A new acquaintance has been recently diagnosed with lupus.
I told her about the BTD & then wasn't able to talk to her for 2 months or so.
She told me yesterday that she was going to a herbalist as well as the traditional specialist who is too drug oriented. She said the herbalist gave her a BTD list!

I am so thrilled!! She is in the right direction with BTD. Isn't that great!??????

Really great!!

Woop-Woop

Just curious how long she had to suffer before getting a DX?  Let us know how things go for her.

I think she shared a few months ago that she was diagnosed with it. Of course, she could have had it some time as it is hard to diagnose(from what little I read about it).
She is peobably over 50, is Afro-American, & type AB.  I keep hearing how bad chicken is for the rare types. I wonder what factor it has in auto-immune diseases.

I have an autoimmune Dx similar to Lupus, characterized by stiff joints, sicca, low energy, general connective tissue stuff.  
I am absolutely frightened by the amount of meds that folks with this Dx take. Do not want to join that club!

In accordance with TCM, I began by eliminating wheat and dairy. Then I found BTD, which led to Swami. Which led to significant improvement--despite the avoid I ate last night: pizza with wheat crust! It had been many months since a "pizza incident" and I think I am OK today!

Good luck to your friend.

Ah yes, Sjogrens.  My wife had that Dx tentatively for several months before a biopsy of the salivary glands ruled it out.  Still don't know what's wrong with her.  Is there a real Dr. House?

Does anyone have any  more info about lupus?  I'm sure someone out there can help!
Does Dr. D have any lupus patients?  I guess it is related to other auto-immune diseases, so the protocols must be similar.

Thanx!

Hello.  This is my very first post here on the forums and this post caught my eye right away.  I have Lupus (specifically systemic lupus erythematosus).  I was diagnosed in 2005 but have been ill since 2003.

I'm not new to the BTD as my husband and I were on it back in 1998-1999.  I had lost more weight than I had intended and when I dropped to 105 and people kept telling me how gaunt and sick I looked, I decided to stop the diet and try to get back up to a healthier weight for me.  Sadly, within 4 years I started getting very ill and was finally diagnosed with Lupus.

Now I am overweight (medication related) and decided 5 days ago to go back on the BTD.  I'm doing this for two reasons.  First, I wish to get my weight down to a healthier number.  Second, I have hopes that the diet will help me in the area of pain and inflammation so that I can wean myself off of pain medication.  One can hope. Yes?

I used to work in the medical field and am well versed on Lupus so would be happy to answer any questions related to my illness if I can.  I hope to be an active member of the board and look forward to reporting good results.  Sorry this was a long first post!  

wow great news......... back onto BTD... well done ....
but then I'd recommend get tested for your needs of supplements and also incompatibility of foods...........

Welcome to the board rcmichels.  Hope that the BTD (or the newer diets from Dr. D, GTD and SWAMI are helpful to you.  Mrs. T., I wonder if a SWAMI would help your friend???

Thank you so much!  I think what has been kind of freaky was the fact that way back when we read the book and started the diet, it did say that O's had a high risk for autoimmune diseases.  NEVER would I have dreamed how true of a reality that would become for me.  

Quoted from Jane

Welcome to the board rcmichels.  Hope that the BTD (or the newer diets from Dr. D, GTD and SWAMI are helpful to you.  Mrs. T., I wonder if a SWAMI would help your friend???

With so much at stake, go for Swami.

Quoted from rcmichels1

Sorry this was a long first post!  

Don't worry about a long "first post!" The more we know about where a person is coming from, the better things go!!

I give a strong vote for SWAMI too!! Worth every penny!!

Quoted from Mrs T O+

She is peobably over 50, is Afro-American, & type AB.  I keep hearing how bad chicken is for the rare types. I wonder what factor it has in auto-immune diseases.

Chicken and corn are my two worst enemies...  Chicken makes my joints and bones ache tremendously and probably does other things "behind the scenes"...  

Corn does many things - and none of them are good.  

I've never really noticed specific symptoms from beef or pork, but I just don't eat them due to wanting to maintain improved digestion...

Right now, cost is an issue.  I will, however, make myself more familiar with what SWAMI is.  

