Alternatives for joint pain relief?

[laislica]

I am male, almost 75 and not overweight.
I have pain in my hip joints and an X-Ray last year (Chiang Mai Hospital) showed some wear.
(Too much jogging in my younger years no doubt.)

 

I don't like the side effects that pain killing drugs give and I believe that many of them should not be taken on a long term basis, can be addictive etc.

Turmeric is supposed to help if you suffer from muscle and joint pains.
Turmeric is a plant that has a very long history of medicinal use, dating back nearly 4000 years.
However, how should it be used?

 

I can easily find the dry powdered form.
I have not found fresh roots though.
There are supplements available (at a price) that claim to give many more times Bio-Availablity.

But, does it work?
If it works, what is the correct form and dose to take?
Is there a better alternative available?

Does anyone know the answer to these questions?

[cornishcarlos]

Cannabis oil....

[laislica]

1 minute ago, cornishcarlos said:

Cannabis oil....

 

 

OK?

Is it available in Thailand?

[cornishcarlos]

9 minutes ago, laislica said:

 

 

OK?

Is it available in Thailand?

 

Probably not but you could order it online...

 

[laislica]

Just now, cornishcarlos said:

 

Probably not but you could order it online...

 

 

 

Sounds like it could be a tricky thing to do in Thailand?

[Rob13]

I have knee problems and tried turmeric and didn't see that it did much good. It's nothing you'll get addicted to so there's no harm in trying it. 

 

The best thing I've found is glucosamine and chondroitin . 

[laislica]

1 minute ago, Rob13 said:

I have knee problems and tried turmeric and didn't see that it did much good. It's nothing you'll get addicted to so there's no harm in trying it. 

 

The best thing I've found is glucosamine and chondroitin . 

 

 

I've been taking that supplement daily for some years but not sure if it helps or not.

The hip pain arrived suddenly and was severe, strong pain killers needed to allow me to walk just a short distance.

After some weeks the pain mysteriously went away but now is creeping back.

We are currently in the South of Spain and the weather has turned much cooler after a long and hot summer.

I'm hoping that it's just a change of weather thing and when we return to Thailand in a few weeks, it will go away again.

So I'm looking for any non-toxic natural stuff to help.

(I know that hemlock is natural LOL)

My diet is mostly veggie, no sugar and since the last few weeks, no products containing wheat.

Cutting out the wheat seems to have helped the hip joints and a number of other issues.

 

[Rob13]

My doc told me to stay away from dairy,sugar and greasy foods, sounds like you're salready doing that.

Because it came on suddenlly and sever like that , I think I'd go get an X-ray. Seems like if it were weather related it come on slow. 

It's not the kind of advice you're looking for but a Celebrex prescription might help til you out til get back to warmer weather.

 

[laislica]

2 hours ago, Rob13 said:

My doc told me to stay away from dairy,sugar and greasy foods, sounds like you're salready doing that.

Because it came on suddenlly and sever like that , I think I'd go get an X-ray. Seems like if it were weather related it come on slow. 

It's not the kind of advice you're looking for but a Celebrex prescription might help til you out til get back to warmer weather.

 

 

Actually I do eat coconut oil and olive oil daily.

When I first started doing that joint pain got better.

I did a lot of research on the web and came across a Harvard Medical School study that says that no human has the right enzymes to properly digest gluten.

It's a very complicated report but there is a video that explains how the autoimmune system is triggered into doing damage.

Therefore I excluded wheat products from my diet and I can see some improvements after less than two weeks.

I had read that many autoimmune diseases could be sorted by excluding wheat and dairy as they are the major cause of autoimmune triggering.

Apparently, something not properly digested or other toxic material can combine with cells like heart cells and the immune sys correctly kills them off.

Of course that kills the original heart cell too, but no matter as the body can make new replacement cells.

The trouble starts when our body has to kill off more cells than we can make as replacements......

Oh yes, I also cut out the booze too!

So I can manage without painkillers, for now anyway, unless the condition gets worse.

So many thanks for your suggestions.

PS

The change in weather was very rapid, not quite like flying from Thailand to the UK but it felt close to that.

 

[purplesage]

A quarter of a teaspoon of turmeric powder per day in a glass of milk (I prefer rice milk). It won't dissolve in water, but will do so in milk. Turmeric is supposed to be anti-inflammatory, so it might help joint pain. Loads of information on the internet about its various benefits to health.

[laislica]

32 minutes ago, purplesage said:

A quarter of a teaspoon of turmeric powder per day in a glass of milk (I prefer rice milk). It won't dissolve in water, but will do so in milk. Turmeric is supposed to be anti-inflammatory, so it might help joint pain. Loads of information on the internet about its various benefits to health.

 

Thanks.

I like the taste so I have a full tsp, mixed with the coconut oil as a sauce in the mixed, slightly sauteed veg.

Lots of garlic and some chilli and often fresh ginger. If I could find turmeric root, I'd prefer that.

When my wife asks me what I would like to eat, it's always the same (or a salad) and she laughs, saying Again? Not bored?

