Update on My RSI Issues (AKA things are looking up)

If you've visited before (or clicked the link on the sidebar that describes my issues), you know I started this blog because of hand pain from typing/mousing.  I haven't been posting too much lately, but it's not because things have gotten worse.  My hands are actually about 95% better (this is after more than 4 years of not being able to work at the computer for more than an hour or two a day without pain).  I won't say I'm completely cured yet (they still feel a little stiff at times), but I think I'm heading that direction.  I'm even playing World of Warcraft (yes, I'm a geek) in addition to my regular computer work.

So, what miraculous thing helped me?  Was it the hand braces, the drugs, the various contraptions for exercising my wrists?

Nope.  (None of that stuff helped me.)

Then last summer, I was diagnosed with hidden food allergies, specifically gluten and dairy.  Of course, I was eating these things every day (gluten is found in wheat which is found in... just about everything) and my body had built up a tolerance, but there were symptoms.  Everything from my RSI to headaches to asthma to acne to heartburn.  I had no idea these things were all related (I just remember feeling annoyed that I was already having all these troubles in my 20s--what kind of mess would I be by 50??). 

So I must thank the doctor (it was an alternative medicine clinic... my regular doctor just wanted to prescribe drugs for everything) who thought to ask: have you ever been tested for food allergies. 

It's a pain to have to avoid these foods (eating out is very cumbersome), but it's worth it to feel so much better.  If you are struggling with hard to diagnose issues, I encourage you to do some research on symptoms of hidden food allergies (there are a lot of them and they can manifest differently in different people) and get tested if it sounds like a match.  I read that 1 in 8 people are actually allergic to wheat and many don't know it (and for the rest of the popular, it's apparently not something anybody digests really well).

Check it out, and good luck with your issues!

Comments

[J.]

I've never heard of food allergies being the cause for computing discomfort. Maybe this information can help some people I know.

[Mo]

Hi... I just HAD to comment on this. I am a medical transcriptionist (and craftsperson and yoga teacher) who has had CTS for about 1 1/2 years along with more-than-niggling symptoms of some sort of undetected SOMEthing... nasty stomach issues... for years. After some happenstance and food logging, I'm realizing it's gluten. I'm vegan, so it isn't dairy ;-)

You know what an RSI does to a person's life.

So.... knowing a thing or two about alternative medicine and having utter disdain for the allopathic community, I started searching the web. To see your post was SO encouraging. I'm starting a gluten-free diet today and might increase my B6.

Best of luck to you, and I hope your recovery is lasting! THANK YOU for writing this blog post. Please feel free to contact me.

[Elena]

Did you go to a traditional doctor for diagnosis or an alternative practitioner? If the latter, what kind? Thank you.

[Jason Price]

Wow, surely that can't be true! I know intolerances can cause a lot of things, but I've never known them to cause RSI. I've been working with PC's for well over 10 years now (more like 14), and am starting to suffer RSI in my wrist really badly. I'm sure this is more to do with how I'm using the mouse. I'm thinking that maybe a tracker ball would be better.

[JT]

Thanks for sharing this - it sounds eerily familiar as we seem to have shared many symptoms. Can you recommend a particular type of blood test? I believe there are several.

[zach]

We'd be grateful for any links you found helpful!

[Safe Computing Tips]

This is something interesting to me...I have to Google now to study more info..

[Versus]

Nice.

[AsilvaPT]

The inflammatory response caused by food allergies and sensitives would contribute to symptoms such as an RSI, though certainly wouldn't be the first diagnosis one would think of. So wonderful that you got a clear diagnosis, but unfortunate that it took so long.
http://blog.wellnessprofessionals.com/

[D.Hill]

Hi,
It's now April 2008. Just wondering how your RSI is going these days?

Also, did you in the past work out at the gym? Maybe doing bench press exercises frequently?

Rgds

[Ergoblog]

Thanks for the comments all. Yes, my hands are still doing well today. I can actually tell that it's definitely the allergies because if I "cheat" a bit (especially with the gluten) for a few days, some of the soreness will come back. But if I'm good with my diet for the most part, the hands are pretty much a non-issue now. :)

Good luck to everyone who is experiencing these RSI symptoms and looking for the reason behind them!