[Harp-L] Subject: Playing without pain...hope this helps

[EGS1217@xxxxxxx]

I realize this is ostensibly "off-topic".  But it relates to feeling  good 
enough to play without pain in wrists and hands (affecting your  harping) and 
even knees and lower extremities:  travelling to SPAH;  getting up on stage;  
walking to gigs?  I've made so many  friends here I can't not tell my story to 
people I care about in the hope  someone is helped even a little:
 
I suffered for years with lower back pain compounded by other joint  pain:  
Knees, wrists, etc.  I was pretty much house-bound.  Had  major back surgery I 
won't go into.  What affected me on a daily basis was  simply standing, 
walking, using my hands.  Living.
 
Other things possibly come into play:  I'm on a neurological med  I began at 
the same time for migraines that might remotely have  something to do with 
helping me, but I don't believe it's responsible  (just telling you as a 
disclaimer).  But my miracle potion and  what enabled me to throw away a cane I'd used 
to help me walk for 15 years and  get to Buckeye in April and manage to 
function as a reasonably normal person  without anyone being the wiser is something 
that many of you may already be  taking in pill form but is absolutely 
incredibly better in its liquid  version:  Symtec Liquid Joint Movement 
Glucosamine/Chondroitin with MSM and  Collagen.  2 tablespoons taken at the same time 
every day.   I buy it at Costco for 33 days supply for a very reasonable cost.   
It's also available at my local Eckerd's drug store for half the size (same  
price).  I've been taking it now for 16 months.  My life has changed  
dramatically.  I originally only hoped it would help my knee pain.  I  no longer have 
heel pain (plantar fascitis), my knees still make strange noises  climbing 
stairs, but 95% of that pain is gone and I can now kneel and get back  up again 
without help. I can walk without discomfort and now stand for  hours while I play 
my harmonica (never could do that before).  I'd had  trigger finger surgery 
with a year of therapy prior to beginning this stuff  -- the next finger had 
begun triggering and I assumed more surgery - that's now  disappeared and even 
the original finger has quieted down.  My lowback pain  is much improved even 
though I'd long given up on that ever happening.  
 
The reason I mention it now is because I begged a good  friend to take it for 
her bad knees (she's the 15th or so person I've started on  this)(including 
my vet, my neurologist and many family members).  She  fought me to a 
standstill (didn't want to spend the extra costs between the  horse-pills and the 
liquid.  The horse pills don't have the MSM and  collagen (which seem to be what 
makes all the difference) as well as the fact  that the Symtec is instantly 
absorbed and does not upset one's  stomach.  Last night this same friend im'd me 
to say that she'd  forgotten to take her dose the night before and realized 2/3 
of the way through  the day yesterday that her knees were hurting a lot.  
When she said this,  it dawned on me that I'd done the same thing and I was also 
beginning to  ache.  I should add that when I first started on it:  it was 
only 8  days after I began when my husband and my neurologist saw the difference 
in my  stride - they both noticed I was walking much more smoothly and it was 
then the  Dr. asked me to try giving up relying on my cane to traverse stairs. 
 
 
I'm no huckster.  I have no connection to this company (though I'd  sign up 
to be their spokeswoman in a heartbeat!)   They do have a  website  - 
_www.symteclab.com_ (http://www.symteclab.com)  where  one can purchase the product, 
but you can get it at Costco.  Sam's  Warehouse sells a similar product that 
seems to have the exact same ingredients  but I've never tried it.  The reality 
is that musicians and people who do  repetitive movements (athletes, 
secretaries,  mechanics) are prone  to the kind of joint injuries associated with the 
level of pain and  stiffness I'm talking about.  If it doesn't help you in one 
month - one  bottle's cost of $18.99 (about the cost of one diatonic) then it 
probably  won't.   Worth a shot?
 
Elizabeth