It took a while to get her to stop adding various Thai cooking sauces, they are full of MSG.

Those sauces sure make everything taste wonderful, but I honestly prefer to live without them,

they have more chemicals in them than the chemistry set I had as a kid!

I love veggies. She adds a little chicken or an egg or two. Lurvely.....

 

[geriatrickid]

I don't want to hurt your feelings, but outside of a balanced healthy diet, these supplements are useless. They don't  really achieve anything aside from a placebo effect. However, what works is you. Yes, you.

 

Body parts wear out. As they do, our bodies adjust and compensate. We  lean to the side, or we alter our  gait, or weight distribution. Even a shift of a degree or two can alter our natural balance. Over time, our bodies change so much that the compensatory  physical movement causes worse damage. This is like  the remodeling of the heart after a heart attack. To compensate, the heart gets bigger and stronger. At first it works like a charm, but then  the heart muscle becomes non esponsive and doesn't  pump blood properly. To prevent this, beta blockers and ace inhibitors are used to give the time for the heart to recover. You need to consider the same approach to your hips, but without drugs,

 

Consider how to deal with the impact of the hip erosion. It means going back to a period prior to having pain. For that, you should consider a physical therapist. You need to check out your posture and your walking style. Is it appropriate? What can you do to strengthen supportive tissue etc. A review session and perhaps some specific exercises will deliver dividends. A physiotherapist would be delighted to have a patient before it gets to a point where hip replacement is needed. Why? Because prevention is usually easier and more effective than a recovery  "treatment".

 

Unless you have a nutritional deficiency, food supplements serve no organic purpose. All these people who pop  multivitamins don't understand that they are  peeing most of it out because the absorption of these products is very different than when it comes from natural sources. i.e. food. Go back to your roots and  review how you walk, how you sit, how you pick up objects. You will be surprised how some very small changes will deliver results that are longlasting and very noticeable. Simplistic, I know, but it works,  

[rak sa_ngop]

I know that Foodland in the Bangkok area sell tumeric root. Very cheap, a small tray cost me 9.25 baht (80 grams).

 

Try the big food stores in CM

[laislica]

7 hours ago, geriatrickid said:

I don't want to hurt your feelings, but outside of a balanced healthy diet, these supplements are useless. They don't  really achieve anything aside from a placebo effect. However, what works is you. Yes, you.

 

Body parts wear out. As they do, our bodies adjust and compensate. We  lean to the side, or we alter our  gait, or weight distribution. Even a shift of a degree or two can alter our natural balance. Over time, our bodies change so much that the compensatory  physical movement causes worse damage. This is like  the remodeling of the heart after a heart attack. To compensate, the heart gets bigger and stronger. At first it works like a charm, but then  the heart muscle becomes non esponsive and doesn't  pump blood properly. To prevent this, beta blockers and ace inhibitors are used to give the time for the heart to recover. You need to consider the same approach to your hips, but without drugs,

 

Consider how to deal with the impact of the hip erosion. It means going back to a period prior to having pain. For that, you should consider a physical therapist. You need to check out your posture and your walking style. Is it appropriate? What can you do to strengthen supportive tissue etc. A review session and perhaps some specific exercises will deliver dividends. A physiotherapist would be delighted to have a patient before it gets to a point where hip replacement is needed. Why? Because prevention is usually easier and more effective than a recovery  "treatment".

 

Unless you have a nutritional deficiency, food supplements serve no organic purpose. All these people who pop  multivitamins don't understand that they are  peeing most of it out because the absorption of these products is very different than when it comes from natural sources. i.e. food. Go back to your roots and  review how you walk, how you sit, how you pick up objects. You will be surprised how some very small changes will deliver results that are longlasting and very noticeable. Simplistic, I know, but it works,  

 

 

Thank you for taking the time to make such a detailed and helpful post.

 

I agree with very much of what you say and I  follow much of it as well.

I was born in the Derbyshire countryside and our garden backed onto a farm. I remember buying milk direct from the churn.

It was even delivered that way, a horse and cart with churns of milk,

A whole food, not pasteurised, nor homogenised and with all the natural bacteria and fats. etc.

In nature, fats would never be homogenised and I often wondered what damage is done to our bodies by consuming it.

I understand about omega3 v omega 6 oils, trans fats etc and I avoid the 6 and trans like the plague.

In fact I seldom eat out, my wife buys the best veggies she can find and cooks with coconut oil and no added chems other than sea salt and freshly ground pepper.corns.

I gave up sugar 40 odd years ago when I stopped smoking.

 

Of course food, even raw fruit n veg are not like they were when I was a kid in the early 40's.

Everything then was pretty much genuine organic if only cos none of the seriously harmful pesticides had not been invented at that time.

Also farmers rotated crops in a way that kept the soil bacteria healthy.

Field sizes were smaller and we were used to having misshapen and slightly damaged fruit n veg.

The balance of vitamins n minerals was excellent.

