Lately I have been one day up, one day down.  One day I am experiencing very little stiffness and pain and the next day I am feeling dreadful.

I have been taking a close look at my diet and how it is effecting how I feel.  I know that there are certain foods that without a doubt have a direct relationship to the amount of inflammation that I am experiencing.  Within an hour or so of eating chocolate I start to swell.  The same holds true for dairy products. Sugar seems to be an issue for me as well.  I don’t know if I need to avoid all sugar altogether or if  there is a certain threshold that once I  go over that level there is a problem.  I don’t know if it is just refined sugar or if  natural sugars will give me the same trouble.  I know that things that have a high sugar content cause me trouble. The good news is that since I have stopped taking the methotrexate, it is easier for me to tell which foods are causing the inflammation. It was as if the medication was masking the effects that food had on my inflammation. It has been a game of hit or miss on what my body will tolerate and what it won’t.  I imagine that this will take some time to find every food that is causing me trouble.

It is hard to plan my life right now because I really don’t know from day to day how I am going to feel.  I am keeping a food journal and each day I write down everything that goes into my body and how I am feeling physically.  It is helping to make it easier to pinpoint what food is effecting me so that I can avoid it in the future.  I have done a lot of reading on the subject and I am very hopeful that once I get a handle on the foods that trigger inflammation for me I will be able to manage the disease much better.