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Spice: A Turmeric and Curcumin Life Saver.

Body and Brain

Spice: A Turmeric and Curcumin Life Saver.

A Spice Case Study

This is the tale of how misdiagnosis, inflammation and genes can turn your life upside down and how natural, holistic supplements like WillPowders’ Spice can change your life. 

Once upon a time, boy meets girl and they whiled away the hours, dreaming about the life they would create together.  Like most young couples, they naively envisioned a future filled with health, happiness and prosperity. And whilst for them, first came love, then came marriage, then came their boy in a baby carriage, something that could potentially devastate (and did for a bit) their lives came next. Inflammation so destructive that it could have seen my hubby in a wheelchair or worse, dead!

The Backstory

When my hubby was a child, my mother in law was at her wit's end.  Her beautiful boy simply failed to thrive.  His knees were bigger than his thighs; he wouldn’t eat anything; he suffered horrendously with mouth ulcers; he contracted shingles, which is extremely rare and dangerous when you’re a child; he suffered from painful gut and digestive issues and his general quality of life was constantly compromised.  Trawling from doctor to doctor and putting her boy through every investigative procedure available to her, she constantly hit a brick wall of no answers, forced to submit herself to just doing her best for him.  The worry and blind ignorance that she was expected to raise her child in, kept her up at night, giving her no option but to conduct her own research.  Luckily, as a nurse, she was more adept in cutting through medical advice and research, but it wasn’t until her boy turned 30 that she started getting somewhere. 

As my husband and I started to think about starting a family of our own, and after many years of “reasonable” health - I say reasonable because he had just learned to live with the incessant pain and joint inflammation, my husband developed an infection in his elbow joint after he cut his finger gardening. Consequently, this resulted in him being admitted to hospital for over a week, as the infection began to track up his arm, making its way to his heart. In danger of becoming septic, doctors and nurses administered treatment, some that made him worse and some that made him better.  His hospital stay concluded with a diagnosis of Cellulitis, but my mother in law knew they were wrong. And she was right!  Upon returning home, I watched my husband’s body fight whatever war was raging inside him, and I desperately researched every supplement under the sun to try and help his body win. 

Inflammation Flare City

Things settled down for a bit so we got back on the baby train and to our delight, I fell pregnant straight away; however, every bug, every cut, every knock, every sleepless night resulted in some kind of flare up; my husband trudged through life feeling utterly drained, sometimes bed bound, sometimes working hard to ignore the pain or latest symptom that his secret disease manifested that day. He worked hard to not let whatever it was impact our boy and I, but it was easier said than done, and I always knew that it was a struggle. It just felt so unfair: here was a wonderful man, who I loved so much, someone who pushed his body to its limits, achieving great things like 100 mile charity walks, believing that events like this would nourish his body and soul when actually, it was only causing irreparable damage. He struggled through his 30s, desperate to contribute to family life as much as he could, but it always seemed to come at a cost, a cost to us, or to his health. 

Towards the end of the first year of being parents, the swelling in his joints really started to take hold and the MRI scans began.  Unable to walk, the scans showed severe inflammation in his joints, spine, and brain.  Doctors could tell us that there was what looked like a cyst on his brain that may need removing in the future, erosion of cartilage around his joints that had left huge spaces between his joints and the possibility that he would end up in a wheelchair eventually, but they still couldn’t tell us definitively what the hell was wrong with him, so we walked away with the diagnosis of Ankylosing Spondylitis (a long-term condition in which the spine and other areas of the body become inflamed), but after years of research, my mother in law, husband and I still felt there was missing piece of the jigsaw.  

Two red and white capsules, one with a skull and crossbones symbol, lie on a dark surface. The symbol indicates a warning, potentially suggesting that the capsules are harmful or toxic.

Toxic Meds

Sulfasalazine was prescribed, which is a type of drug known as a disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug (DMARD), reducing inflammation, pain and swelling in the joints and slowing down the progression of rheumatoid arthritis. Whilst we were thrilled that there was some possibility of some relief, when my husband’s body started to reject the prescribed medication, we ended right back at the beginning, now with bigger problems to face.  Sulfasalazine made him feel so ill, he fought hard for a second opinion, even paying to go to a private clinic in Bath to try and find some reprieve. He was still having to get his joints drained, still begging his consultant to prescribe steroid injections when he couldn’t walk because the inflammation in his knee was now in his hip, knowing that it was eating away at his joints and speeding up a future in a wheelchair, but no one would listen. 

A Biological Plea

Having read everything there was to read and learning everything there was to learn, we were convinced he needed biological drugs to fight whatever was incapacitating him, but the computer said no and the doctor’s script refused to prescribe a 35 year old man the most expensive medication available.  Instead, he was forced to persevere with medication that further debilitated him for longer, until they were convinced it wasn’t working, which is when, we were told, they would explore a prescription for Methotrexate, a drug used for cancer treatment. 

When this day came, my husband was told that taking Methotrexate came with great responsibility.  We had to make a decision about having a second child and if this was something we both wanted, he would have to stop all medication for 6 months before we could try to conceive. Not only that, he would have to be conscious and vigilant when around pregnant women as Methotrexate had the power to adversely impact the health of a pregnancy.  The thought of my husband suffering so that we could add to our family just wasn’t an option for me and becoming radioactive wasn’t an option for him, so we made a decision to keep fighting for the Golden Chalice, The Biologicals. However, the rule was, when a random scan showed significant inflammation in three of his joints at the same time, the key holders to the biological vault may consider a prescription, but every scan was either localised to the pain he was experiencing or the latest steroid injection would mask what was going on behind the scenes - we just couldn’t win and the suffering continued. If it wasn’t contending with excruciating joint pain, or fighting horrendous infections, it was managing the damage the anti-inflammatories had done to his gut, resulting in taking even more medication to stop his gut lining from literally eroding. 

