I have had kneecap osteoarthritis for some years now. The doctor prescribed
paracetamol, 8 tablets a day, and I have been taking them faithfully on my
free prescription, for years.
A recent piece of research suggests that they do no good so I stopped -
cold turkey - and believe it or not my knees feel no worse (or better).
Just thought the info might help someone in the same situation.
--
Jim S

On 10/02/2022 10:41, Jim S wrote:
> I have had kneecap osteoarthritis for some years now. The doctor prescribed
> paracetamol, 8 tablets a day, and I have been taking them faithfully on my
> free prescription, for years.
> A recent piece of research suggests that they do no good so I stopped -
> cold turkey - and believe it or not my knees feel no worse (or better).
> Just thought the info might help someone in the same situation.

A quick search online came up with a number of studies which agree with
you, including this one:

<https://www.cochrane.org/CD013273/MUSKEL_paracetamol-treating-people-hip-or-knee-osteoarthritis>

--
Oliver

On 10/02/2022 10:41, Jim S wrote:
> I have had kneecap osteoarthritis for some years now. The doctor prescribed
> paracetamol, 8 tablets a day, and I have been taking them faithfully on my
> free prescription, for years.
> A recent piece of research suggests that they do no good so I stopped -
> cold turkey - and believe it or not my knees feel no worse (or better).
> Just thought the info might help someone in the same situation.

There was an article about it on the BBC web site a couple of days ago -
at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-60289790

--
random signature text inserted here

On Thu, 10 Feb 2022 11:36:20 +0000, Abandoned_Trolley wrote:

> On 10/02/2022 10:41, Jim S wrote:
>> I have had kneecap osteoarthritis for some years now. The doctor prescribed
>> paracetamol, 8 tablets a day, and I have been taking them faithfully on my
>> free prescription, for years.
>> A recent piece of research suggests that they do no good so I stopped -
>> cold turkey - and believe it or not my knees feel no worse (or better).
>> Just thought the info might help someone in the same situation.
>
>
> There was an article about it on the BBC web site a couple of days ago -
> at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-60289790

That's what got me thinking although I had seen some stuff before.
--
Jim S

On 10 Feb 2022 at 10:41:29 GMT, "Jim S" <jim@jimXscott.co.uk> wrote:

> I have had kneecap osteoarthritis for some years now. The doctor prescribed
> paracetamol, 8 tablets a day, and I have been taking them faithfully on my
> free prescription, for years.
> A recent piece of research suggests that they do no good so I stopped -
> cold turkey - and believe it or not my knees feel no worse (or better).
> Just thought the info might help someone in the same situation.

For a safe alternative to relieve arthritic pain check out CBD oils. There are
also oitments containing CBD which some sufferers say also help.
--
Every time someone sings "It was 20 years ago today, Sergeant Pepper taught the band to play" the time line shifts to preserve the truth of the statement.

On Fri, 11 Feb 2022 09:08:54 -0000 (UTC), Ray wrote:

> On 10 Feb 2022 at 10:41:29 GMT, "Jim S" <jim@jimXscott.co.uk> wrote:
>
>> I have had kneecap osteoarthritis for some years now. The doctor prescribed
>> paracetamol, 8 tablets a day, and I have been taking them faithfully on my
>> free prescription, for years.
>> A recent piece of research suggests that they do no good so I stopped -
>> cold turkey - and believe it or not my knees feel no worse (or better).
>> Just thought the info might help someone in the same situation.
>
> For a safe alternative to relieve arthritic pain check out CBD oils. There are
> also oitments containing CBD which some sufferers say also help.

I have yet to try those although the reports are as varied as they are for
Glycosamine and Chondroitin.
However my decision to stop paracetamol does NOT seem to have been a good
one as my knees are back to square one.
I fancy some/all of the solutions talked about take a long time to show any
effect and perhaps I didn't persist with Glucosamine long enough. The whole
idea of efficacy of shellfish extract seems a bit snake-oil to me.
Ibuprofen gel with or without the menthol added has had no effect I could
discern and the theory behond it in the case of patella pain seems dubious
although it may well work on muscles.
SO it's back to full doses of paracetamol from me. At least the only fact I
have discovered is that stopping them made things worse and in it its own
way that's a positive.
--
Jim S

On 17/02/2022 18:28, Jim S wrote:

> I have yet to try those although the reports are as varied as they are for
> Glucosamine and Chondroitin.