Of course, farmers were selecting seeds to improve appearance, taste and sales but it was a slow change.

Along comes the invention of antibiotics - a God send but they were misused and abused to the point that nowadays, the majority of antibiotics are used by the food industry.

Then there came the pesticides and later genetic modification of the seed stock.

Somewhere on this time line, food production methods became highly intensive with mono crops repeatedly grown on the same massive fields along with artificial fertilisers and weed killers and pesticides etc.

Let us not forget the airborne pollution that settles on the land and crops, like lead from petrol!

Poisonous residues from factory chimneys or dumped into the ground to leach into the water table.

Rivers polluted with chemicals etc.

Therefore, food may not be all we would like it to be, or in fact, need it to be.

 

I would also agree that the majority of supplements are manufactured in a way that is maximised for volume and profit with little or no concern for bio-availability.

They add talcum powder or magnesium stearate so that the chemicals are easier to mix in larger batches and in a shorter time.

More than 30 years ago, a dear ex-colleague decided to exclude dairy from her diet but she worried that she would not get sufficient calcium and so she took a calcium supplement daily.

After a number of years she needed all the valves in her heart replaced because they were clogged with calcium,  she almost died.

She didn't know that co-factors of at least vitamin D3 and vitamin K are necessary to guide the calcium into bone, or it will stick in the arteries, valves etc...

..

I also agree that food is the best source of vitamins and minerals.

However, it gets more difficult to buy nutritious and poison free raw foods nowadays as I said above.

 

I agree that correct posture is vital for optimum health.

I should perhaps add that I suffer from a genetic disease - Dupuytren's contracture.

In my case, this not only affects my hands but the tendons in my legs and feet, the left of my body more than the right.

Being aware of this, I do some exercises to attempt to compensate but as you say, my posture is probably not perfect but there is little that can be done, apart from surgery....

Surgery was offered for may hands about 6 years ago, but I declined, preferring to use mind over matter.

Now, almost 75 and feel that unless I was crippled, I should carry on putting up with it.

I have friends with the same disease and they elected to have the surgery.

In both their cases it needed to be carried out twice and in one case, the result is worse after surgery....

.

I agree with the placebo effect.

The mind is the most powerful tool/drug in our arsenal!

About 15 years ago, I broke my collar bone and the doctors advised me that I would be crippled, that I would not be able to comb my hair because I would be unable to raise my arm sufficiently! (Talk about pointing the bone LOL) They said that according to their X-ray, the fracture was from childhood because the ends of the bones were rounded.

About 5 years earlier, I'd had a full chest X-ray and I took it to them. They could see that the bone was not broken.

They said that they could hardly believe it and that unless they had seen this X-ray, they would have stuck with their initial diagnosis.

Doctors are not Gods and sometimes make mistakes, just like any human being.

Well, I determined to show them that I would not allow that to happen.

I exercised despite the pain and I am happy to tell you that I am still able to clasp hands with one arm over the shoulder and the other up my back.

On both sides too!

 

I would also like to thank rak sa_ngop.

We seldom visit Bangkok and I'm not sure where I'd find a Foodland but I will ask my wife if we can find somewhere similar and see if we can locate fresh Turmeric.

 

As has been said many times

We are what we eat!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Airalee]

It sounds as if you are already eating a healthy non-inflammatory diet.  The only suggestion I might be able to offer is that my 88 year old father, who also had hip pain, tried a few sessions of acupuncture and feels that it helped him.  He is by no means an "eastern medicine" proponent but he does seem to be able to walk faster now whereas before, I found myself walking at a much slower pace in order to accommodate him.

 

I hope you are able to find some relief.

[ding]

This is my story and mine alone. Not intended to persuade anyone to do anything. YMMV-

 

EVENT: Hyper-extended elbow

ACUTE PAIN; in elbow joint that barely diminished over time. I was in pain > 2 years.

PAIN > 2 YEARS; Triggered by lifting weights. I could curl but could not pick up the coffee pot (pronate/neutral = pain, supinate okay)

DX: US Doctor tested and said it's not rheumatoid arthritis but said I had osteo-arthritis for life. Doc in Thailand said I had golfer's elbow and recommended PT. Good advice just not enough.

RX: Nothing you can do, suffer, stop going to the gym, sit on the sidelines, get old.

 

WHAT I DID AFTER MUCH RESEARCH:

1) I stopped eating wheat, even whole wheat pasta (reduced carbs but especially wheat)

2) Eliminated foods from the Nightshade Food Group; Tomatoes, potatoes, all chilies (Thai, green pepper, jalapeno, etc), egg plant.

3) Supplement focus; whole vitamin C, L-proline & L-lysine, Collagen, MSM, hyaluronic acid, NAC, tumeric + black pepper.

 

WHAT I DID NOT DO:

No HGH or steroids and no pain killers, anti-nflammatories -NSAIDs, or pharmaceuticals of any kind. I was very concerned about mitigating chronic pain with narcotics and wanted to avoid that at all costs!

