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Doug Thorburn's avatar

Karen, you may find my story of excruciating ankle pain interesting.

I was prescribed Levaquin once in the early 2000s. Shortly after—close enough temporally to later connect the dots between Levaquin and its now well-known side effects—I skied. By noon of the first day of that trip I developed such excruciating pain in my left ankle (for some inexplicable reason, only the left) I had to remove my (tight) ski boots and stop skiing for the day. I felt some relief without boots on, but my ankle was very painful to touch.

That night I shared my experience with several jacuzzi afficionados, one of whom suggested I take an anti-inflammatory. I returned to our condo and asked my wife whether we had any such drugs (I knew nothing about them); she gave me a Bextra (which had just been taken off the market, but she knew its benefits for severe back pain). The relief I felt was magical. I was able to ski the rest of the week without much pain, with perhaps one more Bextra.

I continued to take an occasional Bextra, but because it provided by far the greatest pain relief for my wife--and we had only a bottle of the drug left--I needed to find something else to resolve the pain. Glucosamine, which I learned might help, didn't ; more research suggested a combo glucosamine, chondroitin and MSM might alleviate the pain. I experimented with a dozen or so similar formularies and stumbled onto Wellese Joint Movement Glucosamine liquid (now Nature’s Way), which I found at and continue to purchase from Costco. No other glucosamine mix comes close. I likely started with a capful daily, but quickly reduced it to a half a capful. No pain. If I skip a day, I feel a bit of the pain returning, so I don’t dare stop.

I've learned to experiment with different natural cures and combinations for different ailments. I had severe digestive issues and, of a dozen different combinations all containing amylase, protease and lipase found two that work--one for $50 for 60 capsules and another for less than $10. What works for one person may not work for others. Experimentation is key.

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The BarefootHealer's avatar

👏👏👏👏💯👍 In answer to title question- if they remove them from use, it will draw attention to how bad they are, which given how long they have been in use, the rising rates of mental health issues (while no correlation = causation), and growing metabolic impairment diseases (obesity, MAFLD, etc), it still draws attention to some VERY awkward questions for industry and regulatory bodies.

The MoA theory on mitochondrial function is interesting- can you point me to any sources for this, so I can read further? Likewise with the DNA epigenetic mechanism theory.😊

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