L-GLutamine

Zizzle · Post by **Zizzle** » Mon May 21, 2012 11:58 am

Leah - thanks for the reminder. I keep meaning to buy a roller. Are there any good, inexpensive ones? I first saw them in a running store, and was amazed by how much they charged for a piece of foam!

Kari · Post by **Kari** » Mon May 21, 2012 12:33 pm

After reading about Connie's experience with L-Glutamine a while back, I tried it (a pure form), but like Jenny, I got very bad D. However, I generally don't tolerate any form of supplementation (or meds), so you really can't go by me.

Kari

CathyMe. · Post by **CathyMe.** » Mon May 21, 2012 1:54 pm

Hi Deb,
I've been taking 1 heaping teasponful of L-glutamine 3x a day for over a month. I buy it in the powdered form and mix it in water or put it in my protein shake @ night. There is a little bit of an aftertaste but not too bad and it mixes in pretty well. I think some people have difficulty with the taste and take it in pill form. It's very cheap in the powdered form so that's why I'm sticking with that! I'm not sure if it's helping with my MC or not. I am down to 1 pill of Entocort every 4 days and continue to experience normans so I'm going to keep taking it. I also weightrain and like the side effect of muscle recovery as well. [/list]

mzh · Post by **mzh** » Mon May 21, 2012 5:47 pm

I wanted to add that the lower back/hip pain is also a strong indicator of ankylosing spondilytis. But I hope I don't have it and that it's a muscle thing. I do have a disc protrusion the area that's pressing on a nerve. What gets to me is that they know this but don't help me with this. Argh.

mzh · Post by **mzh** » Mon May 21, 2012 5:50 pm

Zizzle wrote:Leah - thanks for the reminder. I keep meaning to buy a roller. Are there any good, inexpensive ones? I first saw them in a running store, and was amazed by how much they charged for a piece of foam!

I bought one at Walmart for about $14. They have a lot of affordable exercise equipment! It's quite firm.

DebE13 · Post by **DebE13** » Mon May 21, 2012 6:15 pm

Thanks for all the great suggestions everyone. I'm going to give it a try and see what happens.

Leah · Post by **Leah** » Mon May 21, 2012 6:24 pm

I don't have a Walmart and I got mine through a PT, but e-bay is always good for that kind of thing.

Joefnh · Post by **Joefnh** » Mon May 21, 2012 6:38 pm

Christine, I was referred to go see a rheumatologist on 6/21 for AS as well. My PCP and GI had ordered the test for the HLBA-27 gene and I was positive, although a positive test is not a indicator by itself of AS. What led to this was my GI thinks there could be a link between the D, the lower back and hip and eye pain that seem to happen somewhat together.

Does the L-Glutamine work well on joint inflammation?

Leah · Post by **Leah** » Mon May 21, 2012 6:48 pm

Joe, it's really for tissue repair. I don't think it would do much for the actual joint, but I'm not sure

Stanz · Post by **Stanz** » Mon May 21, 2012 9:23 pm

I agree w/Leah here, Joe, I don't think there's much we can do to repair joint damage. Have you ever looked into Prolotherapy? Both of my wrists are toast from overuse and inflammation. Prolotherapy has saved my career. I used to literally cry when cracking an egg at times. I get the injections now about 4 times a year, it rebuilds lost cartilage.

Interesting about the HLA-B27 gene. I asked to be tested for it many years ago when I thought maybe I had reactive arthritis after having had salmonella poisoning and reading about the connection to that kicking off RA in people with that gene. I was negative. Have you got a history of a bad incident of food poisoning, Joe?

Connie

mzh · Post by **mzh** » Tue May 22, 2012 6:47 am

Connie, you may be making my life more tolerable overall. I'm trying your L-glutamine method, taking 2,250 mg L-glutamine a day (3 caps a day). Now I'll look into prolotherapy; never heard of that. I have the same thumb pains as you, plus pains in ankle, foot and lower back. And my left shoulder crunches constantly after being hit by a car. (Had a shattered scapula in 1995.) It all adds up to not being able to do much; I'd love for that to change!

Stanz · Post by **Stanz** » Tue May 22, 2012 11:23 am

mzh,
I take considerably more L-G than that. Each rounded tsp of the powder form I take is 4,800 mg and I do 2 in the morning and 2 at night when I'm in a flare, so that adds up to about 2 Grams a day.

Here's a link to a site that has info on Prolo:http://www.caringmedical.com/condition_ ... Damage.htm

My ND recommended that I try PRP - Platelet Rich Plasma - the first time I had Prolo treatment, as he felt I needed a jump start since my thumb pain was excruciating. Wow, they're not kidding when they say you have an immediate response of "good" inflammation. NOT a lot of fun for the first day, but controllable with codeine. I had a very painful reaction, but within just a few days my thumb pain was almost completely gone. Beat the heck out of having what my MD recommended, which was to do a trapeziectomy and remove the thumb bone, which is only about 60% successful and puts you out of commission for months - if not forever. Don't know if you've ever had hand surgery, but I had a fairly minor procedure to remove scar tissue on my right hand and it was horrible, my hand and fingers swelled up so huge that I swear if I'd poked it anywhere with a needle it would have exploded.

Realistically NO insurance will cover this. It's not approved by Medicare or Medicaid. My ND gives me injections in both hands/wrists, probably about 12-14 injections in each, spends about 40 minutes w/me, and he charges me $263 total for this. So at about 4 times a year it's just over 1K and worth every penny, IMO.

You get to know and hear people's stories in a waiting room. One of his first patients after learning the procedure was an elderly woman who was a retired piano teacher and master gardener. I think she was around 75 when he first worked on her hands and that was 13 years ago. She comes in once or twice a year now, but is a true testimony to the procedures success. She was depressed, hopeless and felt her life was over and she has completely gotten her life back.

This is my ND's website: http://myctm.org/new/ Lots of good info there. He is a great guy.

mzh · Post by **mzh** » Tue May 22, 2012 12:09 pm

I know you're taking a lot more; I'm just building up to it. The last time I tried it at 1,500 a day I got awful globus so I stopped it. I've restarted it again and so far, no problem; it was apparently from something else.

I can relate to the piano teacher; I'm a woodwind player/retired music teacher. I haven't tried to play in a long time; one needs good thumbs to do that.

I greatly appreciate all the info you're sharing on both these topics; duly noted. :cool:

Zizzle · Post by **Zizzle** » Tue May 22, 2012 12:11 pm

Here's an excellent explanation on the use of L-Glutamine for treating GI disorders. It seems some people take a 1/4 teaspoon 2-3 times a day, and work their way up to 1/2 a teaspoon twice a day. The Vitamin Shoppe attendant suggested I stay at the recommended dose on the label -- 1 heaping teaspoon a day, so I'll try to split the dose from now on. It seems taking it on an empty stomach is preferable too, so I plan to do first thing in the AM and bedtime.

http://americannutrition.wordpress.com/ ... al-health/

Leah · Post by **Leah** » Tue May 22, 2012 12:29 pm

Good article Zizzle. Makes me glad that I am taking it.