# Joint Pain Do You Take Anything Besides NSAIDS?



## Ruthanne (Apr 16, 2021)

I can't take NSAIDS which include Naproxen, and Ibuprofen and Diclofenac.  Does anybody take anything else that doesn't cost much?


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## Keesha (Apr 16, 2021)

Turmeric, cloves, pine bark and willow bark


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## Ruthanne (Apr 16, 2021)

Keesha said:


> Turmeric, cloves, pine bark and willow bark


How much of each do you take and do they actually take the pain away?


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## Devi (Apr 16, 2021)

If you live in an area where marijuana products are legal, there is always CBD cream. Works great.

Otherwise, we've used Young Living Essential Oils' Panaway. That works too. Don't recall how much it costs.


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## Ruthanne (Apr 16, 2021)

Devi said:


> If you live in an area where marijuana products are legal, there is always CBD cream. Works great.
> 
> Otherwise, we've used Young Living Essential Oils' Panaway. That works too. Don't recall how much it costs.


I have priced CBD cream and it's outrageous (for my budget at least) but thanks for your reply.


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## Gary O' (Apr 16, 2021)

Joint Pain Do You Take Anything Besides NSAIDS?​

Hemp oil outright rocks
and its almost immediate

Not sure the price, we get it free
I have friends that have a hemp farm
buuuuuut, that's Oregon


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## MarciKS (Apr 16, 2021)

i take nsaids. i shouldn't cuz of my copd and the fact that they give me hives without benadryl but the docs here don't want to prescribe anything decent because we could get hooked. omg!


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## Ruthanne (Apr 16, 2021)

Gary O' said:


> Joint Pain Do You Take Anything Besides NSAIDS?​
> 
> Hemp oil outright rocks
> and its almost immediate
> ...


great you get it free!


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## Ruthanne (Apr 16, 2021)

MarciKS said:


> i take nsaids. i shouldn't cuz of my copd and the fact that they give me hives without benadryl but the docs here don't want to prescribe anything decent because we could get hooked. omg!


well, that sure sounds like anything besides NSAIDS


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## MarciKS (Apr 16, 2021)

they say oh take some tylenol

tylenol doesn't do chit for arthritis


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## Nathan (Apr 16, 2021)

MarciKS said:


> they say oh take some tylenol
> 
> tylenol doesn't do chit for arthritis


Lol,  to my knowledge Tylenol does not   **actually** do anything for pain relief, but is great for destroying yer liver.

NSAIDs will increase your risk of heart attack and stroke, so I won't take those either.

For my osteoarthritis gentle movement works well, Taichi-Qigong-Yoga.


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## Ruthanne (Apr 16, 2021)

Nathan said:


> Lol,  to my knowledge Tylenol does not   **actually** do anything for pain relief, but is great for destroying yer liver.
> 
> NSAIDs will increase your risk of heart attack and stroke, so I won't take those either.
> 
> For my osteoarthritis gentle movement works well, Taichi-Qigong-Yoga.


NSAIDS are very bad for the liver too as a few liver specialists have told me.


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## MarciKS (Apr 16, 2021)

Nathan said:


> Lol,  to my knowledge Tylenol does not   **actually** do anything for pain relief, but is great for destroying yer liver.
> 
> NSAIDs will increase your risk of heart attack and stroke, so I won't take those either.
> 
> For my osteoarthritis gentle movement works well, Taichi-Qigong-Yoga.


I need to make some changes in my lifestyle but, I'll admit to being too busy to bother with it most of the time and the rest is sheer laziness.


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## Dana (Apr 16, 2021)

Hi Ruthanne...I have this three times a week because I play tennis frequently and get some twinges in my elbow... it works for me.
Boil 2 cups of water with 1 teaspoon of turmeric powder and ½ teaspoon of black pepper. Let simmer for 10 to 15 minutes. Add lemon, honey or milk to taste  The black pepper is necessary for absorption of the turmeric. In addition, Nathan’s suggestion of gentle exercises is great. Tai Chi is super if you can manage it!


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## Ruthanne (Apr 16, 2021)

Dana said:


> Hi Ruthanne...I have this three times a week because I play tennis frequently and get some twinges in my elbow... it works for me.
> Boil 2 cups of water with 1 teaspoon of turmeric powder and ½ teaspoon of black pepper. Let simmer for 10 to 15 minutes. Add lemon, honey or milk to taste  The black pepper is necessary for absorption of the turmeric. In addition, Nathan’s suggestion of gentle exercises is great. Tai Chi is super if you can manage it!


