Severe pain need help/advice

Traceyl

I have severe osteoarthritis in both knees. I am seeing a specialist on 24/10. I am in constant pain and it is spreading to the rest of my body. The pain is affecting my bipolar and I am very depressed. The doctor has put me on many different medications from paracetamol to morphine. Nothing helps and I also have the horrible side effects. I stopped the pain killers and use knee guards. But still pain to deal with but more mobile. Where to from here? I cannot go on like this much longer.

Naomi33

Hello @Traceyl

Sorry to hear you are in so much pain feel free to call our Helpline for support !

Maybe looking at following would help......

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

Take care

@Naomi33

helpline_team

Hi @Traceyl

Thank you for posting on our Online Community, we are really sorry to hear about the pain you are experiencing and how it is affecting you.

It may help to talk to someone as @Naomi33 has said, you could contact the Helpline and speak to an advisor on our free phone number which is 0800 5200 520.

In the meantime, speak to your GP about how it is affecting your mental health he/she may be able to suggest someone that you could talk to, one that is often suggested is cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), which is a talking therapy, which tries to reduce the overwhelming effect of problems such as stress, unhappiness, and pain. They aim to help you understand how you react to different problems by breaking them down into smaller, more manageable, chunks. This should help you change the way you react to them and the effect they have on you.

You could also ask about a referral to a Pain management programme which would give you access to a wide range of specialists, such as, specialist pain consultants, physiotherapist, an Occupational therapist.

I hope your appointment goes well with the specialist, possibly going down the route of surgery may be worth thinking about as there are lots of benefits to this.

https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/treatments/surgery/knee-replacement-surgery/

https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/talking-therapies-medicine-treatments/talking-therapies-and-counselling/cognitive-behavioural-therapy-cbt/overview/

Best wishes

Chris

Helpline Advisor