My opinion is that medication should not be the first choice for an ailment (unless it is immediately life threatening). However, medication is not evil and quality of life is more important to me than paleo.

I will do what I can with diet, exercise, and "grin-and-bear-it," but if pain were too much that it affected quality of life, I would not hesitate to take it.

Yes, I think drugs are a good idea sometimes. Here are a couple reasons.

First, the notion that inflammation is at the root of all pain is incorrect (not saying that you implied this). Central sensitization of the nervous system can exist without any inflammation at all in the joint or near the tendon/ligament.

Second, pain can get in the way of healing pain. Very very easily! While a person is exploring what the root cause of their pain is, many months or even years can pass. If pain levels are uncontrolled or creeping up, medication can be very helpful to keep you going and not stuck in a rut.

Third reason-- it is possible to try topical NSAIDs to reduce gastric problems. It is also possible to titrate NSAID dosage up or down, and they are not addictive in the general sense. Some drugs related to pain management have significant downsides. NSAIDs can fall in that category (as they also may reduce healing responses, although this appears to be controversial), but they have relatively low downsides.

If I was in pain every day such that it limited my activity level and I had done as much as I could with regards to dietary intervention, I would take pain meds without any hesitation. I know a lot of people here seem to be 100% against any pharmaceuticals of any kind but if they're the difference between chronic pain/suffering or being able to enjoy a normal quality of life, what's the shame in taking them? Paleo isn't a panacea, no matter how much we want it to be.

My interest in the Paleo diet was sparked from an inflammatory angle as well. The researchers are still finding components of our diets that contribute to an exaggerated autoimmune response in our bodies (saponins, anyone?).

Quite a few people have had success really cutting back their food options (Paleo, minus nightshades, minus others) and have found the problematic food in their diet. The hard part is that you might be eating it unknowingly, or you may think it's fine because it's a paleo diet staple. I think the answer is there for you, you just haven't found it yet.

Check out http://paleoautoimmunerecipes.blogspot.com/ . It's the best resource I've found for the strictest form of the paleo diet for people concerned with autoimmune diseases. This is like the Marines of the paleo diet (her own words). If you can keep on a diet like she recommends for a while, I think you'll find a pretty good baseline of whether you really need these NSAIDS or not.

That's my goal...hit her level of commitment for a while, then add back things slowly so I get an idea what foods the offenders are for me. I haven't quite made it yet...still learning.

I would make sure to follow a strict anti-inflammatory protocol via Robb Wolf which is talked about in a thread here: http://paleohacks.com/questions/29067/has-anyone-tried-robb-wolfs-autoimmune-gut-irritation-protocol#axzz1PwAjkCAq

Getting rid of anything that could cause inflammation for you is a good idea.

My gout (or RA) occasionally flares up and I do take NSAID (prescription level Naproxen) occasionally. I've gone gluten-, dairy-, and nightshade-free but I still get gout/RA attacks.

Then my only option is to take about 380-750mg of Naproxen or suffer through a gout/RA attack. My inflammation level as measured by CRP is 0.3, the lowest detectable level. My West sed rate is 1, also the lowest level. And I'm 5-10/157 lbs with about 15% body fat.

So I think I've done all I can on the inflammation front but I still get these autoimmune type attacks. I will give it more time to see if my anti-inflammatory diet completely remits my autoimmunity. But until then, what option do you have but take NSAIDs?

I have facet joint arthritis in both my lower lumbar spine and cervical spine. I did the "take this pill and call me when you need more" thing for a few years. It took a while to find a combination of NSAIDS, muscle relaxants, and pain killers that covered my needs. But by the time we got there, I was so fed up with the whole thing that I just wanted some control back. So I started with curcumin (cox2 inhibitor among other things), boswellia (5-lox inhibitor), grape seed extract, and bromelain. And I took that combination, along with ginger tea for over a year. It was as effective as mobic, flexeril, and the occasional darvocet that I was taking previously.

Then I changed my diet and started seeing a chiropractor, and I've been able to reduce and/or discontinue all of the above. (Still take the curcumin and grape seed extracts whenever I know I'm going to be doing things that are going to make me hurt.)

I don't think it's wrong to take something for pain. To me, at least, it's better than lying around in bed because it hurts to be up and around. It's better than sweeping up a broken glass in the kitchen and knowing you can't bend over to pick it up. But I do think that curcumin and the rest are less likely to cause the heart damage that other NSAIDS can cause, so when I need something, I tend to go that direction.

BTW, you can find a lot of information on curcumin and the rest in a PubMed search. Just be prepared to do a bit of reading.

I would do everything to avoid drugs. They are always toxic, disturbing your bodies own healing capacities. Painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs actually destroy your gut health, joints and connective tissue. And if you have those problems they will cause inflammation or autoimmune issuies anyway. So the choice is not inflammation or medication but inflammation and medication. So I would continue to look for other solutions.

http://www.kneepaintreatment.com/knee-pain/why-joint-destroying-anti-inflammatory-drugs-make-your-knee-arthritis-worse.html

They are ok for short term use (after acute trauma). But long-term use would be not an option for me. It's like drinking alcohol when your liver is sick.

Dr. Seaman's website Deflame.com is helpful to get an idea what is going on.

http://www.deflame.com/Home/tabid/36/Default.aspx http://www.deflame.com/InflammatoryDiseases/tabid/81/Default.aspx

A success story (terrible back pain ) from the website http://www.deflame.com/BackPainSuccess/tabid/109/Default.aspx

If I were in your situation I would contact Dr. Seaman personally and ask for help. Maybe Dr. Kruse (The Quilt) could be helpful too. And I would take acupuncture sessions. It always helped me at least in reducing sympoms without nasty side effects. Good luck

A lot of things in the body work in cycles of cause and effect, with progressive buildup and severity of results. Inflammation and auto-immune responses are a clear and classic example. What's necessary is to break the cycle.

Just as using the drugs alone to suppress the symptoms isn't a good long-term strategy, without addressing the underlying cause via diet and similar "paleo lifestyle" means, it can also be the case that using just the diet alone is a poor strategy, particularly in the short term.

You may need to tackle it from both sides of the cycle, to reduce the cause and dampen the effect, for best results - especially initially, to get the body to calm down enough that it is not just reacting to its own existing inflammation.

Hopefully some questions for you to think about may help you.

-What is inflammation? ans.= An absolutely-necessary, genetically-programmed response to cell and-or tissue trauma/damage/breakdown/decay...intended to stem further damage and cause repair.

-What caused this cell and/or tissue damage? ans.= Acutely-inappropriate, sub-acutely-inappropriate and/or chronically-inappropriate cellular environment (physically, chemically), etc.

-Is the body "wrong" for invoking the inflammatory response? ans.= Likely, no. The preponderance of evidence shows that the body does not really 'inappropriately' bring on inflammation. In other words, the inflammation is there due to the presence of the cell damage/breakdown. if inflammation is chronic, then the cell damage continues and cell repair is (or has been) inadequate.

Is inflammation 100% necessary for repair and restoration of proper cell and tissue function ? ans. Yes.

Are there any drugs that assist aid or improve the inflammatory response? ans. No.

Are there any drugs that suppress/disturb/change/alter the inflammatory response in such a way that they make you "feel" better in the short term? ans.=Yes.

curcumin......FWIW