Thanks, what brand of turmeric powder do you get?  I ask because I  have taken it in capsules and it made my stomach upset before.


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## Mike (Apr 17, 2021)

If the pain is in an elbow or a knee, roll up
a hand towel, kneel down and put it behind
the knee, then gently go back so that you
trap the towel, keep going as far as you can,
that should do it, if the hand towel isn't big
enough, get a bigger towel.

Do a similar move with the elbow, though it
is a bit more difficult there.

Mike.


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## Aunt Bea (Apr 17, 2021)

Daily exercise is the only thing that seems to help me but I haven't been able to stick with it for more than a few days at a time.

Sometimes a little heat helps.


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## Dana (Apr 17, 2021)

Ruthanne said:


> Thanks, what brand of turmeric powder do you get?  I ask because I  have taken it in capsules and it made my stomach upset before.


I use Bioglan but that's an Australian company...don't know if you are able to get that in the US, however, any shop selling the organic stuff will do. I never use capsules. When available I buy the fresh turmeric and grate it. Another way of using the turmeric if the drink does not suit is mixing it up with your mashed potatoes (if you have that) or any other vegetables.  Failing all that, feast on curries....that's what we're having for dinner tonight!


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## Mr. Ed (Apr 17, 2021)

Cat's Paw herbal powder as a tea 

Turmeric


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## Alligatorob (Apr 17, 2021)

Mobic, meloxicam 15 mg per day.  It is prescription, but a pretty mild anti-inflammatory.  Cost varies a bit, but I can usually get it for less than $5/month.  My doctor prescribes for months at a time and will renew whenever the pharmacy calls, very easy.  I have been taking it for over 10 years and it is a big help, I have little joint pain.  If I stop for a few days the pain returns.  Other than the joint pain relief I have no side effects.


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## Pappy (Apr 17, 2021)

I have bad back and hip pain and the only thing I can take is Tylenol, because I take blood thinners. Tried expensive CBD drops and saw no relief from these. Sleeping and lying flat is the worst.


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## Lewkat (Apr 17, 2021)

I use Olive Gold Oil and BioFreeze which works wonders.  If  bad enough I'll use Gold Bond Lidocaine lotion.  A little bit of each goes a long way.  In the case of a flare up of serious inflammation, I am one of the lucky people who can take aspirin and it takes the inflammation away almost immediately.  Don't require that too often.  I tried Ginger Oil, but it didn't work on me.  Have friends who swear by it.


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## Nathan (Apr 17, 2021)

Pappy said:


> I have bad back and hip pain and the only thing I can take is Tylenol, because I take blood thinners. Tried expensive CBD drops and saw no relief from these. Sleeping and lying flat is the worst.


I was very disappointed with the CBD oil.   Other Cannabis products like Indica gummies work great for sleep.   No side effects.


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## Nathan (Apr 17, 2021)

Aunt Bea said:


> Daily exercise is the only thing that seems to help me but I haven't been able to stick with it for more than a few days at a time.
> 
> Sometimes a little heat helps.


It takes a while to make a habit, exercise is a good one...take 'baby steps' and you'll get there.  

I use my heating pad every day(shoulders-neck-back).   

*RANT:*
 I took Baclofen for years and years- hardly put a dent in my pain.       One day last year the pharmacist called, told me they were cutting my prescription(worried about liability issues, since I'm over 65);  I told them "go ahead and take away my prescription- you're just forcing me to get my drugs off the street". I was just giving them a hard time, but driving home *my point*.

* My point*:  Mainstream medicine has NO pain solution that isn't harmful, except of course aspirin, which was invented in the 19th century.    Aspirin is not known to increase risk of heart attack or stroke, like the other NSAIDs, but it's still an NSAID.  
My skin wounding is bad enough, if I take aspirin I'll end up with tons more purple bruises on my arms.


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## RiverM55 (Apr 17, 2021)

Ain't never had a lick o trouble with that there Alleve.


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## IrisSenior (Apr 17, 2021)

I take Glucosamine and Chondroitin (500/400) 3x a day. I do have a doctor prescription for naproxen (aleve) 500 mg but I only take it if it is a bad pain day. You shouldn't take the Aleve all the time whether over-the-counter- or prescription. I also walk an hour every day.


