Post by Lannie on Jan 11, 2014 19:39:46 GMT -5
I just had to share this with my fellow milkers, especially those with the aches and pains of milking combined with old age. Three years ago, I had to stop milking by hand because I had such pain in the base of my thumbs, I literally could NOT physically milk anymore. I thought it was carpal tunnel, but it never got better. And lately, especially now that it's cold, it's gotten much, much worse. It hurts to wash the dishes, I can't pick up a full coffee mug (have to use little cups), getting the doorknob turned to open the back door brings tears to my eyes. I take New Zealand sea mussel for my bad knee, and it works wonderfully, ON MY KNEE, but doesn't do squat for my hands.
So something I read recently jogged my memory, and I remembered reading on a forum years ago about a lady I knew that had rheumatoid arthritis, and she was taking devil's claw for it and said it helped. I didn't have any pains back then, so I read it and promptly forgot about it. But then several weeks ago something made me remember it, so I looked it up, and sure enough, in several of my herb books, and online, it says it's used to treat RA. So I thought, why not give it a go? I don't know if what I have is RA (and NO, I'm not going to the doctor to find out), but it hurts really bad and is making daily tasks like getting socks on in the morning, and putting on a sweatshirt, or zipping up my coat, excruciatingly painful. So I ordered a pound of the dried root. It was reasonable, only $11.50 I think, plus shipping. I put a cup of the dried root in a quart canning jar and topped it off with cheap vodka, then let it sit for a week.
Yesterday, I strained it out and ended up with a pint of tincture, and of course the first thing I did was put a teaspoon of it in a short glass of water and chug it down. I swear, I thought I was going BLIND! I have one important thing to say about devil's claw: IT IS THE NASTIEST, MOST BITTER TASTING THING I HAVE EVER IN MY LIFE TASTED! OK, that's over.
However, the good news is IT WORKS. And quickly. Instead of doing it by the teaspoon, I'm using a dropper bottle now and putting a dropperful (about half a teaspoon) in a not-so-short glass of water and drinking it several times a day. It does make me sick to my stomach (the ONE side effect is possible nausea, and of course I get it), but MY HANDS ARE SO MUCH BETTER in only 24 hours! I found out if I have a little bit of cultured buttermilk after my dose of devil's claw, it doesn't make me feel the least bit sick, so that's what I've been doing.
I was able to get so much done today, it's not even funny. I made bread, I made butter, I made cheese, I made more buttermilk (gotta keep myself in buttermilk), I made a batch of clabber for the chickens, did ALL the washing up after myself (gallon jars, big pots, big bowls, etc.), and I dusted the freaking living room! All in just over four hours. The way I've been the last few months, I would have been doing good to get just ONE of those things done in a day. But today I got ALL the stuff on my list crossed off. Well, I didn't vacuum, but only because I ran out of time, not because I was hurting.
Anyway, I just wanted to share this, if you don't already know about it, and have a little more pain than you'd like. Because it's very bitter, it also stimulates digestion and biliary function (liver and gall bladder), so if you have any problems with those things, you should use it with caution - start small and build up to see if you have a bad reaction. I KNOW there are some of you on here that could use some of this, and I'm so ecstatically happy at how well it's working for me, I just had to share!
~Lannie
So something I read recently jogged my memory, and I remembered reading on a forum years ago about a lady I knew that had rheumatoid arthritis, and she was taking devil's claw for it and said it helped. I didn't have any pains back then, so I read it and promptly forgot about it. But then several weeks ago something made me remember it, so I looked it up, and sure enough, in several of my herb books, and online, it says it's used to treat RA. So I thought, why not give it a go? I don't know if what I have is RA (and NO, I'm not going to the doctor to find out), but it hurts really bad and is making daily tasks like getting socks on in the morning, and putting on a sweatshirt, or zipping up my coat, excruciatingly painful. So I ordered a pound of the dried root. It was reasonable, only $11.50 I think, plus shipping. I put a cup of the dried root in a quart canning jar and topped it off with cheap vodka, then let it sit for a week.
Yesterday, I strained it out and ended up with a pint of tincture, and of course the first thing I did was put a teaspoon of it in a short glass of water and chug it down. I swear, I thought I was going BLIND! I have one important thing to say about devil's claw: IT IS THE NASTIEST, MOST BITTER TASTING THING I HAVE EVER IN MY LIFE TASTED! OK, that's over.
However, the good news is IT WORKS. And quickly. Instead of doing it by the teaspoon, I'm using a dropper bottle now and putting a dropperful (about half a teaspoon) in a not-so-short glass of water and drinking it several times a day. It does make me sick to my stomach (the ONE side effect is possible nausea, and of course I get it), but MY HANDS ARE SO MUCH BETTER in only 24 hours! I found out if I have a little bit of cultured buttermilk after my dose of devil's claw, it doesn't make me feel the least bit sick, so that's what I've been doing.
I was able to get so much done today, it's not even funny. I made bread, I made butter, I made cheese, I made more buttermilk (gotta keep myself in buttermilk), I made a batch of clabber for the chickens, did ALL the washing up after myself (gallon jars, big pots, big bowls, etc.), and I dusted the freaking living room! All in just over four hours. The way I've been the last few months, I would have been doing good to get just ONE of those things done in a day. But today I got ALL the stuff on my list crossed off. Well, I didn't vacuum, but only because I ran out of time, not because I was hurting.
Anyway, I just wanted to share this, if you don't already know about it, and have a little more pain than you'd like. Because it's very bitter, it also stimulates digestion and biliary function (liver and gall bladder), so if you have any problems with those things, you should use it with caution - start small and build up to see if you have a bad reaction. I KNOW there are some of you on here that could use some of this, and I'm so ecstatically happy at how well it's working for me, I just had to share!
~Lannie