I have had all this pain and finally had an MRI. The diagnosis was Arthritis in my left hip and spine. The medication keeps the pain away but, I don't want to take medication. Any natural remedies that I could take? I just turned 50. Thanks. Al

-- Al (mastclan@juno.com), March 30, 2002

Answers

If the pain is in the joints it is due to lack of the padding between bones called cartledge, which is made in the body by collegen, a source of collegen that is safe, cheap, organic, is KNOX gelatin and their are other brands. Its in the grocery store near the JELLO and is used to make jellies and jams; a white/crystal powder; just take a pinch daily disolved in water or juice. Worked for me.

-- mitch hearn (moopups@citlink.net), March 30, 2002.

MSM...do a search on your favorite search engine. I take it...and pain went away...no more pain killers. It is a amazing. Side effect...your hair and nails grow fast...( I love the side effect!)

Its cheap...just bought a new bottle yesterday at Wally World...8.96 for 90...1000mg. My hubby and I each take 2 per day. It saved him from having shoulder replacements...he's 47 and I am 49.

-- Lynette (fear_the_bear@webtv.net), March 30, 2002.

I agree with Lynette. It helps my knees a lot. (Lynette, I wondered what was making my hair and nails grow like crazy!!)

-- Ardie/WI (ardie54965@hotmail.com), March 30, 2002.

Hello Al, Fish Oil works wonders!

Sincerely,

Ernest

-- http://communities.msn.com/livingoffthelandintheozarks (espresso42@hotmail.com), March 30, 2002.

Too young? I wish I could put off my joint pain till I am 50. I have suffered arthritis in both knees and my hip for 24 years since a wreck at 17. MSM has worked for me. The jacuzzi isn't bad either.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), March 30, 2002.

My husband swears by the gelatin. In fact, at our local supermarket, you can get gelatin in capsule form, about $5 for 60. I, myself, have only had one knuckle that is sore, and if I avoid wheat, the pain goes away. I have since found evidence to back that up. Good luck, Amy

-- Amy (kimico@aol.com), March 30, 2002.

Go to www.healingmatters.com for an explanation of your problems. Then get some omega three fatty acids (fish oil) and some chondroitin, glucosamine and MSM capsules. Good luck. By the way the above mentioned site should be required reading for everyone. Bye!

-- Sandra Nelson (Magin@starband.net), March 30, 2002.

mid 30's,, and I got it,, flax seed and oil, works to help the pain and rebuld cartlidge,, and celebrex is GREAT STUFF

-- Stan (sopal@net-pert.com), March 30, 2002.

My husband can no longer take any sort of arthritis medicine because it tore up his stomach. Our doctor told him to take glucosamine and chondroitin together. It takes about a month for it to begin to work, but IT WORKS. We get it at Wal-Mart or K-Mart, wherever it is cheapest. We also give it to our handicapped German Shepherd and it has helped her. We just cut the pills and give her a third what my husband takes. We learned that last trick from the woman who runs the GNC store here. She has a 14 year old dog that it helped.

-- Dee (bdforce@theriver.com), March 30, 2002.

Too young! I too wish I didn't have it until 50. Changing my diet has helped tremendously. Do your best not to take medicines especially anti-inflammatory drugs. As someone else said very bad on the stomach. There is substantial proof that honey bee stings help so it might be a good time to take up beekeeping.

-- Emil in TN (eprisco@usit.net), March 30, 2002.

I take MSM and Glucosamine, and I have been studying about antibiotic use and molds & fungus, I am much improved now.

-- Thumper/inOKC (slrldr@yahoo.com), March 30, 2002.

Here is a place to start reading about it.

http://www.iknowthecause.com/index.html

It has taken some changes and getting used to it, but I am much better and I have been able to get the extra weight off too, [about 20 pounds off in about 3 months] just through a change in what I'm eating.

Good Luck.

-- Thumper/inOKC (slrldr@yahoo.com), March 30, 2002.

I wish my daughter could have waited until 50. She was diagnoised at 16 with Rheumatiod Arthritis. She was quite active but eventually sold her horse as she just hurt to much after riding. She has tried numerous medications and therapy. What we have learned is what works for one person may not work for all. She still has an occasional bad day but at this point her meds are working. I hate to see her on so many meds but it breaks your heart when at 17 she asks "Mom will I always hurt?" She is now a Senior in college and has only missed 2 days of class this year, she may walk slow and take her time but she keeps on going! The best thing she has learned is to gauge her activities and rest when she needs to. (How many college kids are in bed at 9:00pm!) Her roomates have been very helpful also (She gets the bottom bunk so she won't fall in the am, due to stiffness) They also remind her to rest if she is overdoing. So Al, hang in there, try different therapies and meds, watch your weight, rest if you need to, you'll do alright. Denise

-- Denise K. (Rabbitmom2@webbworks.com), March 30, 2002.

What helps me is horsetail grass tea and exercise.

I will check into these other supplements, as my mom takes those and claims they help, and the website to see what I am missing.

The climate you live in does have a big effect. When I lived in Montana I was pain free and had very few problems.

-- Laura S. (LadybugWrangler@somewhere.com), March 30, 2002.

stay away from DECAF coffee

-- julie (jbritt@ceva.net), March 30, 2002.

