Fighting Arthritis Joint Pain

I have suffered from arthritis since I was about 19. That was the year that I first damaged my left knee. I messed up the right one about a year later. Ever since then, arthritis has been a part of my daily life. I was told when I was 20 that knee-replacement surgery was my best option if I was going to have a physical career. Luckily for my knees, I have a job that does not require a whole lot of running! I have tried a number of different things to help fight my arthritis joint pain, here is what worked for me.

Severe arthritis joint pain can feel crippling.

The first thing that I have to recommend is to start taking Glucosamine and Chondroitin with MSM supplements. I take 1,500 mg of Glucosamine and 2,000 mg of Chondroitin every day. I buy generic brands because of the cost. My local grocery chain always has buy one, get one free bottles about every other month. I stock up when I find deals. The first thing that you need to know about taking Glucosamine and Chondroitin is that it takes a least a month of taking them every day before you will notice any improvement. I started taking them and gave up after about two weeks because I felt no improvement. From my in-laws I learned that it can take up to two months of taking them every day before you will start to notice a difference. Once I committed to taking them, it was probably about a month before my wife asked me if they were working. I hadn’t really thought about my arthritis for a while, so I knew that it was making a difference.

I have found that maintaining a healthy weight also really helps my arthritis. I let myself go for a number of years and packed on an extra 80 pounds. My arthritis was worse than it had ever been. It took me about two years to loose all of the extra weight, but it seemed that my knees got a little better with every pound that I lost. Losing weight is tough, but the fear of having to undergo knee surgery was a great motivator.

A good friend of mine is a nutritionist and he had a number of different ideas for dealing with my arthritis. He recommended adding fish oil to my diet and to increase the amount of water that I drink every day. The fish oil really seemed to help, and it also has great benefits for my heart. I have increased my intake of water. I’m not sure that it has been helping my arthritis, but I seem to have a whole lot less of other problems, especially in the digestive area.

I haven’t cured my arthritis, but I have been able to fight off the pain successfully. I will continue to research other arthritis cure and will post any new information that I find. I have heard a lot about bee-sting therapy, but I’m not so sure about that one yet! Please share any experiences that you have had with fighting arthritis joint pain.