Relatively new to arthritis

Flakie

Hello.

I’m a 68 year old female and feel like I’m being taken over by arthritis! Years ago I had issues with my right knee for which I had an arthroscopy and a scrape and that seemed to help. It’s just stiff now but on the whole I can live with that. Over the years I’ve had various joint issues and have been told I have it in my neck and lower back. I’ve had a couple of falls which resulted in minor breaks in my left arm and that plays up occasionally and also a rotator cuff injury to my right shoulder. For the past year I’ve had severe problems with my left knee. I’ve seen the physio followed by the orthopaedic guy and have just had an MRI on it to see what’s going on. He said it’s not bad enough to warrant a knee replacement though obviously to me it’s bad as it’s stiff and painful and has virtually stopped me in my tracks. Hopefully the MRI will shed some light. I’ve even had to swop my car for an automatic as I just can’t drive a manual. Now I’ve started getting pains in my thumbs and index fingers as well which I assume is the same problem. Is this how arthritis progresses and what can I do to help alleviate it? Any suggestions or advice would be most welcome in all areas - especially thoughts in supplements and what could I expect from my GP if I went to him? Many thanks for reading.

PeterJ

Hello @Flakie have a look through the following - hope it helps

Complementary and alternative treatments | Types and safety (versusarthritis.org)

Arciere

Hi @Flakie

In my own experience I found that a GP is kind of like a gatekeeper to NHS services.

When at rock bottom they really were not able to help. What did help was the rheumatology advice line at my local hospital. They were very helpful and even helped me achieve a prescription from my GP. So if there is such a helpline with your local services it might be worth a call.

The other thing I wanted to promote whilst reading your post was heat therapy. I found saunas quite helpful when I had a lot of pain, as an example. The cold really bites!

Arciere

hi @Flakie

sorry and re your questions about supplements - after spending all year searching for a supplement- I have found that removing food groups - rather than adding something - have made more of a difference for me personally.

see my other posts if you want to know more about that.