Pain & stiffness

Jue

No one knows the dread I face each night when I go to bed the pain & stiffness that wakes me up , struggling to move in bed despite sleeping on easy glade sheets the OT got me , easing myself up using my bed lever & struggling into the bathroom my back feels like a thick piece of wood I need to bend but can't , I slowly get down the stairs put my bean bag in the microwave make a cuppa & sit with with the heat of my bean behind my back waiting for the painkillers I had upstairs to kick in before I can shower , the pain never goes but I can move round alittle with the painkillers during the day , it cripples being on legs if I walk but if I sit my back stiffens I can't win arthritis has robbed me of the life I had & each year it gets worse its wide spread in my body & so far I have a left hip & right knee replacement so far , I worry how I'm going to cope when I get older I'm 52 & struggle , I'm constantly fighting arthritis , I was 1st diagnosed in my late 30s with it in facet joints now it's in most of body .

anneb82

Hello @Jue

Welcome to the online community and thank you for joining us.

So you were diagnosed with arthritis in your late 30's with it in your facet joints. You are now 52 years old and it has spread to include most of your body. Your suffer badly with your back to the point it effects everything in your life from sleeping to walking. You are worried at how your life will look the older you get has it becomes worse and worse over time.

I really do feel for you and wish that there was something I could do to help ease your pain and make life easier on you. That fact that you have taken the step to join this community does mean that you never have to face those dark days on your own as we are all here to help your through it. We are a friendly bunch and there is normally a few people around most of the time. Sometime just writing done how we feel and getting it out of our heads helps to lift us up more than you would think, so I do hope that writing your first message has helped you!

I expect that you have tried most medications by now but do you see a consultant at all? If so, are they aware of how deeply you struggle? Sometimes you have to lay it all out there to get them to realise that you need more help.

Ive attached a couple of links to information that I think may be useful to you. Hopefully it will have something new for you to dry to help ease your pain.

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

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

Please do let us know how you are getting on and please do continue to keep getting involved in the community. We really are very happy to have you here with us all.

Take care

Anne (Moderator)

Jue

Hi , my pain meds at the moment are Dihydrocodeine 30mg 2 four times a day taken with paracetamol , Nefopam 30 mg 2 twice a day & 3 at night & pregabin 50 mg 1 three times a day & nortriptyline 25mg at night at present , I'm also under the pain clinic at the hospital & had steroid injections in Jun in my back which worked previously but didn't last time sent my 6 wk pain diary in Aug so hopefully will get another appoint soon to see the consultant if I haven't heard in a couple of wks I will ring the secretary I've also been under a neurologist but he can't do anything else apart advise my GP to alter my pain meds again I've had tramadol & gabapetin & amitriplyne previously , I use cbd oil every other mth which helps but its too expensive to use all the time I've spoke to my consultant about it but he disagrees it works when I asked about getting it on prescription but he isn't the one in pain !

stickywicket

It's not good when we have arthritis everywhere. I started at 15 and am now 76. I've had knees and hips replaced but I'm lucky that my back is pretty good. My favourite resources are exercises, distraction, laughter, preferably with friends and keeping myself occupied so that I can't think of the negatives. Stick here with us and we can share stories and a few laughs.

Just one or two things that come to mine which migjtnhelp.

1. Could you get a stair lift?

2. Could you buy a cheap microwave for upstairs and, like me, have a glass of water by the bed to take your early morning meds while the microwaved bean bag is helping the pain?