My appendicitis caused Becky’s JIA? | Arthritis Information

Our visit to the nutritionist today threw up a whole spectrum of new questions

She agreed the MMR jab MAY have triggered JIA at 2 1/2 years but that Becky could have been born with it possibly due to me being in hospital with acute appendicitis about 2/3 weeks before she was conceived. So my infection COULD have been the root cause.

The nutritionist is adamant that Becky can be successfully treated and eliminate JIA from her body using diet. 95% of Becky's favourite foods are acid forming and we have to eliminate acid from her body, using honey and cider vinegar, molasses and only alkaline foods. Everything she craves for is bad for her....acid forming.

She strongly recommended Becky stop the Naproxen, as she has huge quantity of blood in her urine. She hasn't had urine or blood tests since she was diagnosed at 3 years. So 7 years of no tests as to what the NSAIDs were doing to her.....

She also suggested we have the blood tests with the rheumy on Thursday that are booked in as the prelims to the MTX - but then ask for the results to give to her so that she has a start point with the bloods. And then we are to tell the rheumy that we are still wanting to think about and investigate this treatment (MTX and joint injections) and will go back to him in 6 months time. In the meantime we will be working with the diet and supplements.

I am now in a huge dilemma - do I give the diet this 6 months and hope there is no further joint damage and that the JIA comes under control? Or do I say, No, the rheumy knows best, lets go for the toxic drugs???

Help!! Advice PLEASE!!!

Dee

A great kick-off diet to produce a more alkaline state is the Dr Joshi detox. It's not as restricted as a lot of acid detoxes. I did it last year and plan to do it again after the holidays. The first week is hard but after a while it real retrains your palate and you stop craving those acid forming foods. You can probably get the book from the local library and give it a look-over. Oh, Dee... I'm sorry, but I don't have any insight to provide other than being on MTX has been helpful for me. The side effects are ucky and I can totally understand you wanting to try a natural method. Hopefully someone here can provide you with more info. That's odd that the doc suggested your appendicitis caused the JIA. Please don't feel guilty. I just wanted to let you know that I'll be thinking of you and your daughter. I hope you both have a superfantastic day and that Becky is extra comfortable.

I believe that a mother could pass an infection to an unborn child, but before conception? I don't know.

I would be VERY upset with a rheum who did not do labs on a child on longterm NSAIDS!!!! That is outrageous! He is taking a tremendous risk of missing out on catching liver damage before it is too late.

You can use that as an example of your concerns about moving up to another med - how will she be monitored, how often, etc. You need to know he will do everything possible to protect your daughter. She needs labs now, to see where she is. If her liver function is off from the NSAIDS, starting mtx could be really bad.

Thank you for these replies, guys. It is one heck of a dilemma to be in. Especially as Becky detests most of the 'alkaline' foods. She was in floods this morning about going to school and telling all her friends she has to have a special diet, all the foods she hates. I've tried to tell her it's not a special diet, she just has to eat more of some things and none of other things etc but it's hard getting it across to a 10 year old.

I've just hit the supermarket and loaded the cupboards with wholewheat/wholemeal everything I could find; fish (which she hates); tofu sausages & burgers (they'll be interesting...) loads of fresh veggies (she only likes peas, broccoli & sweetcorn). I think she'll hate me soon... I've told her for the rest of this week to have the same at school as everyone else has then on Christmas hols we'll make the adjustments throughout. She'll miss chocolate and strawberries the most!

About the appendicitis query - I wonder if it was the infection itself or the antibiotics I was on when she was conceived, that may have affected her? I'm not one to look back though so no guilt trips for me Mel

Also, her rheumy said that on his scale of 1-10, she was at 6/7 and heading for the dropping off point. How does he know??? If they can't say how or why RA occurs, or how everyone is going to respond to different treatments/drugs, how can he tell what stage she is at when that was the first time he met her? I think I'm getting cross with the Drs here and it's not always a good idea

Suzanne -I think I need to monitor Becky's condition daily on this diet and give pain relief as and when she needs it. I've taken her off the Naproxen - the amount of blood in her urine scared me as much as the nutritionists face did when she tested it...I do so want to know why she didn't have one lab test in the last 7 years...I feel cross at myself as well for not realising she should have them regularly. I guess I thought the Dr knew best...