Two hands hold a paper cutout of a human head with colorful, wavy lines inside it, representing epilepsy

Another Kick to the Gut!

It wasn’t until my husband’s hip became so inflamed and he blacked out at work that he hit rock bottom. After a very stressful period at work and as life was really throwing everything at him, not only was he experiencing a severe flare in his hip, making sitting or lying down near impossible, he also had a seizure. Doctors were quick to diagnose my husband’s Epilepsy, which further disrupted our lives even more as he was now unable to drive until he was 12 months seizure free. Watching my husband sit at our kitchen table, with his head in his hands, his apologies punctuated by his sobbing was the most heartbreaking moment of my life.  The guilt he felt because his body was preventing him from being the husband and father he wanted to be is an image that will stay with me forever.  However, whilst we had to move our son to a school closer to home and my husband had to rely on lifts and public transport, we always had our perspective; no one had died and he was taking medication that helped to get him to the end of his 12 month prison sentence and life could return to some kind of normality. We were so conditioned to keep going, always maintaining an attitude of ‘it could be worse’, so he took his Epilepsy drugs, we survived the inconvenience and we continued to battle the inflammation. 

Super Spice

As we presented our suspicions to my husband’s doctors, the whole landscape of our lives started to change. We finally knew what his body needed to feel better and it was like a thousand Christmases had come at once. He started to drink pineapple juice by the bucket load, rich in Bromelain which has antibacterial properties that can reduce gut inflammation and which would mitigate some of the affects of his new anti-inflammatories, Celebrex. 

However, then we met Davinia, started working with WillPowders and were introduced to Spice. Talk about the best joint pain supplement. My oh my, what a game changer that little orange pill was. The advantages of curcumin far surpassed anything he has been ever been prescribed before.

Since taking Spice, a turmeric food supplement, not only has my husband not had any major flares in his joints, he hasn’t taken any prescription or over the counter anti-inflammatory medication since April 2023. He takes 3 in the morning and 3 at night and I feel like our lives have finally begun at 40.  I just cannot believe how much of a difference to his quality of life it has had.  After late nights, particularly busy periods or when life just throws its usual curve balls, he can feel his immune system starting to attack his body, but Spice, more often than not, nips it in the bud and prevents him from having to dip out of life whilst he tries to overcome the latest bout of inflammation. It’s given him some semblance of normality, it’s given our boy his daddy back and I don’t even recognise my husband, but what I’m seeing, I like. 

A Powerful Natural Anti-Inflammatory

Whilst the damage of misdiagnosis and the prescription of what turned out to be toxic medication for my husband has left its mark, a mark so damaging that his body will never fully recover, he has been reborn, and his and my mother in law’s tenacity and refusal to just accept what they were being told, along with WillPowders’ Spice has been the only lottery win we will ever need. 

Spice is a powerful anti-inflammatory that derives from nature. Studies have shown curcumins may be more effective than prescribed anti-inflammatory drugs for rheumatoid arthritis or inflammatory diseases, and in my husband’s case, this couldn’t be more true. The active ingredients and advantages of curcumin have supported his digestion and gut, which is highly compromised due to carrying the HLA-B27 gene and helps to protect his joints from further damage.  His movement, especially in his hip, is limited, but with the help of Spice and therapeutic exercise, exercise that before Spice was too painful to endure, it continues to improve. Whilst he will still probably need to have a hip replacement one day, due to the damage that has already been done, his recovery and timeline has greatly improved thanks to Spice’s Turmeric, Curcumin and MSM, which has reduced oxidative stress and inflammation in his joints; it is a supplement that has given my family the healthy, happy and prosperous future we imagined when boy met girl.   

A scientist in a lab coat, gloves, and protective eyewear is looking into a microscope. There is a blue double helix DNA model and chemical formulas overlaid on the image

Testing

If you suffer from inflammation or have an autoimmune disorder it might be worth speaking to your doctor about being tested for the HLA-B27 gene.  You might just avoid a lifetime’s worth of misery and be able to combat your symptoms in the most productive, natural and sustainable way and without causing further damage to your body.  For more information about HLA-B27, here’s some further reading for you to peruse.  My mother in law describes it as having 3 cherries on a fruit machine: you can have one cherry and suffer from something like Crohn's disease (like my hubby’s sister), have two and suffer with Crohn's and inflammation of the skin, joints etc (like my father in law) or have all three cherries (like my hubby) and really struggle with simply being inside your body. For more information about Spice and what it could do for your quality of life, check out our blogs because Spice really might be the best thing you read about and eventually purchase for you and your future self. It's definitely our highest rated joint supplement. It’s been absolutely transformative for my husband and I, for one, couldn’t be more grateful for that.

Relevant Recipes

Spiced Latte (served hot or over ice)

Spiced Latte (served hot or over ice)

This scrumptious latte will help to counteract inflammation, aid sleep, give you an amino boost and stop you from snacking.

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Turkish Eggs

Turkish Eggs

Spice up your life and pimp your breakfast eggs with this delicious combo of yoghurt, dill, harissa and chilli.

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Disclaimer

Our blogs are written with love in the hope that they go some way in helping you feel like the rockstar you are, and whilst we do our due diligence, research like maniacs and fact check our stuff, we know everyone’s journey is different. They are intended to educate and empower you, not usurp medical advice. We would never advise you to stop, adjust, or modify any prescription medication without the direct supervision of your healthcare practitioner, but don’t be afraid to talk to your doctor about your new found knowledge, brought to you by the marvels of nature because they don't know everything! Blogs are always informed by Davinia but often written by a member of the team. Not all blogs reflect Davinia's experiences and sometimes provide alternative perspectives