Who has arthritis?

[whitewave]

I have just been diagnosed with it in my right knee. I’ve been in a lot of pain for 2 weeks, and had a cortisone shot about a week ago. It did nothing for my pain.

Apparently my knee is pretty bad. Aside from losing weight ASAP, which I am now working on with a low carb diet, is this how it is? Chronic pain?

Does it flare up and then I’ll get relief? Or straight, never ending pain? Nothing works: Advil, alleve, CBD. Nothing puts a dent in the pain.

I see the doc again on Monday. I’d be ready to schedule a replacement except I have a metal allergy and apparently the parts people are working on solutions with body parts for people with this issue. I’d like to give them a few more years for innovation before I do this.

Thanks for any help!!

 

[MamaBee]

I have just been diagnosed with it in my right knee. I’ve been in a lot of pain for 2 weeks, and had a cortisone shot about a week ago. It did nothing for my pain.

Apparently my knee is pretty bad. Aside from losing weight ASAP, which I am now working on with a low carb diet, is this how it is? Chronic pain?

Does it flare up and then I’ll get relief? Or straight, never ending pain? Nothing works: Advil, alleve, CBD. Nothing puts a dent in the pain.

I see the doc again on Monday. I’d be ready to schedule a replacement except I have a metal allergy and apparently the parts people are working on solutions with body parts for people with this issue. I’d like to give them a few more years for innovation before I do this.

Thanks for any help!!

@whitewave I have arthritis and I did have a very painful knee for around four months..and then it went away. It came back again..stayed around for a bit and went away again. That’s pretty much the cycle..Arthritis is like that..It will probably go away but it was so painful I remember crying until the Advil kicked in and it only took the edge off..I have it in my feet pretty bad and if I sit too long it hurts like crazy..As soon as I walk around the pain goes away. My fingers were so bad in my forties and now they don’t even hurt anymore...It waxes and wanes..It started in my forties...You can try different things like heat or cold. Heat on my knee was excruciating but I was able to get relief from cold packs..It’s all individual...I would suggest you pamper it but try to keep it moving and warm...If you’re like me it will stop being painful after a few months. I had long reprieves in between painful bouts..I didn’t have Rheumatoid Arthritis which is bad..I have Osteoarthritis. I hope you feel better..

 

[marcy]

I hate to hear that Whitewave. I’ve had arthritis in my knees for over 30 years now. I had the orthoscopic surgery about 25 years ago where they scrapped off the jagged bone and realigned my knees. I find topical pain cream like aspercreme helps more than Advil. I take aspirin daily because I am allergic to anti inflammatories. Sadly yes it does always hurts but in varying degrees. Some days are worse than others. I just recently started doing straight leg dead lifts and I swear it’s helped a little bit. I walked 2 big stores within days of each other last week and wasn’t doing much worse after all of that walking and standing.

I hope they do find something that you aren’t allergic to for a knee replacement. I have so many allergies I am resisting replacing my knees, my right once is barely hanging in there. Good luck!

Marcy

 

[whitewave]

@Mamabean thanks, I feel relief when I ice it, but as soon as the ice is off it’s back to pain.

@marcy thanks for the comments. I was with a trainer until about October. I will go back, but I’m in the acute stage, so the nurse said to ice and elevate it and stay off of it right now. Someone else recommended aspercream. I wish I had remembered— just put in a big amazon order since I can’t go anywhere right now.

 

[Batgirl76]

My husband swears by yoga for his arthritis, including his knees. Check out The Arthritis Foundation site and their section on yoga. Knee arthritis is specifically mentioned. Also, The Arthritis Foundation has a lot of other helpful info. Best wishes! :

https://www.arthritis.org/living-with-arthritis/exercise/workouts/yoga/yoga-benefits.php

 

[whitewave]

Oh bonus, I just found an aspercreme lidocaine patch in the cabinet that DH uses for his back. Got my leg elevated and it on my knee.

Thanks for the idea!

 

[whitewave]

My husband swears by yoga for his arthritis, including his knees. Check out The Arthritis Foundation site and their section on yoga. Knee arthritis is specifically mentioned. Also, The Arthritis Foundation has a lot of other helpful info. Best wishes! :

https://www.arthritis.org/living-with-arthritis/exercise/workouts/yoga/yoga-benefits.php

Thank you! I do need to get back into yoga. I love it.

