Vitamin K deficiency increases risk of acquiring arthritis. Thus it wouldn't do much to relieve the pain of arthritis. Early research suggests that chondroitin and hyaluronic acid might help reduce severity.

Have you tried physiotherapy, and other physical therapy activities? It helps some people. There are also specific non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs that might not precipitate your acid reflux symptoms.

Talk to your doctor for other management strategies.

The major NSAID on the market is Aleve but one of the side effects of that drug is that it increases the risk of serious effects on the stomach: bleeding/ ulcers. I tried physical therapy but after two months of therapy and no significant improvement my doctor discontinued it. I've been on Celebrex but after finding kidney problems my doctor took me off of it- that was a good drug, I almost felt like risking the kidney problems because it improved my arthritis so much. The doctor also put me on 1oo mg? of ibuprofen per day but I had acid reflux so badly, and since it barely had any effect on the arthritis the doctor took me off that as well.

Here is a direct quote from one article I read on osteoarthritis and vitamin K: “Vitamin K may make cartilage hardier so that it better withstands wear and tear. It may allow the bone to respond in a more healthy fashion to the wearing away of cartilage. And it may act as an anti-inflammatory, reducing the inflammation of joint linings that causes pain.”
www.bu.edu/alumni/advancement/2006/spring/ vegetables/index.html

Has anyone actually tried vitamin K and, if so, what were the results? Because vitamin K also plays a role in clotting the blood I'm reluctant to try it until I know something more about it. Could it cause blood clots or other medical problems if you take too much?

Vitamin K in excess are not known if taken at the RDA, which is 120 ug for males and 90 ug for females. However, if you have some clotting disorders then you shouldn't be taking vit K.

Thanks forthe input, Mame. I don't have any clotting disorders so, luckily that's not an issue for me. My problem is that there is no agreed upon RDA for vitamin K. I visited eight websites and they all listed dosages that were different. They ranged from 65 mcg-120 mcg for women/adults. (Some of the sites had the same dosage for men and women.) I think I'll just start with the 65 mcg and see how that goes. I can always adjust the dosage later, if necessary. I'll be sure and post the results so helpfully this will (1) help others or (2) prevent them from trying this if I see no positive results. Wish me luck!

Multivitamins have about 40 mcg in them. With a balanced healthy diet you should be able to obtain enough vit K.

To those interested, I had difficulty finding vitamin K at the drug store. I finally found it at GNC. It's 100mcg and only costed a few dollars. I only started on it a few days ago (one pill a day) so I have nothing to report yet but I'll be sure and post my results if I notice any benefits.