<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

At 08:42 PM 3/18/01 -0500, Gary Jachetti wrote:

>          forget aspirin. Too strong on the stomach. for joint pain use omega
>3 fish oil, msm (methylsulfonylmethane) and glucosamine sulfate. you can get
>this blended together or purchased seperately. all these items can be
>purchased in a health food store or a pharmacy. these 3 items really help
>with inflammation. make sure you get the fish oil is liquid. these is what my
>doctor has me using. dale alexanders is a good brand. forget the aspirin.
>good luck sheila.


Here's my experience related to glucosamine: Consumer Report tested
specifically this product and most of the brands they sell in the health
food stores do NOT have the amount advertised on the bottle. In fact when
tested they run from half as much as advertised to absolutely none. There
is no oversight agency for that kind of supplement sold in health food
stores. I tried this twice for six months at a time, and it never did any
good at all for me. I told my orthopedic doc this, and he put me onto a
brand that is trusworthy: Cosamin DS, which also has chondroitin sulfate in
it, another supplement for the pain, not a drug. And I also recommend
SAM-e, which is as good or better. Again this is not a drug, and it's
considered the first line of defense in Europe for simple depression (never
never for bipolar). And it's also good for the liver. (I wanted them to
call it "Dr. Seuss's snake oil, but they wouldn't listen to me :) I use
both SAM-e and the Cosamin DS, and they have absolutely stopped my thirty
years old arthritis now, except for one stubborn spot in my right thumb.

Also, it's important to note that neither of these start to help
immediately. They take up to 3 months to become effective. -vance