How does OA in knee affect your life?'

celebrationb

Hi am Janet. I have been told i have OA in my knee and also a trpped fermol nerve too.
Can anyone help with advice on how to cope with the OA and also if thier knee buckles and causes great pain : What can be done to help with the OA.
My story is on "am new" forum. I has been very painfull when i walk a lot and cause lots of discomfort with having both. Also if your knee is sore and its comfortable to walk due to both problems could that cause you to faint which happened to me and it made me feel very unwell before i fainted.
Any help is welcome as it is getting me down. Discomforted all the time now in the leg and knee.I am now taking Amitriptyline for my leg and also naproxen going back to the doc soon.
I dont think my family understand specially my hubby

celebrationb

Sorry I meant uncomfitable to walk

bubbadog

Hi celebration, I have difficulty walking, I use crutches in the house and a wheelchair out doors. My legs give way without no warning so I have to be careful with my crutches as sometimes they help me other times they hinder me and cause injuries. My main problems at the moment are the stairs, I'm finding it harder to get upstairs. Every step is painful. I tried going up sitting on my bum but when I got to the top it was hard trying to stand up and I nearly fell down the stairs!
You just try and adapt the problems so your life is easier, you do get on with your life because you have to. As for family and partner they may not understand how you feel, all you can do is sit them down and explain how you feel. I believe they do understand but it hurts them knowing they can't do anything to get you better. Ignorance is bliss as they say.

celebrationb

Thank you very much. I will have to talk to my hubby sometime. Just feel so down. Hope things improve with you,, I am trying not to let it ruin my life but I think its just hit me I have it

barbara12

Hello celebrationb and welcome to the forum
I have OA in my hips knee and back...the knee isn't to bad at the min..I have just had one hip replaced 3 moths ago , I went to using a stick in doors but quickly realised that it was making my knee worse, so I went back to one crutch and this make such a difference..a stick can make you twist has you walk.
Sorry I cant offer any other advice,x

celebrationb

Thank you Barbara 12. any help is good. As not sure what to do or how to stop it from causing problems. thank you

brandy192

Hi I have OA in both knees and completely understand how you feel. I try and adapt how I do everyday things to fit in with my knees but do miss things like being able to take the dog for a long walk and trail endlessly round the shops with my friends. The important thing is to keep active even if its slower than everyone else.

celebrationb

Thank you I was walking around shops on Friday, suffered next day. I know my trapped nerve slowed me down but this just makes me feel worse. Being active for years then fermol nerve slows me down. Just feel cant get any slower. It's so good to hear from others . That am not alone

chookgate

This probably isn't what you want to hear, I know I didn't want to hear it when I was told!

I had OA in both knees, it started in one then after a couple of years the other one joined in and ended up worse than the first. For me it started with the knee occasionally giving way and being agony for a couple of minutes, then gradually that stopped and the knee seemed fine. Then a year or so later, I started getting pain at the back of the knee when bending it (cycling), and gradually it stopped functioning properly. Initially there wasn't a lot of pain, it just didn't straighten properly or bend properly. After another year or so, the other one became the same, and the pain escalated -I got cramps in my calves because the legs didn't straighten, and walking got harder and harder, and nigh on impossible eventually, with me walking hunched over for balance, and stopping every few yards to get my breath.

Anyway, the diagnosis was OA, the treatment was total knee replacements - that's the bit I'm sure you don't want to hear - I was really upset when told that was what I needed, I just kept thinking there must be something they can do (eg arthroscopy again, which I had on the first knee 4 years ago, where they scrape and trim bone growths). The worst part was a physiotherapist saying "even if you new knees you won't be able to use them because your muscles are wasted". That was total garbage by the way (and the exercises he gave me were impossible because of the bony growths caused by the arthritis stopping the knee function)

So, a year ago I got two brand spanking new knees (3 months apart), and for me it was instant improvement - I really hadn't realised how bad my knees had got until they fixed them! The physio was initially painful, but possible now, and it is an absolute joy to just get out of my chair and stand with no pain!

chookgate

I did write a long reply, explaining my experience with OA in the knees, but when I clicked submit it disappeared. Don't have time to write it all again, sorry.

So just a quickie, written much more harshly, there isn't anything that can be done, you will eventually need total knee replacements. My experience of that, is I wish I'd had it done sooner!

celebrationb

All I can say is thank you for being honest. I cant striaghten my left knee but i thought it was th fermol nerve. I find it hard to accept it. I did want it to ruin my life but may have no chioce. I was hoping to fight it ( ha i do ju jitsu at the moment) but ill have to wait to see.
Thank you Chookgate

chookgate

I don't know what's going on but I just received an email saying my original post has been approved, and it has suddenly appeared!

You need to get your Dr to arrange x-rays and/or an mri scan to see what exactly is going on in the knee, and then you need to see a consultant to give you a proper diagnosis and explain treatment options. OA doesn't need to ruin your life, but sometimes the NHS will leave it too long to give you the treatment you need, and often they just want to keep prescribing physio and steroid injections, neither of which can improve OA or joint function, just mask the pain.

