Newbie saying Hi

Wendilou

Hi after following this site for a while I thought it was time to sign up and introduce myself, I'm a 57 year old mum of two both in their 30s, happily married and besotted with my two grandchildren.
For 34 years I was a chef which has contributed to my medical problems, I have osteoarthritis of my feet/ankles, my knees and my neck and back.
I also have a tear in the cartlidge in my knee ( I'm currently seeing an orthopedic surgeon about this) I also have 3 bulging discs in my neck 2 if which are impinging on nerves but as they aren't pressing on them all the time the orthopedic surgeon I was seeing for that has said I have to cope with physio and medication.
I've been seeing a great physiotherapist since the beginning of December who started work on my knees and I have to say the exercises have helped immensely, he started working on my neck 2 weeks ago giving me some exercises and last week did a bit of stretching my neck ( this helped for a couple of days and improved movement but not the pain) today he tried acupuncture and I can have 5 more sessions of this with him, so fingers crossed it gives me some relief as my new job is on the checkouts at a supermarket and sitting for any length of time on uncomfortable hard chairs isn't very nice, I've got my first phone appointment with occupational health in 2 weeks so hopefully they can help me as well.
Medication wise I take naproxen twice a day, I initially was given gabepentin but I found I piled the weight on and didn't feel any benefit, I was recently prescribed codiene for a painful ear and found taking 2 if these at night alongside the naproxen gave me a better night's sleep so I'm going to see if I can use this long term as well.
Thanks for reading and if anyone has any experience of acupuncture I'd love to hear from you, many thanks

[Deleted User]

Hello Wendilou and welcome to the forum from the moderating team. Any problem using the forum please send us a PM.

You have certainly got a lot going on with a lovely family, working on the checkouts as well as coping with your arthritis. Your experience of acupuncture is very interesting. This article may be of interest to you being about the same subject:

https://www.arthritisresearchuk.org/news/arthritis-today/2016/july/acupuncture-and-alexander-technique-for-neck-pain.aspx

Your feedback on the experience would be really useful others on here as well as interesting.

You can put ‘acupuncture’ into the search near top of page underneath ‘about us’

This is an old thread which refers to the treatment positively:

https://arthritiscareforum.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=48013&p=630377&hilit=acupuncture#p630377

You are wise to have a chat with your GP about maybe adding codeine to your regular medication.

I look forward to seeing you post.

Best wishes

Ellen

stickywicket

Hi and welcome from me too You seem to have a lot of affected joints but, equally, you seem to be doing a lot of good things to help yourself.

Of course, nothing takes it away permanently but anything we can do to ease things is welcome. I have RA and OA. My back's fairly good though my neck's a mess. Other joints have been replaced (knees and hips) or, in many cases, fused themselves. Less pain once it's completed: pretty rough while the process is ongoing :roll:

Like many others I find distraction is the best pain reliever.

I had acupuncture twice but, on both occasions, probably before the OA set in. The first time it helped very briefly: the second (a much more expensive clinic) not at all :roll: I've never bothered since.

Please keep in touch and let us know how you get on.

I can see no reason why your GP won't let you have codeine but obviously (s)he know your situation better than I do. Good luck with it.

Wendilou

Thanks for the warm welcome, I've a few updates to report, the doctor has prescribed codiene but I haven't to have it every night I usually take it on the nights when I've been at work.
Today I saw another orthopedic surgeon about my knees who has said he won't operate on the tear in my miniscule ( not sure of the spelling sorry) as he doesn't think I'll benefit from it and he thinks I'll need a new knee in a few years anyway, he also said he wouldn't like to perform an operation on me at the moment because of my neck and spine issues also because I'm overweight, I've had a good talk with my family tonight and we're all going to make a concerted effort to try and lose some weight.
On Monday I had my 2nd course of acupuncture where I had 12 needles in the back of my head and neck, I didn't feel too much different after the first course but I definitely have more movement this time so fingers crossed it's going to help, it's strange when he puts the needles in as a couple of them I can't feel at all no matter how many times he turned them, it looks like for the foreseeable future I'm going to have to get by on physio and medication, the exercises he gave me have helped strengthen my knees so hopefully now I can get out walking a bit as well xx

stickywicket

I;m pleased the acupuncture seems to be helping and also the codeine. That's a good plan, too, re weight loss. If all the family pull together it will be so much easier. Several people on here have lost a lot of weight (One wheelchair-bound lady lost 5 stones) with Slimmers World but just choose whatever suits you. I'm fortunate in never having been very overweight but, if ever I feel I need to lose a few pounds, I simply don't buy the biscuits, crisps etc. What you don't have you can't eat

I hope all goes well but we're always here for any hiccups