Confused

Barbie1957

I have had two tkr in the past 4years. I have problems with my upper spine and other joints. I saw a rheumatologist in January and he requested a follow up but due to the corona virus this hasn’t happened. He prescribed prdnisolone, which was amazing but sadly affected my mood really badly. I was just starting to find out if I had rheumatoid arthritis or osteoporosis. The consultant said it could easily be rheumatoid going by the symptoms. The problem I have is I’m asthmatic and the only pain relief I’ve got is co codamol, which is okay but at the moment I feel very unwell as if I‘ve got the flu. I’m feeling very low at the moment, as I can’t get any relief from the pain. Is it normal to feel unwell with arthritis? I’m only 63 and will be going back to work soon which will be hard with the pain.

Any advice about the difference between osteoarthritis and rheumatoid would be a help.

Mike1

Hi Barbie, the difference between OA and RA can be found here: https://www.arthritis.com/about-arthritis/rheumatoid-arthritis-vs-osteoarthritis

As for your pain situation I suggest that you see your GP before going back to work, pain relief is pretty much hit and miss as all of us are different but most people on here will tell you that any medications, even the Morphine that I am on, will only knock the edge off the pain but not get rid of it. Being in constant pain can certainly get you down, especially mentally, but physically sometimes I feel that I have been run over by a bus. I wouldn't have said that I have suffered flu-like symptoms as a result of my OA though so perhaps that is another reason to get to see your GP. Hope things improve soon.

Barbie1957

Thank you for replying, I've made a follow up app privately with the Rheumatoid consultant which my children are paying for so i'm really lucky.

I'm so sorry to hear about your pain, it must be so wearing. I hope you have some easier days and manage to enjoy some less painful moments.

Take care.😊

MarzMac

Hi @Barbie1957

A big welcome to our online community and thanks so much for your question.

You said you've been waiting a while to find out if you have Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA)? Although everyone experiences their condition in different ways, people with RA can often feel unwell in addition to pain and inflammation. You can learn more about the different types of arthritis here https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/conditions/arthritis/

https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/conditions/arthritis/

Now that you're seeing someone for a private appointment, I hope you'll come back and let us know how you get on. When is your appointment?

Whatever it is you are diagnosed with, you can probably find out more about it on our website. Here's an A-Z of conditions related to arthritis https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/conditions/.

https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/conditions/

And our members can share their own experiences of being diagnosed, no matter how far back that may have been.

In the meantime, you can always join in the general chit-chat as well as talk to our helpline team. Why not go and introduce yourself on the 'Say Hello' forum as well.

Best wishes

MarzMac 🤗

helpline_team

Hi Barbie1957

Sorry it's taken a while for one of us at the Helpline to reply to you properly.

I wonder whether it might be helpful to talk to you in person about your question. If you still would like to clarify what's been happening over your conditions and treatment, written questions and answers don't always help you ask follow up questions and get to the bottom of things.

You'd be really welcome to ring us on our freephone 0800 5200 520 9am - 8pm Mon-Fri and hopefully we can help.

If a rheumatologist suspects an inflammatory type of arthritis, they will check your blood results. However in some cases your blood may not show the inflammation very clearly, and that's when they may want to see how things look under an ultrasound scan, as the inflammation will tend to be visible.

You've mentioned osteoporosis, which is a bit confusing as that's not normally a condition associated with arthritis pain & it's not the reason for having joint replacement surgery (and it's not treated with steroids).

But please if you'd like to go over anything, you'd be most welcome to talk to us on the phone.

Kind regards

Guy

Helpline Team

Lilymary

I’m fairly new to the arthritis journey, my OA went undetected for a very long time then it hit me like a train and it’s been rapidly downhill ever since. And as it’s got worse, I have noticed that I often feel generally unwell and drained of energy in a different way than previously. I’m not sure whether it’s the pain, my body fighting the inflammation or the pills that are doing this, but I’ve heard others on here saying similar. We just have to learn how to pace our days and nurse ourselves, either to stop it getting this bad, or to get through the times when it is.

KazandNoo

Let us know how you get on Barbie 👍