I have just joined in the hope of sharing my and others experiences in dealing with artrhitisis

birdbrain

I am 86 years old and have led an active life as a working farmer. I first started suffering about six years ago with as total collapse of the bones in my left wrist. After an initial discussion with my doctor, I received various treatments including injections and an operation to remove nerves.

The latter proved a complete waste of time and the surgeon was not prepared to carry out further surgery.

I was then put onto prolonged pain killers this made me feel very confused and had side effects including the loss of the ability to write clearly.

I was then referred to a consultant who diagnosed me as having Parkinsonism.  Since then another surgeon agreed to operate on my wrist providing fusion. This was a major breakthrough and life became bearable again.

I have also had a replacement knee about six months ago this has also helped but it took three months  to bring any reward after a good deal of pain and the inability of being to sleep in a bed.

Now however it as much more comfortable but the ankle is now causing pain it is rather swollen.

Going back to the long term pain killers the biggest problem that they caused was constipation so much so that I was unable to take any pain relieve for the recovery of my knee surgery.

Fortunately by refraining from any pain killers my bowel movement are now normal but I am now afraid to take any pain relief tablets.

The two long term medications that I was given was a Butec pain patch, followed by Gabapentin 300 mg twice daily. The latter seemed to turn me into some sort of a zombie and I was pleased to get off of them.          😉

Poppyjane

Hello @birdbrain and welcome to the online community,

Thank you for your description of your journey with arthritis and your wish to share your experiences with other fellow arthritis travellers. You have had wrist and knee surgery and are now in pain with a swollen ankle. Having had an active life as a working farmer I am not surprised to read that you have borne the ups and downs of different pain relief treatments with an indomitable spirit. What an admirable outlook on life.

I can understand your reluctance to take more painkillers and wonder if you have tried any other forms of relief such as heat/ cool pads, a TENS machine ? ( in consultation with your GP or physiotherapist) There are also some exercises specifically for ankles and I attach some links to these.

https://www.versusarthritis.org/news/2020/april/how-to-manage-your-pain-at-home/

https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/treatments/electronic-pain-relief/

https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/exercising-with-arthritis/exercises-for-healthy-joints/exercises-for-the-toes-feet-and-ankles/

The community offers a safe place to share your experiences and I hope that some members will share their thoughts about pain relief with you. We are all different and react differently to medication so what works for some won't necessarily work for others.

We look forward to hearing from you again

Take Care

Poppyjane