New to group / struggling to cope with my osteoarthritis in both knees

Pommymommy1

Hi ,

New to group which I have joined in desperation as I’m struggling to cope with the level of pain I have in both my knees due to osteoarthritis.

I have been told that I have bone on bone in both knees and therefore qualify for knee replacements, except I need to lose quite a bit of weight first before I would be considered.

My level of mobility has greatly reduced since coming back from a recent holiday where I pushed myself to the absolute limit and my pain has been so severe leaving me struggling to walk at times.

Any advice and tips on managing this condition will be greatly appreciated.

Ellen

Hi @Pommymommy1 Welcome to the Online Community.

I see from your post that you've got severe Osteoarthritis (OA) in both knees and qualify for surgery, but need to lose weight first. Not easy at all when your mobility is restricted and you are severe pain.

Still it has been done by people here even those who are wheelchair users mostly by diet of course I wonder whether you'd be interested in this?

https://www.versusarthritis.org/news/2021/september/top-tips-to-manage-your-weight/

If you wanted to you could start a weight loss thread and people would support you. One or two members have done that in the past and others have joined them which seemed to really help.

I wonder whether you have considered walking aids yet? Your experience on holiday sounded very painful and walking aids might have taken some of the pressure off. You could ask to see a physiotherapist to discuss which type might be most suitable for you.

Anyway I'll leave you now to meet our members. Please do take a look around the forum and join in on any thread. Living with Arthritis tends to be a very popular category.

My best wishes

Ellen.

jonr

Welcome to the Forum @Pommymommy1,

There's a lot of us here with OA in our knees at various stages and in order to give you the best support and advice it would be good to know how you're managing your pain and what physio/exercise you're doing or would like to do.

Thanks,

Jon

frogmorton

Hi @Pommymommy1

I like the idea of looking at walking aids to enable you to participate in life such as holidays.

Has your Dr tried steroid injections in your knees at all? I know a lot of people have found they really help for quite a long time in some cases too.

Take care

Toni x

Pommymommy1

Hi Tony ,

Thank you for your reply, I had a injection in my right knee in January and for quite a few months I was able to do a lot more and my pain was less, I guess I need to ask for my other knee to be done and then right knee again .

I know I really overdid whilst we were away and now consequently have all this pain , I’ve tried a walking stick but find it gives me more pain in my back.

Pommymommy1

Jon,

thank you for your welcome.

A brief history , I first noticed there was something wrong with my knees whilst looking after my first late husband who passed away February 2018, I had to hoist him everywhere and thought using this equipment I had pulled my knees , my GP suggested I had X rays and prescribed Naproxen for the pain , the X-rays showed considerable damage to both knees which surprised me as I didn’t feel the pain until my husband died.

I was told this want unusual as I was so busy being a carer I didn’t have time to think about myself.last year I had a MRI on my left leg after suffering a lot of extreme pain which I was put on codeine for , I was diagnosed with a meniscus tear as well , this took nearly a year to improve and I’m now off codeine but the aggravation of all the walking and climbing in and out of coaches have taken there toll and left me in considerable pain after out holiday.

I was told by the pain management clinic who administered the injection that I need knee replacements but I need to lose weight before the would operate .

so kinda stuck at the moment in a vicious circle

jonr

Thanks for taking the time to add some colour to your condition @Pommymommy1

In my opinion I think there are 3 areas to look at moving forward - diet, pain management and physio/exercise.

The theory is that diet and physio/exercise play an important part in not only keeping you healthy but strengthening the surrounding muscle and tissues to help support weakened joints. You'll also get a benefit of weight loss in the process. However, most Arthritis sufferers find it too painful to exercise, some can barely walk, so good pain management is needed to help make it possible.

This website has some fantastic resources about diet and managing your condition, please do take time to swot up as it really is helpful. I can recommend you make an appointment to be assessed by a physio, probably at your local health centre who will recommend some tailored daily exercises to follow (mine did), then ask for a consultation with your GP to discuss pain management. There is not a lot they can do beyond anti-inflammatories and Codeine but it's worthwhile doing anyway. The rest is upto you and a case of trial, error and persistence I'm afraid. As I say, the info on the website will help shortcut the process and inform about supplements, support and walking aids, pain management and low-impact activities.

Pommymommy1

Thank you Jonr for taking the time to reply , I’ll certainly follow up all that is suggested keeping my fingers crossed that a combination of things will help.