[at-l] Suddenly, I feel so old.

[askowronek at mindspring.com (amy)]

On Thursday, November 20, 2003, at 07:21  PM, Kelly Whitman wrote:

> Heh - thanks, Amy (I'm 36).  :)
>
> I already take 1000 mg/per day of MSM (I was taking it for my hair, 
> not my joints). Do you take glucosamine?  What kind, how much?  Have 
> you ever considered prolotherapy for your arthritis?

I take glucosamine as part of another supplement.  I don't recall how 
much, but
the amount needed per person varies.  If you want to try it,  I'd say 
start small and
go up slowly until you get results.  From my experience, glucosamine 
works
best in combination with his buddies chondroitin and vitamin c.

I've never heard of prolotherapy.

>
> I guess I had better figure out a way to manage this before March.  
> Coincidentally, I have an appointment with a podiatrist in just a few 
> days.  It was just to redo my orthotics, but we'll be talking about 
> this now, too.
>

My podiatrist wasn't so helpful.  I mean, she tried.  She put me on 
some kind of anti-
inflammatories, prescribed really expensive orthotics, and told me I'd 
have to
soak my foot in hot water several times a day for the rest of my life.  
The drugs made
me sick, the orthotics were of a kind that I judged would make long 
distance hiking
painful (rigid, no padding whatsoever) and I'm just not the kind of 
person to sit around
with my foot in a bucket.

> Once arthritis starts, does that mean it'll happen all over your body? 
>  I thought I was decades away from dealing with this, if ever.  What a 
> bomb to go off.
>

No, it doesn't.  Everywhere I have arthritis is due to an old injury. 
It's not just
random.  And really arthritis can be manageable.  There are worse fates.

-amy