Bingo! to squarepeg for nailing my Dx. Sjogren's is very similar to Lupus. And the flare ups seem so random. Swami has helped me to identify foods which I was sure were benign, like lentils. And has allowed me to eat a few cheeses, which I had thought I would never eat again.  I have a secretor test but haven't yet sent it it in. I know it will be helpful.--But once you know something, you can't not know it. So if I discover that I am a non-secretor, it will be my own fault if I insist on eating eggplant or mozzarella and then feel crummy.  

Rose, when you can manage it, I think swami will be helpful. And if you are going to limit your diet, you probably want your efforts to be specifically targeted to your needs.  Otherwise, too much hit or miss.

Quoted from prunella

Rose, when you can manage it, I think swami will be helpful. And if you are going to limit your diet, you probably want your efforts to be specifically targeted to your needs.  Otherwise, too much hit or miss.

I absolutely hear what you're saying.  I was on the diet before (as I said, never should have stopped) so I'm very familiar with what worked for me before, although no guarantees things haven't changed for me biologically speaking.  Would love to invest in SWAMI now but just can't.   Will do so when I can.

Being fiscally responsible is a virtue.  

Just adjusting to autoimmune realities can take a fair amount of energy. The lovely folks on the Sjogren's forum discuss their symptoms and meds. Some of the  meds are scary! While the forum members are a wonderful group, only a few are discussing diet. Hopefully, some will discover BTD/GTD.

You are ahead of the game because you are already familiar with the concepts and know how to adapt your diet.  

Best wellness to you.

Good job Mrs T informing your friend about BTD & her actually following through.  Welcome back to the BTD rcmichels1.

I thought I'd write a note to update my earlier post since I'm now about 10 days into re-starting the BTD from years ago.  Particularly wanted to address how it's affected my weight and Lupus symptoms.

Pleased to announce I've lost 4lbs. I think a good start for 10 days.  I have added walking but I must watch that due to sun exposure being a bad thing for Lupus, but I am trying every day.

I seem to be experiencing a decrease in pain, but not swelling.  I know the pain has decreased because I guage that by how much pain medication I take.  The swelling I have to document with pictures so that's an obvious thing I can see.  I'm hoping that this is going to continue to improve and not more a psychological effect of HOPING it's the BTD ... if you know what I mean.

Welcome Rose!

I'm glad to hear you're doing better already. There are no "quick fixes" with chronic illnesses. I've come to the conclusion that my SWAMI has identified all my "food triggers"  but there are still environmental factors that can lead to fibro-flares. I haven't perfected things yet, and I still have a lot of healing to do.

If money's tight, I'd suggest a secretor test before buying a SWAMI. If you can't afford the test right now either, you might want to give the non-secretor diet a try and see if that works better for you than the secretor diet. I personally cut out all foods that were avoids for secretors or nonnies (non-secretors) until I was able to get the secretor test done.

Quoted from ruthiegirl

Welcome Rose!

I'm glad to hear you're doing better already. There are no "quick fixes" with chronic illnesses. I've come to the conclusion that my SWAMI has identified all my "food triggers"  but there are still environmental factors that can lead to fibro-flares. I haven't perfected things yet, and I still have a lot of healing to do.

If money's tight, I'd suggest a secretor test before buying a SWAMI. If you can't afford the test right now either, you might want to give the non-secretor diet a try and see if that works better for you than the secretor diet. I personally cut out all foods that were avoids for secretors or nonnies (non-secretors) until I was able to get the secretor test done.

Things have changed quite a bit over the years so when people talk about 'secretors', I'm not really familiar with that.  Back in the day, as they say, when my husband and I were on the BTD, that's all there was.  I guess I need to do my homework.

Rose, in Dr. Complete Blood Type Encyclopedia, he recommends the following protocols for Lupus:

Anti-Inflammation:
http://www.dadamo.com/protocols/4.html

Immune Support:
http://www.dadamo.com/protocols/17.html

Look into LR4YT, which is more up to date than ER4YT and provides food lists for both secretor and non.  

Wow ... unfortunately at $70 for the test, that also will have to wait.   I know that this info will be beneficial to me but I can only do what I can financially afford.  It's on my list!  

Thank you also, Victoria ... off to check out those links now!