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## Ruthanne (Apr 17, 2021)

IrisSenior said:


> I take Glucosamine and Chondroitin (500/400) 3x a day. I do have a doctor prescription for naproxen (aleve) 500 mg but I only take it if it is a bad pain day. You shouldn't take the Aleve all the time whether over-the-counter- or prescription. I also walk an hour every day.


I cannot take naproxen or Aleve because they are non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and I cannot take them because of my liver being bad.  Thank you for your reply.


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## Myquest55 (Apr 17, 2021)

Alligatorob said:


> Mobic, meloxicam 15 mg per day.  It is prescription, but a pretty mild anti-inflammatory.  Cost varies a bit, but I can usually get it for less than $5/month.  My doctor prescribes for months at a time and will renew whenever the pharmacy calls, very easy.  I have been taking it for over 10 years and it is a big help, I have little joint pain.  If I stop for a few days the pain returns.  Other than the joint pain relief I have no side effects.



I have arthritis in my knees and have been taking Mobic (Meloxicam) for years as well!  I get a 90 day supply for about $3.85.  (we have Medicare and Advantage through Anthem -Blue Cross/Blue Shield)

NOTE:  There are many makers of this drug and one may work better than another one!  Not every generic drug is exactly the same.

       One day the pharmacy didn't have the oval tabs I usually get and gave me round ones from another manufacturer.  They worked WAY better.  I called Express Scripts (our mail order pharmacy at the time) and they told me there are over 300 makers of Meloxicam and yes, I could request that particular manufacturer.  Since Walgreens has taken over our Rite Aid, they require that the Dr. specify that maker.  So far so good but now I have gotten two rounds of injections, in addition to the tablets, and those have been very helpful too!!


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## Old Dummy (May 1, 2021)

Alligatorob said:


> Mobic, meloxicam 15 mg per day.  It is prescription, but a pretty mild anti-inflammatory.  Cost varies a bit, but I can usually get it for less than $5/month.  My doctor prescribes for months at a time and will renew whenever the pharmacy calls, very easy.  I have been taking it for over 10 years and it is a big help, I have little joint pain.  If I stop for a few days the pain returns.  Other than the joint pain relief I have no side effects.



I've been taking that for about 5 weeks now, cuz of rotator cuff problem and (supposedly) an arthritic wrist, along with tylenol. Both problems on right arm of course, both woke me up one morning with severe pain, no previous problems. Melox and tylenol have helped although I'm getting progressively worse -- I started getting a slight pain/stiffness in my left wrist a couple days ago.

The last melox I took was Thursday night. I just wanted to see what would happen -- well I woke up early today out of my mind with wrist pain.

I saw an ortho a couple weeks ago, he had me go to PT. I can't do it though, too painful. So I just took some cannabis oil about an hour ago, which worked good a week ago. I'm calling the ortho Monday morning, gotta do something different; my right arm is almost useless because of the wrist pain.

I think I'll go back on the melox tonight. It isn't fixing anything though, it's just masking the pain -- like everything else I'm taking.


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## SetWave (May 1, 2021)

Just aspirin


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## Alligatorob (May 1, 2021)

Old Dummy said:


> I think I'll go back on the melox tonight. It isn't fixing anything though, it's just masking the pain -- like everything else I'm taking.


Yep, I have been on it for over 10 years still the same for me just masks the pain.  But that is a pretty good thing.  And I have had no side effect that I know of.  Not addictive either, except that I sure do prefer living without the pain.  And I have not had to increase the dosage, I take 15 mg per day, same as I did 10 years ago, and it still works the same.


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## Old Dummy (May 1, 2021)

Alligatorob said:


> Yep, I have been on it for over 10 years still the same for me just masks the pain.  But that is a pretty good thing.  And I have had no side effect that I know of.  Not addictive either, except that I sure do prefer living without the pain.  And I have not had to increase the dosage, I take 15 mg per day, same as I did 10 years ago, and it still works the same.



That's good about the dosage still being okay. What kind of pain do you have?


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## Keesha (May 1, 2021)

Old Dummy said:


> I've been taking that for about 5 weeks now, cuz of rotator cuff problem and (supposedly) an arthritic wrist, along with tylenol. Both problems on right arm of course, both woke me up one morning with severe pain, no previous problems. Melox and tylenol have helped although I'm getting progressively worse -- I started getting a slight pain/stiffness in my left wrist a couple days ago.
> 
> The last melox I took was Thursday night. I just wanted to see what would happen -- well I woke up early today out of my mind with wrist pain.
> 
> ...


