Chronic Health Conditions Discussion and Support

First: I have awful knees - one is essentially bone on bone, the other nearly so - and both ACLs are torn.

Next: I am very mobile and essentially pain free, to the shock of my orthopod, who tried to convince me to take Vioxx years ago (and I refused). When he looks at my XRays, he wonders how I can walk, never mind very actively garden.

And: I am a PhD organic chemist with an additional BA in biology and very, very skeptical - I worked in Pharma for 25 years.

Given that, about 10 years ago, when listening to the People's Pharmacy on our local NPR station, someone called in saying that they are getting good relief from taking glucosamine, boswellia and turmeric for joint pain. And so I started - one pill each, each morning - glucosamine sulfate, turmeric and boswellia - three pills or capsules.

I don't care if it is a placebo effect, but it works - note that turmeric and boswellia are ayurvedic "medicines" used for a long, long time for pain relief.

And so - I can't say why they work so well for me, or whether it is 1, 2 or all 3 of the components. But it is worth a try - especially since you can find all three quite inexpensively on sites like Vitacost.

I probably am facing a knee replacement(s) in a decade or so - but these herbs - as well as taking off 50 lbs a few years ago - are doing wonders for me.