At a Loss

Sile

I was diagnosed with OA in both knees and hips a few years ago. It didn't bother me because I was pain free, I just couldn't do yoga anymore and going downhill or downstairs I had to grab handrails as my right knee just wouldn't take any weight resulting in two, minor falls.

Fast forward to this year. The day after moving house, I developed knee pain in my right knee. I thought I had twisted something while moving and it would go away with some Deep Heat. Well, it lasted for weeks then disappeared. I assumed sleeping on the floor at my age wasn't helping.

Didn't think much about it until I had surgery (for something unrelated) on 30 April and returned home. As my bed had been assembled, this time when the pain returned I figured this wasn't the cause. The pain is like a vice grip on my knee, but I also have pain in my hip and ankle, too. It's relentless; 24/7. I am averaging 2/3 hours sleep and I'm at the point I want my leg amputated.

I saw the physio and he told me to ice my knee, gave me two exercises which is all he could offer because I cannot sit down (and won't be able to for at least another two months) because of my surgery, and he wouldn't prescribe painkillers because of my complicated medicinal treatments. The best thing he did was give me walking sticks and show me how to use them.

Well, one week following that appointment I was back with the GP because I still couldn't take the pain. I cannot have anti-inflammatories because I have IBD, so Co-Codamol was prescribed. It didn't even touch the pain. Against the advice of my GP and IBD consultant, I am taking Nurofen every six hours (in combination with Immodium) because occasionally it takes the edge off allowing me more than 3 hours sleep.

I'll be honest here: I sometimes sweat the last 1.5-2 hours before I can take the next dose. I cry, I scream into my pillow at night and when I say I want the leg amputated I'm not altogether joking.

I am unable to do hydrotherapy because I have open wounds from my surgery.

I'm at a loss. It's been eight (8) weeks of suffering. What can I do to get relief?

Anna

Hello @Sile and welcome to the online community,

I am so sorry that you are such pain and it’s been going on for some while. There’s no doubt that arthritis can be painful but there are lots of different things your GP can suggest that might help. Perhaps you could make another appointment to discuss with them all options of treatment.

You might find some other suggestions that you haven’t tried yet (although I imagine you’ve tried quite a few) in the link below. It talks about how to review your pain management, and also offers some ideas about what you can do to help yourself:

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

Anna ( Moderator)

Baloo

@Sile physio are clever bods. I would be inclined to check in with the doctor for some X-rays of the painful joints, with a view to checking how bad or not they are, and for asking the physio if he can look at the x rays, and has he got some better exercises that will suit your recovery.

Also check that you were taking the recommended dose of painkiller. I was on Paracetamol forever (with doctors agreement) once I found out it doesn't work until I was taking the full recommended dose. Taking them once in a while was not the way to go.