 

[sarahb]

Crossed the 60’s threshold & osteoarthritis began in my hands.

It comes & goes, it’s not debilitating at this point—only sore enough to take an Advil now & then, but it has slowly progressed to other joints in my hands, good to learn about heat & cold....

whitewave, hope you get relief and can hang on until they have a resolution to your metal allergy—sending dust to you & all the others!

 

[Weeivy73]

Hi, sorry to hear of PSers with arthritis on here.

My mum has rheumatoid arthritis, was diagnosed in her early 50's. It is the type that is degenerative so once she does some damage to her joints, say by pushing herself too hard the damage is not reversible.

She has to give herself a weekly steroid type injection to control it and then she gets quite sick for a couple of days and needs to take anti nausea medication too. It's a very frustrating and unpleasant cycle, just as soon as she is starting to have less pain, it comes round to her needing her weekly injection and the cycle starts up again.
Avoiding some foods help, I can ask which ones if you are interested and she doesn't drink alcohol at all. She also gave up smoking a couple of years ago which has helped her overall health in general too.

 

[whitewave]

Thank you @sarahb

Yes, @Weeivy73 I would love if you could ask your mom which foods she avoids.

I was diagnosed with asthma 2 years ago, so I am concerned with inflammation issues and possible food concerns

 

[lyra]

I have several forms of arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis. YOLO! I'm sorry you're in a severe state of pain right now. I understand how inescapable and daunting it can seem. I hope a knee replacement will help, if that's what your doctor is suggesting. I see a rheumatologist and take biologic drug infusions every 6 weeks. My goal is to reduce inflammation. My doctor is adamant that I keep mobility, do stretches and avoid joint damage. Yoga is often suggested. I went through all the NSAIDs there are, at prescription level. I did cortisone shots. Topicals. It took a long time to find the right med for me. So I hope that you find something that works for you too. Sometimes it's surgery. Take care. I hope you have good days soon.

 

[foxinsox]

I had arthritis in my knee primarily caused by mechanical damage that started with a poor cartilage tidy-up 30 years ago when I was 12. I had a partial knee replacement 3 1/2 years ago (Oxford partial knee). It didn’t stop the pain until around 2 years ago when it finally settled post-surgery. I found much better pain management from following an anti-inflammatory diet which for me is gluten/wheat, dairy and sugar-free. I’m ok with nightshades and legumes but legumes flare my IBS if eaten in volume so I don’t eat many of them. I also found heat and gentle movement effective for soothing the pain. If I am lazy about my eating or don’t move enough, I get stiff and sore in all my joints especially knee and hips.

 

[Karl_K]

I do.
I just live with it most days, on days when it gets over the top I take Tylenol 3.
Because of other medications Tylenol with codeine is the only stronger than Tylenol pain med that I can take.
Since the war on pain medicine began its getting harder to get so I don't take it until the pain gets to nuclear levels.

 

[Tekate]

Me!

I have had both hips replaced due to osteoarthritis, one in 2010 and the other in 2012. The one in 2012 wasnt as well done. I have total osteoarthritis in my right shoulder compounded with a torn rotater cuff, it's the reason I'm posting here at 1:30 a.m. PAIN. Just took 2 ibuprofen. Shoulder arthritis is a bitch because replacement is variable, knees and hips are usually a better outcome.

I have it in my other shoulder also, but it's not as bad as my right.

Have it in my fingers. Lumpy fingers for sure.

My surgeon in Austin TX told me that it's genetic and overuse, neither of my parents had it and my dad was pain free at 83. My Dad's dad, my grandfather, had a terrible case of it and could barely walk, he used a vibrating chair wish I had it now. He died way back in 76.

I think wasting time with methods that eventually don't work, if replacement is an option, do it. Find a very good surgeon, if you are in Austin area I reccomend Dr Jack Seaquist, he does minimally invasive surgery, he's great.

it's a total pain, literally. I know cancer pain is worse, but at times not a lot worse.

