I make myself feel better with food. Anyone else have this problem and weight gain???

Depression is often part of having a chronic disease. You battle with feeling that your body has betrayed you, grieve the loss of "normal", yell at the gods for making this happen, worry about the future. When we are depressed, we seek comfort and sometimes, we seek comfort in something that is self-destructive. I used to smoke, in large part because it gave me emotional comfort. But I quit, because smoking increased my already increased (due to RA) risk of stroke and heart attack, increased my risk of developing lung cancer, etc..

Overeating and getting caught in a loop of yo-yo eating and dieting (which tends to make you gain more weight than you lose) is also self-destructive when you have RA. In addition to increasing your risk of heart attack and stroke, being overweight will put an additional stress on your joints, making it much more difficult for you to function. Which will depress you, which will make you eat. You're right - the sooner you break this cycle, the better your chances of maintaining as much ability and mobility in your joints as possible. Depriving yourself of yummy desserts, chocolate and pizza (my personal comfort food) virtually guarantees that you'll snap and fall off the wagon in a binge of unhealthy foods. Stop dieting in favor of eating a balanced diet with lots of fruits and vegetables - fresh fruit can be a treat, especially during the summer where its abundant everywhere. Eat everything in moderation, including treats. You can find a community of people in the same boat at HealthCentral's diet and exercise site (click here). But this won't work, unless you find another way to get comforted when you need it.

Live it with RA can be very hard and feel very lonely. You can't share the pain, but you can share your experience of it. Talk to your family and friends, talk to other people with RA - start writing Share Posts for HealthCentral, for instance, when you're having a hard time. Writing in a journal can be very helpful and some people find comfort in their faith. Finding hope in what can feel like so dark is essential to managing pain and depression and sometimes, it's a real struggle. But it is possible. Living well with RA is possible, being happy is possible. You may want to consider seeing a counselor or a therapist to help you process the grief and depression and move from self-destructive to self protective. Antidepressants may be of help, as well. There is no shame in being depressed about having a chronic illness and many of us have needed counseling or medication to get from the darkness and into a place where we can find hope again.

Be well and please, write more if you want. There is a great community on this site of people going through the same struggle and we all help each other.

Sorry - I forgot to include the link to teh Diet and Exercise site.  it's here.

I know what you mean!!  I've gotten to where I try to find other ways to treat myself instead of pigging out on ice cream (oh man...I looove me some Ben and Jerry's Chunky Monkey!) when I'm down.  I try not to keep candy or too much junk food in the house anymore, and luckily, with my new job, I don't have access to a lot of junk food at work now.  I love chocolate, so I'll buy the fat-free chocolate pudding cups and have one of those instead of a candy bar or ice cream.  Plus, I've stopped buying ice cream!  If it's not in the house, I can't eat it!  My son loves McDonald's (what kid doesn't??) and he usually orders the apple dippers instead of fries because that is what I'll get.  Since you can get the low fat caramel sauce at the grocery store, I buy that and we have our own apple dippers at home.  I can't give up my sweet stuff completely...so I find ways around it.  I just have a little, just enough that I don't feel deprived and then want to go on a total sugar bender!!!  I've been trying to eat better since I started my new job in March.  I really like this job and I want to be healthy enough to be here as long as possible!  I have definitely lost weight since then...about 10 pounds.  We'll see how it goes from here!  Just focus on eating healthier...and definitely don't call it a diet! =)

My favorite is Banana Split with pecans and extra pecans!!  You didn't mention how long you have had RA.  In my experience, after 6 years and when I began to get relief and do stuff I hadn't done in years..........you know.........like clean house again........go by groceries............go mall shopping and walk as much as possible, then the weight is sloooooooooowly dropping.  When I have flareups, I hit on one side of the sofa and don't move and eat and watch TV...........all weekend (I work).  But not so much as I use to.  I bought a dog, a pomeranian pup and I named him Simba and he is really active! So, we go to the park and around the neighborhood and that helps a lot.  I can eat grilled chicken and spinach salad now and really make myself believe it is banana split w/pecans.  Good Luck to you............RA sucks.....no doubt about it.

Absolutely true!  And I hate it also but can't help myself.  I've never weighed so much in my life.  I keep blaming it on the methotrexate! 

