I think I've got it

Okay...so I drew this a couple weeks ago. This drawing happened while I was watching the movie Man on a Wire (totally awesome by the way) and was not trying to complete a drawing with any particular purpose. I was "mindlessly doodling" if you will. Well, for anyone that is familiar with the art of blowing glass, this could not be more of a direct reference. I am not surprised in any way that this is the imagery that comes out of me when I am not paying attention...I know I long to blow glass and I will not stop having that intention (I have a blog post brewing about intention, but I will save that for later). BUT I did have a new thought about blowing glass after this drawing.

I worked in a glass studio almost everyday, for at least 4 hours at a time, for 2 years in a row & there is an enormous amount of repetitive wrist movement. In fact, the impact on the wrist is equally if not more intense than all the Crossfit I have been doing.

So that thought confirmed another thought I've been having....something doesn't seem right that my wrist is all screwy simply because of the repetitive movement of Crossfitting and/or drawing.

Here's the deal:
I have been drawing my whole life. Every time I hear a doctor or a specialist say my tendinitis is because of my drawing my mouth says, "Okay" and my gut says "NO".

Every time I hear a doctor or specialist say that my tendinitis is from Crossfit my mind says, "Okay..that makes sense...this is something new in my life and definitely incorporates a lot of high impact repetitive movement" and my gut says, "okay...but not the entire story" (this is what my glass blowing thought confirms...I know my body...I have done lots of high impact before and NEVER felt anything like this).

Then I say to myself...wait, it can't be just my Crosfitting because I use both wrists equally...I mean, we all lean one way or the other a little bit, but if this isn't something that originates from one instance and is only an "over a period of time, lots of repeats" type of thing then why don't I feel something in BOTH my wrists? Oh no! That means it is the drawing...but then my ever trusty gut says NO.

So what is all this rambling about?
I have been on a 5 month adventure of figuring out what has been going on with my wrist. I find myself 5 months into this pain wit absolutely no improvement.
I believe there is no way around the fact that repetitive movement is involved...but as I just outlined does not feel like the CAUSE. It has always felt like a partner in crime of something. That is why I got hopeful when I thought that it might be a stress fracture...my gut responded to the fact that something beyond simple repetitive movement tendinitis was going on...but my gut still knew the MRI would show no fracture. I got encouraged when the doctor told me I had a cyst...but way underneath I couldn't imagine the cyst being removed and the pain going away.

I THINK I KNOW WHAT IT IS:
My very brilliant, beautiful, and amazing sister-in-law and I had a long conversation about my wrist that, when I hung up the phone, my gut finally said YES.
We have actually had a mini version of this conversation before but I don't think I was ready to fully hear it. Tonight I was.

NIGHTSHADES.My sister-in-law had bad carpal tunnel and could hardly move her wrists. She eliminated this food group for 3 months and it completely went away.

This makes sense to me because at the same time I started Crossfit I also changed my diet. All of a sudden I was eating tomatoes (which I NEVER ate before and have hated them most of my life), eggplant, red bell peppers like I never have before (I'm talking I went from one a month to 2 whole ones a day), and began dousing my morning eggs with Cholula sauce.

Nightshades are known for causing joint pain and can be very troublesome for some people. I don't feel confident explaining the science behind this yet because I haven't fully straightened it out myself. But I will keep you updated on what I learn.

ANNOUNCEMENT:
I am going nightshade free for 90 days.
I am also going dairy free for 90 days along with it because dairy doesn't help any kind of inflammation issue.

So Fajita night will have to shift from chicken, salsa, peppers & onions, avocado, and hot sauce to simply chicken, onions, and avocado. Not bad, three delicious things.

I really really hope this helps eliminate my pain because I really miss full on Crossfit workouts.
I will keep you updated on what eliminating nightshades does for me. I do know that it could take up to 6 weeks to feel any difference, so I might not not have a report for a while.

I am currently on day 5 of 90.
R.I.P. Nightshades.