Super Collagen

September 2014, I had a Lumbar spine (low back) disc degrade to a severe level and put me in constant excruciating pain that was unrelenting and made basic and essential ADL's (activities of daily living) such as bending over to brush my teeth, getting on and off the toilet and trying to sleep, a constant painful nightmare.

Prior? Sitting has always been my most painful position due to spinal compression, but standing and lying down were manageable.  Not after this disc went.  I couldn't find relief no matter what so I got an MRI in October. 

It produced 4 very different and distinct pain types.  They were:

1. A constant pressure pain in my left buttock which radiated from the coccyx, a.k.a. tailbone. 
   
2. Sciatica down my right leg.
   
3. Right foot tingling, numbness and a constant "hot foot" sensation.  If unfamiliar with this, my foot felt uncomfortably hotter than the rest of my body.
   
4. Widespread pain across entire lumbar region that made any position painful and sitting and bending over, impossible.

In November, I saw my neurosurgeon, the fantastic Dr. Kris Webb of NeuroTexas to whom I will always be eternally grateful for a very well done Anterior Cervical Discectomy Fusion (ACDF) on C5-C7. 

For more info on Dr. Webb and that procedure, visit this page: http://www.spinaltrapb2g.com/western_medicine/dr_kris_webb_neurosurgeon

Dr. Webb reviewed my newest spinal MRI's and explained that since my L1/L2 disc had degraded to a severe level, I was feeling the "bone on bone pain of the vertebra because the disc is no longer able to do its job as a cushion". 

I asked him "Can you insert a balloon or something around the disc to pad it, like they do in the heart?" 

He smiled and nodded and said it was interesting I should ask that because something along those lines is being studied but it's not ready for use yet.

I asked if anything non-invasive (no cutting) that could be done to save it? 

Dr. Webb replied "The problem is that there is very little blood flow to the discs and since blood is a source of nutrition, this means that once they begin to degrade, as in the case of DDD (degenerative disc disease), there's really nothing that we can do to stop the process; so no, I'm afraid that your disc can't be saved."

Having gone herbal so successfully I asked him if he had any non-surgical remedies to help reduce this hideous pain? 

Dr. Webb said that there are 3 things every person

can to do reduce and prevent back pain.  They are:

#1 Posture - Always be aware of your posture so you utilize it properly, sit straight, stand straight, etc...

#2 Weight - Obviously, the more obese a person is, the more stress there is on the joints which are very important to the strength of all the structures that they support in the spine and elsewhere, such as the knees.  Thus losing weight if obese is vital.

#3 Core Strength - A strong core is beneficial to your best spinal health.  Which leads back to number two because pot bellies and beer bellies do not reflect a strong core...My words, not Dr. Webb's; he is much nicer than me! :) 

Once again, I'd had it with pain ruling my life.  On the way home I began thinking about my visit with Dr. Webb and how he said that the issue with the discs not being able to be saved is due to the lack of blood flow. 

I started thinking "Okay, if I can't save the disc because of that,  at the very least, can I SLOW the progression of my DDD and if so, how would I do that?"  

It quickly hit me that the only way to do it had to be from

either a nutritional (diet) aspect or via supplements. 

I started doing online research to learn what makes

up a spinal disc and read that collagen is

a pro-structural protein and in virtually everything! 

Hair, skin, nails, joints, BONES AND DISCS.  BINGO!

I then started researching collagen supplements because I know me, and as a picky eater, I am simply not going to eat all of the things that offer it. 

The long and the short of it is that I read was there are III types. 

Since I am not an expert by any means on the topic of collagen, I am not going to try and explain them.  Thus, you need to do what I did, your own research and follow-up with those who can answer your questions.  (List below that I asked.)

Initially, I simply ordered Puritan's Pride brand Hydrolyzed Collagen 1,000mg Types I & III in caplet form.  (Item# #004596)

I ordered them in December 2014 but due to being slated for a pain management procedure in early January 2015, I did not start on them because I didn't want there to be any uncertainty about if any improvement I had was coming from the procedure or from the supplement. 

Please see below for more on this Key Point.

Due to the minimal pain relief I ended up having two more pain procedures. 

Because I didn't want to start my collagen supplement before I gave my pain procedures a fair and full chance to do the most for me that they were going to, (if they were going to help, there is no guarantee they will), I asked my pain doc, "What is the longest it takes for a pain procedure to produce the results if it is going to work?" 

"One week" was his reply.

I had 2 different pain management procedures in January and a third in early February.  They definitely provided relief on some levels but it wasn't enough, nor long lasting. 

