Joint pain

[Jailer]

Ok, this is really starting to get to me. I've been having occasional joint pain, mostly in the hands elbows and a bit in shoulders. Some days seem to be worse than others. I've also had tendonitis in my elbow for going on about 8 months now and it doesn't seem to be getting better.

Tried casting this afternoon and couldn't because of the pain. Just played catch with my girl and had to quit after about 10 minutes because of the pain. Bad part is I'm only 42 years old and I can't imagine how it's going to progress as I get older. I've never had any major injuries of any sort so I don't have anything that I can attribute the pain to.

What can be done short of analgesics or anti inflamatories to help with the pain? I really don't want to have to live on Motrin the rest of my life and would like some sort of long term solution.

[akajun]

Do you excercise and how long have you been doing the same excercise routine? Any changes in your diet lately?

[waksupi]

It sounds like arthritis may be making it's appearance. I use glucosamine daily, and aspirin when necessary. Some days it is still debilitating.

[Goatwhiskers]

At the risk of appearing a smartaxx, what has your doctor said? Don't tell me you're doing the guy thing and trying to tough it out. I did it for quite some period of time with SWMBO telling me I had something on my ear that didn't look good. Finally went, wound up with a three year battle with melanoma. Four years clear now, but with some side effects of nerve damage from the chemo. If I had gone early might not have them and be able to hunt and fish like I used to. Aspirin don't cure everything. I'll put you on my prayer list. Goat

[square butte]

Eliminate dietary causes of inflamation - Coffee, Tobaco, Alcohol, exesive sweets and refined flour products. Avoid dehydration - add at least 6 - 8 oz glasses of water per day. Add dietary anti inflamation supliments - Especially refined fish oil and MSM. Body weight of 160 to 180 lbs needs 6 to 8 grams of each per day. The above mentioned things have eliminated 80% + of my musculoskeletal pain caused by inflamation. Google natural treatment of tendonitis and musculoskeletal pain. What you find will get you a long way down the road.

[Jim]

It sounds like arthritis may be making it's appearance. I use glucosamine daily, and aspirin when necessary. Some days it is still debilitating.

I know all about that. I'm on Meloxicam and Tramadol every day.

[Hamish]

Steroid shots in the offending area are an absolute Godsend.

[felix]

A MRI is mandatory. ... felix

[Jailer]

Do you excercise and how long have you been doing the same excercise routine? Any changes in your diet lately?

Haven't lifted weights in about 10 years now. Conenctive tissue pain is what actually made me stop lifting altogether. Muscles would be fine after about 12 to 14 hours but the tendons would be tender for 2 to 3 days after lifting. Mostly just occasional mountain bike riding now. No changes in my diet at all lately or in the past. I've been the exact same weight for around 12 years or so although I could stand to lose a couple pounds so I'm sure that's not helping any.


At the risk of appearing a smartaxx, what has your doctor said? Don't tell me you're doing the guy thing and trying to tough it out. I did it for quite some period of time with SWMBO telling me I had something on my ear that didn't look good. Finally went, wound up with a three year battle with melanoma. Four years clear now, but with some side effects of nerve damage from the chemo. If I had gone early might not have them and be able to hunt and fish like I used to. Aspirin don't cure everything. I'll put you on my prayer list. Goat

Yes I've been toughing it out. I generally don't go to the doctor unless I absolutely have to. It hasn't quite made it to that point yet, but it's not too far off. It's starting to interfere now so it is becoming a problem. Today for example just happens to be a bad day.


Eliminate dietary causes of inflamation - Coffee, Tobaco, Alcohol, exesive sweets and refined flour products. Avoid dehydration - add at least 6 - 8 oz glasses of water per day. Add dietary anti inflamation supliments - Especially refined fish oil and MSM. Body weight of 160 to 180 lbs needs 6 to 8 grams of each per day. The above mentioned things have eliminated 80% + of my musculoskeletal pain caused by inflamation. Google natural treatment of tendonitis and musculoskeletal pain. What you find will get you a long way down the road.

I've cut back on caffeine (diet dew), don't smoke and don't eat many sweets at all. Dehydration does happen occasionally since it does seem to come on a lot easier than it used to. I'll do some more research and see what I can come up with. What is MSM?


Steroid shots in the offending area are an absolute Godsend.

This is the exact type of thing I am trying to avoid at all costs.

[41 mag fan]

This might sound dumb..but do you drink alot of drinks with saccarrin or nutrasweet?

