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My friend has some serious issues with inflammation and is in heavy use of naproxen. SHe uses that one because compared to other common pain killers, it is less problematical to her stomach. Don't bother with any sermons on the evils of grain as I have already tried that and she is unwilling to give them up. She feels that her stomach is unable to properly digest meat and so she cannot give up the grains. Of course, I have diff opinions on proper course of action but she is not going to listen. So as far as I can see, treating the actual likely cause of her slowly worsening prob will not happen at this time due to her attitude about diet.

However, on a more specific note, she wishes to get off of heavy painkiller use, which right now is naproxen. Her pain is caused by some kind of joint pain issue for which the doctors can't give an explanation, but they say it is not arthritis and may at least partly have something to do with crystals building up in the muscles. The problem is in many of her joint areas, shoulders and fingers being the worst. Not surprisingly, she also has poor intestinal health, probs with constipation, and probs with intestinal pain that preceded the use of the painkillers. Of course, what she wants is a magic pill that will fix everything. What she is currently trying is some herbs to take the place of naproxen. Any suggestions? I try not to take pain killers myself but am curious myself if there are any herbs out there that might be useful for things like headache or menstrual cramp or other common causes of pain.

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 Maybe gluten-free or the WAPF approach (soak/sprout/ferment) could work? Even just giving up wheat would probably help - she could switch to other cereal grains (oatmeal, rice). Crystal formation might be related to uric acid. Is she eating a fair bit of fructose? (or alcohol?) – Dave S. Dec 2 2010 at 13:18
She eats a lot of grains, starbucks coffee and sugar. Not healthy by a mile! – Eva Dec 3 2010 at 3:31
I suspect she has gout or connective tissue issues. Naproxen will lead to leaky gut. If it's gout, I'd consider these suggestions: paleohacks.com/questions/82210/… – Namby Pamby Dec 29 2011 at 7:23

15 Answers

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Joint pain and calcium oxalate crystal formation are often exacerbated by magnesium deficiency, so I would suggest that she take that in addition to things people have already mentioned.

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Thank you, I like this one as it could help with the actual problem itself. – Eva Dec 2 2010 at 3:33
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Good answers at the following questions that have already been answered about anti-inflammatories:

  1. for Acute Inflammation
  2. for Ligament Injury
  3. for Joint Pain

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Top ideas:

I hope this helps!

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 I second the Devil's Claw informationisbeautiful.net/play/… ---links the science and graphs effectiveness, hit the show me tab to isolate for uses. – frankifries Dec 2 2010 at 2:02
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 Dr. Art Ayers recommends castor oil, so I thought I would give it a try. It is pretty effective at reducing pain. I also take hot baths in epsom salts and use ice packs quite a bit. But i'm starting to use castor oil over IcyHot - it doesn't work as quickly, but it lasts longer. My wife appreciates it - she can't tolerate the IcyHot smell. – Dave S. Dec 2 2010 at 13:13
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Her story sounds EXACTLY like mine. In my case, I had no idea that it was the grains that was killing me. My entire story can be found on Robb Wolf's site here

http://robbwolf.com/2010/11/10/long-hard-road-out-of-hell-or-why-fat-girl-went-primal-the-unabridged-version/

I don't know that reading it will change her mind, but within 5 days of being wheat free I was able to stop taking all the meds that I had to take to make my digestive tract function and all of the excruciating gut pain was gone. After 10 days of being wheat free my C-reactive protein levels went from 12.04 to 8.47. It wasn't until after I went full Paleo that my joint pain disappeared, but it was gone within 3 weeks of strict Paleo. Perhaps if she reads the details of my story she will at least be willing to try it for 30 days. If she feels what it's like to live pain-free, even for that short period of time, it could change her whole attitude.

I also blog about my ongoing Paleo efforts at http://cavegirl101.wordpress.com. Feel free to send her there. Maybe she will listen to someone who has been in her shoes.

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Very inspiring! Thanks for sharing. – Dave S. Dec 2 2010 at 13:40
Oh, you're THAT Cheryl! Loved your story. Thank you for writing it up. – JJ Dec 2 2010 at 21:43
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 Thanks, guys! It is not an exaggeration to say that Paleo saved my life. I just want to pay that forward as much as possible. – Cheryl White Dec 2 2010 at 22:56
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could very well be dairy sensitivity (which very often results in arthritis like auto-immunity), and/or gout from too much fructose. if she isn't willing to go full paleo, at least she should try to go <25g fructose a day (form all sources) and cut out ALL dairy products for a month to see if it helps.

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I was thinking maybe fructose as well. – Dave S. Dec 2 2010 at 13:21
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I love ginger for inflammatory pain, but in this case I would go for needles (acupuncture) which for me is sort of a magic pill.