Thus, one week after my third procedure, I began taking the aforementioned collagen supplement QID (4 times a day) hoping that it was the much needed panacea for pain. 

As I said above, I'm no expert on collagen and my research was minimal and done while in great pain and on pain pills, both of which cause severe attention span and memory issues. 

Thus, when within the first two weeks I noticed my skin was even smoother than usual, I was very pleasantly surprised! 

Ditto when I also realized it was contributing to a reduction of menopause related hair thinning and hair loss! 

I'm sure these common benefits were listed in the links I researched but my only focus was what they could do for my DDD pain; because when you are in screaming pain, you could care less about anything but relief. 

Most importantly, I began feeling more regularly reduced pain within the first few weeks of taking the collagen, THANK GOD!  And I did! 

Being "greedy" for additional pain relief, I eventually did more reading and began learning about Liquid Hyaluronic Acid and L-Proline* and how these supplements work synergistically with collagen! 

Needless to say, they too were added to my natural pain management efforts. I began "NOW" brand liquid H.A. in March and "Source Naturals" brand L-Proline Powder in August.  (I drink a gallon of water a day and find it easy to consume supplements in powder form that can be mixed with it.)

I never did return to the same level of pain or comfort in my L-Spine that I had prior to September 2014, but given the extensive and numerous areas of damage and spinal disease processes I have (see my home page for the list), I believe I do much better than many with my same diagnoses and pain challenges who take numerous mood and mind-altering Rx's that strip a person of their best quality of life every bit as much as severe chronic pain does. 

And it's all thanks to trusting my God-given instincts and these supplements. 

*If you are a vegetarian

YOU REALLY NEED TO READ ABOUT L-Proline

because unless you eat a lot of the foods that contain it, daily, you are most likely not getting enough

and this can cause you pain at some point in the future.

Also, if you are vegan please know that until I felt well enough

to call Puritan's Pride and ask them many questions about

the first collagen product of theirs that I tried,

I had no idea it was from a porcine source.  

I was almost done with the last bottle at that point and have to say I found the last few hard to swallow, literally!

I am not a vegetarian or vegan, but I respect that those who are have the right to be informed so as to not consume

something that goes against your beliefs.



For information on Liquid Hyaluronic Acid or L-Proline, please click these links:

http://www.spinaltrapb2g.com/supplements_l-lysine__more/liquid_hyaluronic_acid_4_ddd

http://www.spinaltrapb2g.com/supplements_l-lysine__more/l-proline_4_ddd

 For financial reasons, I had to cut back from taking these items daily to 4 days a week; I figured 4 days a week would be a good maintenance dosing and it has still been beneficial. 

If you are financially challenged, please know that taking beneficial herbs and supplements like this, or even every other day once you get it in your system, is better than nothing. 

If you have to cut something else out of your budget like Netflix or other things that do not contribute anything to your health and wellness in order to afford things that do, do so.

I am happy to say that I have maintained this routine since, and though I did have to have one more pain management procedure in November 2015, that one was for my neck and shoulder nerve pain and numbness; and though this procedure did not entirely eliminate the pain issues, it was far more successful than my L-Spine ones. 

Thus, I can't help but consider that could be (IS!) most likely due to being on the collagen for 9 months, liquid hyaluronic acid for 8 months and L-Proline for 3 months. 

I was already on Magnesium Malate daily and still am, but learned that it too works synergistically with these others so I now take it at the same time as them on those days.  If you have muscle pain you definitely need to check it out!  Click here:

http://www.spinaltrapb2g.com/supplements_l-lysine__more/magnesium_malate

Always use common sense, do your research, ask the right people as many questions as it takes for you to get a handle on things and then, most importantly, LISTEN TO YOUR BODY!  It knows what it likes and what it doesn't.  It will react to things it doesn't. 

These are the questions that my research taught me to ask when picking a collagen supplement.  (I apologize to whatever site I got these smart questions from but I don't recall its domain name.) 

Bioavailability?
What is the source?
What are the Dalton's? (Molecular weight)
What form of hydrolysis is used?
I.e. Heat? Proteolytic enzymes?
What type I II or III? 

I eventually switched from Puritan's Pride to NeoCell Super Collagen Powder (types I and III) because I can mix it with water, and often put it in my No Sugar Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice.  For the record, I did not have the brain power or energy to learn what the Dalton's question meant.  But again, that did not stop me from benefitting from what I did learn and try.  I pray that you enjoy the same success!