Hi everybody,
I first posted what follows at another site because I wanted to see if other people got relief from arthritic pain and stiffness after taking a herb that has helped me. When the first reply to my post at the other site was that there was no need to take anything for the relief of arthritic symptoms as arthritis was easily cured by immersing one’s body alternately in hot and cold water and that usually 2 or 3 sessions of this was enough to banish the arthritis forever I decided to look for a forum with people that weren’t ‘experts’ on curing illnesses that the ‘expert’ putting forward the ‘cure’ had obviously never suffered from and new nothing about. Needless to say I resisted the temptation to reply to the person at the other site by asking if there were any sensible people at the site (or by calling the person an idiot) but instead looked for another forum and found this one and another one that I have joined.
Just in case any of you want to try the, as far as I am concerned, inane advice I got at the other site about just getting rid of the arthritis all together instead of mucking around with pain killers etc here it is:
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If any of you have any success with this technique let us know and I’ll be the first to admit I was wrong in rubbishing it! I'm probably not going to bother trying it as common sense tells me that the damage in my neck for example is not going to heal itself with one or two sessions of soaking in a hot tub and then taking a cold shower but some of you may be less cynical than I (or more stupid or more desperate)! It certainly can't do any harm and I guarantee you will feel better on soaking in a hot tub as all arthritis sufferers know that hot water has a magical although temporary effect.
I will more or less post what I posted at the other site where I got the inane response and hope that any response I get is sensible because people here actually have arthritis. I have also posted this message at the other forum I joined today where the people there actually have arthritis as I would like as many people as possible to try the herb that has helped me as I would like to know if the benefits are peculiar to me or if others report benefits. Here is what I posted at the other site:
I've suffered from arthritis for many years and I first began taking anti-inflammatories when I was about 35 years old (I am now 53 and the arthritis is much worse) because the pain in my neck had started to become so bad that it was beginning to affect my work and my quality of life. I am now 53 years old and the disease has progressed to the point where it affects many of the joints in my body-neck, lower back, hands, both hips and my feet.
A few years ago it became so bad that I saw a doctor and begged for something to relieve the pain and help me get through the day working in a stressful job and the doctor prescribed Tramal for pain relief. Tramal proved effective but I had to take 400 mg or more (up to 600mg) to get sufficient relief to be able to continue working in my job. The Tramal had side-effects-severe constipation, raised blood pressure and sometimes sedation so bad that I could barely get out of bed and often slept for long periods.
I've never had much faith in natural remedies because I've taken a cocktail of natural substances that were supposed to be good for you for many years without any discernible benefit. As well as taking the cocktail of natural substances (vitamins, fish oil, saw palmetto, glucosamine sulphate, calcium, ginko biloba etc) I exercised regularly running 8kms 4 or 5 times a week and swimming 20 to 50 laps of a 50metre pool almost daily and look where it all got me-crippled with arthritis! Taking large quantities of Saw Palmetto for example hasn't stopped my prostate from enlarging to the point where soon I will have to have an operation and I’ve taken large quantities of among other things glucosamine sulphate for my arthritis for years without any discernible benefit.
Now I will get to the point of my post. About a year ago I experimented with using a herb called Feverfew to see if might help relieve the arthritic pain. I started by taking four 500mg capsules per day with my first meal of the day. Within a day or two I noticed a tangible reduction in my arthritic pain. The reduction was sufficient that I was able to reduce my Tramal intake down to as low as 100 mg per day and stopped taking anti-inflammatories altogether.
A few weeks ago after using Feverfew for around a year I ran out of it and didn't think to get any more. I then went through a very bad period of increased arthritic pain and began taking more Tramal and resumed taking anti-inflammatories (Mobic). As a result my blood pressure soared and my last blood test showed that my liver function was abnormal no doubt because of the medication I had been taking for the arthritis (I don't drink so it could not have been due to alcohol intake).
