Hello

Cava

hi every one , my first post as newbie . I hope to chat to many off you and get some support and advice . I have osteoarthritis in my knees (recent diagnosis ) and it painful. meds don't seem to have any effect . Poor sleep at night , awaiting to see physio for advice.

[Deleted User]

Hello and welcome Cava to the Versus Arthritis Community Forum

Sorry to read of your recent problem knees, you have come to the right place for help and advice. You will find many of our forum users have similar problems who will very helpful in telling you their experiences and how they sort help and advice.

I've found this link that may be of help to you:-

https://www.arthritisresearchuk.org/system/search-results.aspx?keywords=Knee+Joints

Plus you can contact Versus Arthritis Helplines, the number is at the head of the page.

Enjoy the forum.

John

dreamdaisy

Hello, I have OA in both knees and other joints too caused by my first arthritis which damaged my joints in a different way. MIne was diagnosed back in 2011, I have no idea when it began as it was disguised by the other which began in 1997.

When you say the meds don't seem to have any effect do you mean that pain relief isn't removing the pain? if so then then you have discovered the truth about pain relief: it relieves nothing, merely dulls the sharper edges and the pain always returns because it always will. Pain is a useful alarm for temporary conditions such as toothache or muscle sprains because they are things that can be fixed, repaired, even cured. Arthritis is not one of those things although OA has the potential to be if one is fortunate to have it in only one joint which can, in due course, be replaced before the OA spreads. I keep my pain relief to the minimum so I have room to maneouvre when things worsen, I take four 30/500 cocodamol per day and this dulls things sufficiently to allow me to get on but I am very used to pain as I have around forty affected joints. It's a fact of arthritic life, end of.

The physio will be able to give you some exercises which will help to keep the muscles surrounding your knees as strong and flexible as possible to better support the joints. This will not stop the further loss of cartilage or remove the pain but it may help to reduce the speed of joint degeneration. These should be done daily for ever more (I still do the ones prescribed to me back in 2002 plus others I've been given along the way as other troubles have arisen). Any form of non-weight bearing exercise is good as long as one doesn't go to town with it, ten minutes every day is better than a frantic hour once a week. Swimming and cycling are both good.

I know what aggravates my OA and I far prefer it to the auto-immune one for that reason. I know that low-pressure weather, the cold and damp will make matters worse so that predictability is a boon as I can tailor activities accordingly. I know that I can aggravate matters of I overdo things so I always try to stop an activity when I think I can do more. I have also found that eating too much acidic food can increase the ouch factor so I try to keep those to a minimum.

As for sleep, well, I can and do but it is not quality, restorative sleep and never will be (even if it is drug-assisted which, currently, it is not). Pain-breakthrough wakes me every 90 minutes or so but I am used to that. I sleep with a medium weight Tempur pillow between my legs (I am a aide-sleeper) and that cushions the weight of the upper knee and ankle on the lower joints and also raises my upper hip to keep that in a better line (I have OA in all of those places). I also have a shaped Tempur pillow for me bonce which is helpful and a firm natural-filled mattress but this is all individual choice, the stuff that suits me. None of it helps me sleep better but it does ease the discomfort of sleeping into something at least tolerable.

There are around ten million arthritics in the UK, the majority of whom have OA. It is appallingly common which can mean that those who do not have it have no idea about the impact it cabbage on one's life. I include some GPs in that too, the good ones are stymied as there is nothing to be done, the poorer ones are less than empathetic and some can be downright rude about it. I hope you have one of the better ones. DD

stickywicket

Hi Cava and welcome from me too.

As DD says, meds don't usually achieve a great deal though they have their role to play. far more important will be the exercises and advice given by the physio. I really don't know where I'd be without my exercises - in a bad place, definitely. Good luck with them and please ask if you have any questions.