 

RESULT: A couple months later I was virtually pain-free for the first time in years. For a few more months heavy lifting would trigger minor pain. Now I've been pain-free >2 years. I lift heavy 5 days/wk.

[laislica]

6 hours ago, Airalee said:

It sounds as if you are already eating a healthy non-inflammatory diet.  The only suggestion I might be able to offer is that my 88 year old father, who also had hip pain, tried a few sessions of acupuncture and feels that it helped him.  He is by no means an "eastern medicine" proponent but he does seem to be able to walk faster now whereas before, I found myself walking at a much slower pace in order to accommodate him.

 

I hope you are able to find some relief.

 

My ex partner was a 5 element acupuncturist and she was very good. I saw her perform "miraculous cures", however, her method usually hurt.

She mashed the "point" and when the needle was in the correct spot hi hurt a bit and I yelpef like a baby.

She didn't like this and I stopped having any treatment and it rather put me off.

I have had the regular acupuncture treatment, where they seem to throw many needles all over the place.

That didn't hurt but the treatment was not as effective as hers.

I know a good Chinese acupuncturist iin Bangkok so thanks for your suggestion.

We return to Thailand in a few weeks so I may give that a try.

Cheers

 

[watcharacters]

Doctors in Thailand and trough out SEA are very hesitant to prescribe any helpful pain medication due to the Imposition of USA DEA restrictions.   

 

Been there and done that.

 

 

I hope you find confort for your pain.

[laislica]

6 hours ago, ding said:

This is my story and mine alone. Not intended to persuade anyone to do anything. YMMV-

 

EVENT: Hyper-extended elbow

ACUTE PAIN; in elbow joint that barely diminished over time. I was in pain > 2 years.

PAIN > 2 YEARS; Triggered by lifting weights. I could curl but could not pick up the coffee pot (pronate/neutral = pain, supinate okay)

DX: US Doctor tested and said it's not rheumatoid arthritis but said I had osteo-arthritis for life. Doc in Thailand said I had golfer's elbow and recommended PT. Good advice just not enough.

RX: Nothing you can do, suffer, stop going to the gym, sit on the sidelines, get old.

 

WHAT I DID AFTER MUCH RESEARCH:

1) I stopped eating wheat, even whole wheat pasta (reduced carbs but especially wheat)

2) Eliminated foods from the Nightshade Food Group; Tomatoes, potatoes, all chilies (Thai, green pepper, jalapeno, etc), egg plant.

3) Supplement focus; whole vitamin C, L-proline & L-lysine, Collagen, MSM, hyaluronic acid, NAC, tumeric + black pepper.

 

WHAT I DID NOT DO:

No HGH or steroids and no pain killers, anti-nflammatories -NSAIDs, or pharmaceuticals of any kind. I was very concerned about mitigating chronic pain with narcotics and wanted to avoid that at all costs!

 

RESULT: A couple months later I was virtually pain-free for the first time in years. For a few more months heavy lifting would trigger minor pain. Now I've been pain-free >2 years. I lift heavy 5 days/wk.

 

Wow, excellent news and congratulations on finding relief! 

I couldn't agree more with your post and there is cutting edge research which may explain why your changed diet corrected your problems.
 

I research a lot about health and I came across a Harvard Medical School study that may open doors to allow folk to really understand why we become sick.
I found a super interview on Youtube with Dr. Tom O'Bryan which outlines how to understand the study.

I believe that the video is trying to give more people the opportunity to look into this new research and understand it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-T8LEHQ1Ug 

The actual study is here:-  http://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms6101

However, I suggest that you do your own research into this and form your own opinions.

 

For example, it seems that no human has all the necessary enzymes to fully digest gluten and so it causes inflammation in the body.
Some of the gluten cells combine with other body cells, say stomach, intestines, heart, brain, liver  etc.
This creates a new, unknown - foreign cell and the autoimmune system correctly kills that cell.
No real problem because the body replaces the killed heart, brain, intestine cell and all is good.
However, we repeat this crazy process all day and every day when we eat anything with flour in it.
There is no problem for years because the body can make more cells than it needs to kill.
However, as we get older, the body makes less new cells and so over time, the organ begins to lose cells.
The brain starts to lose cognitive function, the heart weakens, the gut becomes leaky etc. and our risk of serious health problems increases.
We may feel fine and not have a clue that this bad stuff is happening in the background until symptoms start to appear.
If your weak spot is your gut, you are one of the lucky ones because you feel it with bloating etc after eating something that causes inflammation.

If however, it's your brain or heart you would only find out if symptoms begin or you had special blood tests to look for markers.

I don't pretend to understand it all, the video is a good place to start IMO and Google can give you much more info on the subject.

