, it is much better when I avoid these altogether.

Prayers for your son.

[lejones1]

I tried an elimination diet for 10 weeks. It was pretty extensive - no wheat, dairy, eggs, soy, pork, beef, shellfish, peanuts, nightshade veggies, corn, sugar (or any sweeteners), mushrooms, oils except olive and coconut...maybe a few other things. I actually became significantly worse - I've had POTS for a little over a year and the 2 months on that diet were by far the worst. I did it under the guidance of a doctor who said I must have been cheating...I wasn't, I never ate outside the house and ate no processed food. I reintroduced foods one category at time, every other day (except wheat, which I decided to stay off indefinitely, and pork and shellfish which I just haven't felt like eating). I had no reactions to reintroduction and actually started to feel much better. I think my problem was what I substituted while on the diet - a lot of nuts - nut milk, nut butter, just plain nuts - rice and beans. I'm now on a nut-free, bean-free, low-grain diet and doing way better. I saw improvement within a week - better off than I was before starting the elimination diet.

Despite my bad experience, I would actually recommend trying it anyway. Just be aware of the foods you start eating more of, in case you're like me and one of those is actually what your sensitivity is to!

[americaneagle32]

yes! the top ones I avoid are corn syrup and artificial sweeteners. Then wheat and grain seem to bog down my system as well but not like the other two

[blueskies]

Yes, I started the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (Sydney, Australia) elimination diet about 10 years ago. It helps with my burning skin problem -- it feels like my skin is burning at times, and can look red and sunburned and sometimes it hurts to wear anything but these really old clothes I keep for these bouts. I think it's due to 'natural' and 'artificial' pesticides (there are natural pesticides called salicylates that fruit and veges contain -- not sure if 'pesticide' is the right word but the salicylates are a naturally occurring chemical that works to repel insects etc), also amines, and glutamate (the original form of msg). Plus preservatives, artificial and natural flavourings and colourings.

The problem is that when I started the diet 10 years ago they did not know that a small percentage of people can become even more sensitive to the foods they are eliminating and they have a very hard time getting back to a somewhat normal diet. Any elimination diet should be done under supervision of a dietician is my opinion. I wish I had done so, as they advised, because maybe I would not be so sensitive now but I just wanted to stop the burning so went ahead and started on the diet without being fully informed. Or as fully informed as they were at the time. I think I've managed to sensitise myself further by being so restrictive with so many foods.

blue

[Relax86]

I did food elimination not by choice but during my biggest flare I could not eat anything but brown rice, beans, very little chicken and some scrambled eggs (no milk in the eggs). Food elimination changed nothing for me. About 9 months later I started noting food triggers. I don't believe food triggered my POTS but I believe I had some existing sensitivities that were increased as I recovered by POTs. My triggers are: sugar substitutes, wine, soy sauce, and generally sulfates/sulfites, nitrates. I was a pretty clean eater prior to POTS, always ate the rainbow of colors in my diet, very little processed foods, and just by choice. Today I have to stay away from most salad dressings, and seasonings as they bring on little flares. I'm currently feeling well. Sometimes I call it being between flares - can't tell if that's realistic or negativity....lol...but I'm happy today. Good luck to you all and especially to your son LooneyMom - there's just no reason for a kid to go thru this. Positive vibes for him. xx

[Dizzysillyak]

What my Dr called the elimination diet wasn't enough for me. It included wheat but didn't include gluten and that is my biggest offender. I think the list of improvements is in my signature. I have the dq2 celiac gene tho.

I'd say it took me about 2 years of experimenting to discover all my food intolerances. I stayed on a restrictive diet then experimented with one food to see how i reacted.

Discovering that bacon and tomatoes triggered my fm pain helped. Also learning that high oxalate foods trigger pelvic pain helped. I'd been living with pain for so long being without it was like a miracle.

I've been watching my food for 8 years now and still get most of the same symptoms i had. Taking mast cell meds help but I'd be asleep all the time if i took all the meds i need to control my reactions.

So definitely a huge difference for me. tc ... d

[shan1212]

I'm doing an elimination diet now. My doctor wants me eating a very clean gluten-free keto/mito (with one serving of grains per day allowed) diet for energy, but he also has me eliminating foods I showed sensitivity to the IGG test. I know some people don't put much stock in the IGG test as a way to determine sensitivities, but so far I am seeing very promising results.

I have been declining steadily for six years. This past month, it had gotten so bad that I was often unable to eat dinner at the table and was leaving the house only when necessary. Because of my lack of technological skills, I pieced together my doctor's advice in stages instead of starting it all at once. So by the time I got to what I was supposed to eliminate, I had already eliminated some of it and switched to a veggie-centric, low grain diet. But that still wasn't doing much for me.

As soon as I eliminated all of my food sensitivities from the test and eliminated added sugar, I saw an immediate doubling or tripling of my energy, a reduction of my intolerance to upright posture, and a complete resolution of all GI symptoms. So yeah . . . I'm sticking with it! I still feel tired. I still have seasonal allergies. I still have to plan rest. But I am a whole lot better than I was when I started. Obviously the extra inflammation from foods my body doesn't like was the straw that was breaking the camel's back.

I have also reduced my midodrine and mestinon by about half as I had been upping them more and more as I got worse and worse, until I was completely worn out. I'm starting some new supplements as well and expect he'll give me more to add at my next appointment in three weeks.

[Lily]

I have never done a full elimination diet, but I discovered by accident that eliminating petroleum-based food additives (artificial colors, 5 preservatives) eliminates most of my Tourette Syndrome tics, and that eliminating milk proteins (casein and whey) eliminate almost all of the rest of the tics AND obsessive, anxious, depressed, paranoid obsessive thoughts.  No noticeable effect on POTS, though.

[MonkeyBug]

Yes I removed all gluten, eggs, dairy, animal products, all boxed or processed items and only eat fresh fruits, veggies, some nuts and seeds, and beans. It has completely changed my life and I am healing....finally!