Have recently told i have arthritis

amberowl

Hi I have always had bad knees. At the age of 16 I went to my GP as my knees kept swelling up, the GP said he couldn't do anything until he actually see them swollen up. this was impossible to arrange an appointment as the swelling would usually only last 24 hours. They seemed to get a bit better once i got to university at 18, i always had very achy legs if i had been at work (i usually worked somewhere which involved being on my feet all day) and i felt like my legs "seized up" when i got home but my knees seemed better

I had a baby earlier this year (i am now 25) and the first few months following having him were awful. my knees were so painful, i couldn't kneel, i could only walk short distances and couldn't bend down. (all difficult when you have a newborn). I went to gp who sent me for an x-ray. The x-ray showed that there was something in my knee what shouldn't be there and they thought it was a loose piece of bone or cartilage which would need removing by operation. I was sent for an MRI scan so they could get a better idea of what it was.

I went to see a consultant for my results and he said that my cartilage had worn away so much that extra bone had grown to fill the void and i had arthritis and there was nothing they could do. He also said my pregnancy had probably made it flare up - then he sent me on my way.

I'm just after a bit of advice. I want to know what type of arthritis i have (i know i probably need to see my GP for this) and what i can do to help it. Is there any tablets i can take for the pain or to help. The consultant was useless!

I'm only 25 and i have a young son and would like more children in the near future but i'm scared it will make my knees worse and i want to be able to run around with my son and scared its going to get to a point where i won't be able to this.

Sorry for the long post but any advice would be greatly appreciated as i feel that i have just been left to get on with it.

helpline_team

Dear Amberowl,

Thanks for your post to Helplines. I'm sure you'll find a lot of support here on the forums. If there's anything you'd like to discuss you can always ring us here at Helplines for a confidential chat too.

First of all sorry to hear about this pain and these knee problems. You may want to check with your GP about the diagnosis - you may even want to ask them directly whether it's osteoarthritis that's been discovered.

When you see a surgeon they sometimes can focus on whether there's an obvious cure... and with arthritis often there are things that will help, but they may not be surgery but more about self management.

So under the heading of self management the things that are worth exploring will be strengthening exercise/ physiotherapy, healthy eating (losing weight if appropriate) and getting the right pain medication for your situation.

If you want to know how to manage your arthritis to help you be a busy parent and let you plan for the future then you may well want to talk this over with the GP. They can help by referring you to a musculoskeletal department where they can go over your physiotherapy advice and lifestyle / medical history issues as appropriate.

If you'd like some more information or support do ring us on our freephone. Or private message us your name and address once your diagnosis has been confirmed and we can post you more information
I hope that is helpful

Guy

ang12

Hi Amberowl my names Angela and I just found out last week I have arthritis in my hips and pelvis.I was told by the doctor just to take pain killers and anti inflamertriesbut i would need a hip replacement in the future.But I've also stated taking alot of supplements like rosehip vitamin c vitamin d glocusomine sulphate and omega fish oil tablets.Other arthritis sufferes recommended these to me.I hope this helps you.Take care god bless.
Angela :-) x

dreamdaisy

Hello amberowl, I am not a helpliner just a forum member. Like you I have trouble with my knees, in my case it's where my auto-immune arthritis began and the joint damage from that has led to osteo-arthritis (OA) in my knees and ankles. I too have extra bone growth (this is how the body tries to help itself but all it seems to do is make things worse :roll: ) and life is very umcomfortable.

Did you see an orthopaedic consultant? I'm afraid that with OA one is left to get on with things as there is not much to be done. Your GP is the person to talk to about this and he can advise about pain relief and possibly anti-inflammatories. The damage is done and there is no way to undo it but there are ways to manage the pain and discomfort. I sit with my legs up on a stool, a pillow underneath my knees for support. Rest whenever you can and do chores in chunks so that your knees don't get too tired. Having a young child to care for must be so difficult, I have no experience of that but can envisage how hard that must be. Please post on the Living With Arthritis part of the forum as more people will be able to talk to you and offer support. I wish you well. DD