Reason being is 10 yrs ago, i took a voluntary layoff for 1 1/2 mo. Went back to work, and my left elbow started hurting bad...like tennis elbow.
Friend of my wifes asked offhand are you drinking drinks with nutrasweet or sacarrin? She sent my wife via email an article about the effects of nutra sweet ect. So i stopped drinking my tea with it and used sugar...2 weeks later it went away.
Now fast fowrward 2 yrs and I forgot about it, started drinking tea with nutra sweet. problems started in my feet, Dr said fallen arches, then it progressed to my knee and then my right hip.
All the while dr kept saying fallen arches causing the problems.
Well one week i ran out of nutra sweet and not having the money started using sugar in my tea.
3 days later i noticed my feet didn't hurt to the point I was holding onto the walls in the hallway of a morning, they didn't feel like someone was pulling them apart from the center out.
Then I remembered the article of how nutra sweet settles into the joints like arthritis.

2 weeks after I switched to sugar, no more pain, that was 8 yrs ago, I lived in horrible pain daily for 2 yrs.
If I drink any artificial sweetener now my feet hurt for days.

[Gee_Wizz01]

As said earlier, Go See Your Dr! It could be a lot of things, and it could be something simple if you get it early.

G

[Jailer]

A MRI is mandatory. ... felix

That's kinda jumping to the extreme isn't it? Although I'm sure that would provide a definitive answer to my problem, I'd like to explore some more cost effective options first.

[500MAG]

Do you have any type of rash in any area, especially facial? Does arthritis or and autoimmune disorder run in your family?

[Jailer]

This might sound dumb..but do you drink alot of drinks with saccarrin or nutrasweet?

Reason being is 10 yrs ago, i took a voluntary layoff for 1 1/2 mo. Went back to work, and my left elbow started hurting bad...like tennis elbow.
Friend of my wifes asked offhand are you drinking drinks with nutrasweet or sacarrin? She sent my wife via email an article about the effects of nutra sweet ect. So i stopped drinking my tea with it and used sugar...2 weeks later it went away.
Now fast fowrward 2 yrs and I forgot about it, started drinking tea with nutra sweet. problems started in my feet, Dr said fallen arches, then it progressed to my knee and then my right hip.
All the while dr kept saying fallen arches causing the problems.
Well one week i ran out of nutra sweet and not having the money started using sugar in my tea.
3 days later i noticed my feet didn't hurt to the point I was holding onto the walls in the hallway of a morning, they didn't feel like someone was pulling them apart from the center out.
Then I remembered the article of how nutra sweet settles into the joints like arthritis.

2 weeks after I switched to sugar, no more pain, that was 8 yrs ago, I lived in horrible pain daily for 2 yrs.
If I drink any artificial sweetener now my feet hurt for days.

The only artificial sweetner I consume is what's used in diet dew. I do drink a quite a bit of that daily. 3 - 20oz bottles per day is about normal for me. Maybe I should try switching to regular for a couple weeks and see if it makes a difference.

[Houndog]

You are not on any kind of Statin drugs are you? My Doc had me on them and I just about got down to Wheelchair status before he changed meds. It took about 3 months to get over their effects but I'm mostly back to normal now.

[fishhawk]

you been checked for Lyme's disease ?

[Jailer]

Do you have any type of rash in any area, especially facial? Does arthritis or and autoimmune disorder run in your family?

Nope, no rash and no one in my family suffers from arthritis that I know of. There is quite a few of my relatives, other than my dad, that have lived well into their late 80's and 90's and in good health primarily. Dad was a fluke and died at 50 from colon cancer.

[Jailer]

You are not on any kind of Statin drugs are you? My Doc had me on them and I just about got down to Wheelchair status before he changed meds. It took about 3 months to get over their effects but I'm mostly back to normal now.

The only drug I take is a daily dose of Nexium. Other than damage from reflux I'm perfectly healthy.

[akajun]

Cut out the Diet Dew, and all soft drinks and artificial sweeteners all together. Also try the Paleo diet (google Whole 30) for 30 days. Dry a fitness routine with a lot of core and body weight excercises, such as Yoga, Pilates, Crossfitt( what I do). You will experience tendon and muscle soreness for the first few months but you will improve.
With a name like Jailer, I imagine that you have long periods of inactivity/sedintary activity during your day, as do I. Doing something that is body weight and changes the routine to prevent repetative use injuries such as tennis elbow will help in the long run.
BTW the Wife and I are doing the Paelo diet for 45 days, and are 17 days into it. I have lost 10lbs and she has lost 5, but most importantly our energy level and muscle recovery and increased.

[Alstep]

Mountain Dew and heavy caffine drinks will make every joint in my body ache so bad I'm incapicated for hours afterward. Had to stop drinking that garbage years ago. Took me a while to figure out what was going on. There's so many chemicals in our processed food today, you need to be a chemist to read the labels. Hope you get straightened out.

