Some of the things are improving a little now that I have been away from the home for a while. It is amazing how much "family stress" can aggrivate conditions. They are still there but some of the stress factors are gone. Arbitration (binding) was yest morning. Now I just have to wait to see what division decisions he makes. Hate knowing I will leave behind the plants that gave me all that harvest since they haven't been cared for and I have been told some were mowed over so they probably won't survive. Ah but I shall do as I did for it....plant what people give me and manage it organically. It will take a long time before the clay soil provides as did the sandy loam I fortified with the compost down here. Putting down new beds in clay soil or for that fact even trying to break clay soil to drop in a seed will be so different from before. But for bird feeding I can plant sunflowers and that will save on bird seed money. Then just rotate what I plant each year until I can no longer get outside. I still will utilize body saving practices as: pipe for planting sticks (pruned or windfall limbs) as walking sticks buckets to sit on crawling (dragging along the walking stick for getting up) making sure plants are zone hardy make sure plants are soil & companion amlicable rely on birds for bug patrol I will (hopefully) have more space in which to garden now but recognize the percentage of land available & garden size I make it has to conform to my ability to handle the clay. Much more back breaking than what I started with before.

I'm so sorry about your diagnosis. I know it has been very hard on DH - trying to continue working and doing all of the other stuff he enjoys. With him, they were trying to rule out ankylosing spondylitis (which I guess they ultimately did), but his doctor wouldn't let him work for nine months. (OUCH on the budget!) I just opened my 3-ring binder of DHs experience, and it looks like during the course of nine months, he also tried: Methylpred (steroids, I think?) Tizanidine Skelaxin Arthrotec Celebrex Bextra Occasionally he took Flexeril (muscle relaxer?) but rarely. If I remember right, the steroids did him the most good but he wasn't given those very often because of side effects. Funny thing is, DH hates pills! He takes his Nortriptilyn now, along with Glucosamine-Chondroitin (sp?) and ibuprofen.

I would like to suggest doing some research on something that took care of many of my chronic inflammation issues (arthritis since I was 13-years old, carpal tunnel, tennis elbow, plantar fasciitis, even rosacea as a pleasant bonus) and that was to go gluten-free. My sister has fibromyalgia and a number of "gut" issues, and her daughter (36-years old) has RA, and we all got tremendous relief going gluten-free. Eliminate the cause instead of treating the symptoms. I spent too many years treating symptoms. I went gluten-free for 3-months before adding it back to my diet. When I did, I had more inflammation than ever before, so the proof was in the homemade whole wheat burger bun and the flour tortilla I ate over two days. By day three I was bedridden. That's all it took. The symptoms of my chronic issues abated gradually, but after the first gluten-free year, I couldn't believe how much my life changed. Just to be able to walk barefoot without hobbling and to be able to knit for long periods of time was a blessing, and to be pain-free was a new experience. And as far as the radical change in our diet, it was well worth it. I was accustomed to gluten-free cooking since my mother had celiac disease, and I develop recipes for a sorghum mill (many which are gluten-free). We don't do without, we just do "different". It doesn't help to just reduce gluten, elimination is the only way you'll be able to decide if it's a contributing factor. As one person described it - just as you can't be a little pregnant, you can't be a little gluten-free. At the first of the year I did a 10-day grain detox (eliminating all grains) and felt even better. I discovered I was using too much corn; and not only gluten-containing grains can cause inflammation, but other grains as well. Each person reacts differently. I take turmeric & bromelain, but that was for digestive issues after having my gallbladder removed (2014), and after I'd been gluten-free for over a year. I also have sciatica (since 1987) and I found a book at the library about it and I do a series of exercises I found in the book to help mine. It all comes down to what causes inflammation in our bodies (for me it's gluten-containing grains), and when inflammation goes awry it spreads to every part of the body through the bloodstream. The list of health issues from inflammation is very long. What most physicians do is to treat the symptoms, not the cause.

Thanks for your answers. raven I did see a rheumatologist: I got some Voltaren topical cream from her. I am using it but not sure I see a difference. In reading widely on this issue there are a so many people who "swear" by this treatment or vitamin or this medication or that one. It is just hard to sort through all this and start a regime of something that might work. I already take flaxseed in my smoothy every morning. I have now started with the turmeric. For the most part I'm aware of an antiinflammatory diet and eat along those lines. I could be better, though. I do know that my foot currently has good days and bad days and so far I can't trace it to any different eating or activity. I will continue to gather insights, though! chibimini, evidently there now are procedures available to actually replace the toe joint or add cartilage (or something) but none of the doctors I've seen so far do it here or recommend it because the long term results are not good. Unlike knees, evidently, the MP big toe joint is just far too complex to easily replace. Although fusion (where they fuse the big toe joint with the one near the top of the toe so the toe no longer bends) doesn't sound great at all, at least it is an option if the pain gets terrible and conservative measures fail. I have a 40 year old friend who had it done last summer, so I have her to consult with.