Turmeric

Finally got around to asking my rheumy whether it was okay to take turmeric tablets alongside Humira and Mtx. Well, I got told off for referring to it as 'alternative', he prefers 'complementary' as it's not about an either / or approach. No probs, apparently, re. contraindications. And he thinks turmeric is a very good idea for me since I don't need NSAIDs regularly but when I do take them I get an overall boost which suggests that a gentler alternative, sorry .... complementary remedy would fit the bill nicely.

That’s really interesting, Sybil. I intend to ask Dr. Chandran when I see him in October. He is a native of India – land of turmeric! Will report back.

Great, Sybil, thanks for asking your rheumy and telling us! I bought the 1,000 mg turmeric, which says Curcumin C3 Complex - standardized to 95% curcuminoids (whatever that means haha). The dose is 2 capsules a day, but I've only taken it a few times since I've had it at least 10 days. I don't get any SEs from it, and I tend to be a little skeptical of the "complementary" things. I'm like you, though, and don't really care to take many pain meds, so if this stuff works, it's certainly worth it! I'll try to take it religiously--for a couple months at least--maybe we'll get lucky with this one! My feet (left foot especially) hurts all the time now and I usually limp. If it's inflammation from the bones rubbing together, I would be happy as a clam to get rid of some of that pain!!!! :-)

It'll be good to get a range of rheumy's views on this. I was pleasantly surprised at how positive my rheumy's response was.

Seenie said:

That's really interesting, Sybil. I intend to ask Dr. Chandran when I see him in October. He is a native of India -- land of turmeric! Will report back.

Happy as a clam?? Right! Another thing I've learned.

Back in the distant past when pain was really bad, NSAIDs didn't do anything. But these days I find just one 500mg Naproxen sorts me out good and proper within 30 minutes, Having to wait for potential effects of turmeric tablets to build up over weeks (months?) is quite a different thing altogether. Let's hope it is worth it.


Grandma J said:

Great, Sybil, thanks for asking your rheumy and telling us! I bought the 1,000 mg turmeric, which says Curcumin C3 Complex - standardized to 95% curcuminoids (whatever that means haha). The dose is 2 capsules a day, but I've only taken it a few times since I've had it at least 10 days. I don't get any SEs from it, and I tend to be a little skeptical of the "complementary" things. I'm like you, though, and don't really care to take many pain meds, so if this stuff works, it's certainly worth it! I'll try to take it religiously--for a couple months at least--maybe we'll get lucky with this one! My feet (left foot especially) hurts all the time now and I usually limp. If it's inflammation from the bones rubbing together, I would be happy as a clam to get rid of some of that pain!!!! :-)

Yes, let's! I wish my stomach could handle nsaids. I think one would help my feet. Tylenol doesn't help, nor does ibuprofen, but I'm sure it would if I took large doses, which my stomach can't handle anymore. Hoping for some results with turmeric.

My partner swears by turmeric!
He has golfers and tennis elbow (he plays neither btw) and adds a chunk of raw turmeric root into his smoothie most days. He hates taking any medication but this he will take…he can straighten his arm more and has less pain than before although he’s never tried anti inflammatories so we cant make a comparison.
I only tried raw turmeric once and promptly threw it up however I tried to ingest it, much to his amusement! …Each to their own I’m guessing

Does he have housemaid's knee as well? I'm taking tablets by the way, your partner sounds like a turmeric purist! Do you think he might benefit even more from the concentrated tablet form?

Louise Hoy said:

My partner swears by turmeric!
He has golfers and tennis elbow (he plays neither btw) and adds a chunk of raw turmeric root into his smoothie most days. He hates taking any medication but this he will take.......he can straighten his arm more and has less pain than before although he's never tried anti inflammatories so we cant make a comparison.
I only tried raw turmeric once and promptly threw it up however I tried to ingest it, much to his amusement! .....Each to their own I'm guessing

Actually don’t laugh, yes he has housemaids knee!! That’s from being a floor layer for over 30 years!! He might benefit from the tablets but he has it in his head that as it tastes disgusting it must be good lol

Any results from turmeric (curcumin) anybody? I talked with a sister-in-law about it--she swears by it! But, she's one of those people who totally goes only for the natural remedies. She recommends taking a larger dose at first and then cutting back to a "maintenance" dose once the inflammation goes away. We'll be visiting them in a couple weeks (they live in northern WI) and I'm planning on asking her a lot more questions about this. She sounds like one of those people who don't take any real pain pills, although she didn't criticize me for taking Enbrel. She doesn't have an autoimmune disease, I think she has OA.

I finally started taking curcumin every day this past week. So far I don't notice any change, but most of my pain is from feet bones rubbing together and Idk if that's inflammation. My other pain is mild to moderate stiffness in my hands, shoulders and lower back--maybe that's from inflammation, so I'm crossing my fingers!

It would be really nice to feel PERFECT, wouldn't it????? Can't remember what that feels like anymore!

Hay this thread just reminded me that my rheumy actually told me to start taking tumeric this month ....now where is that piece of paper he gave me the dosage on??????

I've been taking it for a few weeks now. I actually have more pain in my pesky feet but like you Grandma J I think that might be outside of turmeric's brief. I think we need months don't we, to see a difference?

I find that when I do one proactive thing I tend to do several and then it's impossible to work out what's doing what. I pressed my dermy for a proper, detailed plan for managing psoriasis and she obliged and explained it all really well. So now I'm spending approximately an hour a night taking an oily bath and then applying a whole load of different things to my skin in stages. I thought I'd resent the time it takes but I've barely scratched since I started. So for all I know turmeric could be helping my skin too ...... but at least it can't do any harm.

Good luck to both of you.

It’s been about a month since our last update. Is turmeric helping anybody? I’ve been feeling better the past couple of days. It’s hard to know if the turmeric is helping or if the few times I went to the fitness center are making me feel better. Maybe it’s the combination of the two?
Anybody else noticing benefits from turmeric? How about you, Sybil? Minus the foot pain, have you noticed any improvement?

Hi Grandma J! I've been thinking about this and the jury's out. I started back on Methotrexate at about the same time as I began taking turmeric tablets and as they'd both probably start to show what, if anything, they can do at about the same time it's just impossible to know. I'm probably not as happy in my own skin as I think I'd be if I was taking Naproxen. But hey, turmeric's trouble free so I'll keep going with it.

It's great to hear you're feeling good ... or at least better. Regular exercise is sure to help, I'd bet on that, and good on you!

Hopefully sticking with the turmeric will help you as much or more than Naproxen. That's wicked stuff--well, at least for me, I can't take it--it feels like holes are being drilled through my stomach when I do.

I hope you continue to feel better every day and no more new issues have popped up!

Nothing to report!

I am going to start tomorrow. My rheumy suggested 1 times 250gm tablet twice a day. Definitely interested in hearing how others are finding it. Thanks

I see a rheumatologist and a dermatologist and my derm suggested adding Turmeric because it can't hurt and she read a Spanish study that said psoriasis patients had 30% improvement from it in the absence of other drugs. I'll take all the help I can get because my psoriatic toenails are a chronic problem (which is what I saw her for.) She also recommended putting thymol solution under the lifting toenails to prevent infection and to "preserve the nail" while it hopefully grows out.

I ran out of turmeric a couple days ago. I had taken 2 a day for 60 days. I wasn't sure they helped my inflammation, but today my fingertips had that icky feeling of being squished--one of my many past PsA symptoms. I did take my Enbrerl injection 2 days late this week, but delaying my injection has never caused any flare ups before.

So, any advice? Should I restart the turmeric?

Also, does anyone know if turmeric is a natural blood thinner?