[gray wolf]

3 20 Oz. mountain dew ( diet )
YOU HAVE GOT to be kidding, ditch the poison artificial sweeteners.
Do a little search on the sweeteners = a big wake up call.

[canyon-ghost]

I just take aspirin, it's enough. If you notice the heart dose is only 81 milligrams and the regular stuff is 325 milligrams, you can get a lot of aspirin.
It isn't anything dangerous and it is an anti-inflammatory.

[Blacksmith]

If you are looking for some relief get some horse liniment either Absorbine (gel is easiest) or Sore No More. Some get better results with one or the other. Get it at your local farm store or Tractor supply. Lots of horse owners use it and it helps.

[Boz330]

you been checked for Lyme's disease ?

What Fishhawk said, seriously!

Bob

[Rick N Bama]

I know all about that. I'm on Meloxicam and Tramadol every day.

I take the same meds. It doesn't seem like they are working until I leave them off for a few days.

Rick

[MtGun44]

Try aspirin, taken on a stomach with some food already in it will cut the inflamation and the
pain. Cheap, no side effects for most folks if they avoid taking it on an empty stomach.
Most people can take it for decades at pretty high levels with few side effects and no
tolerance building up. A true miracle drug.

Are you doing any woodworking, especially with walnut, and to a lesser degree with other woods?
The dust from walnut and some other woods causes significant reaction for many people.

Bill

[DLCTEX]

I recently had a bout of crippling joint pain, mostly in knees and back, but hurt all over. I get on Atkin's diet and the symptoms go away. Sugar and refined flour seems to be an enemy. A cousin, his children and a niece have a hereditary condition that is arthritic in nature and after many years was determined not to be rheumatoid arthritis, but a genetic defect that is activated by proteins. Diet controls it well.

[facetious]

If you put your aspirin in water and dissolve it , it will not hurt your stomach . My dad had to have most of his stomach out when i was a kid and this is how the doc told him to take it. I just chew them and wash them down on a full stomach. I am getting the tizz in my hands, the doc said it though to treat hands, most of stuff is for load bearing joints. motrin and aspirin and keep moving them! Getting old the "Ultimate surviver game!"

[Lloyd Smale]

see your doctor. I dont believe anyone here qualifys in the diagnostic dept. If its bad enough your complaing here your doctor should be seen.

[Wal']

Been there, now living it, & again see your Doctor & get a diagnosis, you are lucky living in this century, I watched my father suffer with arthritis & it wasn't nice.

There are many treatments available today, stay away from the injections, they only work for a short time & are painful.

Again see you doctor & if thats not possible move to Australia where we have a Medical system that treats all. :) :kidding:

[bowfin]

I'm going to kick the caffeine for a couple of months. My knees have been killing me as I walk to and from work.

I'll report back weekly...

[Jailer]

Well I have upped my water intake and ditched the soda. My diet isn't too bad so I should be good there.

I'll give it a coupe weeks and if I don't see any improvement I think I'll be callin the doc.

[geargnasher]

Get off anything containing aspartame!!!!!!

Not so sound like a hippie voodoo healer, I'm certainly not, but that stuff has a VERY bad effect on some people. Dadgum food companies put it in just about everything now, so read ingredient lables and eliminate it completely from your diet. If it's the issue, you should see some improvement in just a few days.

What's been said about cutting back on sugar and the refined starches that your body turns directly into sugar may help too, and will certainly help with weight, water retention, and general inflammation.

If you don't see some improvement by adjusting your diet in a couple of weeks, you really should see a doc, might be an autoimmune disease or something weird like has been mentioned already.

The problem with most doctors is that by and large they don't recognize common reactions/side effects from FDA-accepted chemicals. I've been to three cardiologists about heart arrythmia and none of them told me to suspect Aspartame. Not until my mother and stepmother both had surgery for the same problem ("overactive" nerves to the heart are lazer-cut) did we discover the connection. Mom quit Aspartame and was fine, stepmother still pounds down a sixpack of diet Sunkist every day and has gotten worse. I quit Aspartame entirely five or six years ago and have had a normal heartbeat ever since. Spend some time on Google and find out what Aspartame really can do to you, your symptoms aren't unusual, and your body might be suddenly telling you that its had enough.

Gear

[wallenba]

If it's the worst in the morning, and gets better as the day goes on, it's arthritis. That's how mine presented, and the doc said that is typical.

[olaf455]

If you have type o blood, then you are allergic to wheat. Try gluten free diet, you should see improvement in a few days.

