Hi I am new to this.

Smithyboy
Smithyboy Member Posts: 2
edited 28. Nov 2023, 14:04 in Living with arthritis
I have been under the pain clinic for some ten years and had both hips replaced and a knee scrapped. i know this sounds unbelievable but I don't know what kind of Arthritis i have maybe I have just not asked the right questions. Most of my pain now is in the neck area where I have had so many injections of different kinds for muscle nervous botox denervation. Nothing as been any good not even in the short term. Have I been stupid for not getting to grips with this sooner ?

Comments

  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 3,635
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hi smithyboy
    Welcome to the forum you sound as if you have Osteoarthritis but you should really ask your GP as you may have other diagnosis, I too have had hip and knee replacements which are great as they have reduced my pain levels I only have Osteoarthritis nothing else I am glad to say. We all have Arthritis of some kind and various levels of pain . Everyone on the forum understands what you are going through and are very sympathetic and friendly and understanding and will try and make you feel part of the forum the most popular forums are Living with Arthritis and Chit Chat.
    All the best Christine
  • dreamdaisy
    dreamdaisy Member Posts: 31,520
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hello, I am doubly blessed with arthritis having an auto-immune kind which in turn led to osteoarthritis. I began the first one back in 1997 and, stupidly, believed my then GP when she said my fat left knee would sort itself out. I was used to doctors and used to them being right so never thought to challenge her. Hindsight now tells me I was incredibly stupid but as hindsight usually tells you that it's pointless. What is done is done and cannot be undone, I remember my shock when I learned I had OA too, I honestly thought you either had one or the other. :lol:

    We cannot tell you kind of arthritis you have because we are not doctors, just practising arthritics. I began with one affected joint, now it's around forty but that is what arthritis does, it is a progressive and degenerative incurable disease, no matter what kind one has. There are between eight to ten million people in the UK with arthritis and OA is the most common. You have had new hips and when you say your knees have been 'scrapped' have they been replaced too or do you mean they have been scraped (as in rubbed and scratched) in an arthroscopy-type operation? I went to a pain clinic and found it useless as they advised me to do what I was already doing. Pain is a fact of life and I manage it with the least amount of pain relief I can tolerate. Whatever one takes merely dulls the sharper edges for a brief period of time, the stronger the relief the more you are taken away from the pain rather than vice versa. I tried the stronger stuff but decided I ptreferred being in pain and alert rather than in less pain and unable to function. It's not an easy life though and I am hacked off with it all at the moment. :lol: DD
    Have you got the despatches? No, I always walk like this. Eddie Braben
  • stickywicket
    stickywicket Member Posts: 27,697
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hi smithyboy. I don't think you've been stupid. You've probably had more interesting stuff to investigate and that's an excellent way of living with any form of arthritis.

    Frankly, most people, when they say 'arthritis', mean osteo. So, unless you're under the care of a rheumatologist, that's almost certainly what you have. I have RA and OA and have had knees and hips replaced. My neck hardly moves these days but is not painful However, I think necks do need regular monitoring and it sounds as if they're doing that with yours.

    Have you had any physio?
    If at first you don't succeed, then skydiving definitely isn't for you.
    Steven Wright