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After a very long time and alot of personal, profesional and financial ruin, I have finally been told I do fit in the severe AS area.

I've been on heaps of different drugs over the years. I've had doctors swear that Indocid is a pain killer. It is an anti-inflamatory which enabled me to get a nights sleep when my spine started fusing. I know the sneezing problem only too well. When it happened years ago, I had no idea about the eye and heart complications. When they started (years ago) it was inferred to be my imagination. Now they are quite bad and this stuff scares me. The upshot is, some one told me it gets better when you turn 50. If I can hang on for another decade or so I might get a better quality of life eh?

I am a big fan of things that only have good side effects (comparetively).

To get off copious amounts of liver destroying drugs, I drank Tahitian Noni Juice.
Eventually ran out of money for the juice. Amazing how many things dissapeared. I'd wake up in the morning without pain, had more energy and felt better. It is a natural food supplement which helps the body to help itself. It has been used for thousands of years by various indiginous tribes around the world. The scientific name is Morinda Citrifolia. Alot of research is being done worldwide on this fruit. It is choc full of potential as it is a natural, wholistic, synergistic product which not only contains heaps of vitamins and other natural nutrients including alkaloids, but has shown itself to have amazing pain and anti-inflamatory properties. NSAIDS work because they inhibit the body's production of substnces called Cox enzymes. Cox 1 enzymes function all the time. The prostaglandins they produce are necessary to keep the stomach lining intact and for other functions of the body. But Cox 11 lies dormant; it doesn't function all the time. Injury or infection is required to have it start working and produce prostaglandins. Cox 11 is induced by a physical blow to the body, an injury like a pulled muscle, or disease from bacteria in the body. The Cox 11 enzyme then produce prostaglandins which in turn cause pain and inflamation. NSAID's inhibit Cox 1 enzyme, which produce the lining of the stomach, and therefore they affect to body's ability to produce stomach lining as well as cells in the kidney that help the kidney function properly. The aim it to minimize Cox 1 inhibition and maximise Cox 11 inhibition. Unlike most anti-inflamatories which can only handle one of the Cox enzymes properly, (NSAIDS selectively inhibit Cox 11 and Cox 1 enzymes at certain levels) this Tahitian Noni Juice (Morinda Citrifolia) has been independently found to be a selective Cox 11 inhibitor. Noni will inhibit the Cox 11 enzyme whereas it will not have as great an affect of the Cox 1. Test on NSAIDS show that Noni Juice is a thousand times safer.
This juice helps alot of things, though it is not considered a cure as symptoms tend to return when person/animal stops drinking it. It actually takes Diabetes type 11 symptoms away and helps the body to regulate sugar again.

Some useful links on this fabulous fruit.
www.universal-tao.com/article/noni.html www.incc.org www.tahitiannoni.com
There are hundreds of companies that market this juice. Tahitian Noni International are the original company and Noni is all they work on. They have the only scientific laboratory soley dedicated to studying this remarkable fruit. I am passionate about it and look forward to drinking it again fulltime and helping others get free from pain. Feel free to contact me on either fionacannon@tahitiannoni.com/1121237 or phe0na@tpg.com.au Live in hope, Love and peace - Fiona

Hi Fiona,I just wanted to welcome you to the KICKAS site.
WELCOME
Shirley

Welcome Fiona ! And thank you for your info on noni juice.

I have been forced to persue alternative methods to deal with all the pain caused by AS. I would still be taking NSAID's if only my body didn't react so terribly to them !! I had been taking Voltaren (COX1 inhibitor) for about 6 years without much problem And then my doctor started me on Vioxx - and then Celebrex (both COX2 inhibitors).

I am persuing alternative / natural means to fight the pain of AS, and get my life back into shape - I have no other choice. I do not consider cortisone to be a long term solution.
The first thing I recommend is yoga, and other exercises.. I bought a yoga tape and did the exercises at home. The Wai Lana tapes are my favourite. Get into it now while the weather is warm!
Also my local club (South Juniors) is excellent as it provides pool / sauna / gym / yoga / squash all for $5AU for a single visit. So $5 provides a whole day of exercise - which is great for my pain.

The second thing I recommend is Rutin, as this has been incredibly effective at relieving pains in my hands, knees (enthesitis), and even my eyes (iritis). This is a natural plant extract that is also quite good for you as it is a water soluble antioxidant, a bioflavanoid, and is also known as vitamin P.

Third, if you are serious about finding alternatives.... I keep a diary of my daily symptoms. Remind me to post you a table I made for recording them, as I do not have time right now. I use this to figure out what things are working for me as "a good memory does not equal pale ink". It also helps me figure out what things make me worse, and this is also very important.

