just diagnosed

lozzer52

Hi ive just been diagnosed with arthiritis in my knees, the pain is awful. i cannot settle or get comfortable. i find sleeping difficult as i cannot find a position to lie where it doesnt hurt. has anyone any tips to help me. i have always been active but i find this is really slowing me down to the point where i have had to take time off work.

pinkbritishstars

Hi

I too have arthritis in my knees.

What meds are you on???

I am on tramadol modified release - I was on oramorph for two months but had to come off it as it made me mentally unwe

Keep speaking to us

B x

stickywicket

Hello lozzer. Good to meet you though I'm sorry you had to find us. It must come as quite a shock to find you are no longer able to do all the active things you used to do without paying for it and continuing to be able to work is a problem many have to think hard about.

I'm presuming yours is osteo if it is just the knees? Are you on medication for it? If the meds you have been given don't work for you (and it's always a case of some work for some and others work for others) your GP could prescribe different ones. It's very much a question of getting the pain down to a level you can live with. If sleeping is difficult you might take something stronger at bedtime, having a bath can help, you need a good mattress and some people sleep with a pillow between their legs. I'm sure others will be along with their suggestions.

mig

My knees are not affected yet,but i find a wheat bag that you warm in the microwave helps my hands,i have ra so dont know if it would work with osteo,worth a try.Mig

teresagrove

I never, ever sleep through the night whether taking prescribed drugs or not.
Amitriptyline helps me to fall asleep - but not to stay asleep. Not good as I am a teacher who needs to have my wits about me every day - not be a sleep deprived zombie.

My 'lifesavers' which keep me sane in the wee small hours when I am wide awake and in pain are my kindle and iphone - I read or play games - but sadly the pain does not go away - just keep my mind off it.

hileena111

Hi
Welcome to the forum
My arthritis is my hips but a wheat bag warmed does help and a pillow or long bolster between your legs should help.....its trial and error really
What meds are you on? Should they be changed?

Love
Hileena

lozzer52

hi
im on high dose co codamol for the pain and ibuprofen gel to rub in the affected areas
Loz

teresagrove

I too am on high dose co codamol and alsohigh dose naproxen - helps with pain but not sleeplessness

Colin1

Hi Lozzer sorry i'm not much help hopefuly the medication will start working soon and you'll feel a little better. At least you now know what it is its just coming to terms with it.
Colin

MrDJ

Hi
im having very bad pain in my right knee at the moment. it was caused by a trauma when i was lifting a suitcase off the trolley which moved and the case hit my knee (i think the whole airport heard me that day).
it has been hemorrhaging on and off for the last 6 years now and normally drainage and steroid injection helps but not this time. my rhumy said it was now OA now as there is also quite a bit of sonovial fluid drained as well.
due to my left hip being replaced i cant lie on that side anymore so its either on my back or on my right. through trial and error ive found the most comfortable position is having 2 pillows at the bottom of the bed when im laying on my back to keep my leg raised or a pillow or some sponge between my knees when im lying on my right.
i have been having really bad sleep patterns for months now and ive found the only painkiller to help is (DF118) dehidrocodeine which helps with the pain and also makes you very drousy so i can get some sleep as well.
when even they dont help i have 3-4mls of oramorph but this buggers my head up until at least lunchtime the next day.

hope they manage to sort out your meds soon for some much needed pain relief.

SteveBurns

Hi lozzer, I’ve had OA in both knees for five years now and have never slept a full night since. My painkillers don’t last long enough to get me through the night.

Take care with certain pills, I was taking paracetamol, 8 each day and had terrible headaches. A chat with my GP led me to drop four of them as she said it was Analgesic headaches from too many paracetamol. The headaches have gone but the pain is worse.

If you work you probably suffer more because you are up and about on your legs, I find the more I do the worse I am at night so try to take things easy when you can.

I have a pillow under my legs; think I’ll try it between them tonight after reading some of the comments here.

Don’t know your age but you should think about seeing a consultant and investigate a knee job.

Why live in pain when you can get the pain taken away? I hear recovery time is about 6 weeks?

I’m looking for a half knee replacement later this year ‘cos I’m fed up with the pain all the time.

I’d get both done at the same time if I could?

Try having a bath before bed, as hot as you can stand.

Good luck and take care. Let us know how you get on.

sbolam

hi Lozzer52

I have OA in both knees (worse in my right) and I find putting a duvet under your botton sheet helps and the beds not so hard and I have a heated duvet so the beds warn on my knees when I first get into it.

I take 50mg diclofenic, 50mg tramadol and 30/500 co-codamols.

