Arthritic Effects?...You won\'t Believe This

Dear Warren,

You are so kind in taking the time to reply. I thought about you recently in regards to whether this might be the time for you to start your baking of cookies. Just wondering how that's going...tis the Season, and just remembering your photos of beautiful and tasty looking cookies from last year (was it last year or the year before?) seems to measure the time that has passed. We've been hanging around here for a while now, and I see this as a good thing.

I'll let you all know the results of my Cat's Claw experiment.

Happy Thanksgiving to all! This thought brings me back to the point of YOU, Slabman, and how thankful I feel that your arthritis seems to be receding. Since I've been there (and am still there, really) I know what a feeling of relief this must be for you.

With kindest regards,
Rosemary

Dear Rosemary,
There's no interaction listed with Celebrex, but that's a moot point since you're hoping to get rid of the Celebrex. As far as the side effects, neither the Celebrex nor any other treatment you can get is side effect free, so armed with the knowledge of the side effects, you can try the Cat's Claw and if you think you're having a problem with it, discontinue it. While your results wouldn't constitute a scientific study, I'm sure we'd all like to hear how you do, and wish you good luck with it.

Well, Warren and that's what it's all about. We are here to help each other and I certainly do appreciate and respect your input.

There is no secret about the meds that I take. I am 56 years old and the meds that I am on are......Celebrex....that's it.

I seem to remember a while back that after drinking cat's claw tea that I woke up the next morning and felt more "normal" with less inflammation in my body.

That's why I'm considering it. It's a heck of a lot less expensive than Celebrex too.

I make no claims about it yet but I may try it, unless you can think of a reason that I shouldn't.

Once again, you are much appreciated here, Warren.

Thank you,
Rosemary

Dear Ro,
Please make sure there are no interactions with the Cat's Claw and any other medication you're taking. It may not be a "drug" but it does have potent effects and has side effects as well. If you need me to run a multicheck for you, you can send me a private message with other meds you're taking to check for interactions. According to my reference Cat's Claw should be avoided by anyone with autoimmune disorders, multiple sclerosis, pregnancy, rheumatoid arthritis, and systemic lupus. Note that it didn't say psoriatic arthritis or BCG induced arthritis, but you might want to discuss it with the doc treating your arthritis.
Side effects include bleeding, diarrhea, dizziness, headache, low blood pressure, nausea, stomach discomfort, and vomiting. My reference does not provide any details about the frequency or severity of these reactions.
I don't have anything against these types of non-pharmacological treatments. I just worry that folks might presume greater safety than they deserve just because they are not regulated medications. You may have done your due diligence of research before considering Cat's Claw, so I'm not implying otherwise. I'm just writing because I care, and because others will read your post and may conclude they should try it too.

Well, Slab, this is good news. I am indeed happy for you. It sounds like
your arthritis and inflammation MAY be directly related to the amount of BCG in your system. (It is such a shame that we have to try to GUESS what is going on with our bodies in relation to the reactions to our cancer treatments.)

By the way, I didn't know that you had the pain issue with your shoulder. I also had a "frozen" shoulder and got a cortisone shot for that. That shoulder is much better. It seems that the shot helped, but now the other shoulder is a little sore, but just not half so bad.

As for me, my really terrible inflammation and pain has reduced down to about 15% of the original onslaught. Nevertheless, my daily life has been really impacted by arthritis. Celebrex is a rather expensive medication to have to buy with pocket money so even with insurance I'm only taking the least amount to get by.

I've been thinking about trying some Cat's Claw which is supposed to decrease inflammation (and is also an herbal indication in Cancer)...

Especially because you have already been through so much, I am just really happy that this arthritis has let up on you.

Take good care.

Your Bud,
Ro

Many of you have read my story of having back surgery followed by a staph infection followed by a bladder tumor. I can tell you the past 2 years of have not been good for me at all. About the time my back began to feel a bit better, we found this nasty thing in my bladder. In March of this year I had my TURB, followed by 6 weeks of BCG, then two 3 week maintenance treatments which finally ended Oct 21. Since initiating the BCG, I have experienced severe sciatica with pain down my leg, an very painful arthritic shoulder and swollen joints in my hands all during the time of treatment over the past 7 months. I have had my pain mgmt. Doc prescribe a neurological medicine to trick my brain into thinking there was no pain. But because of all the side effects I stopped taking that foul medicine a week ago. My wife told me I looked and moved like I was 85 yrs. old....and I felt even older than that. I couldn't do anything around the ol' motorhome without needing a couple days in bed to recover from all the back pain. Last week an ortho. surgeon told me he couldn't offer me anything to improve my back/sciatica pain. Really? I was wondering how I would spend the rest of my life with these conditions.

On Monday I woke up feeling "different" and as I moved about I began to wonder what happened to the chronic pain down my leg and in my back? As I went through the day only a little pain returned, probably mostly due to fatigue. On Tuesday things improved even more and have done so each succeeding day. I can tell you I feel like I'm 10 yrs younger today than, say a week ago and have maybe only 5% of the pain I used to experience....certainly something very livable. My shoulder feels much improved and as I type this my fingers feel back to their normal selves with no swelling or tightness in the joints.

So what happened? I don't know for sure. But I didn't go to one of those faith healer guys in a circus tent or anything like that. I have been off the BCG about 4 weeks now and I honestly believe that is the only thing I can attribute this to.

So what does this all mean? I would say to those who have experienced the arthritic effects we've been discussing here lately....just hang in there because better days must be ahead, if my experience is any indication. I'm not saying everyone will experience what I have, but I wish each of you as much of a return to "normal" as possible after you get through your BCG treatments. Now I wonder how I'll react to the longer-term maintenance BCG's at 12, 18, 24 months, etc.