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Posted 3/4/2006 3:51 PM (GMT 0)
confused  hi all, this is my first time on this forum, so i will try to be brief, ha ha.  i have suffered with upperback ache between my shoulders for years but just in the past few months it has acclerated quite a bit, hurts all day to the point of distraction. it feels like it is on fire . just recently i found out i have a bit of arthritis in my upper back along with some deteriorating disk, is the a a natural remedy i can use to help with this. i have coronary artery disease so i have been instructed not to use ibupropen, and acetimeniphan does not put a dent in it. thanks
Posted 3/4/2006 8:15 PM (GMT 0)
Hey DreamGirl - welcome to the arthritis side of the forum! Sorry for your discomfort... Have you tried using heat pads? Or like those therma care patches? I know sometimes they help me to ease some of the discomfort. What meds are you on for your coronoary artery disease? Has the doc said what type of arthritis you have? I hope you find some comfort soon... take care and let us know how you are doing.... Duck
Posted 3/5/2006 3:11 PM (GMT 0)
:-)  hi ducky, i have never tried those patches, silly me never thought of that. i have used heating pads at nite, that just feels plain good period in this cold weather.  i have actually gone off a lot of my prescribed meds because of side effects. i went through all the statins to lower cholesteral and am presently taking .81 aspirin and 2.5 lisinopril. i know this sounds rather strange but i have such a low tolerance to many drugs even natural products.  i have been taking a fishoil product from costco, and decided to stop it for a day(yesterday), it has a few other ingredients in it, and i actually only hurt at a level three most of the day,, i went to the gnc store and bought some pure salmon oil,and will try that instead, i will know in a couple of days if i continue to be a bit less sore, sounds crazy but i just have to start eliminating things as i go to see if i can find the culprit. it is very scary not taking statins since they are (tauted) as the miracle drug for high cholesteral, but i just think they make my muscles ache and i notice i am a lot flabbier than a j year ago when this started. i am 58. a bit young to start falling apart.sorry this was so long.thanks for listening.
Posted 3/5/2006 4:24 PM (GMT 0)
I know a lot of people swear by flax seed oil and fish oil, since you are going to GNC, you may want to try those also. I totally understand how you feel about want to try and eliminate the meds you take in your life, I don't blame you a bit. I absolutely hate having to take so many meds, but unfortunately with all that is wrong with me, I have no choice. :( Good luck to you, and I hope the oils work for you, let us know how you fair! Duck
Posted 3/7/2006 9:43 PM (GMT 0)

hey! and welcome to the gang here!

watch out with the muscle pain.  report that to your doc.  statins can cause serious side effects regarding your muscles...so if your doc doesn't know about the muscle pain, tell em' STAT!

but yeah!...statins are great.  not only for cholesterol, but for soooo many other things too!  it really is a wonderful medication is there ever was one!  helps with cancers, Alzheimers, heart disease, prostate cancer....  how long have you been on the lipid lowering agents?

if there is evidence of some arthritic condition going on in your neck, inquire about the cox2 meds. they work well for OA of the spine.  fish oils and flaxseed like Ducky said people swear by is right.  but since you're on ASA treatment and statins, make sure it's OK by the doc first before starting any fish oils...the fish oils can thin the blood further.

there's this cream "FluidJoint" @ Walgreens i bought for joint pain.  it's actually one of the better ones i've tried.  feels like topical novicane!  it freezes the painful area it feels like!  helps...doesn't make it go away, but helps.

the best to you!  be in touch.

erin


Posted 3/8/2006 1:21 AM (GMT 0)
eyes  HI, THANK YOU FOR ALL THE INQUIRYS..OOPS I NEED TO UNDO THE CAPS. i have been taking fish oil for 3 months and i do not think it is helping my back pain at all. i go to bed with a heating pad every night.  it seems that when i wake up in the morning the pain level is about a 2-3, by 11 am i am usually at 5-6 and by 2 pm 7-8. just seems if i stayed totally relaxed-maybe valiumed out it would not escalate so, however i would never do that.  i do not take anything for the pain, i will see my cardiologist later this week and talk to him about this, but i do not plan on taking meds at this point, need to tolerate this as long as i can.  has glucosime/chondroiden helped anyone< i think i asked before and got no response. thank you for your replies, i started on this website worried about my heart but now i am needing some help about arthritis, i am okay and i am going to try those patches that were suggested, that sounds great, i had forgotten if you can imagine that!!!!!
Posted 3/8/2006 4:40 AM (GMT 0)
Hi again,

 

Mmmmm?...sounds like you're sufferring a bit with this back pain.  I know I wrote to you about the Ativan, but now looking at this and reading you have heart problems...I would seriously talk this over with your cardiologist.

Pain in the shoulders and in the middle of your back is a hallmark symptom of cardiac problems. They do present differently in women than in men, it's not just chest pain. Back pain can be a signal too!

 

Personally, my feelings on oral glucosamine? I really do not favor it, but that's just me.  My boyfriend takes it for a little OA in the knee...and he swears by it! So everyone is different. All these studies coming out now that Glucosamine and Chondroitin really doesn't help OA?  Makes ya wonder?  But it can't hurt to try...so go with your gut.  I have never been on it, I have RA...so I feel it wouldn't benefit my condition.

The fish oil, I kinda agree with ya!  I've been taking it....and taking it....& I don't see or feel a difference, but what the heck!  I have high cholesterol, so it's good for that!

 

I do notice that my joint pain gets worse with activity & as the day progresses.  It could be that by your movement & straining and all...your neck/back/Cspine gets worse.  What do Xrays show?

 

Do you have a plan of treatment for this? Seeing your doc soon?

Hang in there!

Erin

Posted 3/9/2006 3:57 AM (GMT 0)
Hello DREAMGIRL, this is my first post in the arthritis forum as well. I am a fellow crohnie who has been noticing joint pain in my hands, ankles, and upper back. I have actually had aggravating upper back(between the shoulders, trapezius muscle I believe) for over 10 years and never once thought it could be due to arthritis. Only since visiting the crohnes forum have I started to put 2 and 2 together. I have tried the sticky A5 35 heating pads and they do help a bit. I also have been taking flax and fish oils and do not see a difference. Hope you can find some relief, please let us know if you do!
Posted 3/9/2006 5:29 PM (GMT 0)
eyes  just thought of another thing:

 

if you can get your hands on some (they are expensive...but Dr.s sometimes have samples) maybe some LidoDerm patches?

i found theyhelp a little when i put them right on my spine.  numbs it pretty good.

 

Posted 3/12/2006 6:08 PM (GMT 0)
:-)  hi erin, hi carla, when you have heart issues they sort of take the front stage so i have just endured the upperback and neck problems, i have mentioned all these to my dr. and we did an upper x-ray and it showed moderate degenerative disk and mild arthritis. so who knows. i also take an aspirin daily and some of the pain may be due toreferred pain from my stomach(it hurts alot when i talk) i have mentioned this but there is nothing on xrays or ultrasound, so all i can figure is it is related to the aspirin as i have elimmmminated just about everything else. i am thankful to have a place to go about this.  i have not been deligent with the glucosimin, so i am not a good one to go by.  carla, i have been on fish oil(cannot take flaxoil) for over three months and i use it in hopes of lowering my cholesterol problems, i just had a blood lipid level taken, and my total cholesterol was 275, ldl 182 and hd  66,triglycerides 146, so i am not sure but i think its helping the total picture, i will continue on it, can't hurt. i would really like to stop the aspirin and use only the fish oil for a blood thinner, i will ask my dr. i also heard bromelain is good for that. sorry this was so long.
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