Recently I went to a health food store to get more of all the different things I normally take and bought some more Feverfew. Again I found that within a day or two of taking Feverfew my arthritic pain reduced to the point where I stopped taking anti-inflammatories and now take a 200 mg Tramal in the morning only because if I didn't I would suffer withdrawal effects. You cannot suddenly stop taking Tramal after taking large quantities for a long period of time otherwise you suffer horrendous withdrawal effects.
I now take Feverfew in the morning with my first meal and I also take it at night with food. When I wake I no longer have as much stiffness and pain that I used to have. There is still some pain but it is mild compared to what I used to suffer. Now when I lie in bed on either side I no longer feel intense pain in the hip on which I am lying like I used to. Because of the reduction in pain and stiffness that apparently has resulted from resuming taking Feverfew my arthritis no longer depresses me to the point where I feel I am just waiting for death to relieve me from its clutches.
I would like to know if the benefits that I am getting from using Feverfew are peculiar to me or whether other people suffering from arthritis would also get the same benefits. Let me make it clear that while the benefits are noticeable my arthritis still bothers me a lot but I am able to function noticeably better with noticeably less discomfort when I take Feverfew.
The Feverfew that I take I get from a GNC Health store here in Australia. It is called ‘Fingerprinted Feverfew’ and I believe these stores can be found in other countries. I have tried another brand, ‘Nature’s Sunshine’ and it too appears to be as effective as the GNC brand but contains 340mg as opposed to the 500mg that the GNC brand has. On the bottle it states that Feverfew ‘helps reduce the severity, duration and frequency of migraines’. It makes sense therefore that it might be of assistance in reducing arthritic pain. What surprises me though is that it is as effective if not more effective than a powerful drug like Tramal which is a synthetic opiate.
This is the first natural substance I have taken that has produced a noticeable rapid and highly beneficial effect. In fact it is the first natural substance I have taken that has produced any discernible benefit after having taken a cocktail of vitamins etc for many years.
I believe Feverfew warrants scientific study to work out how and why it works as based on my experience it is effective both as a pain reliever and anti-inflammatory and if its mode of action could be determined it could lead to more effective treatments for arthritis than the traditional harsh treatments currently common involving prescribing ani-inflammatories and powerful pain killers. Being a natural substance it has no side effects and since I have been taking it for around a year the relief is ongoing and in contrast to many drugs you don't need to increase the dosage as your body gets used to it.
There must be quite a few people out there reading these forums suffering from arthritis and I invite them to try Feverfew to see if they get the demonstrable relief that I get. If so I would like to hear from them because it would confirm that the substance doesn't just benefit me because my body has some sort of peculiar affinity with it.
The reason I wander if Feverfew benefits just me is because when I have gone into health food stores I have been told by quite a few people serving in these stores that many customers have reported that glucosamine sulphate has helped them greatly and quite frankly all it has done for me is make me poorer and the companies that make it more profitable. My own take on this is that the placebo effect works with many people but being naturally sceptical I am not prone to such an effect and benefits have to be real for me to feel them but I could be wrong and may be one of the small percentage of people that don’t benefit from glucosamine sulphate. I can say the same about Saw Palmetto and it's supposed benefits in aiding reducing benign enlargement of the prostate-despite taking large quantities of Saw Palmetto for many years only a drug called Flomax currently enables me to urinate and within the next year or so I will have to go into hospital to have surgery to fix this problem.
The only natural substance I have ever taken that has produced a tangible rapid and highly beneficial effect is Feverfew. It has given me back some quality of life. I can now go about my day without being in so much discomfort from stiffness and pain that I feel miserable because I am in constant pain. To anyone that decides to try it I recommend taking say two or three 500mg capsules with your first meal of the day and maybe another two or three 500mg capsules with food prior to going to bed or perhaps spreading it over several doses through the day.
