Hello

Reb

I was recently diagnosed with arthritis in my right knee. I take Zapain, Pregabalin and when in agony and zapain not working, I take Oramorph.

Can anybody suggest other not so addictive pain relief?

Hairobsessed123

I think naproxen would be. Better painkiller is anti inflammatory x

Lilymary

Hi @Reb , I think most of us on here would say that there’s only so much drugs can do, and you would need to review these with your GP/rheumatologist if you think they’re not working. See if you can get your GP to refer you to a pain clinic to help you manage it better.

meanwhile, there are quite a few other things you can add to your armoury, including distraction (lose yourself in something you enjoy, eg crafting, joinery, train sets, gardening or a good movie, whatever floats your boat) and mindfulness, all of which try to take your focus away from the pain to make it fade into the background. That certainly helped me when my hip floored me.

have a look at the tips in this link, you may find them helpful

https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/managing-symptoms/managing-your-pain/

Reb

Thank you, yep - I am a calligrapher and artist in many mediums including alcohol ink on crockery and glass of which I teach, but whenever I get engrossed in a project, you are correct, I can 'lose the pain' (to a degree), but when I need to stand up in the studio I often forget about my knee hence standing up, my knee will often give away lol...

I am trying desperately to excercise as much as possible, but am unable to do the floor excercises as I cannot get back up unaided!

I am aiming to start a new p/t job next month as well as the teaching and private commissions, but I also help my mother twice a week with showering and admin, so trying to keep busy.

I have an appointment next month for a steroid and analgesic injection next month (the surgeon would have completed it this past week, but as I had driven a fair distance, he wouldn't do it due to the possibility of being 'dopey')

Life goes on, until the time that I need a knee replacement which was mentioned by the consultant....

Great to find you guys, a great release and people that I can empathise with.

Thank you for being there! X

chrisb

Hi @Reb and welcome to the Versus Arthritis forum.

I see that you've already had a couple of responses from forum members to your first post including very comprehensive input from Lilymary including a link to 'managing your pain'.

I hope that your injection next month helps with the pain you're experiencing and that further contributions from forum members are of benefit.

Best Wishes

ChrisB(Moderator)

Lilymary

Good to hear you have something enjoyable to get stuck into @Reb , it sounds lovely. I hope the injection gives you relief, make sure you have someone to drive you there and back.

my OA was in my hip, but I wonder whether a knee brace would help avoid the knee-collapsing scenario? (I confess I’m not sure how they work). When my hip started getting really bad I had no qualms at all about using a stick to get round - if it meant I could get on with life again, bring it on. It also took some of the weight off my hip, so relieving the pain a bit, and also meant I got round faster and safer.

Have a look at the exercises available through this site, Ie “Let’s Move with Leon”, and more recently a Tai Chi class. Very joint friendly, no floor work necessary, and quite good fun. It would also be worth a few sessions with a physio who can give you an exercise regime suitable to your level of fitness and pattern of joint damage. I always go to my physio before my GP with musculoskeletal-skeletal problems.

Re drugs, before recent hip replacement surgery, I was on cocodamol (and laxatives, oh joy). I also took naproxen with omeprazole to counteract any possible tummy issues, which I’m prone to anyway, and I was fine with that. As you’re already finding, even at full strength on a bad day, this only made the pain more bearable, rather than making me pain free. I varied the dosage day to day depending on how I was feeling or whether I was going to be on my feet all day. Other meds I’m on ruled out things like gabapentin, hence why you need to review this with your GP.