Rotator cuff injuries are tough. Last fall I torn my left rotator cuff and it’s still really sore. I had to stop doing my yoga series which was keeping the rest of my body in great shape. I’ve read that it can take up to a year to heal some rotator cuff injuries.


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## Alligatorob (May 2, 2021)

Old Dummy said:


> That's good about the dosage still being okay. What kind of pain do you have?


Arthritis mostly, started taking it for my back but discovered it works equally well for most any joint pain.  None of my pains are sever, but with the Mobic they are less.


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## Old Dummy (May 2, 2021)

Keesha said:


> Rotator cuff injuries are tough. Last fall I torn my left rotator cuff and it’s still really sore. I had to stop doing my yoga series which was keeping the rest of my body in great shape. I’ve read that it can take up to a year to heal some rotator cuff injuries.



I'm not sure that diagnosis was correct. I think there's something else going on, will find out hopefully in a few days. The way things are going, I'll be a complete invalid in a week or two.


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## Old Dummy (May 2, 2021)

Alligatorob said:


> Arthritis mostly, started taking it for my back but discovered it works equally well for most any joint pain.  None of my pains are sever, but with the Mobic they are less.


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## Been There (May 2, 2021)

Myquest55 said:


> I have arthritis in my knees and have been taking Mobic (Meloxicam) for years as well!  I get a 90 day supply for about $3.85.  (we have Medicare and Advantage through Anthem -Blue Cross/Blue Shield)
> 
> NOTE:  There are many makers of this drug and one may work better than another one!  Not every generic drug is exactly the same.
> 
> One day the pharmacy didn't have the oval tabs I usually get and gave me round ones from another manufacturer.  They worked WAY better.  I called Express Scripts (our mail order pharmacy at the time) and they told me there are over 300 makers of Meloxicam and yes, I could request that particular manufacturer.  Since Walgreens has taken over our Rite Aid, they require that the Dr. specify that maker.  So far so good but now I have gotten two rounds of injections, in addition to the tablets, and those have been very helpful too!!


I also take Meloxicam for about 3 years now. I have issues with my Sacrum from climbing in and out of planes. At least, that’s what I contribute it to. It works very well.


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## chic (May 2, 2021)

I take buffered aspirin which is an anti inflammatory but isn't a cure all. I also use Aspercreme with lydocaine. Aspercreme was like a miracle the first time I used it, but less so now. Still, I do use it everyday.


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## Chet (May 20, 2021)

I was prescribed tramadol and meloxicam for pain and if they help any, it's not much. Any OTC meds have a warning to only take so much for so long so I avoid them. The only time I have pain is for certain types of movement so I try to avoid that movement. When I'm motionless, there is no pain, so I try to work around what causes the pain. Luckily, I have no constant pain which is a whole other story.


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## Pappy (May 20, 2021)

Chet said:


> I was prescribed tramadol and meloxicam for pain and if they help any, it's not much. Any OTC meds have a warning to only take so much for so long so I avoid them. The only time I have pain is for certain types of movement so I try to avoid that movement. When I'm motionless, there is no pain, so I try to work around what causes the pain. Luckily, I have no constant pain which is a whole other story.


Folks like us Chet, are between a rock and hard place. I can’t take nsaids as I take a blood thinner. Tylenol doesn’t do much for my aches. I’ve taken all the drugs you mentioned including hydrocodone, not much help with those either. I work around the pain the best I can. I’m toying the idea of acupuncture.


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## John cycling (May 20, 2021)

Ruthanne said:


> Does anybody take anything else that doesn't cost much?



Ice water, in a bucket or with a wash cloth.
Fresh ginger root, a large piece peeled, chopped and blended with water.
Drink as much as you want once you're used to it, and rub some on the painful areas with your hands or a wash cloth.

Valerian root is excellent for getting rid of the pain. 
One time I had a terrible toothache.  A dentist said to take a poison and come to the office a week later.
The pain was so bad I couldn't sleep, so I got up in the middle of the night, blended the valerian root with water
and drank quite a bit of it.  I lay down again trying to sleep, and nothing happened.   I thought it wasn't working but
45 minutes later I was drifting off to sleep and the tooth wasn't hurting anymore.  I blended, strained and drank valerian
root all the next day and the pain never returned.  I didn't take the poisons and cancelled the appointment with the dentist.

Never heat, because heat increases inflammation and pain, brings blood to the surface and delays any healing.

Never any drugs.


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