As I said, I've had my TKR's a year now, and I'm only just now getting used to the idea I CAN actually do things again. I'd pretty much forgotten how! I'm also starting to get a bit of fitness back, finding that I'm out of breath and sweating before I get any pain in my legs at all now. TKR's seem to be the beginning of my life, not the end!

daffy2

Coming to terms with the OA diagnosis is difficult, and in the early stages it is more a mental thing than physical, and for that reason often more difficult to deal with. If surgery is the way forward for you it will take time to get there, and brings its own challenges so it pays to address your thoughts and feelings at this stage.A few suggestions from my experience.
Look at the AC pages to see if there are any courses/groups available to you. Being with other people who have an understanding of what you are going through is very helpful, and the courses give you techniques which can help you deal with pain and the practicalities of everyday life.
Try not to think 'OA will ruin/has ruined my life'. It will change your life, and will need you to rethink some things you have taken for granted up to now. That can be hard work, you may well feel resentful, but if you follow the posts here you will pick up ideas, information and encouragement. The up and down nature of the condition means that often you start to live more 'in the day' and that can bring its own rewards through making you aware of/content with the smaller details - a sunny day, time with loved ones, random acts of kindness from strangers.Try to see things in terms of what you can do/have done, rather than what you could/should have done.
Look at ChitChat to see how humour will surface despite the best efforts of arthritis!
Keep posting and we'll do what we can to help.

celebrationb

Thank you very very much that was very good and great help

stickywicket

As usual daffy is spot on. Yes, make friends with 'change'. It can be good.

dreamdaisy

I have OA in both knees, both ankles and my right hip. (I have another form of arthritis in those joints too but not the hip.) It affects my life as much as I let it but, when it's really bad I give up the struggle to ensure I rest and that helps matters. DD

celebrationb

Thank you for all your help i do feel a bit better, i just have to accept it and get on with my life. Thank you Daffy2 what you said is so true.
My daughter has just accept the fact that she is dyxsia (hard word to spell) she said that i have to accept that i have this.
Seeing the doc soon and going to ask lots lots of questions.

Teapot

Hello everyone. I have just read these posts and am suffering a bad flare at the moment and reading these sounds like my knee. Knee, leg, ankle and foot really painful at moment. Can anyone suggest anything I can rub on to help. I have tried d...h... but it made my skin red. It is getting me down as it has been a good week now and it is keeping me awake. I made an appointment to see my dr but have to wait until 21st as its not urgent so I need something to tied me over in case it does not ease. I take Naproxen and back up with paracetamol. Thanks for reading

MTMcGuire

Hi Janet

I just want to underline what daffy said, and your daughter. I think they are both talking a lot of sense. I have OA in one, possibly both knees and it's taken me a long time to accept it.

For what it's worth, there are two things I've learned so you don't have to.

The first is, don't be afraid or embarrassed to use a stick. I hate my stick but I have had to use it on and off, my whole life, and yes it's taken me about that long to realise that to be able to walk 4 miles a day with a stick is better than not being able to walk anywhere at all.

The second thing, which you've probably done, already is that it might be worth seeing if you can get some physio. I have had some and also been using a gym and doing some of my knee exercises on a power plate. I have definitely noticed improvements, first in the amount of pain and second in the giving way and locking side of things; it's not happening so often. The physiotherapist may also be able to look at the way you walk, you will walk to compensate and that, in turn will throw things like your hips out a bit. They may be able to show you ways to move that are less painful.

I hope that helps.

Cheers

MTM

celebrationb

Thank you yes it helps. I will be at the doc again soon ill ask about physio. A stick maybe a good idea I do have one. Can I ask does strapping you knee with a sport strap help. Also does the cold weather affect it
I know I have to accept it. Sorry I have not been about work gettiing busy.
Reading the forum helps thank you.

MTMcGuire

celebrationb wrote:

Thank you yes it helps. I will be at the doc again soon ill ask about physio. A stick maybe a good idea I do have one. Can I ask does strapping you knee with a sport strap help. Also does the cold weather affect it
I know I have to accept it. Sorry I have not been about work gettiing busy.
Reading the forum helps thank you.

To be honest, I find that strapping it up helps in the short term but can exacerbate the swelling and also weakens the muscles making it worse if I do it long term. So it's worth doing if you know you've got to cane it a bit I don't know, doing a long day shopping or something, but otherwise try not to use it.

When it comes to weather, yes. Damp and cold is always worse and sometimes if it's muggy in the Summer it plays up too.

The most important thing is to walk as normally as you can: so easy to say, so hard to do! ;-)

Cheers

MTM

dreamdaisy

As soon as one joint is out of kilter it makes walking 'normally' that little bit harder. Take a look at all the people around you during a normal day and it soon becomes apparent that 'normal' walking is anything but - everyone's walk is unique to them. I note that MTM is able to walk up to four miles with the aid of a stick; I envy him/her that but please don't regard it as usual for OA-in-the-knee-or-knees- people, celebrationb, because it ain't. It's the norm for that person, no more and no less.

The cold and damp affect matters, as can the heat of summer. Your stick should be held on the opposite side of the dodgy knee, that is important, as is the fact that the stick should be adjusted so that your hand is just above hip-height. DD

celebrationb

Thank you for all your replies and advice .

MTMcGuire

dreamdaisy wrote:

As soon as one joint is out of kilter it makes walking 'normally' that little bit harder. Take a look at all the people around you during a normal day and it soon becomes apparent that 'normal' walking is anything but - everyone's walk is unique to them. I note that MTM is able to walk up to four miles with the aid of a stick; I envy him/her that but please don't regard it as usual for OA-in-the-knee-or-knees- people, celebrationb, because it ain't. It's the norm for that person, no more and no less.

The cold and damp affect matters, as can the heat of summer. Your stick should be held on the opposite side of the dodgy knee, that is important, as is the fact that the stick should be adjusted so that your hand is just above hip-height. DD

Mwah ha haharhgh! Not every day. That's the sum of the school run, a mile there a mile back, it's a gamble so I usually do it on a bike.

Very, very good point you make, though about measuring your stick correctly and also about each person's walk being unique for them. But I do think that by looking at my walk and trying to tailor it to protect my joints I can probably make it less painful and also easier.


Cheers

MTM