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My father- in-law is constantly trying to find a quote "quick fix" to help with the pain in his knees. I told him most of these are scams. Some do interfere with his meds. His sons will not do anything, and I think they need to.

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Abf, sometimes people refuse to believe these miracle cures, presented in TV ads, aren't the real thing, there isn't anything we can do. As long as Dad-in-law is of clear mind and can afford to purchase these miracle cures, let him try them out.

You mention some of these cures are interfering with Dad-in-law's meds.... thus the next time Dad-in-law needs to see his primary doctor, either you or your husband approach the doctor that Dad is taking these "miracle cure" pills. Let the doctor try to convince Dad these aren't the real thing.
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Abf,
His sons will not do anything.
I don't think it will be healthy for you to interject yourself into his care.

There are people you can find to help that would appreciate you and your wise counsel.

There is a lot to be said for waiting to be asked to help.
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The doctor needs to know what, other than prescribed, his patient is using. Like u said is interfering with his meds..
My MIL wasvon cumidum, blood thinner. They could not get her levels right. I asked her if her Dr. knew she was on fish oil. She told me her dr. was allowing it. MIL had a problem with lying. Fish oil has vitamin E in it, a blood thinner.
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If you know who your FIL's primary care provider is, send a letter to that person. The best time to send the letter is about a week before your FIL visits his PCP. Make sure you mention the date / time of your FIL's next visit. You should also cc your FIL's other doctors. If your FIL has a case manager / elder services coordinator, send that person a copy of this letter. If you can get an empty bottle, soak off the label and include it in the letter (and send copies of the label to the providers that you are sending a copy of the letter to). You will also want to do research on the product(s) your FIL is taking. Don't assume that who is treating your father is familiar with the scams he is falling for. A good place to start your research is Quackwatch (quackwatch.org) and the Science-Based Medical Blog (sciencebasedmedicine.org/). I'm concerned about some of the more popular medical information sites, because some of them have articles supportive of questionable medical practices on their sites.

I had to deal with a similar problem. I discovered that my mother, who was undergoing cancer treatment, was taking a very expensive and definitely questionable herbal supplement. It was definitely a scam. The company did not use good manufacturing processes to prevent contamination, nor did they follow proper quality control procedures. It turned out that my mother was taking this on the advise of her doctor, who saw it discussed at a poster session at a conference at the M D Anderson hospital (a top specialty hospital specializing in cancer treatment). This shows you that even doctors can get fooled by clever scammers. My mother stopped taking the scam product only when her doctor told her to stop. She absolutely refused to believe me, to logically think through the points I had made in the white paper I wrote, addressed to the doctor. If it had been up to me, I would have immediately fired the medical oncologist--even though my parents really liked her. This wasn't the first time this end-of-career doc gave bad advise. Medical oncologists should be up to date on the latest scams against cancer patients.
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Working through the doctor probably will take longer than just throwing all of these "miracle" pain pills in a grocery bag, taking them to his pharmacy, and asking for a consult.
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The VA gave my DH Voltaren Gel - and it really works. What it does is numb the area. Lidocaine works in a similar fashion. Heck, Votaren Gel might contain Lidocaine.

Check how he sits. He might need a pillow under one or both knees to relieve the pressure. I have had to do this to relieve the pressure on my hips - I was born without hip sockets. I can tell you, once I find the right place for the pillow, the pain subsides for me.

Does he smoke and or drink? His physician almost certainly prescribes pain medication but I recently learned that smoking & drinking interfere with the medication's being effective.
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Bring him Arnica gel for his knee. It doesn't interfere with medications. It can be found at health food store. It really does help...
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Is he overweight? The Miracle pill is to lose it to get the stress off his knee's. Ask his doctor to have a talk with him.
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Okay, so a person can already figure out that the TV ads shown in today's world as a quick fix for medical maladies are all scams because of the fine print at the bottom of the tv screen, debunking them.
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My father was like that for awhile with so-called miracle products for prostate issues. Once he started ordering products, the same company would keep sending him material about their 'newer and better' product and he fell for it, even though I told him that it would be no more help than the previous products.
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