Joint problems?

I take doctor recommended vitamin D. Never tried fish oil.
I recently purchased Glucosamine Chondrotin, but haven't taken it yet (always been leery of taking pills)... But if it helps, sounds worth a try.

Thanks looksee, appreciate the info!

Graces7 wrote: »

I am giving turmeric a good try in sheer desperation. The knee that has given intermittent trouble for much of my life has deteriorated very painfully and even eg getting to the bathroom can be arduous in two ways, pain and safety.

I tried eg glucosamine etc way back when it was not as bad.

We shall see. Many get relief from turmeric. Costly though.

One week in now...

It's basically an anti inflammatory and has had some good results for osteoarthritic knee pain. However it is strongly recommended that use is only short term.

My knuckles have started giving me problems over the past few months. It's hard to make a fist if I have had the hand flat for any time, or first thing I. The morning. Anti inflammatory tablets have done nothing. I may have to give the Doc. a visit.

To be honest I think a lot of this stuff, be it cod liver oil, glucosamine etc are placebo's.

If your body is aging and hurting, will these things really help?

I have only seen one case of cartilage/bone improvement, shown on x-ray, before and after 3year gap.
He was a 24year suffering from osteoarthritis in knee, we worked out he was kneeling while at work as roofer giving wear at certain point on joint, once we changed this and improved function he got better.

However this is the only case I have seen in 25yr, so do all you can to keep what you have, deteriorate more slowly but don't expect significant improvement. Hoping my big toe holds out as long as possible.

Supplements may help if you don't have the needed chemical already via a good diet.

The supposed benefit to being in canaries over Ireland is that the general weather pattern is of high pressure.
So that the pressure difference between your swollen joint and that of surrounding air is less.
So you feel less pain on high pressure day, more in low pressure hence wet and windy weather.
In Ireland we get lots of low pressure systems and therefore feel swollen/worn joints worse here.

Some people find glucosamine helpful and it has been around for a good while. I might see about going back on it myself.

Turmeric gets great write-ups but I don't know if any actual research has been done on it specific to joint pain. I think the quality of the turmeric matters significantly, I am going on memory here, I think the active ingredient is curcumin which has some scientific backing.

For any of these drugs (and of course for any drugs) you need to check with your gp or pharmacist about contra-indications for any other drugs or conditions you have.

NIMAN wrote: »

Was chatting to someone recently whose aunt and uncle spend the winter in the Canaries.

They say their arthritis reduces to very low levels when they are there, and gets worse when they come back to Ireland.

Our wet and damp weather definitely plays a part in making it worse. But not many can spend the winter in the sun.

There are studies on exactly this for people with Rheumatoid Arthritis.

All conclude that wintering in The Canaries rather than northern Europe is beneficial.

This may be due to the climate or it may be due to it being easier ( longer daylight hours, warmer etc ) to exercise.

In the best traditions of all medical studies a universal conclusion is that more research is required

I understand that the Norwegian health system will pay ( travel and basic accom costs ) towards Norwegians with RA wintering in The Canaries.

Time restricted feeding and fasting.

Both seem to be anti-inflammatory.

NIMAN wrote: »

To be honest I think a lot of this stuff, be it cod liver oil, glucosamine etc are placebo's.

If your body is aging and hurting, will these things really help?

I thoroughly agree with this.

I can only speak from experience and say that what definitely did 'work for me' when I had very bad knee pain in recent years was strengthening exercises 2 or 3 times a week, complemented by frequent (but not excessive) walking, swimming and cycling.

This notion that cod liver oil, or zinc tablets, or kombucha, or fermented whatever is going to sort your knee pain.....if only life was that simple.

How has this gone for you? I asked GP but he said that steroid use over time would mean a high cortisol lever over time. Bringin its own problem, id be interested if you are still on it and any issues with BP, Insulin or Weight Gain?

There are different causes for joint pain and different forms of arthritis.

wear and tear causing the cartilage loss and the pain of bone on bone is not reversible. Exercise will not prevent this or remedy it. it is best to seek help when symptoms first show up rather than wearing your knees or other joints out to the point of no return. If you have wear n tear then a physio needs to advise you on the correct excercise for your joints. Your gp will refer you to a hospital and i have found hospital physio excellent above private physio. This was for my upper body.

i had a lot of Joint pain in knee and ankle in the 1990s. i went to a homeopath who advised - Oils are good - it doesnt have to be fish oils - starflower and evening primrose are good too but oils are best taken every day with other general mulitivitamins so that the full nutrients of oils are absorbed. dwvils claw taken with them cures the pain. they need to be taken for 3 months before the benefits are felt.

I did this and it worked. I kept it up for 6 momths and then i stopped. my symptoms ceased after 2 momth. i stopped after I left Belfast and went south. The winter was v cold that year and the northern air got in on me. all well since then..

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