I cant sit for long without the damned stiffness coming back and standing and walking can be a tricky at best.

if I do to much today I suffer the next.

once I found what I can and cant get away with..I manage ok.

if your meds are not working for you..go back to your GP and tell them..it took a few visits back and forth to my GP to find the meds that I worked for me

hope this helps

stephen

frogmorton

Hi Lozzer

in your shoes l would be back to the doc to discuss meds:

1. Topical anti-inflams like the ibuprofen gel might not be penetrating deeply enough.

Oral ones might be better. I found brufen (ibuprofen tablets and diclofenec brilliant for years), but hadn't had anything to protect my stomach and eventually they started to give me pain and an upset belly l now have Arcoxia which is a newer type anti-inflam and is gentler on the stomach.

2. Painkillers. the co-cos are a good medication, but there are others you can take slow release which will 'last longer' and might help at night.

3. Things to help you sleep. I have amitriptyline at night which helps a bit. Nothing worse than being awake when others are asleep - so isolating and can become 'habit-forming' if you know what l mean

4. getting comfy as best you can. Try pillows under knees or between knees. Trial and error of course.

Take care

Love

Toni xxx

frogmorton

teresagrove wrote:

I never, ever sleep through the night whether taking prescribed drugs or not.
Amitriptyline helps me to fall asleep - but not to stay asleep. Not good as I am a teacher who needs to have my wits about me every day - not be a sleep deprived zombie.

My 'lifesavers' which keep me sane in the wee small hours when I am wide awake and in pain are my kindle and iphone - I read or play games - but sadly the pain does not go away - just keep my mind off it.

Hi teresa

We used to have a thread over on chit chat called 'night owls' for those of us who were struggling to sleep. It was brillaint and really helped. Made people feel far less alone.

Love

Toni xx

bubbadog

Hi Lozzer, Welcome to the site, sorry you have been suffering with your knee's I suffer with both my knees. I have osteoporosis. So I understand how the pain must effect you. I can throw a couple of things I do to try and minimize my pain. I try and not use the stairs much. Keep it to down in morning and up at night. I'm lucky enough to have a downstairs loo which is a god send my OH built it while I was in hospital when I was diagnoised with Osteo. Rest but try and keep moving your legs, small amounts of walking around your home keeps you from stiffening up. It's hard to advise someone else what's good but I hope the couple of things I've said help. If you ever wanna have a good moan about knee's your welcome to PM (private message) me.

mrsshazbat

Hi I'm a newbie to the forum

I have psoriatic arthritis and have recently been suffering from excruciating pain in the base joint of my right thumb - not helpful when you're right-handed. I also have stiffness and swelling in my left thumb so basically have the grip of a newborn baby.

Anyway, to avoid waiting for an appointment with my own GP after a particularly painful day, I went to our local walk-in centre where they said it sounded like arthritis and prescribed me 50mg Diclofenac which I've taken before for my bad back (also giving me grief at present - anyone got a gun?) . Last night I saw my own GP and mentioned my thumbs. She manipulated my right thumb and that was fine. Touching it isn't painful. Knocking it, gripping anything or inadvertently bending it across my hand (hands in pockets, etc) has me on the ceiling. Anyway, she said that that meant I didn't need an x-ray but she didn't actually say what the problem was. She also had a fit when I said I'd been on Diclofenac because I was diagnosed asthmatic in 2010 and apparently shouldn't have taken it (seriously - a gun, anyone?). I said I hadn't had any side-effects and she said I would have known, due to my inability to breathe! I turned down co-codamol as last time I had that for my back pain it made me feel ill and sent me away with the fairies, but initially she recommended that alongside ibuprofen gel - which is how I found this forum.

As I'm waiting for a diagnosis on a potential underactive thyroid (40, and falling apart) which means free prescriptions, I'm currently loathe to fork out the increased prescription fees (more than usual) so thought I'd give the co-codamol/gel combo a go tonight and sleep on it - as we have some co-codamol in the house. It's only 8/500 which from reading this thread, is quite a low dosage. I think the stuff I was on for my back was quite strong as I'd had to come off Tramadol because that was awful as well.

I had a bad episode about 10-12 years ago in my right hand but it affected the knuckles of my index and middle finger, and although I couldn't even hold a pen then, somehow this is worse. As I'm typing now, it's fine and there's no discomfort, but in many other areas it's very debilitating. I just don't want to keep chomping painkillers and not get an official diagnosis.

So thanks for the advice I've seen here (I've also got a wheat bag) and I'll keep you posted on how I get on, when I come back down

mrsshazbat

Well so far the painkiller combo isn't working, nor is long-lasting ibuprofen