Turmeric Transition

pitbullmamaliz

I know this isn't a turmeric page, but honestly, I trust you guys more than anybody out in the main forum area, and the Facebook Golden Paste page won't talk to me because I'm a heathen instead of making golden paste. ;-)

I ordered some turmeric capsules in hopes of helping with knee pain. However, right now I'm on 800mg of Motrin 3x a day while I recover from hand surgery. I don't need it for pain, but I'm taking it to help with the swelling that is occurring.

Since turmeric is also a blood thinner/anti-inflammatory like Motrin, obviously they are not meant to be taken together. Do you think I can switch over to turmeric since it's got the same anti-inflammatory properties? Or keep up with the Motrin and hold off on the turmeric until I'm off the Motrin?

If it makes any difference, this is the turmeric I got. It got great reviews: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00XNUB7HE/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Would love any thoughts!

ccrdragon

I take turmeric daily, have for several months...

That being said, the only recommendation I would have is to try starting with the turmeric while decreasing the dose of the Motrin to allow your body time to adjust - I do know that it took a couple of weeks for me to see positive benefits from the turmeric.

pitbullmamaliz

So maybe two Motrin, one turmeric? That's a good idea. I know it takes awhile to feel benefits, and right now I've had zero knee pain due to the Motrin. I've gotten spoiled and don't want that back! And definitely need to keep up with the anti-inflammatories for my hand.

cstehansen

Here is a page I generated from my GreenMedInfo.com account that shows the studies around curcumin (source of turmeric) associated with pain. Each study has a link to the Pubmed abstract. The next to last one has a link to the full article that is free. The rest of them require a subscription.

http://www.greenmedinfo.com/greenmed/topic/18768/focus/3715/page

I send this because, although many substances have beneficial properties, frequently, it can be hard to figure out how much benefit and how much to take to get that benefit.

I know fenugreek was one I found that had huge success in BG control. What I could find for sale was 610 mg capsules. After looking up studies, I found that the dosage that had success was 5 g twice a day for a total of 10 g per day. That comes out to over 8 capsules a day to get the reported results.

pitbullmamaliz

That link took me straight to a membership page.

ccrdragon

I know that I used to sound like rice krispies when I got out of bed in the morning before starting the turmeric regime and now I can actually walk normally in the morning without all of the sound effects. I have not taken any pain killers (NSAIDS) since starting and besides occasional bouts of DOMS, have not felt the need to take pain killers.

The take 2/1 sounds like a good plan - just be sure to watch your body's reaction and adjust the doses as needed. You might want to try upping/changing the doses after 2-3 weeks to 1 Motrin/2 Turmeric if the results are acceptable with the 2/1 values (gradually wean yourself off the Motrin).

pitbullmamaliz

May I ask what dosage you take? These are 650mg and recommend two a day.

retirehappy

I just started taking turmeric (2 caps-1000mg) because my C-RP test says I have slightly elevated levels. All the literature I found suggests either statins or turmeric to bring that number downwards. So I eat turmeric in Indian foods as well, I thought this the best option.

I'd like to know how others have found turmeric supplementation to be. So starred this thread.

cstehansen

Here are links to the abstracts starting with the one that has a link to the full study:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23091682

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19070135

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18817212

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19051211

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21945716

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17199240

pitbullmamaliz wrote: »

That link took me straight to a membership page.

RalfLott

@pitbullmamaliz, that's an interesting question!

I used to take 4x naproxen for knee pain and thought nothing of it until I had an endoscopy showing moderate gastritis. The funny thing was, I was completely asymptomatic.

So I just went off the naproxen cold turkey. I don't remember enjoying it, but I'm still moving around, albeit snapping, crackling, and popping a bit. Fortunately, eating LC and losing weight seem to have been helpful.

If you go the cold turkey route, it might be easier to tell if the turmeric is working.

baconslave

cstehansen wrote: »

Here are links to the abstracts starting with the one that has a link to the full study:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23091682

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19070135

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18817212

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19051211

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21945716

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17199240

pitbullmamaliz wrote: »

That link took me straight to a membership page.

Thank you for going to all that trouble.

pitbullmamaliz

@cstehansen , thank you for those. I'll definitely make an effort to struggle through, though I'm thinking those may be beyond my realm of understanding! But I have the free text one open and ready to try. I appreciate you taking the time to post those!

@RalfLott , I'd go cold turkey if I wasn't worried about maintaining a steady dose of anti-inflammatories for my healing hand. Surgery was just Friday so it's still pretty swollen. The last surgery the swelling slowed down healing, so they're super fixated on getting it down fast this time. This probably isn't the best time to try to switch, LOL.

RalfLott

@pitbullmamaliz, what kind of hand surgery did you have - trigger finger releases, perchance?

I've had 8 TF repairs, including 4 in the last year, and it looks like another ahead of me. I thought about taking meloxicam (supposedly easier on your stomach than the others), but I decided to just go with the exercises. The recovery was a heck of a lot slower than the first time 'round, when I was a squirt in my 30s....

cstehansen

pitbullmamaliz wrote: »

@cstehansen , thank you for those. I'll definitely make an effort to struggle through, though I'm thinking those may be beyond my realm of understanding! But I have the free text one open and ready to try. I appreciate you taking the time to post those!