I've often heard that arthritis is connected with food allergies. I would find a good naturopathic physician or chiropractor who knows about these things and do a food elimination diet to find out if you are allergic to anything. Wheat, milk, eggs are common foods folks are allergic to. Mary

-- Mary (kmfraley@orwell.net), March 30, 2002.

My mom swears by this. She got it out of the farmer's almanac?

She takes a jar full of white raisins and soaks them in vodka. She leaves the lid off and allows the raisins to soak while the alcohol evaporates. Apparently, there is a chemical change during the evaporation that aids in the joint inflamation and pain.

It helped her with the arthritis in her fingers immeasurably. She started giving it to the old family dog who had an arthritic hip. He responded beautifully as well. :0)

-- Najia (najia274@yahoo.com), March 30, 2002.

Now, Najia, I hate to be the one to break this to you, but if there's a straw involved, it isn't really called evaporation...I knew a dog that like whiskey, once....(just joshin') ;^}

-- gilly (wayoutfarm@skybest.com), March 30, 2002.

Al...Diet definitely makes a BIG difference. We all have arthritis in the family (11), and eliminating ANYTHING with wheat in it helps a lot. It's difficult to do, though, and I don't always stick to it. There is a book out called "Essential Oils and Aromatherapy" (Author?) that has some great natural remedies for almost anything you can think of. You may want to try and get a look at it if you prefer natural remedies, as I do. I have a copy, but we moved back to the farm and I have not been able to locate it since. If I find it, I will email you with the recipe, okay? Hope it helps...Judy

-- Judy Hill (hillsacres@sk.sympatico.ca), March 31, 2002.

Al, staying off potatoes (which I love) and taking tumeric helps me the most. I've had arthritis since I was 3. The tumeric has been used for arthritis for thousands of years in India. Some of the newer arthritis drugs are just synthetic tumeric, but the tumeric doesn't upset my stomach like the synthetics do. Hope you get to feeling better soon.

-- kim in CO (kimk61252@hotmail.com), March 31, 2002.

What type of arthritis? Osteoarthritis?

-- amy (acook@in4web.com), March 31, 2002.

MSM works for me, but I take more than the recommended dose of 1 or 2 daily. I started with 3 1000mg daily, then upped the dose until I got relief. I now take 9 a day. Whether or not it helps seems to depend on the kind of arthritis a person has. A friend has had artritis since her teens & MSM didn't help her at all.

-- Bonnie (stichart@plix.com), April 01, 2002.

My mom has had very bad arthritis in her knees since whe was in her late forties and she is now 81. But guess what. She is still active at gardening and doing other physical activities. She says her secret is exercise. Since she can't do weight bearing exercises, she swims three times a week. She says if she quits doing that the pain and stiffness flairs right up and slows her down. She does her gardening work more slowly now than she used to but she still gets it done. The swimming keeps her able to do it.

-- Colleen (pyramidgreatdanes@erols.com), April 01, 2002.

I know of two different people that were bedridden and claim that cutting their carbohydrate intake cured them. Might be worth a search on the internet, or maybe just cutting sugars and starches for a coupla weeks.

-- Paul Wheaton (paul@javaranch.com), April 01, 2002.

Lots of good advice.Don't be affraid to take the drugs , if nothing else works .I would suggest taking something like nexium along with it .I took celebrex that worked great for awhile then went to vioxx which is not working well.I am headed to the dr's this week.I also take the all natural stuff hoping it will kick in.Good luck.

-- Patty Gamble (fodfarms@slic.com), April 01, 2002.

Glucosomine and Chondrition (sp?) has worked wonders for me, my hubby and our dog who has hip dysplaysia. (Yup, we all take the same pills - prefer Schiff "Move Free") Before I started taking it, I used to end up on crutches or in a wheelchair in the winter. Its been three winters now, and I'm still up and walking without significant pain. (btw - started having arthritis symptoms when I was 18)

-- Jane (jwagman@mail.com), April 01, 2002.

I'll second the flax seed and MSM as additions to the diet and further the call to cut out the potatoes: Potatoes are one of a class of foods called "nightshades". This includes green peppers, eggplant and some others. They all can cause osteoarthiritis. So you might want to check with a nutrition-oriented doctor to get the complete list. Also, the substance "oxalic acid", (not sure of spelling) which is found in spinach, chard, the hulls of sesame seeds and some other foods can cause arthritic-like symptoms. If you have gouty arthritis elimination of purine rich foods is important, and the addition of cherries will help greatly to eliminate the uric acid that causes the gout. Hope this helps.

-- John Fritz (JohnFritz24@hotmail.com), April 02, 2002.

M S M - I buy mine from the feed store. 1 tsp. in H20. C M O also. Smear it on.

-- Elizabeth Quintana (rockshelter@webtv.com), April 04, 2002.

The glucosamine/chondroitin combo works wonders for me. Before I started using it, I had to stick to walking, anything faster, and my ankles set up a fuss. About 1 1/2 months into taking the stuff, I was halfway across the yard before I realized, "Hey, I'm running, and it doesn't hurt!" You might also want to check the possibility of having a food sensitivity, joint pain is one of the ways that can manafest.

-- Connie (Connie@lunehaven.com), April 05, 2002.