I have not worked out if there is an ideal dosage and can only say that I have averaged around 4 capsules per day for the last 12 months with good relief but am now taking a bit more because I feel that taking some at night is a good idea as I learnt from taking Tramal that pain medication often is more effective when taken on going to bed and I believe Feverfew might work more effectively while the body is at rest. You should on waking feel less stiffness and pain but don’t expect a miracle. It should noticeably help and if after taking it for a week or two you discern no tangible benefit then stop taking it to see if in the next few days your pain levels rise.
Arthritis sufferers that experience a fair amount of pain and inflammation are most likely to notice a difference after taking it as in my case Feverfew appears to have literally stopped the pain in both my hips when lying in bed on either side and greatly reduced referred pain in both shoulders (referred because I don't have arthritis in my shoulders but my shoulders have been very painful because of the arthritic damage in my neck) and reduced the general stiffness and pain I used to feel on waking.
However it is no miracle panacea and while it produces a noticeable improvement I still need pain medication and have to watch how far I push myself or I still suffer a lot (especially if I'm stressed and can't lie down and rest). Where I appreciate the benefit most is how much better I feel on waking or lying on a couch watching TV.
I didn't realise how much good Feverfew was doing me until I ran out a few weeks ago and didn't think to get any more. For the next two weeks or so my arthritic pain was so bad that I became quite depressed and wondered what sort of future I faced in my old age. I would wake with a great deal of pain and stiffness and if I lay on my side the hip I lay on would hurt badly. During this period I often took 400mg of Tramal and Mobic (an anti-inflammatory) causing my blood pressure to soar. Now since resuming taking Feverfew I have quality of life again-reduced pain, reduced stiffness and a general feeling of well-being.
I would be interested to hear whether other people suffering from arthritis find taking Feverfew beneficial or whether the benefits are peculiar to me.
Edward
As a postscript I like to add that since the above post I've researched Ferfew and discovered that it is indeed an anti-inflammatory and has been used as a treatment for arthritis but with no clear results. Apparently it's not recommended to take it with non steroidal anti-inflammatories (like Celebrex).
I've also discovered that it is being studied by health researchers in Australia for its potential in helping arthritis and one of the researchers studying it has stated that 'Feverfew has remarkable properties for helping arthritis sufferers and may stop the progress of the disease and may even reverse the disease!'. I'm going to continue taking it as I'm not waiting until these researchers confirm this as it could take years and even if they don't confirm this I'll take it because I think it is helping me. The researcher who I quoted made the remarkable statement about Feverfew when interviewed on the evening news on a national television station here in
I now take Feverfew up to 3 times each day, with my first meal of the day, some time during the day and at night before going to bed (I consider the nightly dose the most important because arthritis is worst on waking) and continue to find that when I wake I have less pain and stiffness than when I don't take it. I may try stopping it for a while just to confirm in my mind that it is benefiting me the way I think it is but am loath to go through another bad patch like the one I went through when I last stopped taking it. If others don't find they get some benefit from it perhaps I'm just lucky that my body likes the stuff (it would be a pity if it only helped me)!
As a further update since writing the above some weeks ago I've had one period of 4 or 5 days where my pain got worse making me wander if I was over zealous in my praise for Feverfew but it was mild compared to the period I went through when I stopped taking Feverfew. I continue to feel that Feverfew is definitely helping and I continue to wake with less morning stiffness and pain than I used to have in the past when not taking Feverfew. I now take 6 500mg Feverfew capsules with my first meal of the day and 6 500mg capsules with food at night. I feel that taking more than this is unnecessary.
I'm reluctant to stop taking Feverfew for a couple of weeks to see if my pain levels rise significantly because I don't want a repeat of the pain levels I experienced the last time I did this but I will try and do this at some stage in the future to confirm that Feverfew is helping. The researcher's strong statement on the channel 10 news here in Australia about Feverfew being able to stop the progression of arthritis and perhaps reverse it means I will continue to take it no matter what in case what he said is proved true at some later date. Research is a long methodical process and I’m not waiting until there is definite confirmation of what he said as it could take years in which time I might have seen my arthritis get a lot worse when there was a way of stopping its progression.