New to this

EEL

Hi all just been told I have osteoarthritis of the knee which has been really painful for the last 2 months. I turned 70 last year and up to then had never had any broken or fractured bones so constant pain is all new to me. Am I being a wuss? I think so. After trying painkillers from the doctor which haven’t worked or have so many risks factors involved I am back to taking 2 paracetamol and 2 ibuprofen at day which takes the edge of the pain and I can cope with this. My question ( as my doctors can’t seem to give a straight answer) is can I take these indefinitely? Hope someone can help.

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Lane

Hi @EEL welcome to our online community where you will meet members to share tips and advice.

I understand that you have osteoarthritis of the knee which has been painful for a couple of months. Taking pain killers is also new to you. You would like to know how long can you continue to take pain killers. 

Whilst you wait to connect with our members, I have attached a couple of links from our website for you to have a look at, one about osteoarthritis of the knee and the other managing knee pain:

https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/conditions/osteoarthritis-of-the-knee/

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

I am so glad you found us.

Best wishes.

jonr

Hello Eel,

I'm no medical professional but I will tell you what I was told by my GP which is that anti-inflammatories can cause internal bleeding so it isn't wise to take them long-term without something like Omezaprole to protect the stomach which is a prescription drug. I was diagnosed with OA in both knees about a year ago and like you I managed the condition with daily intakes of Ibuprofen and Paracetemol but 2 things began to happen over time. 1: the wear and tear to my bones and connecting tissues continued making the pain worse and 2: I found I needed to take the meds almost constantly to the point they weren't just cutting it, probably as the pain had got worse and my body was getting used to the meds.

After seeing my GP he prescribed Neproxen which is more powerful but it seems to be the "go-to" drug for Arthritis sufferers. I take 2 of these daily to manage the swelling and the heat plus the aforementioned Omezaprole to protect my stomach.

So, long story cut short is in my humble opinion, I'd recommend a call to your GP to discuss further, at least to be prescribed something to protect your stomach whether it's Ibuprofen or Neproxen. There are also steroid injections which are even more powerful and are applied directly to the site of pain, these work for some folk but not for others. It's a very unpredictable condition like that.