Troublesome mornings

Wildrose Sorry to hear about your pain.

I wouldn't touch tramadol with a barge pole. Was on it once, it's addictive. Got the shakes when I stopped taking it. Had back go on it and come off it gradually. Dihydrocodeine works great for me.

Starbird and Iam64, Yes eating chocolate cake a lot is not advised, but you can make smoothies, soups etc. You still have to buy the cannabis, which also really isn't a good idea.!!!
You can buy the oil, without the illegal stuff, from an Amsterdam Research company, called Sensi Seeds. It might be worth a google.!!!

I've had severe arthritis for sometime and it does get me down at times. I too take Tramadol and Paracetamol and an occasional Naproxen. I have done a couple of things to help myself. Firstly I read the book Treating Arthritis the Drug Free Way by Margaret Hills (new edition). Very helpful. I take cider vinegar tablets as suggested in book and its helped a lot. (it takes time to work, in my case a year but oh so worth it). I've also changed my diet to cut out processed food, less bread, cakes etc and in the main eat much more healthily. It has had a dramatic effect. I do go back to bad habits occasionally but the effort is worth it. I also lost 3 stone which helped too! I feel better now than I did 5 years ago although I still need a knee op!I hope you can get some relief, arthritis is a miserable thing to have.

I wish that the positive benefits of cannabis could be reduced into an oil or tablet form as I don't want to smoke but I do know it helps with inflammatory arthritis (and MS or any chronic pain)

Turmeric powder seems to be brilliant but as someone said earlier, you can't start take it if you're on warfarin or similar meds. I use it in cooking and the warfarin clinic said it would be fine to continue that but not to go onto hefty doses because it would interfere with the warfarin.

bmteal good for you, if that's what works. . Not sure about the chocolate cake though - I thought that you ought to avoid sugar.

Wheat bags are great for temporary relief, I hope Wildrose gets some help and relief soon.

I sympathise with you Wildrose as i also have the exact same conditions and as you said we cannot have anti-inflammatory drugs because of heart problems. I personally cannot take pain killers as i am allergic to the stronger ones as i have skin allergies. Not many folk will like what i have to say next and yes I am a smoker. !!! So here goes. !!! I personally smoke cannabis to help with the chronic pain and mobility. It does actually work.! I want and need to stop smoking, i have tried and failed. So i smoke a joint (cannabis cigarette) in the morning and one before sleeping. I am not a drug addict, just a 68 year old woman in constant chronic pain, as you are. I have also tried it in a delicious chocolate cake, which is a slower release way to work in your body. Needless to say i have tried loads of different legal things, eg: Tumeric tabets, Rose Hip oils, Apple cider vinegar without any success. I have now found a company in Amsterdam where you can order CBD oil that you use in an e-cigarette, also a liquid you put under your tongue and these are all perfectly legal and do not make you high. I do no know whether I can name the online company on here or if you would want to give it a try. ??? If we were MS sufferers (god forbid ), there is a spray for under the tongue called Sativex which has a form of cannabis in it, but because i do not suffer from MS, i am not allowed it. Until our government make medicinal cannabis products legal we have to suffer and usual in silence as no one is interested. I hope this helps.

So sorry for you wild rose,my mother suffered for years so I can understand what your going through. I wish there was a cure x

A dr programme on tv investigated turmeric and found it effective as fresh or powdered, but not in a tablet.
I am wondering why beef and chicken stock is mentioned but not lamb? I grew up on weekly lamb stews (economical in a poor household, bones were often free from the butcher and my sisters and I fought for the chance to gnaw them after the meal! ) and now make my own using lamb cutlets with the usual veg and herbs. Sometimes I cook a lamb shank in a gravy made with a well know stock pot which claims to be made from bones and with no artificial additives. Again I add the usual onions and carrots, sweet potatos, and parsnips, and cook until the meat is falling off the bone so you are getting all the bone goodness as well. As I live alone a stew lasts 2-3 days.
I hope research will come up with something for these medical problems soon, I can only sympathise and applaud those who struggle daily with these symptoms.

A word of warning regarding St John's Wort - this must not be taken by Epileptics so it a word of warning in carefully checking that "natural remedies" are going to be suitable for you, check they won't interact with other medication. However I believe in the use of complementary medicine & believe in trying anything that works. I love massage oils & smell is gorgeous & I believe that helps with your general wellbeing

Tramadol could well be what's making you feel so sluggish in the morning. I have psoriatic arthritis, was so bad my arms were in splints.dr offered a whole range of really hefty drugs that i wasn't happy about. So I researched every article I could find and now take : omega 3 turmeric, green tea tabs, and quercetin and bromelain.my splints have lived in my kitchen drawer for months now! Could be worth trying, but check with go cos of your heart Meds

So right, BlueBelle. Many natural remedies are 'proven' by their sustained use over a very long period; it is reasonable to assume that if they were useless nobody would bother. Acupuncture was scorned for years by the medical profession, but my GP has it regularly. The basis of many prescription drugs have natural ingredients - digitalis for one, and trials have shown that St. John's Wort has been as successful in treating depression in some people as prescription drugs. As we are all composed of our unique mix of chemicals, what works for one may well not help another, but trying first a fairly innocuous and well established natural remedy must surely be better than making drug companies rich, given the alarming side effects and the tendency for people to become over medicated taking more drugs to combat these.

