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question about joint pain and cracking

ebethc

Senior Member
Messages
1,901
does anyone know what could be causing this problem? could it be a histamine/MCAS problem?
  • my joints have always cracked a lot, and I've always had joint stiffness - even when I was a little kid.
  • I don't have any auto-antibodies for RA, and I don't have joint swelling
  • diet/supplements/drugs that help: good quality fats (monounsaturated & omegas), andrographis, systemic enzymes (like wobenzyme & vascuzyme, but those don't always help)... a little bit of help from rx/otc pain relievers like aleve & celebrex, but I don't take them a lot..
  • activities that help: epsom salt baths, massage, foam roller, yoga (when i can tolerate it).
  • doctors have never given me an answer and have been blase (I love it when they don't help you and are really condescending, too... favorite combo..lol)
probably caused by microbiome/genes at the "root" level, but I'm specifically wondering what causes the stiffness and cracking in the actual joint... when I take andrographis or wobenzyme it either doesn't work at all (rare), or it works enough that I can feel the stiffness melt away in some joints (not 100%, but enough to improve quality of life).
 

Stretched

Senior Member
Messages
705
Location
U.S. Atlanta
doctors have never given me an answer and have been blase (I love it when they don't help you and are really condescending, too... favorite combo..lol)
Right. Over the last 30+ years I’ve lost respect for all doctors and internists excepting a few specialists and obviously dedicated souls who woul do good no matter their fields. IMO, from research, reading and experience the number who can and will understand CFSME AND are able to treat it is 10-15% of all doctors. Further, when a cure occurs in a doctor’s office, about 70% of the time the attending doctor didn’t bring it about and doesn’t know how it happened! This has actually been researched researched, even in JAMA.
If the public only knew... , FWIW, doctors gained prestige in the Polio era.
 
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Rufous McKinney

Senior Member
Messages
13,354
my joints have always cracked a lot, and I've always had joint stiffness - even when I was a little kid

I'm having considerable issues with neck cracking....popping....but not in other joints. Its only the right side of my neck, never the left. The rigth side of my body is more sick. Has more lymph trouble etc. THe popping occurs at nite, at the end of the day. Never in the morning. Its cycling with other symptoms.
 

lenora

Senior Member
Messages
4,926
Hi Rufous....Do you turn your head a certain way to loosen it, knowing it will crack. I was told years upon years ago tht the popping is merely air trapped between the joints. The l. side of my body is the one where everything happens, although with time it's gradually moving to the right. My neck generally feels better (looser) after it has popped. Have you found the same thing? yours, Lenora
 

lenora

Senior Member
Messages
4,926
You know, Stretched, I still think we're in the days of 'Tincture of Time' being the one true thing that helps. It sounds as if you had a very serious accident. Generally, it's a feeling of tightness that's relieved by a popping sound, but yours sounds like it's still the injury itself.

Personally, I see an osteopath and have found them to be great for me. This was after I had been going to PT3 times/wk. for over a year. I learned even more about vitamins and supplements from him and things were going great....until he died.

The second one was one of the team doctors for the Dallas Cowboys. He was good, too, but didn't have the hands of the original osteopath. And it's true, it's all in the hands.

I now see a woman who is very strong and I really need to make an appt. to see her again. I let it slide and that's not good. You're better off if you don't let scar tissue form. An osteopath who does this type of work is generally called a myofascial osteopath....and that's all they do. I don't know where you live to help you track one down (they aren't that common) and ask them to please not twist your head. It can be done in a far more gentle way that I feel more comfortable with. I can remember that I couldn't even swallow when I first started seeing this Dr. I don't trust chiropractors in the same way and, like everything else, it all depends upon the person you choose. Good luck. Yours, Lenora.
 

Rufous McKinney

Senior Member
Messages
13,354
Do you turn your head a certain way to loosen it, knowing it will crack. I was told years upon years ago tht the popping is merely air trapped between the joints. The l. side of my body is the one where everything happens, although with time it's gradually moving to the right. My neck generally feels better (looser) after it has popped. Have you found the same thing? yours

Yeah pretty much. I start to feel odd in my neck, and it more or less starts demanding that I "turn it a certain way" and it loosens, then it cracks for- hours if I keep at it. Generally- it feels better afterwards like something left, except I can feel odd neurological messages suggesting: I should be careful or NOT do this. It sounds like my neck vertebrae are disintegrating. That doesn't sound good.