 

[Tekate]

Whitewave, I had titanium replacements, most people are not allergic to it.. I have a nickel allergy tho. It sometimes takes 2 weeks for the steroid shot to kick in, I get relief from them with the last one I had in December the best, it was sonogram guided to get into the joint, not as painful as I thought it would be actually, within 2 weeks I forgot about my pain, it was low key, but it's come bck with a vengence.

Wishing you lucky on the aspercreme, I never tried that, but I will know!

 

[whitewave]

Whitewave, I had titanium replacements, most people are not allergic to it.. I have a nickel allergy tho. It sometimes takes 2 weeks for the steroid shot to kick in, I get relief from them with the last one I had in December the best, it was sonogram guided to get into the joint, not as painful as I thought it would be actually, within 2 weeks I forgot about my pain, it was low key, but it's come bck with a vengence.

Wishing you lucky on the aspercreme, I never tried that, but I will know!

I’m allergic to titanium!!!! It’s the worst one. My surgeon did say that he attended a conference last week or so and the big talk is about metal allergies and to start testing people before surgery. I believe he said the people with bad outcomes didn’t know they had metal allergies.

My aunt had a knee replacement, threw two blood clots, had nothing but complications and now had terminal idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. (My Otho suggests the IPF is from the blood clot damage to her lungs, which may have stemmed from metal allergy.... my mom’s side... we are all allergic to everything, have eczema etc)

I use Isagenix supplements and I really like the line, so last night I ordered their pain and cream combo: the tablets are glucosamine and condrotin (sp?) and the cream is some kind of aspercreme type of thing.

The aspercreme patch... I didn’t think it was working much, but I slept well and so far today I’m in no pain (you wear it 12 hours). I’m about to put another on. Icing it did help also.




I joined isagenix when everyone at my gym started using the products. I do like the system and have started back on the protein shakes yesterday.

 

[whitewave]

@lyra my MIL has AS and DH has a touch of it in his back. I agree that I want to immediately try reducing inflammation. I’m pretty sure I have food allergies also, and I know I do well with no breads, cereals, grains etc. I might even try caveman for a week and see.... several of my friends are keto now (all docs) so if I went keto I would have plenty of company. @foxinsox so I definitely think this is a good place to start.

@Karl_K yes, I get the nuclear part. I can’t take opioids because they make me feel like I have a thousand ants crawling all over my body. I even tried some tramadol the other day and I noticed I was itchy/fidgety while I was trying to sleep.

@Tekate even though we live in a smaller area, we have amazing ortho guys. One is world renowned and had all of his research based at Tulane and when Katrina hit, he moved here and now we get elite athletes from all over the world who come and see him. It’s pretty crazy.

 

[Karl_K]

[
@Karl_K yes, I get the nuclear part. I can’t take opioids because they make me feel like I have a thousand ants crawling all over my body. I even tried some tramadol the other day and I noticed I was itchy/fidgety while I was trying to sleep.

I tried tramadol and it made me super high but still hurting like crazy.
Had to call my doctor and that's when he started the t3.
Since the war on pain medication any pain prescription has to have a face to face with the doctor. Which totally sucks.

 

[jaaron]

I don't mean to ask an invasive, insensitive question, but are you near or past menopause?

I was told by my rheumatologist there there are oestrogen receptors in our knees (and hands), which is why knee and hand pain/arthritis often accompany menopause. They upped my bioidentical hormones and my knee pain essentially disappeared- don't know if that helps.

 

[whitewave]

I don't mean to ask an invasive, insensitive question, but are you near or past menopause?

I was told by my rheumatologist there there are oestrogen receptors in our knees (and hands), which is why knee and hand pain/arthritis often accompany menopause. They upped my bioidentical hormones and my knee pain essentially disappeared- don't know if that helps.

Yes, I am in my 50th year and was using bio identical hormones, but whenever I go back and forth to my other house (as I have been since Christmas), I lose them in the process, so I currently can’t find them.

I just ordered new ones yesterday. Thanks for the reminder for me to check all my luggage again for them. I may have left them at the other house.

Great idea, thanks.

@Karl_K the war on pain meds is ticking DH off too since he prescribes them for post surgical pain.

