Fibromyalgia and Diet: What's the Link?

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This article is from the WebMD Feature Archive

Will changing your diet help you cope with fibromyalgia?
By Jen Uscher
WebMD Feature
Reviewed by Melinda Ratini, DO, MS
If you have fibromyalgia, you've probably wondered if there are ways to modify your diet to improve symptoms such as fatigue and muscle pain.
Research hasn't shown that there are specific foods that all fibromyalgia patients should avoid or add to their diets. But it may still be worthwhile to take a closer look at how foods impact the way you feel.*
"There aren't many good studies that have looked at how diet can affect fibromyalgia symptoms. But I think we can gather a lot from anecdotal evidence -- from what patients tell us," says Ginevra Liptan, MD, medical director of the Frida Center for Fibromyalgia in Portland, Ore., and author of Figuring Out Fibromyalgia: Current Science and the Most Effective Treatments.
Here are some of the ways doctors say food can play a role in fibromyalgia and tips on how you can tweak your diet to support your overall health.
[h=3]Pay Attention to How Food Makes You Feel[/h]"A lot of people with fibromyalgia have sensitivities to particular foods, but it varies from person to person," Liptan tells WebMD. "They might be sensitive to MSG, certain preservatives, eggs, gluten, dairy, or other common allergens."
In fact, in a survey published in the journal Clinical Rheumatology, 42% of fibromyalgia patients said their symptoms worsened after eating certain foods. *
A good way to start identifying the foods that may aggravate your symptoms, Liptan and other experts say, is keeping a daily food journal.
"I have some patients keep a food journal for two weeks," says James McKoy, MD, chief of pain medicine, director of complementary medicine, and staff rheumatologist at Kaiser Permanente in Honolulu. "They write down the foods they ate each day and whether they had symptoms like headaches, indigestion, or fatigue. It can be very helpful, because sometimes we see, for instance, that they have more fatigue when they eat a particular food."
[h=3]Try Eliminating Certain Foods[/h]If a fibromyalgia patient has a lot of irritable bowel symptoms, Liptan often recommends they try an elimination challenge diet. They stop eating a certain food they suspect they're sensitive to for six to eight weeks. Then they add it back to their diet and see how they feel. Liptan's patients most often try eliminating dairy products or foods containing gluten.
"When you discover you're sensitive to a food and then eliminate it from your diet, it can make a huge difference," Liptan says. "Some people get a lot of benefit in terms of reduction of pain, but more often we see a reduction in fatigue and an improvement in irritable bowel symptoms like bloating and*constipation."
If you think you might have food sensitivities or allergies, talk with your doctor.
In some cases, they may refer you to an allergist for food allergy testing. You may also want to consult a dietitian to make sure you don't miss out on essential nutrients when you eliminate certain foods from your diet.