Hope everyone's having a good day, here's to cider vinegar and honey...

Dee

It is interesting that you mention the MMR as a possible trigger. The MMR can trigger severe gut dysfunction which in turn can lead to autoimmune disease and autism. Antibiotics make the problem worse in turn.

I am questionable about the diet you were given. I am a full RA diet responder, and I would do very badly on the diet your doctor is recommending. Many people with RA have difficulty with wheat gluten, for example. It triggers a flare IMMEDIATELY if I eat it. It is also hard to digest.

I cannot eat soy either.

You may want to check out the Pecanbread.com web site. It is about healing gut dysfunction. There is a protocol where you start with an intro diet and introduce foods from there to see what the effect is. You start with very easily digested foods and work up from there. It is VERY strict but if the dysfunction can be healed, you can try other foods within a year or so. I have come across many moms with joint disease with kids on the ASD spectrum, for example. It's all related.

Grains are acid forming, even whole grains, so that is why I feel you are getting confusing advice. I also feel that tofu is allergenic and a processed food so I would steer clear of that one too in the short term.

I hope that helps a little bit.

Susan
Oh, and as for diet taking a long time to work...for me, I responded within 4 days by pulling out of a year long flare (I'm not kidding).

Susan
I do not have any advise to offer. I did want to say good luck. I will pray for your daughter.All hard to say. I do think my mother had dx graves disease a few months after giving birth to me. I know she had to quit breast feeding me and get radio active iodine. But i am a different one. I may have given AI to her. She always smoothered our food with salt out of love. She thought as she and her dad had graves disease it was maybe an iodine defficancy. I always thought when my hands swelled as a kid it was from all of this salt. I like a good potatoe chip now and again but i hate salt on my dinner. One just never knows.

Again, thank you all for your replies, advice and good wishes.

Susan - I googled 'alkaline foods' and got a lot of confusing lists, some seemed to go against a lot of what the nutritionist said and some confirmed it. I do know that this clinic has an excellent success rate and I am inclined to try their diet for 4 months as by then they said we should see a tremendous improvement. As they also said she shouldn't start MTX with blood being present in her urine, I will fully inform the rheumy AND be asking why Becky hasn't had any lab tests over the last 7 years of being on Voltarol, Feldene, Piroxicam and now Naproxen. 4 days response re diet is amazing!!

Milly- thank you for your good wishes. I guess we'll never get to know what really causes which diseases will we?

I think I have made the decision to go with the diet until April and ask the rheumy for an appointment after that, having had all the baselines done tomorrow. I think I may be in for a battle but Suzanne you have pre-armed me with your advice and comments too, thank you!

Keep you posted

Dee

Dee, I am so sorry. I guess I would try the combo. I would want the fast relief and then maybe work toward the diet only. However, she will be a teenager, and she will eat what she wants as well. I would worry about a one pronged approach, especially with teenagers. If she has blood in her urine, it's not coming from her stomach; that would show up in her stool. Blood in the urine is possibly a UTI or kidney infection. It's probably worth checking out.

If she has bad stomach problems she should be tested for Celiac disease. It is an auto-immune disease which is predominant in people of northern European decent. It gives an intolerance to gluten which the other posted suggested. Hope your daughter feels better soon.

Thanks Cheesie

She does have some of the side effects contra indicated for Naproxen - mouth ulcers (rarely but has one today), abdominal pain, nausea, indigestion, skin rash (invisible but feels rough), sometimes racing heart (although this can apparantly be caused by her extreme zinc deficiency I think), blood in the urine (kidney), golden skin but NOT yellow eyes. I've raised these at various times with the paediatrician but have been told no problem- BUT WITHOUT LAB TESTS!!!

She's actually feeling good this afternoon and is looking forward to an Epsom Salts bath before bedtime.....

Dee