Investigation of the Impact of a Low-Carbohydrate Diet on The Chronic Pain Experience Among Adults with an Acquired Limb Loss: A Pilot Study

Asia M Wiggins,1 Paige M Benlolo,1 Sunil V Suresh,1 Nathaniel M Goldfeiz,1 Conley J Carr,2 Robert E Sorge1 1Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA; 2Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USACorrespondence: Robert E Sorge, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 1300 University Blvd, Birmingham, AL, 35233, USA, Email [email protected]: Acquired limb loss can be a traumatic experience that is often accompanied by chronic pain (ie, phantom limb pain (PLP) and/or residual limb pain (RLP)) and can cause a reduction in emotional well-being and overall quality of life. Although, there are available treatments for PLP/RLP, few provide long-term relief. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the potential benefits of diet on reported pain and quality of life measures among adults with acquired limb loss.Methods: Seven adults with acquired limb loss (M = 50.57, SD ± 13.63 years of age) were enrolled in a 6-week low-carbohydrate diet (LCD) intervention. Baseline, 3-week, and 6-week measures of pain sensitivity (BPI, NPQ), cognitive flexibility (CFS), depression (CES-D, PROMIS-57), anxiety (PROMIS-57), pain resilience (PRS), and overall quality of life (SF-36) were obtained using validated questionnaires.Results: On average, all participants had appreciable levels of depression (M = 18.71, SD ± 6.16) and anxiety (M = 19.71, SD ± 5.94), yet relatively high levels of pain resilience (M = 44.42, SD ± 6.70) at baseline. After 6 weeks, participants showed improvements in self-reported measures of pain severity, emotional well-being, and other psychosocial measures of interest, including depression and anxiety.Conclusion: These results suggest that an LCD might have an influence on multiple chronic pain-related factors among adults living with an amputation. Furthermore, adults living with chronic PLP/RLP may report high resilience, although high levels of depression and anxiety are also reported.Keywords: low-carbohydrate diet, LCD, acquired limb loss, resilience, chronic pain