Coping with pain

Rutt1
Rutt1 Member Posts: 2
edited 28. Nov 2023, 14:08 in Living with arthritis

I am finding it hard to cope with the pain. I have osteoarthritus in my lower back, sacro iliac joint and hip. Just been given patches . Pain is always there as soon as I put weight on it. Unable to walk very far at all. Any advice would be good.

Comments

  • PeterJ
    PeterJ Administrator Posts: 948

    Hello @Rutt1 and welcome to the community. We are a friendly and supportive group and I hope that that will be your experience as well.

    I understand that you have osteoarthritis in my lower back, Sacro iliac joint and hip, and are looking for advice on how to manage the pain. As a start have a look at our website which contains a lot of useful information and to help I've put a couple of links in below which may be of use.

    Please do keep posting and let us know how you are getting on and I am sure that others will connect with you to share their thoughts and experiences as well.

    With very best wishes

    Peter

    Need more help? - call our Helpline on 0800 5200 520 Monday to Friday 9am to 6pm

  • DebbieL
    DebbieL Member Posts: 64

    Hi Rutt1,

    I have Osteoarthritis in my lower spine- L5S1- I’m a 55 year old.I also have post hepatic neuralgia and a tilted pelvis. I worked 5 days, 9 hours sat at a desk. When I first got the back pain it was all day, really bad on the car journey home from work and I was in so much pain when I got home I took strong painkillers and did no exercise. When I was diagnosed with OA I was devastated as I was offered no help or support from my GP. I wrote an email of complaint and immediately got an appointment with my gp to discuss pain relief. I have 30/500 cocodamol and 20mg of nortriptyline at night. I reduced my workings days to 3. I was referred to a specialist physio who gave me good exercises for my back pain and gave me the confidence to exercise again. On Monday my back was painful but I still went to my stretch class. I really struggled- I have the most pain when changing positions and not the actual exercises. However the next day my back was almost pain free during the day. So for me exercising really helps. When I get up in the morning the pain is often at it’s worse but I know that as soon as I start moving around it usually subsides- I just have to work through it. I also use heat pads and have a 4” memory foam topper for my mattress that helps.

    I hope some of my experience will help you but we are all different so you may need to take a different path. I agree the pain is always there but it’s a balance I know there are things I can’t do anymore but sometimes I take the painkillers and do it anyway- not sure if this is the best thing to do but it hasn’t made anything worse in the long run. My specialist physio said the more I move in the day the better I will sleep at night and he was right.

    keep going back to your gp as there is help there but it seems we have to fight for it.

    take care

    Debbie

  • frogmorton
    frogmorton Member Posts: 29,882

    It's not easy is it @Rutt1

    I am sorry you are suffering like this. Which patches are you on I wonder. Most of them come indifferent strengths so you might need an increase. Alos ask what you can take for 'break-though' pain.

    It's horrible having to be pushy, but so many people go to the Drs and things settle I think Drs are used to fobbing us off at least initially. Everyone's pain is individual too.

    Have you ever tried walking aids to take some of the pressure off too? Just a thought.

    Take care

    Toni x