Recently, suffering from very debilitating back pain, I decided to try Bowen therapy which you will find described in this website. I am still in the dark about exactly how it works but for me it has helped enormously. From being bent double over a walking stick, I am now able to walk upright without the stick - my rheumatologist had even suggested crutches! It doesn't work for everyone and the therapist honestly tells you that if you are no better after three sessions, then it probably isn't for you. I was lucky to find a very good practitioner who is also a conventional physio.

Alleviate. Sorry.

WILDROSE
If you definitely know your blood group I urge you to give the blood type diet a trial, as it may aleviate some of your pain and difficulty.
Some people say it is rubbish, but truly it works for me, and will not cost you any money.
For example, did you know chicken contains a natural inflammatory?
Please do message me for details if you know your blood type.

Alternative/ complimentary medicines can give you the 'placebo' effect and can also react with prescription meds so you are causing more harm than good.

I think we need to view some of the so-called "natural" therapies as "complementary" rather than "alternative".It is also dangerous to assume because something is herbal or "natural" it is necessarily better for you or safer. Many common drugs today owe their origins to nature but indiscriminate use can still be lethal.
However, feeling in control of your own condition can still boost your morale, "it's MY body and I'll decide what I will do" can be more helpful than everything spiralling out of control.
So whatever helps might be worth exploring, but may not work for everyone.

I'm not knocking the use of alternatives but for those of us with significant health problems the alternatives won't touch, prescription drugs are life savers. Essential oils are a good part of the treatment along with massage but they won't stop an aggressive underlying disease. I speak as someone with experience.

Absolutely Bluebell! I have such difficulties with pharmaceuticals as the usual fillers which hold the drug cause me to be very unwell so to avoid this I use whatever I can find in the completely natural route.
I am using essential oils from a very reliable producer which are 100% pure and this has proved to be a real blessing, enabling me to regain movement and have more pain free time. My DH was a total sceptic but since his arthritis has been particularly bothersome recently I have used them on him too and he is a much happier man. He can be fairly described as a convert to essential oils!

Not necessarily Iam64 don't forget the pharmaceutical firms have every reason to push their products over anything we can find in our cupboards, mostly herbal remedies take very much longer to show some positive help so often people don't carry on long enough Add onto that the fact that very often you have to take more tablets to counteract side effects from the original ones

I m not anti prescription drugs just believe we need to try the ones under our noses first, as you did They do work for some people and should be a lot better for you

The honey and cider vinegar remedy/preventer has been recommended for a long time. Turmeric is the current alternative with many people saying its anti inflammatory properties are helping. Friends are also giving their elderly arthritic dogs the turmeric mixture, reporting it's helping with mobility problems.
I tried all the alternatives but in the end, it was the prescription drug route for me. It gave me my life back. The tiredness/exhaustion that comes with active inflammatory arthritis is difficult to describe, though experienced rheumatologists , specialist nurses and doctors all acknowledge its impact.
Let's be honest here folks, if the folk remedies were as effective as the drugs, there would be no need for us to take the risk of side effects in order to feel anything like 'normal'.

www.rjah.nhs.uk/Our-Services/Oswestry-Pain-Management-Programme.aspx Here is the link. I am sure this must happen in other parts of the country.

A friend of mine is in much the same situation, but has just completed a pain management course at Oswestry orhopaedic hospital and it has transformed her life. She went into it expecting little as nothing has managed to deal with her intractable pain in the past, but it has been a life-changer. She is a different person.

Hello again. Sorry for the late response but my hands wouldn't let me type. I was really touched and amazed to see so many replies and I promise to go through all the recommendations again. My daughter is going to condense them for me.
I do see a rheumatologist and am on methotrexate along with hydroxychloroquine. I have taken sulfasalazine in the past but there was no improvement. I see my rheumatologist again in a month or so and my husband will accompany me to back up my tales of woe. Honestly that's how it feels - that I'm so negative these days - I am usually very much a cup half full sort of person but this last few months have really brought me down. I sometimes wish there was more swelling to be seen but I just have pain and it can be so difficult to get this across. The consultant I see is very patient though and he was so caring when he diagnosed the fibromyalgia on top of the rheumatoid disease but multiple diagnoses tend to blur things when it comes to deciding what to try next. He felt my RA was in remission and scans showed no inflammation but the pain is horrible. The tramadol is a good help once it gets in to my system but I don't feel as though I'm in remission at all! I have referred myself to physio to be shown gentle stretches and am managing to use my rebounder gently each teatime as that's when I am at my best. You have all given me hope and so much support - even those who are not familiar with these conditions. Thank you so much. Rose.