Hi

Bluebellshell
Bluebellshell Member Posts: 4
edited 2. Jan 2019, 10:12 in Say Hello Archive
Hi all, I’m Shelley 46 yrs old and haven’t been on a forum for years :o I’ve a torn medial meniscus and osteoarthritis (bone on bone) in the left knee. Haven’t been able to walk since I pulled it while attempting the couch to 5k jogging App, which was 5 months ago. It’s incredibly painful to walk more than a few steps. I’ve been to see the orthopaedic surgeon and he says they won’t repair the meniscus as it won’t make any difference as my knee is bone on bone and as Im overweight they won’t do the surgery. He said I need a knee replacement but I can’t have one till my mid 60s. He has referred me to another hospital to have an anthroscopy and to see a dietician. I always have much respect for the NHS as I have epilepsy and have been seeing doctors since I was 5 but if I’m honest, He was really abrupt with me and quite rude to the point where I ended up bursting into tears. I went in thinking my knee was going to be fixed to being told it’s completely stuffed and I’m not going to be able to walk again for another 20 years till I have a knee replacement .

I had to go back to the Gp to find something for the pain relief and I’m currently taking 2x 15mg cocodomol every 4 hours and 1 x 90mg etoricoxbib prescribed from Gp and 2 X CBD capsules that I purchased myself from a reputable stockist its easing the pain a little but I still can’t walk without pain and feeling like my knee is going to snap in half, I have to stop after Say the length of 2 double decker buses at most.

Sorry for the long post but I’m just at a loss as to what will happen now. Is there any chance of a knee replacement or anything else they can do or am I going to be like this for the next 20 years thankyou for reading. All the best xx

Comments

  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 3,635
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hi blue,bellshell welcome to the forum,sorry you are suffering at the moment. The forum is s great place to air your views and chat about yourself. People are very friendly and everyone is understanding and willing to help with advice. Just pick a forum and get started Living with Arthritis and Chit Chat being the most popular
    All the best Christine
  • dreamdaisy
    dreamdaisy Member Posts: 31,520
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hello, it's nice to meet you and I am sorry you have had to find us. I have two kinds of arthritis and my knees are affected by both, I too am bone-on-bone through both knees and yes, it hurts to move but one needs to get around: my hovering skills are woefully underdeveloped. :lol: It is also in all my toes, both ankles, both hips and elsewhere. I began when I was 37 with psoriatic arthritis, an auto-immune kind, and the damage that caused led to osteoarthritis, which was diagnosed in 2011.

    Being overweight is a serious issue when it comes to replacements and revisions (a revision is when the replacement joint is replaced, more original bone has to be removed to enable this) become more problematic. My cousin's wife had her first one aged 18 (she had bone cancer) and has had two revisions; the last one has failed due to her obesity and there is nothing to be done. Losing weight is not easy and takes time, there is no short-cut. Living in an age where instant gratification is portrayed as being the norm patience is rapidly becoming a lost art: eat less, move around more and ridding oneself of the notion of deprivation is what it comes down to. I am planning to return to the levels of exercise I was doing before I hit a rough patch with the arthritis, that is now passing so it's time to resume. What I term exercise bears little relation so what those without arthritis call exercise but I don't care.

    Pain is the biggest issue that everyone on here faces, it's a very individual thing and what works for one person does nothing for another. I take four 30/500 cocodamol a day, that dulls things enough for me to get on and leaves me room to maneouvre when things worsen: the summer aggravates my auto-immune arthritis and the winter the OA so it's a lose-lose. :lol: People who are pain-free have told me to try CBD but I am unwilling: unlike my prescribed meds I have no guarantees about the standard and quality of production. As my conditions spread I became less aware of the pain-free areas which made life easier: when it was only in one knee then the other it really stood out.

    Any kind of arthritis is progressive and degenerative but for a lucky few it stays in one joint. The general perception of the disease is that it only affects the elderly and it comes in two kinds: it doesn't and doesn't. Another thing that works against osteoarthritis in particular is its ubiquity: there are around ten million arthritics in the UK of whom around eight million have OA. The treatment options are pain relief, maybe an anti-inflammatory medication and physiotherapy: the latter does not prevent the disease but it is essential in helping to keep the muscles surrounding the affected joints as strong as possible to better support the joint. To this day I do my post-op physio exercises for that reason (I have had three knee synovectomies, both closed and open)). Eventually joint replacement may become an option but until then we have to PUASU (put up and shut up).

    I don't know if a steroid injection has been offered: this is done directly into the joint and, if it works, can provide wonderful relief for up to three months then it all comes back. The trouble with them is they do not address the root cause of the disease, they work by thinning all body tissues including muscle and bones so although they can make us feel good they are anything but for our overall health. I have had many into my knees that did nothing, one into my right ankle was terrific for three months but didn't affect the rest of me.

