Thanks, Jeannine

March 3, 2001

Thanks for your encouragement. I think, as I said

in my post to Ted that I'm going to leave well

enough alone. I don't distrust this OS. He comes well

recommended by folks I trust in the medical profession but I

think that since I've been doing the exercises for the

past three weeks 2x a day, the knee has improved. I

have read nothing that would lead me to believe that

surgery is going to fix this or that this would be the

only surgery required once I start down that road. I

think the straight legs raises and " wall sits " are the

most beneficial. I could not afford the Celebrex after

I ran out of samples so my pharmacist told me that

600mg OTC ibuprofen, although a different kind of

anti-inflammatory might work as well. I'm thinking the exercise is

what is making the difference. I see the OS again on

the 21st of March and unless he tells me something

really convincing, I'm going to stick with just the

exercise. Thanks again for responding. Take care,

March 5, 2001

Hi , Be careful with taking

Ibuprofen. The primary advancement with the new NSAIDs (e.g.

Celebrex and Vioxx) is that they only inhibit the type 2

prostaglandins which are the ones that cause inflammation. The

older NSAIDs, Ibuprofen among them, inhibit both types

of prostaglandins (1 and 2). The downside to this

for osteo arthritis sufferers is that type 1

prostaglandins are essential in the rebuilding of cartilage.

Bummer. See Dr. Theo's web page ... he discusses this issue.

He does say that taking glucosamine can reduce this

side effect, so if you take Ibuprofen for any extended

period of time, it's probably best if you take

glucosamine and chondroitin as well. Tony

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