Venus Williams beat her sister in a recent match: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/tennis/article-2065600/Venus-Williams-beats-sister-Serena-Williams-battling-Sjogrens-Syndrome.html
I'd be interested to learn more about her dietary changes and the role they have played in her treatment plan, since the article mentions that as being a factor in her comeback. Has anyone read anything more detailed?
Yay for Venus! I'm so glad to learn that she's doing much better.
I'm glad her Sjogren's was caught at age 31 and that she's getting good medical treatment early.
I'd love to read/watch/hear an in-depth interview with her!
Like the gal in the movie "I'll have what she is having!" LOL
Thank you Dragonfly for posting that :-)
Quote from: DragonflyC on November 29, 2011, 12:16:43 PM
I'd be interested to learn more about her dietary changes and the role they have played in her treatment plan, since the article mentions that as being a factor in her comeback. Has anyone read anything more detailed?
I was curious too - I googled Venus Williams diet - and looked for dates post her Dx with Sjogrens and the only thing I could find just said she was eating lots of vegetables - no details at all. Maybe someone else here has more information?
I'm glad Venus is back on the courts. The only thing I don't like that I've seen in articles about Venus is they (whoever "they" are) make it seem like Sjogren's Syndrome is like a cold or the flu - something you have, then you get better, and it's gone.
"Venus changed her diet to aid her recovery from the illness . . . "
The general public, even with Venus' diagnose and bringing this disease out in the public's awareness, doesn't understand the full realm of a Sjogren's diagnose.
Hopefully, with time, they will understand it more.
Bucky
Yes, I completely agree with you Bucky. Very glad to see that she is back on the courts and doing well, but the article is written as if Sjogrens is an easy illness to tackle. Diet might help, but it is hard to believe that it is enough "to get better". My hope is that her high profile would provide greater awareness with accurate information about Sjogrens and that it is a chronic severe illness for many.
I'm in AWE! I'm stunned and amazed.
I wanna' know what her diet is!
Seriously ... Venus ... If you are reading this ... TELL US PLEASE!
(wondering if she ditched all sugars and carbs that turn into sugar as part of it)
I agree the media does not always portray Sjogrens for what it really is - a chronic lifelong health battle. But I guess I have a slightly different take on it in that I would prefer to read positive articles like that than negative ones where they find the worst case sjogrens scenario and report on it. That is too discouraging and unhealthy for me mentally. Stories like this one on Venus give me HOPE that things don't have to be worst case scenario. They remind me that there are times that we will be feeling at least ok - even if there are many more times where we don't.
As for her diet, I think I read that she stopped eating meat and has gone to a raw foods based diet w/ lots of fresh fruit and veggies. Not sure what she has done about carbs.
I am in awe. I am happy for her. Glad that she is feeling better.
What could her treatment been for her to " get better " in that short period of time. Playing tennis is pretty strenuous.
Duchess
I, too, am thrilled for Venus that she is feeling well enough to compete again.
However, I am a bit skeptical as to how she is going to be able to keep up the strenuous pace of a top level professional athlete.
I wonder how much of this article is PR, trying to portray to the public and her opponents that all is well. She receives a great deal of income from sponsors, who may not be as interested in her if they lose confidence in her abilities.
I do hope for her sake that she will be able to continue at the top of her game. However, I think that time will tell.
MiJoy,
I was wondering the same thing. Will she be able to keep up the pace for any length of time? She probably doesn't know herself. Only time will tell.
Shade
I could have/should have been diagnosed with Sjögren's in 1996, when my teeth decayed over 4 months. I knew it was Sjögren's, but thought there was little use to having it diagnosed. So, by dint of denial and ignorance (rather than Venus Williams's awareness) I functioned at a high level, in a top graduate school, for the next five years, and then at a moderately high level for another five, with CIDP (peripheral neuropathy). And then intermittently at a high level over the next five. What kept that going? Gabapentin, IVIG, dentures, vegetarian +fish +chicken diet, heart healthy diet. Exercise. Methyl B12 in large daily doses. Yeah, a lot of work, but it kept me functioning for 15 years, until calendar 2011. Now I need Prednisone to function at that level.
12
Is it possible that Venus Williams can get Prednisone, in competition tennis? Of could she have gotten an IVIg treatment that worked for her? Sudden /intermittent fatigue is one of her symptoms.
We know, on this forum, that there is not a lockstep progression of symptoms. When or if a certain symptom will appear is unknown. It's also possible to *stop* a symptom picture in its tracks. I did that with methyl b12, and reversed CIDP almost completely, to where my feet and legs are almost completely functional, when they were sticks of wood before. IVIg also worked, the one time I tried it, but not as well as methyl b12 sublinguals in high doses.
So we could hear and see astounding things from Ms. Williams, despite her dx of Sjögrens.
Soycoffee
I follow her on facebook and twitter. She stated she is eating an all "raw veggie" diet.
Her most recent facebook post stated she is getting ready to go to Milan for a match.
I hope she gives herself enough downtime.
I've been eating a gluten free diet for around five years and there's absolutely no question that it's helped.
It hasn't cured me, oh no, but it has reduced my symptoms to a level where I was able to go completely medication free for years. When I get glutened, I can tell - there's no question about it, I get a massive flare including neuropathy upon waking. If I avoid the gluten, I don't notice those symptoms and they are much more subtle... so I think anyone with any type of autoimmune disorder should at least try a strict gluten free diet.
I thought for years that I may have celiac disease but I had an endoscopy done last month that showed completely normal villi in my small intestines, however I had faveolar hyperplasia and inflammation of unknown etiology all throughout my digestive tract.
Anyway, try the gluten free diet... it does help. It won't cure you but I promise that it reduces my symptoms by about 50%.
There's no telling how sick I'd be without it.
Soycoffee,
You shared some interesting information. We must remember that this disease affects everybody differently, especially those who have other comorbidities .
I just hope that the media doesn't downplay the seriousness of this disease.
I wish Venus the best health!!
Duchess