How do I get my stubborn grandma to walk? She has arthritis and has fallen a couple of times.

It can take up to a month for it to work for some people, according to the websites I have read. It works best for inflammatory related pain. There was some concern about interactions with coumadin, but the latest stuff I have seen says it is ok to take with coumadin. Take it on an empty stomach with lots of water and wait about an hour to eat. The capsules are coated to dissolve in the intestines so I would not take it with juice or coffee that might dissolve the coating. I have a CAT scan every year since I have a coil in my brain from an aneurysm some years ago. The one before I started on the serrapeptase showed some beginning plaque in my carotid arteries, not that unusual at my age. After a year on the serrapeptase, Ithe scan showed the arteries were clear. It will be interesting to see if that will be true this year. I am due for the scan soon. Watching the bruise virtually vanish before my eyes was amazing! I visited my mother out odf state a year ago and just took enough of the serrapeptase to get me through the time I was there, but kept giving it away for otheres to try. i ran out, but wasn't worried since I had not had pain in a year. It came back within a few days. As soon as I got home, I started back on it and the pain was gone in one .day. Hope it works for your family!

Wow. Thanks for that, judyjudy! I'm a bit on the skeptical side in such matters. I looked up several double-blind studies in PubMed. The results ranged from not much difference from the placebo to definitely effective. (Each study was for a different use.) I didn't see any that said adverse effects or worse after using this. So I'm going to try it. I'd love to have my mother try it but she has had so many adverse reactions to so many things I'm afraid it might be a hard sell. Maybe if I try it with success ... Also want to try it for my husband, but will talk to his doctors at Mayo Clinic first, next week. He is on soooo many drugs I want to be sure of no known interactions.

So, I'll get some and try it myself. Let you know in several weeks.

I also have arthritis and it was exquisitely painful to even lift a cup or brush my teeth. I barely shuffled around the house and could not get up and down from the floor without crawling over to furniture and pulling myself up. Now I work out 3 times a week and move almost as well as I did in my 40's.Several years ago I discovered an enzyme called serrapeptase that has worked wonders for me. It costs about $12 for 90 capsules and is a true god-send. I am 69 and recommend all my patients check with their doctors and try it. Most doctors here are not familiar with it, so you may have to print out the literature and take it in to them. (I am a medical social worker). It is cheap, and doesn't seem to interact with any other meds, has been used in Europe and Japan for over 25 years. I order it from Vitacost.com and use the Doctor's Best brand. There is a lot of info on the internet about it. They also make it for pets. I even give it to my 14 year old cat not and she no longer has to claw her way up onto the couch. The only thing I have noticed is that if I don't take it with a full glass of water, it hurts my stomach for a few min. Lots of water and there is no problem. It took 4 days for me to have no pain and so long as I am on it; I am virtually without pain. I take 2 capsules in the morning and 2 at night on an empty stomach wqith a full glass of water. Wait an hour to eat in the morning. I was cutting a limb from a tree a year ago and it slipped and hit hy arm, leaving a large very black bruise. This was about 1:30 in the afternoon. I took 2 extra capsules right away. Then wondering if it could be absorbed through the skin, I wet my arm, opened a capsule and sprinkled the powder on my wet arm, rubbing it into a paste. The bruise was about 4 in x 2 in in size. I left it on and by 6:00 pm the bruise was completely gone except for a red rim around the edges of where it had been. The next morning it was gone. I swear by this stuff. lots of research and other info on-line about it. Hope it helps!

Talk to her doctor so you are sure you understand what is good for her. My mother has severe arthritis. We asked her doctor whether we should be encouraging her to walk. The answer was that it would not be particularly helpful at this point. She lives alone and the walking she needs to do to go to the door for meals on wheels, get her snacks, etc. is enough. Mother doesn't drive and she used to walk all over the place. She is not lazy or stubborn. Walking is painful.

My husband and I have both done water exercises in the warm pool of a rehab center. We found it extremely beneficial. I thought about encouraging my mother to join us. But the ride each way, the undressing and redressing, the walk from the lockers to the pool would probably put her to bed for two days.

So, I suggest first verifying what would really be good for Grandma. Has she been given exercises or advice from a physical therapist? What does her doctor say?

If you have the time and access to a pool there are many benefits to having her walk in the water with you (heated arthritis-rated pools such as physical therapists or the YMCA sometimes have are the best). It's good exercise, safe and easy, and once she's in the water, falling is not a problem. The water resistance helps build up strength and a bit of muscle, and it can be fun!