arthritis remedies - what works?

[capybara]

ive tried glucosamine/chondroitin and it seems to work. i got real stiff in the knees when i stopped using it.
>>>>has anybody tried any of these with success: MSM?
glucosamine ? chondroitin? tumeric? other?

[DaveLewis]

Get some x-rays and try to see how far gone your knees are. If there's just some wear the glucosamine products seem to work fairly well and will put off surgery or joint replacement. If you are totally worn out - "bone on bone" - you might need to look at some of the stronger non steroid anti inflammatory drugs. They're expensive and only seem to work for about 50% of the people according to my doc, but give good relief if they work for you. Eventually you'll have to consider joint replacement if you're in really bad shape now. I know several folks who have had their knees replaced with pretty good success. Most doctors won't recommend replacement if you're under 50 and some don't even like to do it at that age unless there's a real compelling case (like a totally destroyed joint in a car wreck etc.). Reason is that the artificial knees wear out in about 20 years or so and that puts you in need of another replacement at 70 when your recovery abilities are that much less.

We all get aches and pains which get worse as we age. Nobody likes to go to the doctor. Yet my advice is to get yourself checked out and not to go the self medication route (if that's what you're doing) until you know what you're dealing with. There are lots of non-invasive things you can do early in the process to relieve pain and keep your knees in good shape. Or you can try to tough it out, tear your stomach up with pain killers, and hope the problem will go away. You wake up one day with the joint completely worn out and then you hope that the $100 a month NSAID will work. If not, look at becoming bionic.

I'm speaking here from experience. So far the pills are working.

Good luck

Raw fresh garlic works wonders.

Try it.

[capybara]

DaveLewis: the problem with NSAIDS is the plateau effect. all
nsaids are plateau-ed at the same level of effectiveness. This means
that advil isnt really stronger than aspirin or acetomeniphen.
ones which are different:
a)cortisone - is stronger, but has serious side effects, not for long term use
b)ultram - not an nsaid, more closely related to prozac.
c)cox2 inhibitors. dont know much about these, do u?
=======================================
ps=im 47 yo, but have hyperextend (bent in the direction they dont normally bend) knee and elbow. ouch big time!
stretched tendons or ligaments or something.

[DaveLewis]

Capybara

My situation is a little different than yours in that I'm walking around on an ankle that was pretty badly destroyed in a car wreck about 30 years ago. I'm bone on bone and my only alternative to pinning the ankle or going with an artificial joint is to do prescription strength NSAID's. I'm taking Bextra - valdecoxib I think is the "other" name for it. I understand its similar to vioxx (SP?). Works for me as it cuts the level of pain by about 75% most of the time. I know that the joint is worn out from looking at the X-rays so there's really nothing that they can do for me without some kind of surgery. I've got about 4 years to go till retirement (I can go at 55) and my interest is in staying reasonably mobile until then.

I agree that every drug has bad side effects. It just depends on what you decide you can live with.

You've noted that you hyperextended your knee and elbow. That IS really painful but again FWIW you ought to get a doc to check you out very thoroughly and see what they can do before you end up like me.