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Magic pill = remove grains from her diet. Honestly, she'd rather take pills than do that simple thing? Joint inflammation is a sure sign of grain ingestion for me. Does she get migraines too? Poor intestinal health is also a sign of damaged villi from grain/gluten ingestion.

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Yep, she would rather take pills than remove grains. Lots of people feel the same. Maybe it's the opiates that grains feed to their brains that make them feel that way! Also, like I said, her intestines, in their current degraded state, apparently can't digest meat, and so she thinks, somewhat logically I might add, that removal of all starches would cause her to starve to death. My plan is to suggest consumption of more potato, but she is not yet ready to listen on the grain thing. – Eva Dec 2 2010 at 1:54
and she can use Now Foods Super Enzymes to help kick start her protein digestion – Jim Dec 2 2010 at 5:25
oh and if you can get her to try it, listen to Robb Wolf's podcasts -- he talks many times about how to properly use the enzymes for just that issue (probably on his web site, too) – Jim Dec 2 2010 at 5:27
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The only non-NSAID OTC painkiller in the US is APAP/paracetamol/acetaminophen. I don't think you will get anything approaching the efficacy of these drugs by using herbs so she would have to be willing to live with some pain.

Well, unless you consider the opium poppy to be an herb. That would help the pain a lot, but there is the minor legality issue ;)

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She went off the naproxen a few days ago, and now she says she can barely walk.. – Eva Dec 2 2010 at 2:17
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When I had knee replacements (both, two months apart) I used turmeric and bromelain capsules that seemed to help as well as the nsaid the doc prescribed (Naproxen).

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Too many unknowns as to the source of inflammation, but I would start with a high quality fish oil. I too have serious pain and inflammation and take up to 12,000 mgs a day . Bromelain supplementation can also help (it's from pineapple)- 400- 600 mgs a day. Main thing is to not drop the meds cold turkey but wait a few months (if possible) for the supplements and any change in diet to take hold.

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Real possibility that gluten is the problem. She should eliminate it from her diet and wait to see a profound difference after as little as a week.That was the case w me.

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Whenever I eat wheat, I can expect my knee to hurt the next day. I would encourage her to give up wheat even for just a week and see if she notices a difference. As far as supplements go, I would recommend turmeric, ginger, and fish oil, as well as applications of Tiger Balm (or similar menthol-type product) and castor oil packs.

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the little bottle of Naproxen was sold under the condition that the user not take the drug longer than two weeks per year. its in the fine print on the backof the bottle or in case it kills her then it will be blown up for the Jury to read. LOL. seriously it can kill you.

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I never stop wondering how stupid people are in cases like this... You have tried to help her allready. I think you have done you're part. In cases like this I would just say: " Do not complain about pain and constipation cause you're not willing to do anything for it!!!". Let her be. When she is sick enough and has developed an autoimmunity(which she allready might be having in a form of Crohn's) she will be listening and begging for advice.

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 Whoa..."stupid"? Easy. It's really not that simple. I, for example, am as strict as anyone - no grains, dairy, legumes, nightshades, alcohol, starch of any kind - and I still have serious pain and inflammation at times. Autoimmunity is not about being "stupid", it's about an extremely complex internal process. Is she doing things that make it worse? For sure. I hope you're not pretending that the rest of us don't do things that cause us harm. Her friend is hoping to help her, and I'm not sure how labeling her "stupid" does that. – Riveted Dec 5 2010 at 13:53
Maybe Addicted would be the right word. For grains and easy answers... I have a pretty good idea of autoimmune disease and it's complications since I'm living with someone who has Crohn's disease. She has already tried her way of cureing. No relief there. It's not simple but I have to keep her a little bit stupid if she won't try anything else. – Hannu K. Dec 26 2010 at 6:49
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Celebrex http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celecoxib is the obvious "best choice" for those who must use an NSAID on a daily basis. Mobic http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobic would be my second choice. See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COX-2_inhibitor

Obviously, there are other useful drugs and supplements, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tylenol to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam-e .

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Those two drugs killed my gut, and I too used to be a Naproxen over-doer. Gotta be careful with them too - you can burn a hole in your gut and not feel it. It blows my mind how docs will prescribe those drugs and yet refuse to treat pain in a less harmful way. It's unethical but it's the accepted norm. – syrahna Dec 29 2011 at 6:17
I know. That's why I strongly recommend Celebrex for chronic NSAID users. Unfortunately, there are no perfect pain medications. I'm on tramadol at the moment, while awaiting a procedure on my lower back, and even this mild opiod/SNRI has very unpleasant WDs... – Daniel Kirsner Dec 30 2011 at 5:27
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One of many health benefits of a krill oil is it supports healthy joints, with an increase in joint comfort. read it here - http://krilloil.mercola.com/krill-oil.html

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