Pain Relief

Stukes

I am awaiting a knee replacement ( may be partial or full) on my left knee. I have only just been put on the (22.12). I have pain and stiffness in this knee. I use a crutch to walk.

My right knee is really painful now. I wake up with bad nerve pain and cannot bear for it to be touched. This knee hasn't been MRIed.

I am struggling with pain. I also have Fibromyalgia. I am taking amitriptyline, pregabalin, and codeine. The codeine makes my head fuzzy.

I work at a busy organisation and have 12 MOS in my line management. I am desperate to find any other pain relief. Is there any other alternatives anyone can recommend.

Brynmor

Hi @Stukes and welcome to the Online Community.

I understand you are experiencing strong pain in your right knee and are having difficulty walking, the knee being very painful to the touch. You are also waiting for a knee replacement operation on your left knee.

Knowing that your are experiencing strong pain, it is important you visit your GP who will know of your condition and has prescribed medication to help manage your symptoms.

You might like to try some of the general suggestions from our web site regarding pain management for knees, such as warm or cold packs to bring some relief:

https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/conditions/knee-pain#knee-pain_managing-symptoms

Do let us know what has worked for you, join in across the Community, ask questions and give support, and to call in to say how you are getting on. You will be most welcome.

All best wishes

Brynmor

helpline_team

Hi @Stukes 

Thank you for posting on the helpline forum. I’m sorry you are in so much pain and that it’s impacting on your sleep and on your work.

Thanks to Brynmor for providing the link to knee pain. I hope it was helpful.

You mention that you have fibromyalgia, but don’t say which type of arthritis you have been diagnosed with.  If you are on the waiting list for surgery due to osteoarthritis (OA) in the knee, you could ask your GP to prescribe capsaicin cream – a drug-free and very well-tolerated painkiller which is very effective for OA of the knee. Capsaicin cream works mainly by reducing a pain transmitter in the nerves.  It doesn’t provide instant relief though – it builds up in the system and people usually notice a difference within a week or so of starting it.

You are very welcome to call us on our freephone helpline: 0800 5200 520 so you can talk things through with one of our helpline team. We can explain the capsaicin cream in more detail to help you have a more informed discussion with your GP about whether it’s right for you.

In the meantime, you can find out more about capsaicin cream here:

https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/complementary-and-alternative-treatments/types-of-complementary-treatments/capsaicin/

I hope this is helpful.

Best wishes

Mags

Helpline team

Stukes

Thank you for your replies. I hadn't heard of the cream so will definitely ask my gp about it.