Home remedies sometimes work

Dear Dr. Gott: I love your articles but I have some reservations about your home remedies and wonder if you can answer my concerns:

1. How long do I have to take Certo and grape juice to see results for arthritis?

2. Can Certo be taken with any other juice? (I hate grape juice.)

3. Is there a time limit to using castor oil on arthritic joints?

4. What is the time limit on using Vicks for toenail fungus?

5. I’m sorry to say the soap therapy for leg cramps didn’t work.

Dear Reader: 1. I don’t know. Judging from my readers’ responses, the treatment should work in less than a week.

2. Not to my knowledge, but if you decide to experiment, let me know the results.

3. Not to my knowledge, but, as you know by now, I rely on readers’ assessments. So let me hear about your experiences.

4. There is no true limit: use it until you are blue in the face. It took a year for the product to clear up my nail fungus, but clear it up it did. Be patient.

5. I, too, am sorry.

As for most home remedies that do not seem to work, I have to remind you that more established treatments are sometimes ineffective as well. I don’t have a reason for this, except to point out that nothing in life is 100 percent perfect.

Dear Dr. Gott: I am 66, a female, on Lipitor for a high cholesterol count. I have been suffering from diffuse muscle pain that my doctor cannot diagnose. What should I do?

Dear Reader: Stop the Lipitor immediately. All the “statin” drugs, of which Lipitor is one, have, as an unusual but dangerous side effect, muscle inflammation. If ignored, this condition may lead to significant kidney damage.

If the Lipitor is the cause of your muscle pain, you should experience virtually complete relief a few days after stopping the drug. If, on the other hand, your symptom persists, your family doctor will have to test you for other disorders, such as fibromyalgia, that can cause muscle pain and stiffness.

To give you related information, I am sending you a copy of my Health Report “Understanding Cholesterol.” Other readers who would like a copy should send a long, self-addressed, stamped envelope and $2 to Newsletter, P.O. Box 167, Wickliffe, OH 44092. Be sure to mention the title.

Dear Dr. Gott: Does your “no flour, no sugar” diet permit the use of Splenda, a new noncaloric sweetener?

Dear Reader: Yes. You may use Splenda or any of the commercially available sugar substitutes, including aspartame and saccharine. In my experience, Splenda is an appropriate noncaloric substitute that is completely free of significant side effects or dangers.