Right now I have to figure out if brocolli is helping my pain symptoms.. and that will take some time. But I could not hope to ever be certain if I did not keep a daily diary of what I ate, what supplements I took, and how much pain I am in,

All the best,
Zark



"So long and thanks for all the fish" - Hitch Hikers Guide To The Galaxy

As for why I can't take NSAID's, here is what happened to me...
After trying the COX2 inhibitors I started to become extremely sensitive to NSAID's in general. I have tried quite a few different kinds of NSAID's including going back to Voltaren... and I react badly to all of them.

My side effects are a little unusual: Lots of mouth ulcers, dry mouth, irritability, confusion, loss of appetite, and the strangest one is that my whole body feels hot and almost feverish. These side effects at first took about 2 weeks before they were unbearable, making it difficult to establish the cause. Now the side effects come on very quickly, and remove any doubts I may have. After I stop taking the NSAID's the symptoms abate over a period of about a week or so.

"So long and thanks for all the fish" - Hitch Hikers Guide To The Galaxy

Sounds like an interesting one Fiona.
The plant is also native to northern Australia and has a couple of local aboriginal names there.

In reply to:

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I am passionate about it and look forward to drinking it again fulltime and helping others get free from pain.

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Unfortunately the negative of smell will not help it's ready acceptance as people are not prepared to accept physical inconvenience or hassles.

In reply to:

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The fruits are edible but have a very pungent aroma when ripe, apparently to attract fruit bats which are dispersal agents for the seeds.

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I for one would try it if i lived in Darwin, but until then i'd be happier trying a concentrated extract than shipping the fruit (the leaves and roots are good too i am told)

Ted
proAS_KickAS

Hi Fiona,

I read about this juice a while ago and tried to get some in what is the best health food shop here. The owner really knows his stuff and they have a good range of produce, and will order in anything they don't currently have available.

When I asked him about this juice, he said he no longer stocked it, and he also made an exception in his willingness to order in for people with this juice - he said he couldn't ethically do it as he could never personally recommend it's use.

Hate to rain on your parade....

Take care,

Jan

Ta yn aigney hene eck dooinney agh ta y raad bene eck ben.

A man has his own will, but a woman has her own way

Yeah, tried Noni juice ages ago.. I didn't notice a difference :-( but some people seem to gain benefit from it. I just do not know if anyone with AS has ever benefitted!


"So long and thanks for all the fish" - Hitch Hikers Guide To The Galaxy

From ASGAP (Australian Society for Growing Australian Plants)

In reply to:

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Morinda citrifolia, cheesefruit or great morinda is a soft pulpy edible fruit when ripe, smelling and tasting strongly of blue vein cheese and pineapple. It is sold as frozen juice for flavouring cream sauces, pasta, polenta, dips, marinades and dressings. However, it is the medicinal uses of the plant which have been the focus of major commercial development. Traditional Aboriginal uses included as an antiseptic and wound dressing, for colds and for diarrhoea, and a yellow dye was extracted from the roots. It is now being marketed as Tahitian Noni for the alternative health care market, as an antibacterial, analgesic, anticongestive, antioxidant, anticatarrhal, anti-inflammatory, astringent, emollient, laxative, sedative, hypotensive, and blood purifying agent.

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Stand back i suppose and see if the testimonials come flooding in!



Ted
proAS_KickAS

Maybe I should have tried the official "Tahitian Noni Juice" .. one guy was trying to sell it using some pyramid scheme on the board ... hehee :-) and of course told us that only this brand is any good. Does not sound like an impartial judgement to me im afraid!

Actually that link is really funny :-) I am on steves side hehehe :-) poor Damian was getting flamed bad.

Oh well... the noni juice sounds promising enough for me to give it one more shot. This time with one that contains good ol' preservatives. As the last time i tried it I thought it must be off.. I am sure it had fermented or something ! heck, maybe it is meant to taste that bad..

another thread that mentions noni juice:
Results from the Rheumy ( #1 AS Web Support Group )
https://www.kickas.org/cgi-bin/w3t/showflat.pl?Cat=&Board=support1&Number=81271
(apparently noni juice works a bit like cox2 drugs?)


"So long and thanks for all the fish" - Hitch Hikers Guide To The Galaxy

Thank Your Zark :-)

It is SO good to find people talking about AS.

Your information on the Yoga and Rutin was informative and definately appreciated.

$5AU for the sauna plus pool and yoga sounds good. I miss my gym membership.

I have found diary very useful in the past despite what Dr's have said. Good on you for being so diligent.

Thanks for that and chow 4 now
Keep on Kickin'
Phe0na