Comments on the 5th and 6th Edition Helpbook Section 1

 Sorry that it took me until this late in the day to post my comments on the Helpbook, had a really slow day today. By the time this will be posted it will be Aug. 1 2012.

 I still do not know what type of arthritis I have. I booked an appointment, just couldn't get one before today. As I was reading section one I thought that I may come to a little bit of understanding as to what type of Arthritis I have. I wasn't that lucky, all I still know is that it is an inflammatory arthritis. A person would think of Rheumatoid Arthritis right away when they hear inflammatory, but I was told all my tests for Rheumatoid Arthritis were negative.

 One thing this First Section of the book has helped me is understanding what arthritis is and that it doesn't just come with age (I kind of had figured that one out seeing as to I'm young yet). I know there are over 100 different kinds of arthritis but so far not many are listed in the book, I will have to do some other research also to find the names and symptoms of the other types of arthritis that are not listed in section one.

 One thing they do mention a lot for each type of arthritis is exercise. Now I know from experience that exercising when you are in tremendous pain isn't possible or at least a person doesn't have the energy to put themselves through even more pain. On days like that I just do what I need to do and leave the exercises for days when I feel better.
 Weight-bearing exercise is mentioned that it is very, very important in maintaining strong bones. The body reacts to such exercise by increasing the calcium content and thus the strength of the bones. Walking is the best example they say. If at all possible, walk half a mile to a mile (1 to 1.5 km) a day.
 For the longest time I haven't even been able to walk a block in town let alone a half mile. But now I'm in a good spurt again and am able to walk for an hour at a time. I am able to do yard work for a few hours at times also. So it is looking like I will be able to walk half a mile every day soon.
 They do say that if that amount of walking is unrealistic for you, remember that even a little weight-bearing exercise is important. That is where what I have been doing comes in, I started off with the littlest thing and now am able to do a bit more. The book says just to do as much as you can. In my opinion it is better not to over do it. When you over do it then you damage more, according to how I understand my Dr. When he heard how much I was walking in the beginning and how much pain it was causing me. He told me to slow down, don't do as much as that, you don't have to create more pain it just causes more damage.

 Suggestions on developing a walking program are in chapters 10 and 13 in the 5th Edition, and chapters 11 and 14 in the 6th Edition. The book says that recent research has shown that women need to walk 4 miles (6 km) a week to get maximal exercise benefit for osteoporosis prevention. And that includes all the walking people do in their daily lives.

 (Swimming is not weight-bearing exercise.)

 They do say that the most effective exercises seem to be swimming, walking, and bicycling which are easy, can be gradually increased, and are smooth rather than jerky. Now I lost the ability to ride a bicycle when the first really bad spurt of arthritis hit. I am unable to move my legs in a circular motion when strength is required and it is really painful. So I am not sure how I will work this into exercise at the moment, I am going to try riding a bike again on a good day to see if I am able to accomplish the circular motion with weight-bearing again.

 Strengthening exercises, described in Chapter 12 in the 5th Edition, and Chapter 13 in the 6th Edition, can also be of help.
 Exercise should be regular.

 They do mention that drug therapy is just to control the discomfort. Chapter 20 in the 5th Edition, and Chapter 21 in the 6th Edition discuss medicines to reduce pain and inflammation. The reason that you may not be prescribed a pain killer with codeine or other strong pain relievers is because pain is a signal to the body that helps protect a diseased joint; it is important that the signals are received. Details on pain management are in Chapter 15 in the 5th Edition, and Chapter 16 in the 6th Edition.

Hope that this is some encouragement for others as it is to me.
Also to help everyone as it is helping me to keep positive.
Our lifestyles just have to change, what we do for recreation, more then likely has to change also.
It may "feel" like we have lost 20 years off of our lives but, it doesn't mean we have to let it take the 20 years away from us.
It is important to see how extremely important it is to keep moving even though our bodies don't want to.

The Arthritis Helpbook

I mentioned earlier in a post that we would be reading the 6th edition, well I just thought that I would let you all know that if you have the 5th edition that is fine also. I just picked up that book today so I am able to go through that one with everyone also. I will be ready to post on both of those books on July 31st.
Thank You all.

