Rheumatism and Arthritis

[MrPlum]

How many of you are suffering joint or muscle pains? It seems quite a few people I speak to do. Swollen fingers, painful knees, shoulders, hips and toes. There are apparently over a hundred different conditions all coming under the labels of 'arthritis' or 'rheumatism'.

I'm interested in hearing if anyone has suffered in the past and found relief or actually feel they were cured? If so, how was this achieved? Where did you go for the best treatment? Was this in Thailand?

Irrespective of what the Doctors tell you, what do you feel the cause is?

[ozuncle]

Yes.

Mine is osteo arthritis. Hips and lower back. Also my shoulder is now quite sore.

My doctor told me to take 8 panadol per day!

Another doc told me to take a drug called oruvail which after a few months was quite effective.

I however got tired of taking tablets every day so stopped.

Instead I now walk A LOT and if it is quite bad I will take two panadol before golf.

I am sure the walking has helped me. I do not have a lot of faith in the fish oil tablets or other OTC remedies.

[tarakandi]

I put it down to getting old, but hey it is better than the alternative.

[STEVE G]

I can imagine a few have tried this treatment:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/ ... tis-at-bay

[caller]

I've arthritis in my knee and ankle, both via playing footy and other sports I guess? Ligaments shot in the knee, which kept 'popping out' before I suffered a major dislocation (leg in plaster for 6 weeks). Ankle made worse by a break and dislocation, that's when I learnt I had arthritis there!

I have no problems with the ankle apart from some swelling from time to time. The knee was more of a problem when arthritis was forming, which wasn't understood at the time. Diagnosed in hospital as Bursa's after sudden severe swelling and serious pain, which happened 5/6 times, before the swelling never quite went fully down.

I was told nothing could be done for either. I know losing weight would help and that's what I have to do - and be as active as I can, apart from walking, non-contact is best.

Interesting the bit about fish oil, I've used them for years, certainly before the knee trouble, never thought of it as being some sort of aide?

[BaaBaa.]

You missed a "No" option.

[Takiap]

Both my parents suffered from it, and so did my oldest brother. My other brother and I have never had any symptoms at all. Perhaps the beers helps, but then again, my brother doesn't drink. The only two things we both have in common is that neither of us eat vegetables, or should I say, we eat very few. I've also heard garlic is good joint problems, so perhaps that helps me as well considering I consume piles of it.

Lastly, I think it has at least a little bit to do with the mind. As you've no doubt seen, some people just tend to be quite old for their age, both physically and mentally, and I think that if you see yourself as being quite old, your line of thinking influences your body from a physical point of view.

When I was a kid I used to experience severe pain in my knees and according to the doctors, these were simply "growing pains". When I got older and had the pain again on one or two occasions, I was told it was arthritis. Funny how the same problem can get two different labels, all depending on age. Of course it was not arthritis, and neither was it growing pains. If you ask me, it was more than likely due to diet, in that I must have been missing something. Anyway, it's been years since I had any trouble with my knees. Now it's just my lower back from time to time, but I put that down to doing too much manual handling while working offshore for all those years.

Want to get rid of joint pain? Just have kids - the little buggers don't allow you much time to think about things such as arthritis. Jokes aside, I think being active is probably the best medicine is there is. Oh, and some good old direct sunlight. Get out in the sun and get a bit of a tan. You won't get skin cancer, and you'll feel better for it.

Just ignore any typos.....I'm in a hurry so can't be bothered checking.

[Takiap]

Sorry, I forgot to mention, if you're overweight, then that will certainly contribute to joint pain, especially if you're getting on in years.

[m_right]

I had it in my shoulders neck and back. After moving to Thailand it is almost gone. I think the decrease in stress and the stimulation of circulation from frequent massages was the answer. Change in diet may have been a factor also. No longer need anti inflammatory and sleep like a baby.

[cbranscombe]

I have psoriatic arthritis and am on a drug called Methotrexate, which is the only thing that I have found significantly reduces pain, although it can cause very serious side effects as it is used to treat cancer.
When in Thailand, for 6 months of the year, the pain and swelling decreases and I am able to reduce the amount of Methotrexate I take by 25%. I put this down to the weather, as I am in the UK at the moment and the recent cold (well it is compared to Thailand) wet weather has resulted in a flair up of the condition and I have had to increase the dosage of the drug.
One major drawback of using this drug is the fact that you can't drink or have ever drunk large amounts of alcohol as you can develop liver damage.
You might find this link useful, most of the leaflets I have read in hospital waiting to see my consultant are generated by them
http://www.arthritisresearchuk.org/