Vitamins etc

Menopausal

I am now looking at starting some vitamins or supplements to try and help my pain what do people recommend .

dreamdaisy

I guess you mean stuff that helps relieve the pain? In truth nothing does, as many before you have found out and many yet to come. The placebo effect is not to be underestimated but pain is a physical fact. I use minimum pain relief (in my case 30/500 cocodamol) which comes from natural products (opioids) and I can trust the contents and standard of manufacture. The rest is mind over matter: I do mind, that doesn't matter. Pain is the car alarm from hell, it can never be turned off, merely muted.

I know of lots of things that help my pain increase so I do my best to avoid them. One of the benefits of OA is its predictability: it is aggravated by my doing too much and /or eating too much acidic food, all easily sorted by me. Weather is another major factor, I knew the weekend would be rough and it was, pain ramped up due to atmospheric pressure so sensible measures were put in place: hot water bottles, pillows and cushions, much rest, an abstract 1000 piece jigsaw, rugby on the telly. Not bliss (far from it) but all useful coping strategies. DD

[Deleted User]

Good morning Menopausal

I see you are interested in vitamins/supplements which might be of use for your arthritis.

This information about diet and nutritional supplements should help:

https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/complementary-and-alternative-treatments/types-of-complementary-treatments/diet-and-nutritional-supplements/

Best wishes

Ellen

stickywicket

What I really like about the link that Mod Ellen has given is that the whole emphasis is on getting the required vitamins from our diet. Shovelling pills down us to counteract a poor diet is destined for failure and it's possible to overdose on them that way plus they can interact with our prescribed meds. So, if you want to go down that route do check first with your local pharmacist or GP that they won't interact with your prescribed, or over-the-counter meds. Best of all, do it with food

daffy2

As Sticky says popping ills shouldn't be a substitute for a good diet, but VitD is possibly something of an exception to that. It's not that easy to get in any quantity from diet(very specific foods and not in large amounts even in those), and in this country the synthesis by the skin from sunlight has considerable drawbacks, so it is quite easy not to have enough. As a deficiency can cause muscle and joint pains it is certainly worth considering, and basic over the counter Vit D3 supplements(no calcium etc) can be had for very little. I have to take them year round as tests showed I just don't get anywhere near enough despite doing all the right things( in quantity!) and can get 60 tabs for under £1. I did notice a considerable improvement in levels of muscle pain, an unexpected bonus as I was actually taking them for osteoporosis issues and hadn't at that stage realised the connection with muscle pain.

Menopausal

Thanks all, yes I did mean vitamins to try and help my body fit arthritis, I have a very good diet but still suffer with pain, I do not want to take pain killing medication as I am against that due to side effects, so want to try a 6 month course of vitamins etc. I am going to try Omega 3, garlic, and circumin. As I believe it’s all due to auto immune in the body.

stickywicket

I think you might have confused and misunderstood different types of arthritis. OA, which I think you said was what you had, is caused essentially by joints wearing down either through age or former trauma.

It's the autoimmune types of arthritis - rheumatoid, psoriatic, ankylosing spondylitis etc - which are caused by a faulty immune system but it's not that our immune systems need boosting: on the contrary, they are overactive so we have to take meds to dampen them down as they attack our own bodies.

I'm not a big advocate of pain relieving meds but they do have a place and there are different kinds so, if one type doesn't suit, another might.

I find exercise works best.

Good luck!

Jackie47

Hi. I take Vit D on prescription from my GP for RA.