Feeling deflated with knee osteoarthritis.

Siko

Hi everyone, my name is Dawn.Over the last 2 years I have been diagnosed with mild osteoarthritis in both of my hips, mild to moderate osteoarthritis in both hands. About 2 months ago I started to get a niggling pain in my left knee which soon became swollen and very very sore. I went to the physio at my local doctors and insisted on an x-ray which I got. The x-ray showed mild arthritis in my knee. I have not been able to sleep for the pain, I am finding it really hard to walk, rising up from a sitting position. The pain is consuming my life. The only pain killers I have been given by the doctors are paracetamol, amitriptyline 2 at night and two codeine at night. Nothing is touching the pain. Today I went to see the physio at our local hospital, he said that other than exercises there is nothing they can do as my arthritis is only classed as mild. I honestly cried as I said this just doesn't feel mild to me at all. He did sympathise with me and said that it will hurt but all they can do is help me to manage the pain plus speak to my doctor again about painkillers. I asked about the injection in my knee but he said that it would not work well in my circumstances. I came away so very deflated and I feel like I am a bit of a fraud as if the pain is in my head. Has anyone else felt like this ??

I should add I am my husband's carer and finding everything so difficult.

noddingtonpete

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

Have a look at the following from our website which hopefully will give you an idea of what to talk to your doctor about in terms of pain medication.

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

Please let us know how you get on.

Best wishes

Peter

debster

Hi Dawn, I feel for you as I have had a similar experience. I have had terrible knee pain in both knees. I was lucky that my rheumatologist referred me for a mri, this did show torn cartilage in both knees, she recommended and referred me for arthroscopy to clear the debris out. I then moved area so saw my new gp, saw 2 physios, had steroid injections, non of this helped, I have naproxen and Co codamol, xrays show mild arthritis, I asked for a referral to the orthopedic surgeon in hastings, he saw me twice and both times said he can't do anything to help, they won't do arthroscopy on people over 50, I cried both times and asked if I now have to be in this pain for the rest of my life, I'm 60, he said I could go to a pain clinic. However my previous referral from my rheumatologist came through at shoreham, I saw a orthopedic surgeon and I'm on the waiting list for arthroscopy on both knees and also a steroid injection in my hip. Sorry for the long story but hopefully this helps, maybe a mri/ pain clinic/ different pain killers could help you.

Baloo

@Siko listen to the pain. Your fragile now. Those joints are simply no longer able to take the same weight any more, but if the doc is right and its a mild problem then treated more gently will recover sooner or later. I found sometimes a week if it was an injury, sometimes longer if I had to learn to stop using a joint so much.

I'm a bit surprised about your pain killers, I take mine at full dose, and all the joint pain dissapears, but its also taken months and months to find out how far I can push each joint before it complains. Ankle, knees, hips, shoulders, jawbone they all settle down in one go on painkillers and then I can get some strength back. I wouldn't last a week without the pain killers. Check your on the right dose.

DODGYKNEES

Hi @Siko I understand your frustration. Totally understandable. I have read that pain levels don't always relate to the degree of the arthritis. There are some people who have severe arthritis and have minimal pain, and there are some people who have mild arthritis who have severe pain. Everyone is different. It might be a good idea to ask your GP to refer you to a specialist if you haven't already done so. The specialist might be able to provide surgical or non surgical treatment, such as injections or being fitted with a brace. Hope this helps