Help with pain relief

Hello @Mike2871

Welcome to the online community and thank you for joining us. I do hope that you find this a safe and friendly space where you can meet people with similar experiences to your wife.

So your wife has arthritis is a number of her joints but is in severe pain most of the time to the point where if she moves she will yelp out in pain. She takes a range of pain medications that just do not seem to help, although if she was to have a small G&T, this would help to ease her pain. She is far too sensible to look to alcohol to solve her pain levels. She doesn't seem to be having any with regards to her doctors helping ad you are wondering if anyone could help suggest any ways in which she could get help.

I really feel for your wife and the level of pain that she is experiencing. It really isn't right that she has been left like this so I can understand your frustrations. Have you ever heard of Pain clinic's? This is something that is available in most areas and you can be referred to them through your GP's. If you feel like your GP isn't taking your wife's pain seriously then you can always ask for a second opinion. I also wondered if your wife was under a consultant for her arthritis as that could also be a way of being referred to a pain clinic in your area.

I have found the following links for you that I think may be of interest so please do have a look when you have the time.

Please do let us know how you are getting on and how your wife is getting along. Please do also continue to keep getting involved in the community as we are always looking to make new friends.

Take care

Anne (Moderator)

I'm afraid that even on the cocktail of medications you describe, the pain of arthritis can still be severe enough to cause the "involuntary yelps of pain" as you describe, including in your sleep. That was certainly the case with me before I had hip replacement, and I was on max doses of cocodamol, naproxen and amitryptilene. I asked my GP if there was anything else he could give me for the pain, and his answer was simply "no". I was on as much as was safe already, but still in severe and debilitating pain.

Most people find that the medications only take the edge off the pain, but don't get close to eradicating it. Other pain management techniques are needed, as in the link provided by @anneb82 . I found breathing through the sudden bursts of pain helpful, and doing my best to ignore them rather than focus on them, ie a type of mindfulness. Distraction also really helps. Focussing on pain only makes it worse.

I also found it helpful to programme in rest days, particularly if I'd had a busy day on my feet. This allows any inflamed tissues/joints to settle down a bit between bouts of activitiy. Notice I say "days", not "hours". Arthritis can also be exhausting, so this also gives time to recharge batteries.

Like your wife, I felt washing down opioids with alcohol was a very slippery slope so largely gave up alcohol while on these meds. It doesn't necessarily reduce the pain, it just changes how you perceive it at a conscious level. With me, I can't say whether they reduced my perceived pain levels, but they did make me feel guilty, and given how opioids make you sleepy, and arthritis can make you unstable, adding alcohol into the mix isn't going to end well. Alcohol can also interfere with how pain meds work, so best avoided, but the odd cheeky gin as a treat every now and then isn't the end of the world.

I agree that your wife might find a pain clinic helpful, but meanwhile try the tips in the links Anne has provided. They certainly help me learn to live with my pain, but it's a tough road whichever way you go.

Im in same boat always in pain i used yo be on 4 lots of painkillers now on two cds( controlled drugs) and parcatamol which im max out on the all just waiting for appointment to pain clinic that was done back infeb/mar time. Are you under a pain consultant if not ask your gp to refer you to one

I totally feel for both you and your wife, may I say how fortunate she is to have someone care so much for her and supporting her through this dreadful pain.

I wake myself up hollering in pain most nights, it can take a few minutes for me to even realise where I am, due to the cocktail of medication I have to take at bedtime.

I live alone which can be seen as a good thing, not disturbing anyone else’s sleep, although I sometimes wish I had company, someone to comfort me when I’m at my lowest point.

my doctor has told me that he cannot add any more pain relief to my existing medication even though I can only take one naproxen and one zomorph in the morning and the same dose at night. It’s very hard to be in tremendous pain from mid day till I go to bed knowing I have pain meds in my cupboard but I can’t take any.

I also have medication for anxiety and depression which are all to be taken at night , which is why when I wake up in pain, I’m fuzzy headed and confused.

I confessed to my doctor when I spoke to him over the phone that I have been unable to resist taking afternoon meds which leave me without any, well before my monthly prescription is due.

I’ve used my diazepam for pain numerous times, again leaving me short before the end of the month.

I don’t like being alone and unable to move around due to my hips and back. Being in so much pain just triggers my depression, it’s a lonely vicious circle.

I have looked after 5 beautiful horses for the past 11 years and my life revolved around them daily, then two years ago I started to get more regular and painful sharp pains in my groin that caused me to have a few particularly bad falls I fractured my wrist in the May and landed onto my right hip in the August. Thats when the arthritis I could manage, changed to the arthritis that ruined my ability to care for my lovely horses.

I have been told that I will be having a total hip replacement in September which is wonderful news and very frightening at the same time. I’m constantly thinking, what if they decide I’m not worthy of the procedure, or what if they forget about me, I don’t think I will believe it until I get written notification of the date, as you can imagine, I’m practically stalking the postman, poor guy is hesitant about walking up to my door.

please keep us up to date on how your wife is coping and I am so pleased that she has you to help her through the worse times as well as the good

wishing you both all the best for a short wait in getting the help needed.

'If they can transplant vital organs in people, why can they not simply transplant fresh Cartlidge or implant/ inject a form of Cushioning? Could a form of Bone Marrow transplanting be introduced, whereby bone growth and strength would be stimulated? This might all sound rather fanciful, but it's only by asking challenging questions that we find real answers. At the end of the day I do have to wonder just how hard medical science is really looking for answers to what, after all, is the most common condition in the world?'

They do seem to be doing it with thumbs, but no one is shouting about it? (it must be capable of replication in other limbs) I'll certainly refer myself when my thumb gives up.

https://www.uhdb.nhs.uk/latest-news/groundbreaking-surgical-procedure-helping-patients-with-thumb-arthritis--1725/

I have had Osteoporosis for over 20 years and have been in constant pain throughout, the longer it goes on the worse it gets, currently my knees are atrocious and both need total knee replacement surgery, unfortunately I’m currently not eligible because they say my BMI is over 40 but here’s the annoying part I’m not that big, I’m an ex sportswoman and carry a ridiculous amount of muscle but it appears not to matter so now working at loosing a couple of stone, unfortunately I can’t exercise because I can hardly move and my left knee gives out, if I don’t have my crutches I will fall which seems to be happening a lot, so it’s going to be some time before I get to see a consultant and then the waiting list in Sheffield is 2 years, my knees are bone on bone and occasionally crumbling which is ridiculously painful

Oh my @JayJudge that really does sound painful, and frustrating. I understand the issue with weight is that it affects the outcome of surgery, which seems obvious really - the more weight we put on the joints, the greater the risk of complications or premature revisionary surgery. I hope your weight loss regime is successful for you - as an ex-athlete presumably you're familiar with nutrition and diet, but it's a hard road. I need to lose 2 stone that I put on post hip replacement (which didn't go smoothly), I'm sure I'd be managing some of my post op issues better without the weight, but if you can't exercise, and if you're constantly battling pain, it seems doubly hard.