Hi Rena, I have had RA for 25 years now. I am 46 years old. When I first found out it only took 1 year to gain 100 lbs. I hated life. I have been on almost every med out there for RA. I do take weeky injections + Mexel... .Then one day I got mad and decided to not allow RA to controll me any longer. I now am 5' 9" tall and weigh 130 lbs and have for about 10 to 12 years now. I took back my life. I help people who have any disability learn news ways to deal. I wrote a cookbook that includes my story. I also have won many cooking and recipe contests. I write a daily blog on my culinary travels around the world you are welcome to check it out. on my space. If you need any help at all I can tell you my story. to see my blog just go to my space and type in melinda Winner. Also to look at the book go to amazon.com. The title is Yankee cooking with Southern charm. Good luck to you! Please do not give up keep moving and the pain will be less. That is so important. O by the way. You need to eat balanced meals but not starve. I eat cake almost everyday. not little pieces big ole wonking ones! I just keep moving and you need people to suppot you. But I do know if that they do not have anything wrong with them they will get tired of hearing about RA. So think possive all the time it really helps.

God Bless,

Melinda Winner

I love to eat also.  But, be careful what you eat. THere are foods that will cause RA to flare up.  Chocolate is one.  Not that i don't eat this. But do suffer after it.

I was going to a Chiropractor that also treated patients with holistic Meds.

It really worked by removing some foods In my case Dairy Products and corn products.

She also had me take Ultra Inflamex by Metagenics.

This is a powder mixed with berries/water and taking 2xs a day removes the inflamation in your body which is causing RA flare ups.  I felt the difference and lost weight also. My RA dr felt this was also a good thing and totally believed in this. It's very safe.  She called it a slow de-tox.

Even though I don't go to her any longer, (insurance didn't pay and very costly for her fees) I continue to take ultra inflamex when I begin to feel it's necessary.

Hi,

I have cronic pain since a physical assault. My mother has arthritis.I understand about chronic pain and depression. I have had depression most of my life (39). I am on several antidepressants and anti seizure meds. These meds do put some weight gain on. I am only 25 pounds over weight but at my age, it should not be. I eat when I get really depressed (meds. only help a bit-tried nearly everything). I made a decision to relieve some pain and depression to force myself to do any form of excercise. I bought a malibu pilates chair(for streching-may help with pain) and also since I loved to dance-I bought latin dance videos)  I was told that myofacial pain as well as arthristis can be help with excercise. Believe me I have always hated to excercise. I did a colon cleanse, I am currently taking acai (see oprah and Dr. Oz) and it help with my cravings. I also ordered a product called full bar.com (made by a medical doctor)  I looked into herbale products for sweatness-One I use is called Stevia-totally natural. I treat myself with a smoothie shake with Stevia-no caleries and there is nothing in it that could increase your depression ,like there are in sweet and low products. Look into going to a whole foods store. Also, having a support group is very important. It really helps to be around people with the same problems. I go to see a therapist but she has never dealt with depression so I had to force myself( Notice FORCE) to go to a depression-bipolar support alliance group. You can find them on line. They are in every state in the US. I made a decision to fight through my depression and everytime I feel that way to put in a motivational tape-I use Joel Osteen's tapes, I take a bubble bath etc. I have motivational sayings all over my apartment. I got that idea from Joel Osteen.  I hope something I said will help. God Bless

I had the same problem of treating myself with food when I first got RA and docs didn't know what it was so I was just in pain for three months before they figured it out. It started with fast food on my way home from work. Then I got put on steroids I gained 40lbs much of which went to my stomach. Then I went into remission after the steriods for six months and couldn't really get the weight off. So I am now having flares almost daily now and realize that food in the short term does make me feel better but I do not need the extra calories. I don't need to add the guilt of eating too much food with the pain of my RA. I have come to grungeingly accept that RA will be a part of my life from now on.  If I kept treating my pain with food I would be very obease very shortly then I would be Very Depressed.  I don't like being like that so I take care of the ra as best I can and look for something else to do besides eat.  I think I get on the internet alot there are lots of day I just surf the internet even if my hands are hurting it keeps me occupied. You just have to know yourself. If it is going to take you hitting rock bottom to change your ways like it was for me, then  be prepared to have a hard time getting the few extra lbs off since it is pretty hard for us to excercise anyway, yeah we can be a little blue when flares hit, we just have to let friends and family know about the big ones, in case we can't particiapte in the activites and the manageable flares become part of you. I am lookin into being put on Enbrel. Since Motrin, tylenol and tramadol arn't really helping for the big flares.