Turmeric benefits?

[Casia]

A good friend of mine in the US who is a doctor of medicine and a Naturopath suggested I try a turmeric derived product called Turmero to help reduce inflammation. You can’t buy it in the U.K. unless you’re aligned to a practitioner. You may have heard that turmeric may have anti inflammatory qualities but I wondered if anyone had experience of Turmero or any turmeric related products. I thought you might also be interested to know that I tried an aqua aerobics class for the first time and recommend it to everyone as it really does help you feel so much better.

[PMRpro Ambassador]

I know a few people who have used turmeric in cooking (and garlic, also anti-inflammatory) together with eating oily fish regularly - and who find letting up on the dietary habits makes them feel different/less well.

If anyone does decide to try turmeric do check with your doctor and/or pharmacist - it does not mix well with some medications.

I relied on aquaaerobics for 5 years to keep me mobile in the absence of pred. I only gave it up when I moved somewhere where it isn't an option.

[Telian]

I've heard that Tumeric can help reduce inflammation but never tried it so cannot help you with that. I'm sure someone will be along that has. I'm interested to hear that aqua aerobics class has been a positive experience for you, what was the class size?

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Telian]

It was a major positive for me too and I miss it greatly. Mine was a large-ish class at my gym - anything up to perhaps 20 to 25 participants at some, we had daily classes and different people taking them so of different character and some people didn't go to all.

[Chrob in reply to PMRpro]

My class sounds similar 2 or 3 times a week , helps so much .

[Casia in reply to Telian]

Hi there. Our aqua class has about 25 in it . The pool is relatively big and that number seems to work. There are people of all ages and many over 80! Many have similar problems with mobility and the great thing is that as your partially submerged no one can see if you’re not doing the exercises as well as the instructor. I strongly recommend it for PMR and arthritis sufferers.

[Telian in reply to Casia]

Thanks Casia.

[Louisa1840]

I make up a paste of turmeric by mixing a cupful with water and cooking it for ten minutes or so on the stove top. When it cools you add some black pepper - this is known as "golden paste". I keep this in the fridge. Every morning I make a tea of a tablespoon of golden paste, 3 tabs grated ginger, a fresh lemon, grated peel and juice, tab of honey and a tab of cider vinegar. Add boiling water and enjoy throughout the day by re-heating in microwave. I eat oily fish 2 or 3 times a week. I do aqua aerobics twice a week - I learned the exercises by initially going to a class. Now I take myself to a private pool and simply do the exercises. I have had PMR for 15 months and am on 9 mg dropping to 8 and a half by the DSNS method. I consider that I have a very mild case of PMR and apart from some mild depression/anxiety/fatigue seem to be doing really well so long as I take the pred! If I forget or take wrong dose I soon know about it!

Am I just lucky or is it the tea and the aqua aerobics? Who knows? I just know it works for me and I will keep on keeping at it.

[Telian in reply to Louisa1840]

Thanks for the recipe, I like the idea of sipping it throughout the day....

Couldn't say if luck plays a part but take credit for looking after yourself and the regime you have certainly seems to work for you - that's all that matters! Not sure about 'mild case of PMR' you might tolerate symptoms better than some, I'm known to have a high pain threshold so we'll never know if our symptoms are mild or not. Keep up the good work I say.

[Casia in reply to Louisa1840]

Great to hear that your doing so well and thanks for your recipe. I’m on 4 mg having been on pred for a year and 6 months . Coming below 8 was the toughest as I wasn’t sure if I was having withdrawal from pred or increased inflammation. As it turns out I got down to 3 but my markers went up quite a bit and feel more stable on 4 for the time being. It also means my Pilates class is jess if a struggle. I agree with people that trying to live as stress free as possible is a major factor . i feel pretty fortunate . Good luck with your recovery

[Linny3]

I used turmeric,curcumin for over a year. I received some relief. I started getting hotter and hotter. I noticed my turmeric also had pepper in it. I switched to no pepper tumeric but that didn't help. I stopped the tumeric and the heat went away for awhile. Now I am hot again but not taking the turmeric. go figure?

Good Luck

[HeronNS in reply to Linny3]

Black pepper (piperine) increases the bioavailability of the compounds in turmeric which allegedly help reduce inflammation. Without the piperine you would have been getting a fairly small fraction of the goodness from turmeric. Not that it seems to help most PMR patients anyway, judging from reports on the forums.