General Chat

good luck with your GP tomorrow jacky,take care,
gwen xx

Hi Gwen,

My Dad and his 3 sisters all had Arthritis and I am the youngest of 4 and the only one with it so with any luck you may escape!

I am seeing my GP tomorrow so will ask about some of the things mentioned.

I am not sure about Nettle Tea yet but will not discount it.

Jacky :-)

i see that no one has mentioned NETTLE TEA,i find it helps with the painful joints in my fingers ,(you can get it from the health shop)start with 2 cups a day for a fortnight, by then you will know if it is going to work for you, it has made a hugh differance to me,it is very rare that i take a painkiller at all now.iris

Hi All,
Just to note. That when taking tabets such as aspirin, diclofenac sodium & other NSAIDS. To take tablets that are Enteric coated. The idea of the coating, is so that the tablet is absorbed in the intestine & not the upper gastric area, where it can cause inflammation & bleeding of the stomach wall. Thes do cost more, But if, like Adrian these types of tablets do cause stomach ache, ask for enteric coated.

Regards,
Steve.

Nudgeing this for when i get Arthritus,mum's got it,nan had it.if i get it at least ile have some good advice here,
but finger's crossed i don't,been eating a lot of oily fish,heard that is good for arthritus.

cheer's every-one,....take care...........gwen xx

forgot to mention, it's a good thing to drink soya milk,as it contains omega 3&6 and also most important Calcium and vitamins.

I find voltarol ( diclofenac sodium) works brilliantly for me. Tablets will give you belly-ache though, so I recommend the supositories. 24 pain free hours in each one :-)

Choindrin is not safe if you have high blood pressure...

Thank you all for your suggestions. I will read again when I get home from work and write them all down:-)

It looks as if I won't be alone with this anyway and there will be plenty of you to turn to for advise and support.

WhackyJackie - (a nickname of mine at times!) bedtime is not too bad but work is a pain as I work with children and ythere is a lot of low level sitting aand bending. At least they all know I don't do sitting on the floor unless near something to lean on to get up again!

I know I have had the signs of Arthritis for many years but I do wonder if age - especially for women accelarates the condition. For example do women on HRT get the same problems?

Jacky :-)

Hi Jackie
From one Jackie to another lol.
I have recently been diagnosed with Osteoporosis.
Had all the bone density scans and they also found it in my hips and lower spine. I have been in agony with the pain especially in bed at nightime. While I am moving around it is not too bad.
My doctors have prescibed Actonel Combi D
You take one tablet on the first day, then for the next 6 days it is a fizzy lemon drink (Quite nice too)
When you take the tablet you have to either walk around or sit up straight for half an hour and you cant have anyhting else to eat or drink for half an hour. I usually go and make the beds etc or go for my morning walk during that 30 minutes it soon passes then I can have my coffee.
Heartburn are one of the side effects but so far I have been OK with no side effects.
My prescription has 35mg risedronate, 2500 mg calcium carbonate, 22 ug (880 IU0 cholecalciferol Vitimin D3
That's exactly what it says on the box.
I also have to have at least 15 minutes in the sun each day as I have a D deficiancy.
My doctor said this prescription has all the ingredients that i need to strenthen the bones and stop some of the pain. So far so good with it.

Hope this helps a little and good luck
Regards
Jackie

Mary, you are right about the combination of Glucosamine and Chondroiton but when I was diagnosed with O.A. in both knees and the big toe on my right foot lol, the consultant told me to take Glucosamine and at the same time Ginger tablets, she even recommended one of the mail order companies as cheaper than many. I have to be honest and say I don't take these products now, but only because I can't afford them.
Papaya and I think Pineapple have anti inflammatory properties too and you can buy Papaya tablets at H and B.
What about good old cod liver oil or the more expensive fish oils, any one taking these?
Ooops, just seen Rosy mention c.l.o. in your post.


Lizx

I agree that Glucosamine can be very helpful - but is absorbed best if taken with Chondroiton apparently.
My s-i-l swears by it. Glucosamine is obtained from shark cartilage,BTW, which is also available, usually at lower cost.

Hi Jacky,
My husband has rheumatoid arthritis in his hands and feet. He also has just been diagnosed with osteo in his toes.

He has been on prescription meds for about 6 years now. He takes methotrexate once a week (5 pills at a time) and it eliminates the pain.
Maybe you could enquire about this medication the next time you see your GP.

Deb

Some things work for those with osteo arthritis but dont work for rhumatoid arthritis - and vis versa. I had a friend with arthritis in her fingers - she swore by aloe vera leaves - she would rub in the sap from fresh cut leaves.

But the main problem is everyone is individual and so they must therefore find their own individual cocktail of drugs and/or natural remedies and this can sometimes take years. Whereas most doctors and "specialists" will treat new patients in a copy/text book manner.

I attend the Bath Rheumatoligy Hospital which is a brilliant place and it was there that I really turned the corner - after 4-5 years of miss guided treatment by "specialists" in general hospitals. The doctors in Bath were horified that my joints had been allowed to deteriorate and disfigure so much. People travel from all round the country, Ireland and the Chanel Isle to go to Bath but I believe there is another similar hospital up north somewhere.

Interesting thread Jacky. I have made a note of all suggestions as I have arthritis too.
Need to sort out some pain meds. Have been thinking about a TENS machine.

Hope your daughter continues to enjoy her Nursery Nurse Course.

I trained as a mature student aged 39-41years.
Was the oldest in my group (by far) and loved it.

Also enjoyed working as a Nursery Nurse,
till ill-health caused me to give up.




Tess

What a lot of repies! Thank you.

Brian(i) - I did take Glucosmine for some time but kept forgetting! I have some now and will try to take reglarly.

LaGooner - Thank you. I will investigate.

Maryjane-Sue - I do hope you find something.

Mary - Yuk!! Cherry :-( Maybe as a last resort.

Bernard - I use a lot of Olive oil and very little butter but I will try the Olive oil on bread.

Jude - How nuce to see you back :-) I hope you are well. My daughter is still lovely :-) She is training to be a Nursery Nurse having given Uni a try which she didn't like. Quite happy with boyfriend of 18 months.
Maybe we can try again for the Webbs meet?

Thank you all.
Jacky :-)

If yoou find the Glucosamine doesn't work for you after a month try green lipped mussel extract

Both my Mum and Uncle take Glucosamine. Its available to order online as it isn't a drug just a food supplement that was discovered by an olympic swimming coach.

I have had arthritis in my spine for about 25 years. I got a book written by a doctor who had worked on arthritis for 40 years in the US. He said what causes the pain is inflamation,one of the worst things to cause inflamation is butter and the best thing to reduse inflamation is olive oil. I use it instead of butter on my bread etc. I am still fairly active and only take a pain killer on a bad day as they don't agree with my stomach.

i can't take anti-nflammatories of any kind, that is why i like my tens machine

well we've advertised it now brian(i)... lol