August 11, 2011 12:21 PM
Dr. Art Ayers said…
Betsy,
Your condition is obviously inflammatory (and autoimmune) with classic symptoms and response to a potent anti-inflammatory drug.
The cause of your condition was chronic inflammation (probably dietary), combined with modest injury to joints and damage to your gut flora (which reduced regulatory T cells and led to autoimmunity.) Normal and even intense exercise should result in joint damage that is fully repaired. Chronic use damage can accumulate, however, if chronic inflammation is present.
I can’t tell from your brief description where you get most of your calories. If it is not saturated fat in meat/dairy, then it is usually plant starch. The carb-based diet would tend toward higher blood sugar/insulin and higher production of reactive oxygen species… inflammation. Your diet remains your main cause of problems. Constipation would be a symptom of extreme gut dysbiosis.
As Fred indicated, gluten would be another obvious source of inflammation and disruption of normal gut/gut flora function.
Vitamin D deficiency would be another likely candidate.
All of the local treatments. heat/cold, capsaicin/menthol/castor oil, vagal stimulation postures/exercises, should give temporary relief from pain, so that you can maintain a complete range of motion. Brief use of NSAIDS may also be worth their side effects, to provide a return to normal activity.
For a permanent cure, you need to repair your gut flora, fix vit.D, fix diet and maintain exercise.
You should have no symptoms at your relatively young age, unless you have poorly managed inflammation. I think that complete relief from your symptoms should be fairly simple.
Let me know how you do.