 

 

 

 

[Speedo1968]

I use to work in farming in the UK ( total of 50 years inc other countries ).   In the early 1960's as a 15 year old  when working outside in the Winter stinging nettles gave a quick relief of rheumatism, just rub the plants over the affected area.    I have been a vegetarian since the 70;s and then a vegan for almost as long. I am on a simple low fat, salt, sugar but high fibre diet from choice.   Now approaching 70 and allergic to many medicines including antibiotics I use urine therapy, some forms of acupuncture which I do myself or by a professionally trained therapist ( including cortsar - a piece of wood scraped over the body ).   My 24/7 on-call duty in my life of farming led to a lot of burn outs, now, following multiple TIA's and two strokes have started on a homemade herbal mix which, seems to be working.  I still walk 5 - 10km a day at the speed my legs want to walk at, the doctor asked Why ? and my answer was "Because I can".  I am very aware and understand my body 100%, no doubt the farming background helped,    I have taught myself to self-treat and, shall we say, 'go with the flow'.     No doubt a stupid and dangerous attitude to some but it works for me, especially as my so called "options" are very limited.

 

Good luck with finding something that works for you, I am sure the direction you are going now will lead you there.

[laislica]

13 minutes ago, Speedo1968 said:

I use to work in farming in the UK ( total of 50 years inc other countries ).   In the early 1960's as a 15 year old  when working outside in the Winter stinging nettles gave a quick relief of rheumatism, just rub the plants over the affected area.    I have been a vegetarian since the 70;s and then a vegan for almost as long. I am on a simple low fat, salt, sugar but high fibre diet from choice.   Now approaching 70 and allergic to many medicines including antibiotics I use urine therapy, some forms of acupuncture which I do myself or by a professionally trained therapist ( including cortsar - a piece of wood scraped over the body ).   My 24/7 on-call duty in my life of farming led to a lot of burn outs, now, following multiple TIA's and two strokes have started on a homemade herbal mix which, seems to be working.  I still walk 5 - 10km a day at the speed my legs want to walk at, the doctor asked Why ? and my answer was "Because I can".  I am very aware and understand my body 100%, no doubt the farming background helped,    I have taught myself to self-treat and, shall we say, 'go with the flow'.     No doubt a stupid and dangerous attitude to some but it works for me, especially as my so called "options" are very limited.

 

Good luck with finding something that works for you, I am sure the direction you are going now will lead you there.

 

Thank you so much for sharing your story. It's great to see someone take control over their health.
I think that we have been conditioned into thinking that there will always be a pill to instantly make us better.

I also feel that many doctors have been trained to dish out pills rather than correct the source of the problem.

In my case, in my early 40's, the nurse at work did regular BP tests and mine was a little on the high side.

Over a three month period it was generally 145/95 and she suggested I see my Dr.

The Dr. also got a similar reading and immediately put me on 50mg Atenalol, come back in 10 days.

Another check, still too high, increase the dose to 100mg, come back in 10 days.

This time it was 120/80 so on your way!

I stayed on the meds for a few years.

Then I followed a veggie juice diet for 6 weeks.

My weight went from about 100Kg down to about 75Kg.

During this time I became light headed, my BP was too low so I cut the pill in half and all good again.

As the fat reduced I had low BP so took a quarter of the pill and finally a fifth, 20mg.

I went to see the Dr. and saw a young, quite new Dr.

He said well done, stop the meds, 20mg is below the therapeutic dose.
I asked what he meant by well done.

He said that by changing lifestyle and losing the fat I had corrected the problem.

I was angry and complained that I had not been given any such advice.

The Dr, said that perhaps the Dr. I saw had tried to give such advice before but most patients just want the pills to have an easy solution.

That perhaps Dr.'s should always give such advice but that they become tired of it and there are also too many patients and not enough time.....

Well, I accepted that, Dr.s are only human after all.

It does rather show that we are what we eat though.

 

Currently we are in south east Spain and shortly will return to Thailand and the weather recently turned much cooler,

I look forward to more warmer temperatures....

One thing I intend to try is to live on a slightly reduced calorie diet.

I am an addictive type of person, was a smoker and found it took years to stop.

I was (am?) a drinker but have been stopped totally for a whole two weeks or so. Whoa, whoa!

I have some beer in the fridge and have so far not touched a drop!

 

There is a test online to see if you control food (score 1) or food controls you (score 10)

I am a food addict (I scored 10) but my wife is not, (she scored 1). http://susanpeircethompson.com/

 

I mentioned Thailand because we shall arrive to an empty larder!

I hope that we can be careful to stock the fridge with only veggies and skip all the products containing flour and skip dairy.

If it's not in the house, I can't eat it!

There are many studies to show that mice on a slightly restricted calorie diet live a longer healthier life than those who eat only a little more calories than they need.

IMO, BMI is a bad guide to health.

I prefer the waist to hip ratio.

Basically, if your waist is less than your hips you are going in the right direction.

If you waist is bigger than your hips, you have a problem.

I am 5' 10" and about 77Kg, not very muscular so carrying a bit more fat than I need.

A restricted diet with loads of veg might just be a cure all.

I hope that I will see, just need the willpower pill LOL

 

 

 

 

.

 

 

[Speedo1968]

18 hours ago, laislica said:

 

Thank you so much for sharing your story. It's great to see someone take control over their health.
I think that we have been conditioned into thinking that there will always be a pill to instantly make us better.

