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Dr. Oz and Paula Abdul on RSD/CRPS-1


Paula Abdul has an unusual subtype of this unusual disease, and in her case, ice is excellent instead of deadly. Having labeled that huge caveat, here is some excellent, informative, very useful stuff to take away:

[The clip was removed from youtube. Here is the show on Dr. Oz’s page:
Part 2 (with demo of animated light show 🙂 )
Part 4 (which they evidently removed from the RSD segment… discusses highlights of the nutritional changes that turned her disease around]

She and Dr. Oz do a very good job of simply, honestly and clearly conveying the basic physical reality of RSD/CRPS-1. I found her presentation refreshingly honest, very sweet, and completely good.

Note her discussing how food and nutrition (especially drastic amounts of produce) is responsible for a “360-degree change” in her condition. She has found doctors that helped her figure that out; what I want is for those doctors to train all their cohorts!

The (usually passive; occasionally active) resistance of the mass of doctors to nutrition is appalling, but at this point it is the most valuable single strategy that’s available to the most people. The fact that it isn’t available to everyone is a horror which I look forward to seeing the end of: poverty and food insecurity are not good for anyone, and being disabled puts most of us into poverty… so we can’t get the kind of food we really need to manage this disabling condition!

My old commercial-grade blender took a dive off the boat. It’s probably making sushi in the middle of the Pacific Ocean by now.  I can’t wait to get another one and get back to making green shakes. The healthy oils and tons of produce are the best “brain-food” I’ve ever found. They keep the pain down to a manageable level and help me continue to be able to do things like, oh I don’t know, write more blog posts.

3 thoughts on “Dr. Oz and Paula Abdul on RSD/CRPS-1”

  1. Just one quick thought, I suffer from type 1 CRPS and the way they talked made it sound like what worked for Paula would work for everyone. I’ve tried all the vitamins and supplements and changed my diet all together and sadly it didn’t work for me. I can’t use ice. There are a lot of things that they discussed that make it sound like all type 1 CRPS/RSD is going to be like this but we have to remember that it’s going to be different for everyone.

    1. I know Dr. Oz did some research (he liked the Facebook page RSD/CRPS Research and Developments so we know he was reading it for a couple weeks) but he really didn’t do enough and didn’t know about the subtypes or how widely CRPS varies from case to case. . I find that frustrating, but nobody’s perfect.

      I had developed some unusual food sensitivities (including rice and canola oil, as well as the more common wheat and corn) and my reactions tended to be neurological: pain, confusion, daffiness. Eliminating those from my diet has been key. I mention that gor what it’s worth. Gut permeability and consequent hypersensitization/allergic responses can be a real issue in chronic CRPS.

      Diet, like anything, will probably work better for some than others. It’s a question of improvement, not necessarily cure or even remission. I’ve gotten partial remission of pain and improvement of CNS stability, but if I wobble much from my dietary restrictions and other self-disciplines, I quickly lose ground. It’s relentless. /sigh/

      I do hope you find something that cuts it for you.

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