Arthritis runs in my family - my Mum had it in her knees, my youngest
brother in his neck, my sister in her hands, my middle brother in his
lower back.

Knowing this, when I got my first computer (in 2000) I looked up what I
could find about arthritis prevention, and (amongst lots of unhelpful
hits of businesses looking for customers I came across a translation of
a Japanese study.

It was looking into the early stages of arthritis and the suggestions
being made of Glucosamine perhaps being useful. There were many pages
of trials and results leading to more trials and so on. The end
conclusion was that Glucosamine alone wasn't effective, but Chondroitin
with it served as a type of catalyst and the ideal dose of 500mg
Glucosamine and 400mg Chondroitin 3 times a day for a typical adult and
4 times a day for the overweight was effective in preventing arthritis
starting, and in the early stages it slowed considerably the condition
getting worse, and as such it was a worthwhile preventative not a cure.

On the strength of that I started taking it[1], aged 52. As a
preventative it was pretty effective in that it took nearly 20 years
before I got the first arthritic pains (in my foot!). I was already
receiving my State Pension by then, whereas my siblings started noticing
joint pains in their 50s, so I think for me it was worth it. I still
take it and my foot isn't getting any better, but it is taking a long
time to get noticeably worse.

A few years ago, Which? did an item on dietary supplements and for
Glucosamine the advice was to not buy it because it was ineffective in
easing the condition. I tried to find the study report again but the
most promising Google hits were beyond a fairly expensive paywall, so I
had no realistic way of knowing if it included the one I originally
read, so I couldn't bring it to the attention of Which?. Yes, as a cure
it was ineffective, but as a preventative it was still worth considering.

As far as your knees are concerned, they hurt a lot now and it is
probably too late for the Glucosamine and Chondroitin mix to be much
use, but it might perhaps slow the process of your knees getting even
worse.

[1] At that time my local Health Food shop had the options of torpedo
shaped tablets or capsules containing a liquid. The capsules gave me
migraine headaches and the tablets didn't, so after discovering that I
have only ever taken the tablet form.

Jim

Jim S wrote:
> On Fri, 11 Feb 2022 09:08:54 -0000 (UTC), Ray wrote:
>
>> On 10 Feb 2022 at 10:41:29 GMT, "Jim S" <jim@jimXscott.co.uk> wrote:
>>
>>> I have had kneecap osteoarthritis for some years now. The doctor
>>> prescribed paracetamol, 8 tablets a day, and I have been taking
>>> them faithfully on my free prescription, for years.
>>> A recent piece of research suggests that they do no good so I
>>> stopped - cold turkey - and believe it or not my knees feel no
>>> worse (or better). Just thought the info might help someone in the
>>> same situation.
>>
>> For a safe alternative to relieve arthritic pain check out CBD oils.
>> There are also oitments containing CBD which some sufferers say also
>> help.
>
> I have yet to try those although the reports are as varied as they
> are for Glycosamine and Chondroitin.
> However my decision to stop paracetamol does NOT seem to have been a
> good one as my knees are back to square one.
> I fancy some/all of the solutions talked about take a long time to
> show any effect and perhaps I didn't persist with Glucosamine long
> enough. The whole idea of efficacy of shellfish extract seems a bit
> snake-oil to me. Ibuprofen gel with or without the menthol added has
> had no effect I could discern and the theory behond it in the case of
> patella pain seems dubious although it may well work on muscles.
> SO it's back to full doses of paracetamol from me. At least the only
> fact I have discovered is that stopping them made things worse and in
> it its own way that's a positive.
>
I took Glucosamine Hydroxide (1,500 mg) tablets daily for quite a few
years. Originally my GP prescribed them, but a couple of years later
they were taken off the prescription list, so I bought them myself from
Holland & Barrett. GP had advised taking the hydroxide rather than the
sulphate as there were lots of queries about the sulphate's effects on
blood pressure. I stopped taking them shortly after I stopped playing
badminton in 2016 when I was 75. To be honest, I can't say whether
they helped my joints at all, as I don't exercise anywhere like the
amount I did and I don't seem to experience any pain in my joints since
stopping the tablets.
--
Heard melodies are sweet but those Unheard are sweeter.
FN 2�22+. Mungo Brandybuck of Buckland..
flyingnun@roseofwhite.plus.com