Two more arrows in the quiver

[cjsmith]

I've got nettle and bromelain now, too. Nettle is particularly nifty: it seems to work well with NSAIDs, giving a big multiplier to the drugs' effectiveness. Most excellent. Gimme.

My purse is bulging with all the things (pills, Blue Goo) I carry back and forth to work. Some things want to be 3x/day spaced out evenly, some want to be with meals, some I only need 1x/day.

MORNING: NSAID, nettle, bromelain, flaxseed oil, glucosamine/chondroitin, standard multivitamin: 16 pills.
LUNCH: nettle, bromelain, flaxseed oil: 8 pills.
MIDAFTERNOON: NSAID, 3 pills.
DINNER: nettle, bromelain, flaxseed oil: 8 pills.
NIGHT: NSAID, hormones: 4 pills.

Plus the Blue Goo 2-3x/day and the icing and the no sweets, of course.

This gets old.

Important Safety Tip: when taking sixteen pills right in a row, don't wash every one of 'em down with carbonated water. I feel like I just ate a rock. A big rock.

Comments

[just-cyd.livejournal.com]

ooh! that tip on the nettle might be something for me to check out to get this hip pain under control. anti-inflammatories don't seem to to squat for me, so maybe this boost will...?

since adding supplements, it's hard for me to get all my pills down in one sitting. i start with the smallest and most essential and go from there. three days this week my multivitamin, glucosamine/chondroiten (huge freaking thing) and one other didn't get down til i got to work. and i'm horrible about taking my dinner meds.

i keep forgetting to take my blue goo and ice packs to work. i do have access to an ice machine and plastic bags, so i can make my own in a pinch, but i learned the hard way they can leak. :-/

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Maybe... heck, throw anything anti-inflammatory at it that you can find, 'cause it might help. But maybe your pain isn't inflammatory??

I hear ya about the pills-in-a-pile. It's easier when I take them at work, because I can work my way through the morning pile while checking my e-mail and voice mail. And what's WITH the enormity of the glucosamine/chondroitin pills? I used to have "triple strength", which I swear I would have to be a practicing porn star to swallow comfortably. Thank goodness the ones I have now are smaller.

Can you leave an ice pack in a freezer at work? I'm doing that, and it sure is convenient. Carrying one more thing back and forth, UGH! :-)

[just-cyd.livejournal.com]

But maybe your pain isn't inflammatory??

Rheumatologist said the same thing. i don't have obvious joint inflammation, thus the suggestion that it's fibromyalgia. my hips, however, i don't know. bursitis is inflammation of the bursa, but it's not responding like they'd hoped to the usual treatments. xrays in 2003 showed the joints to be fine. what else is in there to be so cranky?

I used to have "triple strength", which I swear I would have to be a practicing porn star to swallow comfortably.

*splorts water on the monitor* oh, how true. mine are pretty big, but my super-sensitive gag reflex makes it much worse than it should (no porn star future for me!)

and i've got a mini-fridge not far from my desk, if only i could get the cold pack to the car.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

i don't have obvious joint inflammation, thus the suggestion that it's fibromyalgia.

Ah. What sort of treatments does THAT respond to? I know it never really goes away... so I guess I hope that's not what's going on.

what else is in there to be so cranky?

I hate to suggest the nerves themselves, but of course that's my own experience talking. My feet were nerve tumors, and my abdominal pain is nerve herniation. On the positive side, often there's something that can be *done* about problems with the nerves.

[just-cyd.livejournal.com]

the biggest thing with fibro seems to be sleep, as in i'm not getting it, and i desperately need it. so stuff to help provide restful sleep, mild daily exercise, and, um, i'm not sure what else. probably diet modification.

I hate to suggest the nerves themselves, but of course that's my own experience talking.

on my next PT visit, i want someone to explain to me WHAT this is, how it works, etc. the pattern of the pain, and what causes pain, perplexes me. i feel like i need to see what's going on in there to comprehend it. because if it's not the joint itself, but the bursa, how do my movements affect it, and what can we do to fix it? because this must get fixed, and soon.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

stuff to help provide restful sleep, mild daily exercise, and, um, i'm not sure what else. probably diet modification.

Good luck. Those all sound like gradual changes that once made will last a lifetime. That's a lot harder for me than drastic changes for a short time.

on my next PT visit, i want someone to explain to me WHAT this is, how it works, etc.

I, too, wish medical people of every stripe would explain more. It's almost as if they've never seen an intelligent, interested patient before. That *can't* be true.