    Arthritis as a disease is not curable as such, it requires management and adjustment to lifestyle to enable us to get the most out of life. Learning to live with it, however, is far from easy. We all get it because we've all got it. DD
    Have you got the despatches? No, I always walk like this. Eddie Braben
  • frogmorton
    frogmorton Member Posts: 29,336
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Poor you Shelley you have my sympathy ((()))

    It sounds as though your experience was humiliating to say the least given that you tore the meniscus presumably trying to get fitter and probably lose weight!!

    DD is right as is the Dr carrying extra weight won't help, but feeling so upset isn't a good position to be in to do something about it. Your GP sounds a bit more helpful at least than the consultant.

    Please don't give up. You can still improve things Shelley honestly you can. There are inspirational people on here who have lost weight even as wheelchair users

    have a look at this thread

    https://arthritiscareforum.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=47642&p=626589#p626589

    Keep posting others might have more tips to help you

    Love

    Toni xx

    PS my own daughter had hip surgery and a new shoulder at 18 and 19 due to damage from chemotherapy. They will and do do surgery younger if you can loose enough weight you stand a much better chance of getting the help you need.
  • Bluebellshell
    Bluebellshell Member Posts: 4
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hi all, I haven’t been on since last time. Thankyou for your replies, I just wanted to update you on a much happier note.

    I was sent to from my local hospital to it’s sister larger hospital but not for an arthroscopy as I was told. Instead I was sent to see a lovely specialist in the fracture clinic who deals with under 50s arthritis. He did a number of stretches at different angles and sent for more xrays. Sat me down and said I can help you. Firstly he apologised for what the other doctor had told me and said I actually had cartilage in the outside of my knee just not on the inside which was making my leg bowed.

    He offered me, do nothing and have physio and pain relief, an osteotomy, a partial knee replacement or a full knee replacement. I asked him what he thought would be best and he said with the osteotomy I could have 96% pain free normal movement for 8 to 10 years before I need a knee replacement and if it doesn’t work then he will do a full knee replacement. I asked him how long I have to get myself in the best health for this operation and he said 2 month roughly. I just wanted to let you all know as I had no idea that this help was out there for me and it might be useful for others to know. So I’ve had two completely different experiences at both hospitals. Best wishes to you all t07161
  • JoeB
    JoeB Bots Posts: 83
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Although as a general rule surgeons do not like perform joint replacement on those under sixty years of age this is not cast in stone.

    However the issue of weight is a different matter both from the perspective of safety and the likelihood of surgical success.

    Obviously, with the best will in the world, weight loss is a process rather than an event. Whilst that process is ongoing you may want to discuss with your GP referral to a specialist pain clinic.

    Arthur
  • dreamdaisy
    dreamdaisy Member Posts: 31,520
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Believe me, Bluebellshell, you could show the same set of symptoms to four different doctors in the same field and receive four different diagnosis: it's called holding an opinion. My first rheumatology appointment was a case of go away, you are not in our gang. My second one was hello, welcome to the party.

    We expect docs to know much more than they do and have all the answers when they don't. It sounds as though this second one has been more helpful and informative, I wish you well with whatever you choose to do. DD
    Have you got the despatches? No, I always walk like this. Eddie Braben
  • Bluebellshell
    Bluebellshell Member Posts: 4
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Unfortunately a pain clinic wouldn’t work for me, as I just can’t walk with that knee, it feels like it’s snapping backwards and no pain relief medication has worked. When I sit the muscle aches a bit but I can handle that, it’s the loss of mobility, I haven’t been able to walk more than 10 minutes without stopping to sit out of pain, so now I don’t walk anywhere and use a stick for support in the house. I have an pre-op appointment on the 10th of this month for an osteotomy which will straighten my bowed leg and help me walk pain free for another 8 to 10 years. I’m well on my way with weight loss and have lost 1 stone already and I will continue to lose and hopefully stay at a healthy weight which will help both of my knees. I agree, you get different opinions from different doctors and hospitals . One thing I know for sure, I will never take my mobility for granted ever again.
  • dreamdaisy
    dreamdaisy Member Posts: 31,520
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Pain relief is a mis-nomer: it merely dulls rather than eradicates. I am bone-on-bone through both knees (I'm squeaking beautifully today with the cold weather!) and cannot manage without my seated rollator, this allows me to go out and about and be able to sit for a breather when necessary. I used it today enabling me to spend two hours going round the sales, hurrah!

    We have to keep mobile to keep our muscles strong, this also better prepares us for surgery and makes the recovery at least a little easier. I haven't lost mobility but I have lost pain-free mobility, that went years ago and as it is never going to return. It is a destructive and pernicious disease, people completely underestimate the effect of can have on all areas of one's life. I had to smile at my husband earlier this week. I had told him I had planned to go for a short, unaided walk as it was bright and sunny but later announced I couldn't manage it. 'No,' he said, 'You can manage it perfectly well, it's more a case of your choosing not to.'. That made me think - he's watched my decline over the last twenty-one years and knows me far too well! :lol: DD
    Have you got the despatches? No, I always walk like this. Eddie Braben