I also feel that many doctors have been trained to dish out pills rather than correct the source of the problem.

In my case, in my early 40's, the nurse at work did regular BP tests and mine was a little on the high side.

Over a three month period it was generally 145/95 and she suggested I see my Dr.

The Dr. also got a similar reading and immediately put me on 50mg Atenalol, come back in 10 days.

Another check, still too high, increase the dose to 100mg, come back in 10 days.

This time it was 120/80 so on your way!

I stayed on the meds for a few years.

Then I followed a veggie juice diet for 6 weeks.

My weight went from about 100Kg down to about 75Kg.

During this time I became light headed, my BP was too low so I cut the pill in half and all good again.

As the fat reduced I had low BP so took a quarter of the pill and finally a fifth, 20mg.

I went to see the Dr. and saw a young, quite new Dr.

He said well done, stop the meds, 20mg is below the therapeutic dose.
I asked what he meant by well done.

He said that by changing lifestyle and losing the fat I had corrected the problem.

I was angry and complained that I had not been given any such advice.

The Dr, said that perhaps the Dr. I saw had tried to give such advice before but most patients just want the pills to have an easy solution.

That perhaps Dr.'s should always give such advice but that they become tired of it and there are also too many patients and not enough time.....

Well, I accepted that, Dr.s are only human after all.

It does rather show that we are what we eat though.

 

Currently we are in south east Spain and shortly will return to Thailand and the weather recently turned much cooler,

I look forward to more warmer temperatures....

One thing I intend to try is to live on a slightly reduced calorie diet.

I am an addictive type of person, was a smoker and found it took years to stop.

I was (am?) a drinker but have been stopped totally for a whole two weeks or so. Whoa, whoa!

I have some beer in the fridge and have so far not touched a drop!

 

There is a test online to see if you control food (score 1) or food controls you (score 10)

I am a food addict (I scored 10) but my wife is not, (she scored 1). http://susanpeircethompson.com/

 

I mentioned Thailand because we shall arrive to an empty larder!

I hope that we can be careful to stock the fridge with only veggies and skip all the products containing flour and skip dairy.

If it's not in the house, I can't eat it!

There are many studies to show that mice on a slightly restricted calorie diet live a longer healthier life than those who eat only a little more calories than they need.

IMO, BMI is a bad guide to health.

I prefer the waist to hip ratio.

Basically, if your waist is less than your hips you are going in the right direction.

If you waist is bigger than your hips, you have a problem.

I am 5' 10" and about 77Kg, not very muscular so carrying a bit more fat than I need.

A restricted diet with loads of veg might just be a cure all.

I hope that I will see, just need the willpower pill LOL

 

 

 

 

.

 

 

Thanks for the informative reply.

High body weight IS a killer, not just in itself but also in the habits one has accrued over the time to become overweight.

Whilst working in Thailand being on call 24/7 ( which has always been part of my work ethic - farmimg ) led  to binge  eating, even on a vegan diet and no coke cola etc I put on more than 30% extra weight.    Having "burn out"a number of times didnt help either.     I am 5'6'' and now weigh 60kg same as I did 36 years ago.

I smoked as a youngster, quite typical in the 50's and 60's.   Ended up on 60 a day Gitanes  and enjoyed smoking.   Stopped on my 21st birthday as a present to myself.     Apart from the odd joint in the 70's havent smoked since.

I never drank much and my last beer was about 17 years ago.

I have worked mainly outside of the UK since 1968.

 

Some years ago I was diagnosed with Parkisons or Parkinsonism, masses of medication as I had to take pills to stop the side effects of other pills.   Over a couple of years I reduced and finally stopped all meds, no more shaking etc.

 

I live alone so it is far easier to choose what and when to eat.   Now I eat when I am hungry but not cooking does limit the fun of eating.

 

There is no guarantee that being on a good diet will stop one becoming ill, but perhaps it does help reduce the risks and it does help

one recover when we become sick.

 

In 2012 I became seriously ill and hospitalised in Khon Kaen with allergic and acute bronchitis, turning out to be untreatable with any antibiotics, at the same time I had my first 2 TIA's.  I physically refused forced ventilation and have since made out a DNR request.  The lung infection was cleared up using only urine therapy; which has since helped at other times when antibiotics would normally have been used.  The TIA's, ( I normally had pre-warnings sometimes up to a week before, comes from understanding ones body ) - always damaging the right side of the brain and affecting the left side of my body, they continued, some 30 - 40 recognised attacks which I rode out ( I live alone ) using acupressure.   I stopped all medication / treatment other than one aspirin tablet per day and urine therapy.      Finally a mild stroke in August and September this year with warnings 2 - 3 days before.    The strokes damaged the left side of the brain thus affecting the right side of the body.    Luckily my Dr at the KK hospital is a listening doctor and was willing, based on my previous good results from 2012 onwards has accepted that I first try natural remedies to lessen the risk of further strokes, if it does not work then I have agreed to start a very reduced level of medication.  

