PMR Diet: Foods to eat and avoid

I know diet has probably been discussed but I’m not sure where to find the discussion. I was just wondering how I could adjust my diet so that my joints and arms wouldn’t hurt so bad. Even though I am on prednisone and aspirin as my regimen, I still have weakness, some minor pain, and low on energy most days. I don’t expect to be pain free at my age. I’ve accepted that.
I also have osteoarthritis, so hard to determine what is PMR and what is osteoarthritis pain and discomfort.
I also Lost my husband seven months ago so wonder how grief plays a part in my Ability to fight PMR,
I’ve been trying to get back into exercising three days a week. I am 74 and walking seems to be my comfortable exercise. So because it’s winter I do walk aerobics on a cd. Also go to stores and walk around.
I guess I’m actually looking for a list of good foods and bad foods for PMR.
Thanks,
Carlotta

Hi @carlotta, I'm sorry to hear that you lost your husband not too long ago. I'm sure that grief can play a big part on your ability to fight PMR. It's good to hear that you are exercising regularly as that also helps with PMR. You will notice that we moved your post to an existing discussion on the same topic here:
--- PMR Diet: Foods to eat and avoid: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/diet-and-pmr/

If you click the link it will take you to the beginning of the discussion where you can read through the posts and learn what others have shared. Here is a link I share earlier in the discussion on foods to eat and avoid.
-- What to eat if you have polymyalgia rheumatica: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/321683

Have you done any research into eating healthier?

Yes I have researched some. The Keto diet seems to be well accepted.
Think I’ll take my time and make my own list for what might be triggers for me.
Thank you.
C

I also think that diet plays a role in your susceptibility and severity of symptoms of PMR. I happen to be a registered dietititian who eats a whole foods, primarily plant-based, organic diet, low in animal protein. I also take omega-3 and tumeric supplements on a daily basis.
My symptoms first appeared following my second COVID vaccination and I took a very low dose of prednisone for about a year and a half. I started with 10 mg and took 1 mg. for several months at the end. Mine was a mild case from the beginning-- I never experienced pain during the day--only at night while in bed! I was able stay off of prednisone for a few months, but it reoccurred when I came down with COVID in December. I started taking 3 mg and have begun tapering off once more by .5 mg every week. So far, so good.

I tried a very strict autoimmune diet at the recommendation of my rheumatologist but saw no change in my condition. I do eat healthy, avoid fast foods and sugar, etc.

Your comment about having pain only at night in bed intrigued me. That would be of course when you were not using your muscles. I, too had that kind of pain, as well as pain when I was using my muscles. All this was while I was going to the rhuemy who failed to diagnose me. I finally asked for LDN and was given it. It cleared up the non moving pain in two days! I thought it was a miracle. However, does nothing for moving pain. But at least I can sleep and we know how important that is.

Yes, sleep is oh so important and that is my only health issue these days. I just read this article on how lack of sleep contributes to inflammation and it makes sense.
https://thesleepdoctor.com/physical-health/inflammation-and-sleep/ The only medication I take is mirtazapine 7.5 mg. and that seems to keep my monkey mind from waking me up in the middle of the night. Good luck in renewing your health. Hugs to you.

Hi Carlotta, I am a registered dietitian and my suggestion to you is to only follow a Keto diet on a temporary basis. Putting your body into ketogenisis is not healthy in the long term. You don't see any 90-year-olds on a Keto diet. I happen to be a Pegan (Paleo + Vegan), which is very similar to the Mediterranean diet, without the processed food.

Yes after looking at the keto diet I thought it might be too strenuous and not good in the overall picture of things. Finding that A modified Mediterranean diet better.

Probably stressing more the limiting of processed foods would be the most helpful.
Thank you

I'm sorry, I'm a writer and I don't do well cutting it down to just the bones:
I was diagnosed three and a half years ago. Although it has been a mostly negative experience there have been a few gains. Like the colonial farmers used to say, no great loss without some small gain. I lost weight during that time so that when Covid came along I was at a healthy weight. Also, with everything shutting down I didn’t mind, I didn’t want to go out anyway. But that’s it. My greatest challenge has been getting used to an illness that takes years, not days, to run its course, and not being able to eat the foods I love. I tried moving down from my 3 MG dose to 1 MG last year but recently my inflammation levels have started to climb a little. I was comforted to read that this was not just me, other’s have experienced this as well when they thought they were getting over it..

If anyone is interested, I have designed a few cooking recipes that have helped. I don’t trust manufactured food, not even gluten free and it’s so expensive. I would be happy to share.