The odd coincidence here is that I do chinese medicine, and I'm supposedly full of "wind" and so sure enough...all this air, this wind- seems to want to emerge from my neck.

When I stick to my odd diet (Tibetan wind diet) the food is grounding, and this wind diminishes. IBS-d, which is a main issue I deal with all the time, is primarily excessive WIND (in my system at least).

Alot of the joint issues I was dealing with about two years ago, moved along as I stayed on this wind diet more. It seems that some of the odd joint stuff is- wind, which can feel like a cold ice cube parked someplace. Or like bubbles blowing thru the spine, or my foot- literally bubbles.

There is definately somethign about this diet (it adds collagen via bone brothes , and kynerinines via Root Vegetables).

POSSIBLE DIET TO TRY- if your having joint issues- and of course there are any number of causes for this- but you might try- no salads, no uncooked greens, no bitter greens. See if it improves after a coupleof weeks.
 

Rufous McKinney

Senior Member
Messages
13,354
I’m still convalescing to soothe my damaged brain, seeing specialists and testing. Not much to do to fix it?

gosh, what a horrible experience, I'm so sorry that happened. Falls are really freaky and not good and darn it regretable.

Obviously an injury like that will take some time to recover and rest is essential.

I would definately go see my chinese herbalist who also does acupuncture (but herbs are more useful overall)...to find out if there is anything they can do to help the neck and reduce inflammation.

I have used various mixes of raw chinese herbs directly to soak injuries.

Is this injury giving you ME symptoms, or did you have ME before all that?
 

Stretched

Senior Member
Messages
705
Location
U.S. Atlanta
Is this injury giving you ME symptoms, or did you have ME before all that?
Gosh, I’ve had CFS so long I don’t know where one comorbid condition ends and another begins, Concussion symptoms are very similar to MECFS. I suppose the add-on of a concussion does amplify the CFS symptoms, especially insomnia and systemic problems.

I urge other PWCs to be careful when getting weaker and out of shape. It’s surprisingly easy to misstep and take a tumble. I found out concussions can have serious consequences. Like MECFS the field is relatively nascent but research has grown in the last few years. The old stuff is pretty vacuous.
 
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lenora

Senior Member
Messages
4,926
Gosh, I’ve had CFS so long I don’t know where one comorbid condition ends and another begins, Concussion symptoms are very similar to MECFS. I suppose the add-on of a concussion does amplify the CFS symptoms, especially insomnia and systemic problems.

I urge other PWCs to be careful when getting weaker and out of shape. It’s surprisingly easy to misstep and take a tumble. I found out concussions can have serious consequences. Like MECFS the field is relatively nascent but research has grown in the last few years. The old stuff is pretty vacuous.

Indeed the old stuff is pretty vacuous today. There have been huge changes since I stopped checking and reporting on research about 10 yrs. ago. So much more money is available and we get the benefit of research from abroad. It has also made it more complicated, but there are minds that are greater than mine involved with it now.

I agree with you about us getting out of shape as we get weaker. Everything just becomes more entertwined as we get older and, as you indicate, one condition becomes entertwined with another and so it goes on and on. I've had 10 falls in the time since January and today. If it wasn't for the likes of Fosamax i would have broken something....as it is, I don't feel so very great anyway. Still, at least nothing was broken. I would urge anyone getting older to ask his/her doctor about these drugs....they can save us from a crippling situation. No, they aren't perfect, but then what is? I would rather take a natural route for my body, but it just isn't possible. I'm not against natural, quite the contrary, but for some things we have to be very proactive.

I do feel for you and your concussion. It's not an easy thing to recover from and I wish you all the luck in the world with it. Feel healthier...and soon. Yours, Lenora
 
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Stretched

Senior Member
Messages
705
Location
U.S. Atlanta
I do feel for you and your concussion. It's not an easy thing to recover from and I wish you all the luck in the world with it. Feel healthier...and soon. Yours, Lenora
It’s nice to learn others understand. I never imagined falling but have done so again. I’m now using a cane and trying to accept things as they are rather than should be. It can always be worse and I feel for those who are more debilitated.
 
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Messages
79
I never had any problems with joints before getting sick with my dysautonomia. Now I can crunch my knees every 15 seconds. They can also become stiff, if I sit for some time without moving them. Also, my shoulder joints are crunching sometimes... No pain luckily
Why does this happens, is it some metabolic problem, or altered blood circulation?
What can help? Maybe there is some supplement that can help with joint crunching?