@RalfLott , I'd go cold turkey if I wasn't worried about maintaining a steady dose of anti-inflammatories for my healing hand. Surgery was just Friday so it's still pretty swollen. The last surgery the swelling slowed down healing, so they're super fixated on getting it down fast this time. This probably isn't the best time to try to switch, LOL.

I tend to google a LOT of terms as I read these. Patience has been key for me doing research because I so often have to research terms and such in the articles to understand the articles themselves.

I will add that it appears all of these are animal studies, so they can be useful, but not necessarily 100% transferable to human.

In total, there are over 1300 studies on curcumin/turmeric on the site, so clearly there has to be at least some positive evidence or it would have been dismissed and not repeatedly studied given how expensive these can be to do.

pitbullmamaliz

RalfLott wrote: »

@pitbullmamaliz, what kind of hand surgery did you have - trigger finger releases, perchance?

No - back in September my horse kicked me and severely broke my 5th metacarpal in my right hand (I'm right handed, of course). I had to go to 3 surgeons to find one who could fix it. Took 2 pins, a plate, and 5 screws. Terrible surgery, terrible recovery, and I have a high pain tolerance. Out of work for 3 months. After it healed, finger would not move at that main hand/finger joint. So this past Friday they went back in and took out the hardware because the surgeon is hell bent on me at least having functional mobility. Much easier surgery, thank god. And, it's already bending! Just a tiny bit so far, but I'm excited.

@cstehansen , I will definitely use my Google-Fu when reading! And I'll keep in mind they're with animals. I try not believe in "woo," but sometimes, dammit, it really does work. I have a lot of friends who swear by turmeric, so like you said, there has to be some positive evidence!

kilroy02

pitbullmamalize,

Sorry to hear about your hand. I have 2 horses myself. They are lightning quick with their hooves.

In case you didn't have the recipe for golden paste you can find it here.
http://www.newnaturalsonline.com/agora.cgi?cartlink=Golden_Paste.html

Here are some scientific articles on Turmeric. Just go here and type in turmeric in the search bar on top. You'll be pleasantly surprised.

I hope you mend soon.

kilroy02

Pitbullmamalize,

Sorry I forgot the link.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/

pitbullmamaliz

@kilroy02 , she's an oversized toddler of a 3 year old, and was just playing and I was in the wrong place. Ended up with a hoofprint bruise on my stomach, too. But it could have been worse!

Thanks for the links!

kilroy02

pitbullmsmaliz,

You'll have a lot of years with her. The youngest I ever had was a 4 year old, liked to rear and run back to the barn. I'm on a 20 and a 25 year old now. And the 25 year old is a real pip.
I was also amazed at the power of turmeric. Great stuff.

retirehappy

Getting back to turmeric. My starting giving my husband a couple of caps of it and after about two weeks, he said he really thought it was helping his wrist pains. He has old injuries, one is in the wrist, it never fully healed, slight crack still in it and he gets a lot of pain often from it. Seems to have settled it down a lot. Thanks OP for bringing this topic up.

pitbullmamaliz

I have to say that I'm fully transitioned over to two capsules a day, approx. 12 hours apart, and it's a noticeable difference! I still get the occasional twinge of knee pain, but hopefully that, too, shall pass as my body gets even more adjusted to the turmeric. But probably 90% of the time I can go up stairs and live my life without thinking about my knee. Yay for the power of turmeric!

retirehappy

Bump for newbies.

Xerogs

Make sure your turmeric has black pepper extract (Bioperine) in it or it won't absorb as well as it should. If it doesn't have black pepper extract you can buy it separately. I've found turmeric sold with and without it so just check the labels. I've been taking a low dose of turmeric for years now and it helps with inflammation. I try to recommend to friends who are constantly taking other over the counter pain meds.

tcunbeliever

Aren't you also supposed to take tumeric with fat for absorption? Though, I would think most people are getting fat with their meals anyway in this group.

Xerogs

tcunbeliever wrote: »

Aren't you also supposed to take tumeric with fat for absorption? Though, I would think most people are getting fat with their meals anyway in this group.

Thanks for bringing that up, I will have to check into that. Maybe it binds better to the dietary fat? Like you said I don't think it would be a problem in this group.

tcunbeliever

"Importantly incooking curries, curcumin is often dissolved and extracted into fat, eg. ghee, which may increase its bioavailability. Animal studies have demonstrated that the way it is administered affects its distribution in the body. Unformulated curcumin, such as purified and dried curcumin in a capsule, is absorbed easily but the liver and GI tract tag it in a way that make it not very bioavailable to the brain. There is a lot of confusion about curcumin bioavailability versus absorption. Curcumin is absorbed, but not necessarily bioavailable. Further GI and liver glucuronidation or sulfation "tagged curcumin" which interfere with bioavailability it some tissues also leadds to its rapid removal by the kidneys. Unliked tagged curcumin, free curcumin readily crossed the blood brain barrier and is relatively stable."

from here:
alzheimer.neurology.ucla.edu/Curcumin.html