Sometimes I Just Want To Stay In Bed

A few days before it rains I just can't move and want to stay in bed. Well honestly I stay in bed until 1 or 2 pm on those days by then I have mustered the strength to get up and take my medication. This also happens the days that it is cloudy or raining out, though once it is raining I seem to feel a little better. It really affects my life, not sure how I'm going to get active again. I just can't do what some people do. I guess to some degree I do. Because when I see something has to be done no matter how I feel I go do it. Some times with tears running down my face because it hurts so bad, which of course usually is followed by anger. Once the anger hits then I get more strength guess it numbs the pain to some degree. Yesterday I was mowing my lawn and I'm sure passersby thought I was nuts, lol, with the tears, the swearing, the pouting, and the angry face. I sure must of been a frightful sight. But I had to, my kids have been sick most of the summer so far and the grass was tall so what else was I gonna do? I could barely pull or push the darn thing, and besides that I could barely move my legs, and to top that cake nicely off I had to keep starting it (someone came to the door, I ran over edging and the thing stalled on me) Ugh! Just thinking of it upsets me, lol. And while I'm in this here lovely mood I hate yawning also because my jaw hurts so bad when I do! I try and go to sleep before I start yawning but with a family, that doesn't always happen because you want to be there for them too. If anybody has had lock jaw they might know what it feels like, I've been told that's how it feels when you have that. I've never had lock jaw so I wouldn't have a clue.

Supplement Recommendations for Fibromyalgia

Magnesium/Malic Acid           Dosage: 150 mg magnesium and 6oo mg malic acid twice a day.
                                                  Comments: Sometimes sold in combination as magnesium malate.

St. John's Wort                        Dosage: 300 mg 3 times a day.
                                                 Comments: Standardized to contain 0.3% hypericin.

5-HTP                                      Dosage: 100 mg 3 times a day.
                                                 Comments: If drowsiness occurs, reduce to 50 mg 3 times a day.

Vitamin C                                 Dosage: 1,000 mg 3 times a day.
                                                 Comments: Reduce dose if diarrhea develops.

Grape Seed Extract                Dosage: 100 mg twice a day.
                                                 Comments: Standardized to contain 92% - 95% proanthocyanidins.

Coenzyme Q10                        Dosage: 100 mg twice a day.
                                                 Comments: For best absorption, take with food.

Melatonin                                Dosage: 3 mg before bedtime.
                                                 Comments: Helpful if sleep disorders accompany pain.

Note: Consider taking supplements in just bold first; those in bold italics may also be beneficial. Some dosages may be supplied by supplements you are already taking see about recommendations in former post.

Supplement Recommendations for Arthritis

These are the recommendations that I have come across. As you can see I am currently using some of them and I can speak from experience that they do make a huge difference. I know some of the books say it won't help for pain or that you may not notice a difference but for me it does. If I stop using any one of the ones that I use for more then a week I start suffering a lot of pain and start wondering why it hurts so much more, then I realize that I haven't been using the supplements for awhile and then I start using them again, if it hasn't been to long that I have been off of them I start noticing a change within a week. If I have been off of them for a month or more then it takes almost two months before I notice a change.
This may be different for you though.

Glucosamine            Dosage: 500 mg glucosamine sulfate 3 times a day.
                                 Comments: Take with food. Not appropriate for diabetics.

Chondroitin              Dosage: 400 mg chondroitin sulfate 3 times a day.
                                  Comments: Often sold in combination with glucosamine.

Niacinamide             Dosage: 1,000 mg 3 times a day.
                                  Comments: High doses can cause liver damage and other serious side effects;     physician monitoring is necessary during treatment.

Cayenne Cream       Dosage: Apply topical cream to effected joints several times a day.
                                  Comments: Standardized to contain 0.025% - 0.075% capsaicin.

Boswellia                 Dosage: 1 pill 3 times a day.
                                  Comments: Each pill standardized to have 150 mg boswellic acid.

Sea Cucumber         Dosage: 1,000 mg a day.
                                 Comments: Also known as beche-de-mer.

SAM                         Dosage: 400 mg twice a day for 2 weeks, then 200 mg twice a day as a maintenance dose.
                                 Comments: May have mild gastrointestinal side effects. Should not be taken by people with manic-depressive illness.

Note: Consider taking supplements in just bold first; those in bold italics may also be beneficial. Some dosages may be supplied by supplements you are already taking see about recommendations.

About Recommendations

Specific Dosage Suggestions that I listed above, have list, and may list in the future. These numbers are the total daily amount of a particular nutrient or herb you'll need to treat arthritis. In particular terms, this means you may have to adjust the numbers to factor in the amount of these same supplements you may already be getting in your daily multivitamin or individual supplements you're using for other health reasons.

For example if I've suggested taking 400 IU of Vitamin E a day for cancer prevention (way off the topic here). If your daily multivitamin supplies 400 IU of Vitamin E you won't need to the recommendation. supplement.

The dosages I mention in this blog are meant to be informative, but as we all know each person is different. Check with your doctor about your own case and the appropriate dose for you. Always read the label and never exceed the recommended dosage for a supplement, even though you may be treating several ailments.