I noticed a benefit in the first 3 days which continued.

Now in my second week taking twice per day I am starting to see some possible downsides.

It will take one month to be sure of what is best for me.

 

As for the body healing itself or compensating when one has damage.

I have always had acute hearing, when I had my first stroke it affected my eyesight slightly, within a few days my hearing became VERY acute.

The TIA's caused the left arm to hang slightly and my gait was often to the left.    Following the stroke my right arm hung and gait was to the right.    Within a few days my left arm started to swing harder trying to compensate for the damaged right arm.

 

One way I have found to accentuate the swing of a "hanging arm" is, when walking to carry a small laptop backpack ( nothing inside ) over the good shoulder, this restricts that arm from swinging thus making the damaged arm swing almost properly to balance the body.

 

I must make very clear that any and all treatments I use on myself are at my own risk, that my doctor, my family in the UK are fully advised / aware of the benefits, downsides or risks taken in self- treating.     I cannot recommend certain therapies to others as they may be seen as quackery just as acupuncture once was.

 

If you intend to make major changes to your diet it is worth keeping a record of not just what you eat but the weather etc.  There is no need to make a vegan diet boring, there are dishes from North Africa and the Middle East you can easily cook as well as from the Med, South America etc.   Some ingredients are hard to find but if you eat soy protein then there is always chilli seen carne, stew etc.

 

Lucky you in Spain, I lived in South America and Greek Cyprus for some time, in fact much of my life in hot climates including the Middle East.    I can forecast you a cold Thailand this year, where I live,this week the wind started to blow from the China desert.

 

 

[laislica]

1 hour ago, Speedo1968 said:

Thanks for the informative reply.

High body weight IS a killer, not just in itself but also in the habits one has accrued over the time to become overweight.

Whilst working in Thailand being on call 24/7 ( which has always been part of my work ethic - farmimg ) led  to binge  eating, even on a vegan diet and no coke cola etc I put on more than 30% extra weight.    Having "burn out"a number of times didnt help either.     I am 5'6'' and now weigh 60kg same as I did 36 years ago.

I smoked as a youngster, quite typical in the 50's and 60's.   Ended up on 60 a day Gitanes  and enjoyed smoking.   Stopped on my 21st birthday as a present to myself.     Apart from the odd joint in the 70's havent smoked since.

I never drank much and my last beer was about 17 years ago.

I have worked mainly outside of the UK since 1968.

 

Some years ago I was diagnosed with Parkisons or Parkinsonism, masses of medication as I had to take pills to stop the side effects of other pills.   Over a couple of years I reduced and finally stopped all meds, no more shaking etc.

 

I live alone so it is far easier to choose what and when to eat.   Now I eat when I am hungry but not cooking does limit the fun of eating.

 

There is no guarantee that being on a good diet will stop one becoming ill, but perhaps it does help reduce the risks and it does help

one recover when we become sick.

 

In 2012 I became seriously ill and hospitalised in Khon Kaen with allergic and acute bronchitis, turning out to be untreatable with any antibiotics, at the same time I had my first 2 TIA's.  I physically refused forced ventilation and have since made out a DNR request.  The lung infection was cleared up using only urine therapy; which has since helped at other times when antibiotics would normally have been used.  The TIA's, ( I normally had pre-warnings sometimes up to a week before, comes from understanding ones body ) - always damaging the right side of the brain and affecting the left side of my body, they continued, some 30 - 40 recognised attacks which I rode out ( I live alone ) using acupressure.   I stopped all medication / treatment other than one aspirin tablet per day and urine therapy.      Finally a mild stroke in August and September this year with warnings 2 - 3 days before.    The strokes damaged the left side of the brain thus affecting the right side of the body.    Luckily my Dr at the KK hospital is a listening doctor and was willing, based on my previous good results from 2012 onwards has accepted that I first try natural remedies to lessen the risk of further strokes, if it does not work then I have agreed to start a very reduced level of medication.  

I noticed a benefit in the first 3 days which continued.

Now in my second week taking twice per day I am starting to see some possible downsides.

It will take one month to be sure of what is best for me.

 

As for the body healing itself or compensating when one has damage.

I have always had acute hearing, when I had my first stroke it affected my eyesight slightly, within a few days my hearing became VERY acute.

The TIA's caused the left arm to hang slightly and my gait was often to the left.    Following the stroke my right arm hung and gait was to the right.    Within a few days my left arm started to swing harder trying to compensate for the damaged right arm.

 

One way I have found to accentuate the swing of a "hanging arm" is, when walking to carry a small laptop backpack ( nothing inside ) over the good shoulder, this restricts that arm from swinging thus making the damaged arm swing almost properly to balance the body.

 

I must make very clear that any and all treatments I use on myself are at my own risk, that my doctor, my family in the UK are fully advised / aware of the benefits, downsides or risks taken in self- treating.     I cannot recommend certain therapies to others as they may be seen as quackery just as acupuncture once was.