[Rick N Bama]

What about the use of Splenda and/or Stevia? My brother says that his use of Splenda led to severe bouts of gastric distress. I’ve been using it for some years now especially since I was diagnosed as a Type 2 Diabetic & have occasional Gastric problems.

Rick

[alamogunr]

I've been using Splenda for about 6 years now, also after being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. I'm not sure how gastric distress presents itself but I was told that Metformin can cause "heartburn". I get that fairly often even though I'm now taking Janumet, a modified form of Metformin. Just not as often, since the Metformin component is now divided into two doses rather than the one I was taking.

[slide]

I have had two back surgeries and also suffer from arthritis. It was getting so bad I could hardly get out of bed. My kids went together and bought a total gym for me. This thing has made a tremendous difference in the several months I have been using it. It not only tones the muscles but stretches them. It is not hard to do,in fact I look forward to it every morning. Just something for you to think about.

[shdwlkr]

Well I am in the arthritis group in all my joints, pain you have not lived until all your joints hurt and then there is my back that I broke decades ago Letting me know it doesn't work as good as it did before I broke it.
As to going to see your doctor if he/she doesn't deal with a lot of arthritis cases you just might be better of finding what works for you on your own. Arthritis is its own little joy of life and you need someone who understands it and doesn't put you on some medications that set you up for a heart attack. Mine did that for me until I found out it set me up for a heart attack don't remember the name but there were some heated words on that one and was told to find my own treatment then. So I did I take one good vitamin, and glucosamine chondroitin each day and seems to help as well as anything.

You are going to have bad days and then some that are good and then you hurt because you did to much. I have never lost the pain from when I broke my back decades ago so my enjoyment of pain has to be a lot higher before I know it is hurting. Moving helps unless it is damp and cold and winter then a good wood fire makes me feel better seems to take the pain away and I can enjoy the day until I get cold again.

Arthritis is affecting a lot more folks at a younger age these days and I wonder if it is the food we have to eat now. My arthritis didn't bother me much until I turned 50 something and that was a few years ago now and yes some nights it is no fun trying to get some sleep even and some nights I sleep sitting up in a recliner because that is the only position I can rest in. Notice I said rest as it is not a good night of sleep but it is better than nothing at all.

I find being in a desert is better for me than being where it is moist all the time and rains a lot. I know of friends that are just the opposite. Look at what is available for arthritis, go see your doctor and find out what they really know about arthritis and go from there and make sure you ask if what they want to put you on will set you up for a heart attack, you don't want to be on that stuff. One other thing make sure they know everything you take on a regular basis prescription and over the counter so they have a good idea of what not to give you.

Best of luck and welcome to the next stage of life, old age

[wallenba]

Shdwlkr, was it Vioxx? My old doctor prescribed that for me. Luckily I was dating an RN at the time. She had heard some rumors at the time, so I passed on it. Thankful I did.
http://www.ashcraftandgerel.com/practiceareas/dangerous-drugs-and-medical-products/vioxx-claim-for-heart-attack-stroke/

[popper]

If you drink a lot of 'diet' and crave 'sweets' get your blood sugar checked. Avoid the cortisone shots. You can get 'baby' aspirin now that won't bother the stomach. Yes, I read all the artificial stuff turning to anti-freeze and killing you. Hog-wash. It will upset your sugar balance. BIL had arrhythmia but he just drinks beer. He said you don't want the EMT to give you a restart. I had it( use diet stuff, not beer) and scared the nurse when she took my pulse > 200. The cardiologists I talked to indicated they didn't know what causes it. I have a freind with the condition where everything hurts. She's been on meds for 15 yrs and can function normally now. I agree with Felix, get real (multiple) medical advice.

[Rick N Bama]

I'm not sure how gastric distress presents itself

The “Gastric Distress” is severe bouts of gas from both ends resulting in diarrhea!

[Jailer]

If it's the worst in the morning, and gets better as the day goes on, it's arthritis. That's how mine presented, and the doc said that is typical.

Mine seems to be the opposite. I feel best in the morning and it gets worse as the day wears on. The more physical activity I'm involved in the more it hurts at the end of the day.


If you have type o blood, then you are allergic to wheat. Try gluten free diet, you should see improvement in a few days.

Not sure I see the correlation here. I did check on gluten intolerance and I don't seem to have any of the symptoms other than the aching joints. I can eat just about anything (except onions) and it doesn't bother me. Never even knew I had acid reflux until bread and meat kept getting stuck on the way down. That's why I take the nexium every day now.

[alamogunr]

The “Gastric Distress” is severe bouts of gas from both ends resulting in diarrhea!

Thankfully, I don't have that problem. The wife says I have a cast iron stomach. Nothing I eat seems to bother me except those things that are taboo for a type 2 diabetic.