Marsha's Musings: Cucuramin & Pain Relief--Sunday/Monday AM Report

Sunday Night
I took the samples of Curamin, but I didn't see any great benefit that warranted spending $30 a month on the stuff. Of course I took it at the worst time of the month for me, so maybe it wasn't a fair test? I don't know.

I ordered some Cucuramin from Vitacost.com. Curamin is a brand name for a product that contain Cucuramin and two other things. It is a combination herbal supplement for pain. So I just ordered and got the one constituent of the brand name Curamin, Cucuramin. I know that is confusing.

I have read a lot of stuff about Cucuramin. There have been studies done on it in conjunction with cancer treatment/prevention, Alziemer's treatment/prevention and there are studies that will be done on it in connection with anti-inflammatory properties, just to name a few. If you Google Cucuramin and look for web sites about it that have the .org at the end, you'll get some good information. I'd steer clear of the sites that have .net or .com at the end...they are usually biased because they are trying to sell the stuff.

Ok, so I bought some of this stuff. I started using it full strength, taking 5 capsules a day. We were heading to the fair on Friday. I really thought it would be a six Tylenol day. I only took two Tylenol the whole day and came home feeling better then when I left. Now, that's amazing.

I won't say I haven't had any pain. But the pain has been much less and easier to control. Today I have not had any Tylenol at all. I did wake up in pain this morning, but I took two Cucuramin, two Ginger Root, one Devil's Claw, my cod liver oil, Vitamin E and Vitamin C. I spent 2 minutes relaxing on the floor, 5 minutes with my Miracle Ball under my neck, and another few minutes relaxing without it. My neck has been much better this morning and I was able to sit through church with much less pain than I have in a long time.

Computer work really agrivates the situation. So I am trying to be conscious of how much time I spend at the computer and doing some stretches and relaxation afterward or whenever I start to feel sore.

I am hoping that eventually, I can just take the Cucuramin for pain and leave off the ginger root and Devil's Claw. We'll see how it all goes. I am encouraged with the Cucuramin though. I'll keep you posted on how it goes with it.

Monday Morning
I didn't take any Tylenol last night and only one Benedryl to help me sleep. I took the Cucuramin and fish oil at bed time. I slept really good through the night and did not wake up due to pain this morning! That's improvement!

So far this morning, I have had some pain in my neck/shoulders, but that didn't start until I used the computer and it is not as bad as it has been. My neck is locked up to turn my head left and has been for over two months. My physical therapist is able to loosen it up and get it moving when I see him, but it doesn't last. I can deal with this though, if I am not having constant pain in my neck/shoulders like I had been. The neuro-surgeon told me six years ago that a time would come when I would have constant issues with my neck. He said when it starts causing pain, numbness and tingling down my arms on a constant basis, then surgery could be done. He said one day that will happen. So far I haven't reached that point and hope I don't because I don't want surgery.

Anyway, I am encouraged with the reduction in pain and hopeful that this will be the thing to help me so I don't have to take over the counter pain meds or prescription pain meds on a regualar basis.

Other things I do to help:

• gentle neck stretches
• relaxing with the Miracle Ball under my neck
• Traction therapy (I own my own traction machine)
• Physical therapy...he does massage, & stretching with me and some manual traction
• Hot Tub
• Chiropractic (although not very regular because my insurance only allows 10 visits a year & I can't afford to pay full price very often)

I share these things in case there are some readers of my blog who have similar issues. Perhaps some of these things could help them.