 

If you intend to make major changes to your diet it is worth keeping a record of not just what you eat but the weather etc.  There is no need to make a vegan diet boring, there are dishes from North Africa and the Middle East you can easily cook as well as from the Med, South America etc.   Some ingredients are hard to find but if you eat soy protein then there is always chilli seen carne, stew etc.

 

Lucky you in Spain, I lived in South America and Greek Cyprus for some time, in fact much of my life in hot climates including the Middle East.    I can forecast you a cold Thailand this year, where I live,this week the wind started to blow from the China desert.

 

 

 

 

Wow, what an amazing story.

Like you, I do not recommend alternative therapies to others as they may be seen as quackery.

We didn't discuss the effect that a virus may have in contributing to major and recurring health problems.

Unfortunately, new thoughts and practices are often denounced as quackery, even without reading the studies or giving an open mind.

Yesterday, I came across a very interesting talk, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aHRMjVHggI

Dr. Tent first shows the history of vaccine development, he details everything from 1901 to present date.

It's a 2 hour long long story, so quite hard to hang in and stay focused.

All the information he refers to is all available and in plain sight.

However, his history lesson pulls it all together and then it is easy to have an insight into a wider picture.

At the end of his lecture, he gives some ideas of what to Google and they bring up a ton of other sources of information.

Again, I must repeat that all this is for information and I do not recommend anything other than folk do their own research and learn what works for them.

 

It's said that a virus can be reactivated by any number of events such as stress, radiation, toxins and more.

Quite interesting to me because I remember taking the the oral polio vaccine when I was about 15, (1957) and I have has tetanus shots in my life but I can't say that I can remember all the vaccinations that I ever received.

This lecture now gives me more dots to connect such as stress affecting my health?

My Dad had an enlarged prostate and so do I.

I take Lopress to help to control it and keep my BP in an acceptable range.

We just went through the hoops to buy a flat, to change the title of contracts for water, electricity, rates etc.

Quite stressful because we had chosen to do this just as the Brexit vote took place and the value of the pound dropped like hell and we needed to buy Euros and what I had available in Sterling suddenly was not enough ......

Very stressful!

Then, my hip problems recurred, also, during this time, I have had a panoramic dental X-ray, many injections of dental aesthetic to numb my jaw to have a large molar removed. Then I had a cold sore (Herpes virus) followed by another cold sore. Hmmm, makes me think.

Is it possible that various viruses are reactivated by "food allergies", stress, pollution etc and that this combination is the demon?

I had read more than 30 years ago that L-Lysine and Calcium supplements may help to keep cold sores at bay and that one should avoid foods high in Arginine.

Guess what, I daily eat almonds, onions, walnuts and caffeine, all foods high in Arginine

So quite interesting to read more details in this lecture.

The pendulum swings....

In the middle ages it was the Alchemists who were the quacks, searching for immortality and turning base metal into gold.

In those days illnesses were treated with natural p[ants and minerals.

Not saying that they were right by any means LOL

However, nowadays, I feel that that naturopathy is seen as the quack and the alchemist as the truth.

Perhaps there is a middle ground?
A little of what you fancy does you good?

Good luck with your efforts and whilst I agree that living alone allows much greater control of what you choose to do and when,

there are downsides.

I was single since 2009 until 2012 and I was slimmer and fitter than at any time in my life.

I had great fun, got drunk, ate out, met new friends, travelled - it was great but exhausting....

From early 2012 I have been in the care of my wonderful Thai wife.

I still did the things mentioned above but at a lesser level BUT!

I have got really lazy cos my wife likes to do everything for me.

Now I don't shop, cook, clean, iron, or exercise so much.

I am generally less stressed though, except when making our annual journey to Thailand and back.

Although I'm not very overweight, the amount of fat was slowly increasing, even on my diet.

My aim now is to continue to be more careful with the average calorie intake and get rid of the excess fat.

Hopefully, my BP will normalise as it did when I was at my "best fighting weight" and then I got off my BP meds.

Thanks for the details that you have shared.

You have inspired me to do new research and to possibly learn something new.

Cheers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[AlexRRR]

Turmeric works fine but do buy the best as the cheaper versions do do it...

 

I used it for damaged shoulders for a short time and was amazed but unfortunately  they didn't do well with my guts, i have a certain condion there.

 

Found an Australian site selling it online making it reasonably priced compared to buying it in a local health shop...

[laban]

I watched a very interesting program on uk tv the other day (sorry cannot remember the name). It brought in groups of people to test groups of people with knee joint pain. Two groups tested glucosamine and turmeric for its effects for a period of one month. Those testing glucosamine showed zero improvement, in fact the ones given placebos had slightly better results. Conclusion was that glucosamine was not only an expensive supplement and did not show any benefit.
On turmeric, one group given powder to mix with water and ingest, another used turmeric capsules, and third group were asked to cook with it. Results were zero for first two methods, but great results when cooking with it. The conclusion was that as used and fried as with many Indian food, it releases all its positive properties.


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