And finally: Though I make every effort to include widely available dosages, the strengths of supplement products vary greatly. Qualified people such as health professionals, pharmacists, and health-store staff can help you determine an equivalent dose.

Depressed!

As you all know I suffer from arthritis and this affects all jobs that I get. I am always let go because of not being able to move and keep the steady pace up that I start out with. I look healthy so employers and co-workers see me as able, but my body wont let me. Co-workers get mad at me for not pulling my weight on the job. Employers even those that do understand have to let me go. I can't afford to feed my family, pay my bills nothing at this rate. My husband has fallen ill so I need to take over at this time, and nobody will hire me! I'm not even in my forties yet so this is very difficult to handle, why does my body have to be old?. Sorry all for this negative post but as all who suffer from arthritis know that depression is part of it also. Anyways that's why I blog, lol.

Natural Relief For Arthritis

Here is a table of some of the foods if followed should reduce the amount of arthritis pain a person suffers. I have a total of 6 of these tables. This is only the first one yet. Its amazing how many of these foods that I eat, I will try and eliminate as many as I am able and will post my results. I hope that some of you will also be able to benefit from these tables also.

CATEGORY              FOODS TO USE           QUANTITY PERMITTED            FOODS TO AVOID

1.Fats and Oils.                  None                                 None                          All fats and oils,
                                                                                                                   including, butter,
                                                                                                                   margarine,
                                                                                                                   shortening,
                                                                                                                   lard, meat fat, and
                                                                                                                   lecithin
                                                                                                                   (as a vegetable
                                                                                                                     spray)



2.Sugars.                            None                                 None                      All extracted sugars,
                                                                                                                   including syrups,
                                                                                                                   molasses,
                                                                                                                   fructose,
                                                                                                                   dextrose, sucrose,
                                                                                                                   and honey.



3.Poultry, fish,                                                  Limit acceptable                    All smoked,
     and meat                                                     poultry,fish, and                    charbroiled, 
                                                                        meat to a total of                  or barbecued
                                                                        1 1/2 lbs./ week                    foods
                                                                        or 3 1/2 oz./ day

                                 Chicken, turkey,                                                          Fatty poultry:
                                 and Cornish game                                                        duck and goose
                                 birds (white meat
                                 preferred; remove
                                 skin before cooking)   

                                  Lean fish and                   Lobster:                               Fatty fish:
                                  shellfish                           3 1/3 oz./ day                      sardines, fish
                                                                         (replaces entire                    canned in oil,
                                                                         daily allotment                     and mackerel
                                                                         of poultry, fish,
                                                                         or meat)

As for The Arthritis Helpbook

As for The Arthritis Helpbook I ask all of you to try and get a hold of this book. I challenge all of you to read part one and pause to discuss what we all have read on July 31st, 2012. See if we all can figure out which section best fits us. Lets share our questions and support and see if we can't motivate ourselves to become more active regarding our setbacks. With the support of other sufferers maybe we can all get a self management plan going for ourselves. Thank You all for participating.

Medication for Arthritis

For my arthritis pain I use Glucosamine with Chondroitin (the strongest that I could find), MSM (the strongest that I could find), Tylenol Arthritis 650 mg, and a prescription called Teva-Naproxen 500 mg. I try not to use the prescription one to often but when the pain is to bad a person uses it anyways, if you have to stay in bed because of not wanting to be on prescription medication then what is life worth living for? So I take them more often then I would like but at least I am able to be up and about instead of in bed all day.

Arthritis Helpbook

I was given the book called The Arthritis Helpbook by a relative who had a coworker who also suffers from arthritis and she had told my relative that once I was done with the book to pass it on to someone else that needed the help. And I thought to myself what better way to help someone then to share some of its contents online, and be open to conversations with everyone on the internet. To be here to help find answers and to get answers. Arthritis can be so very discouraging, it not only affects a persons body but also every aspect of the persons self worth.

Arthritis Sufferer

I have suffered with arthritis symptoms all my life. I was always told it was growing pains and that it would go away. Well I learned to put the pain to the back of my mind and got numb to the pain as time went on. It was bearable so I didn't complain all that much as time went on. In my thirties I got severe joint pain where I began to think my joints were out of place. I was using my arms to drag myself around and keep myself upright because my knees couldn't keep my body upright. I had to quit my job as a DSW, a job that I really enjoy. This affected my jaw, knees, neck, feet, my self esteem and now my hands. I was diagnosed with inflammatory arthritis a couple of years ago. This affects my walking, working and even eating. There are days I feel like I've lost about 20 years of my life, and I'm only in my late mid thirties.  I hope that I am able to offer some support for other sufferers, and find support for myself also. I wish everyone all the best.