Hi! I'm new here. Would love advice on alternative supplements.

lynnegoddard

Hi. I'm the daughter of a mum who had arthritis, so I have had arthritis in my fingers since my 20s, and neck degeneration. Now, age 77, I also have shoulder pain from cartilage loss. and elbow pain form cartilage loss and additional bone growth. I'm in fairly constant discomfort, and one of my fingers joints is now beginning to 'click' when I bend it. I can't take anti-inflammatory medication, as my stomach won't accept it. I take a turmeric supplement, but don't think it's doing much good. Can anyone advise me on supplements that may be more helpful?

Many thanks!

Oh, and I'm allergic to squid ink, and mussels, so am wary of supplements containing those!

noddingtonpete

Hello @lynnegoddard and welcome to the Online Community forum. We are a friendly and supportive group and I hope that will be your experience as well.

I am putting a link below to our website article on complimentary treatments which I hope might be of some use.

https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/complementary-and-alternative-treatments/

and

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

You can also search the community (magnifying glass symbol top of the page) and look at other discussions on this topic.

Hopefully others will come up with ideas for you, though be mindful that what works for some does not always work for others. Hope you find something that helps you.

Best wishes

Peter

frogmorton

I don't take any supplements @lynnegoddard but I do try to follow an anti-inflammatory diet avoiding things which make inflammation worse. I am vegan (moral reasons, but think meat can cause inflammation for some) and try to eat 30 different veggies/fruits/nuts/seeds a week. Usually achieve it by Wednesday.

I am not allowed to take anti-inflams either due to being on blood thinners which is so frustrating as they really helped. I took a cox2 type pre blood thinners and with lansoprazole 30s they didn't upset my stomach too much though just in-case that helps.

Best of luck with your research I hope you find something to help in the info Peter gave you.

Toni x

Bryony

Years ago I had a long bout of reactive arthritis. The normal over the counter pain meds didn't help at all. In desperation I decided to make up a mixture of herbs for a herbal tea. That did work very well with the pain - actually within minutes. I was amazed! I was very interested in herbalism at the time, so had the resources to check out what might work for me. I'll list what I did use, but they might not be suitable for you, so I'd suggest a visit to a herbalist, who would be able to tailor the herbs specifically for you, taking into account any other health issues and contraindications you might have.

I used a mixture of equal volumes of white willow bark, meadowsweet, celery seed, and American skullcap. Both the willow bark and meadowsweet have salicylic acid, but unlike aspirin are gentle on the stomach. They are excellent anti-inflammatories. The same mixture, now with added gingko and vervain (which I added for reasons other than arthritis, but do seem to help with arthritis too) has been better at helping with pain for my knee osteoarthritis than naproxen, ibuprofen or paracetamol. I just get the dried herbs, ordered online, mix them altogether, then use just about a heaped teaspoon (like loose tea) in a mug of boiling water, leave for a few minutes and strain.

A herbalist will usually make a herbal tincture - herbs steeped in vodka, and you just have a thimbleful of mixture.

Arthuritis

@Bryony Great tip! I suspect the salicylate in the plants was gentle because it was in a plant fibre matrix, releasing very slowly, not a chemically purified and concentrated form like aspirin with a sudden huge whack. I might experiment a bit with that, with very dilute aspirin in oatmeal or similar. Perhaps a gentle downward slope might be more sustainable and tolerable than a cliff drop and bounce.