Inflammation Station

The inflammation experienced with psoriatic arthritis is truly something that is hard to battle on the daily. It can attack various parts of your body, from joints to tendons, and even your eyes. It might not always be the same for everyone, as we all experience psoriatic arthritis differently. It is almost guaranteed that there will be inflammation present.

Why am I changing my psoriatic arthritis treatment?

Since I am trying to stay away from NSAIDs, I have embarked on a mission to treat my inflammation differently. Instead of trying to treat each separate part of my body, I have decided to treat it internally and across the board. The hope with doing this that I will be able to reduce my pain levels, and improve my day-to-day life.

How am I treating my inflammation differently?

The struggle of everyday movement, and simply being in pain all the time, is just one of the hardest things. I do not feel that I have the energy for this, this year. I feel so exhausted from all the micromanaging and figuring out how to deal with everything, every day. The mental fatigue has just been too much for me. So I really wanted to find a way to manage it long-term and find something that would hopefully have longer lasting effects.

Have probiotics been working?

I am starting with probiotics this year. The idea is that by helping restore my digestive and gut health, my inflammation will come down. Having been drinking probiotics for about three weeks, I am rather chuffed with the results I am seeing so far. The pain in my Achilles is definitely less than what it was before I started. This is one of the places I feel my psoriatic arthritis the most, my feet, and my Achilles tendon. My big toes seem to have a little more room for movement too, which is great. Hopefully, with time it will improve even further.

If this is something you would like to try, make sure you do some research and get it from a place that makes a palatable water kefir. I cannot stomach the milk one. I drink one to two cups of a day, of organic water kefir.

How else can I take probiotics?

There are various ways to get probiotics in, I am looking forward to looking into more live fermented foods, to aid this process too. If this is not how you would choose to do things you could also consult with your doctor and get them to prescribe you something too.

Has reducing sugar worked?

Oh goodness, there is always a hot debate about sugar, isn't there?  Some people say it has no effect and others swear it is from the devil itself.  I think that this has something to do with the fact that we all react to things differently. And despite of similar we are, we truly are also so different.

My personal experience is that I can comfortably have brown organic sugar, but absolutely not refined white sugar.  Across the board, I am reducing my sugar intake, which has been the one thing to prove the most fruitful change as yet. The pain at night had been reduced by at least half.

Over Easter, my refined sugar intake was up from all those delicious easter eggs, and I quickly felt the effect of this, with my pain levels picking up within 48 hours and hanging around for a few days.