My Water Fasting Progress - Rheumatoid Arthritis

Hello fellow fasters,

I just wanted to share with you all the progress of my first ever attempt at fasting, I am consuming water only and will continuing for as long as I can. I'm not sure how long that will be though as i'm not very large to begin with - 5'6 & 114 pounds on day one of intermittent fasting. Im actually on day two of my water only fast but before I get into current details let me give you some back story...

Despite my young age (30) I have been feeling unwell for the past 5 or more years. I had a bad UTI that turned into a kidney infection approximately 4 years age from their my health really seemed to decline. I developed pain in the left side of my abdomen (not my stomach) that would only go away after eating, none of the doctors I seen could tell me what this was and I still get this pain and I still don't know what it is from.. Then came the blood Sugar spikes, mild on and off carpal tunnel, joint pain and low grade fever after doing strenuous actives. About three years age I had what I now realize was my first big RA flare, both of my shoulders and finger joints became very painful I couldn't lift my arms for about four days I had to go to the hospital, I had high blood pressure at the time and they tested my blood for inflammatory markers. The test came back negative they gave me a shot (Can't remember what it was but it hurt like hell!) in one of my shoulders and sent me on my way.

The joint pain continued on and off I assumed it was just from being over worked from my very physical job. I moved to a new city approximately one and a half years ago and the joint pain got very severe, at this point I knew something was defiantly wrong. I found a family doctor and got retested this time the results came back very positive for Rheumatoid Arthritis . I was referred to a rheumatologist and prescribed Methotrexate 2.5mg starting at 6 tablets once a week and rising to 10 tablets once a week at the start of month 3. However I never started the drugs, I decided to try a change of diet first. I followed a AIP diet and this did help however the joint pain never fully went away. Doing some more research I discovered that fasting could potentially help with RA, so I have decided to give it a go. I'm feeling hopefully :)

My recent/current symptoms are:
- Joint pain and swelling in several of my fingers in both hands.
- Morning stiffness
- Right shoulder pain
- Pain and swelling in two toes of my left foot, they have spread apart due to the swelling. I have had this food pain since being diagnosed and it has never improved just gotten worse.
- Raynaud syndrome (I was prescribed Nifedipine for this but also never took it)
- Dry, itchy eyes & blurred vision in my left eye, suspect I may need glasses but thought I would wait until after my fast to see if theirs any change.
- Dry mouth & frequent swollen glans under jaws, sore throat
- Heart palpitations
- Fatigue & brain fog
- Lots of hair loss
- Painful knee joint & foot joint spasms
- Right elbow pain from old injury
- Always feel cold


I always thought I was fairly healthy, slim, very active and ate lots of fruit, never smoked and hardly ever drank alcohol or caffeine. So I'm not sure why I have developed RA though one of my uncles dose have lupus, maybe i'm genetically predisposed. Whatever the reason I hope to find a way to get better that doesn't involve drugs with nasty side effects. Maybe fasting will be my solution...


PREPARING FOR THE FAST:

For three days I did intermittent fasting, 22 hours without food with a 2 hour feeding window. I tried to stick with low carb, high fat and fiber meals. Lots of avocados, salad, veggies and a small serving of protein. I'm lucky that not eating has been quite east for me (lack of appetite is another symptom of RA)
what I found difficult was trying to finish my large meals within two hours and all that extra chewing needed for the veggies/salads.
On all three days of the IF I experience abdominal pain on the left side (not stomach or hunger pain but in one particular spot on the left side of my abdomen), It was the worst on the second day. By day three of the IF the abdomen pain seemed to be improving slightly, instead of a sharp pain I was experiencing more of a burning sensation, I also developed a mild headache in the morning that stuck with me through half of the day, but otherwise I actually felt pretty good and at this point the morning stiffness in my hands had already shown improvement I also felt less brain fog. With already showing some slight improvement by the third day of IF I decided that their might be something to this fasting idea and made the decision to start a full water only fast. Here we go...

DAY ONE WOF:
I work once, occasionally twice a week baking a bakery. Wednesday day one of my Water Fast was a work day for me, I had a horrible sleep thursday night despite this my energy level was pretty good throughout the day. I did however develop another headache and I had it all day until late in the evening I thought it might be from a lack of water so I drank A LOT of water throughout the day. I also had some gas. The burning sensation in my abdomen remained. I was cold all day and had a hot soak in the tub that evening, no change in joint pain. Went to bed early. Other than that the day was not very eventful.
Blood Pressure: 122/83 Heart Rate: 76


CURRENT DAY TWO WOF:
I slept better last night, however I woke up early feeling absolutely horrible! I had a nasty taste in my mouth like something crawled in their and died. I felt so sick to my stomach, I went to the bathroom and spent some time brushing my mouth with activated charcoal it only took the edge off. I tried to go back to sleep, I laid down for about 15 or so minutes but had to get back up. I went back to the bathroom and vomited, it was a yellowish green liquid. I felt much better after, brushed mouth again and went back to bed.
QUESTION: Should I be worried about the green vomit? It has surprised me, I wasn't expecting to feel like this on only day two. Is this normal?
I woke up later in the morning around 11am, bad taste still in mouth still nasty but not as bad as earlier. I felt very tired, could have keep sleeping but their a storms outside and I had to move some livestock to warmer locations. Being up and moving around outside in the snow with all my heavy winter clothing and boots was not how I felt like spending the day, but I had no choice. I felt so exhausted, I had 0 energy and walking around was causing my stomach to burn very very badly (possibly too much acid?)
I took me along time to get what I need done cause I keep having to sit and catch my breath. As the day has gone on the sick feeling is still their but has improved. I haven't drank as much water today (only around 5 cups) because I feel like maybe all the water I drank yesterday caused the puking. Little to no gas today. On a more positive note my mind is very clear and the swelling and pain in my fingers has noticeable reduced! The joint improvement has encouraged me to continue despite this not so great day.
Blood Pressure: 119/86 Heart Rate: 105

It has been approximately 48 hours since I last ate, My current weight is 109.8 pounds. I don't feel hungry and I have little to no desire to eat. I will continue to fast as long as I can and I will post updates here for anyone who is interested in following. Also If you have any fasting tips or knowledge you would like to pass on to me I would love to hear from you...



Tweet