 

[diamondringlover]

I have arthritis in my back...I sit on my heating pad alot...hubby has it in the knees...he just had surgery to fix a torn meniscus and they scraped out some of the arthritis..

 

[lyra]

I don't get any pain meds. Not even tylenol 3. Mostly due to war on opioids. It sucks how addicts make it impossible for people who would benefit from managed usage of some of these meds. My life would be easier if I could just have tylenol 3 maybe once a week, or by appointment, but no, I get nothing.

 

[missy]

I don't get any pain meds. Not even tylenol 3. Mostly due to war on opioids. It sucks how addicts make it impossible for people who would benefit from managed usage of some of these meds. My life would be easier if I could just have tylenol 3 maybe once a week, or by appointment, but no, I get nothing.

I'm sorry. That's so unfair @lyra. Have you consulted with a pain management doctor? Perhaps he/she can prescribe them for you. I can get opioids (so far through my surgeons) though I loathe to take them. I have been able to get Rxs for them every time I needed to so far.

@whitewave hope you find relief. And I sure hope the doctors/researchers can figure out how to help those of us who are super allergic to almost everything.

 

[Karl_K]

I don't get any pain meds. Not even tylenol 3. Mostly due to war on opioids. It sucks how addicts make it impossible for people who would benefit from managed usage of some of these meds. My life would be easier if I could just have tylenol 3 maybe once a week, or by appointment, but no, I get nothing.

I am so sorry to hear that. Sadly its common.
I am dreading the day my doctor retires and he is well past retirement age.

 

[Tekate]

Jeez I'm sorry you are allergic to titanium as I didn't think they use anything but that now, I think they used to use steel and ceramic?

So so sorry about your aunt, I have had 2 Csects and 2hip replacements and have not developed a clot, my doctor on my last replacement didn't even order me to take an aspirin 2x a day, but my closest and my dear friend in 2003 had a tummy tuck and liposuction, she was beautiful, young 43 and petite and had twins over 8lbs and a singleton and her stomach dropped terribly, she had the tuck and lipo and within 5 days she died of a pulmonary embolism, just a total clustf--- and painful for us all, left 7 yr old fraternal boy/girl twins and an 11 yr old son, I don't think the kids have ever gotten over it and they are now almost 28 and 24, all changed. Clotting is serious stuff after surgery (or long flights for those who may clot more easily).

My husband had all the cartilege removed from his knee at 19 after an accident and he's 68 and has swelling at times etc, but he has exercised his leg daily for his whole life after the operation and he hasn't needed a replacement and he's kept his weight in normal range. Me, overweight but my surgeon told me that my osteoarthritis is genetic too.

Tramodol makes me violently ill, Vicodin helps me immensely but they won't give it to me anymore but in small doses and I feel like a low life when I need more so I dont bother.. At this point I dont push a shoulder replacement because its success rate is much lower than the hip or knee, it all sucks really.

So sorry you have this. I think your aunt develop lung fibrosis from the clots too. Icing has helped me but so has heat... age is not for the faint of heart.

I’m allergic to titanium!!!! It’s the worst one. My surgeon did say that he attended a conference last week or so and the big talk is about metal allergies and to start testing people before surgery. I believe he said the people with bad outcomes didn’t know they had metal allergies.

My aunt had a knee replacement, threw two blood clots, had nothing but complications and now had terminal idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. (My Otho suggests the IPF is from the blood clot damage to her lungs, which may have stemmed from metal allergy.... my mom’s side... we are all allergic to everything, have eczema etc)

I use Isagenix supplements and I really like the line, so last night I ordered their pain and cream combo: the tablets are glucosamine and condrotin (sp?) and the cream is some kind of aspercreme type of thing.

The aspercreme patch... I didn’t think it was working much, but I slept well and so far today I’m in no pain (you wear it 12 hours). I’m about to put another on. Icing it did help also.




I joined isagenix when everyone at my gym started using the products. I do like the system and have started back on the protein shakes yesterday.

 

[Karl_K]

For those that have it does it run in your family?
My dad had it really really bad he had it earlier but got much worse in his 40s.
Which is what happened to me.
He said the day he wake up and it didn't hurt he would know he died, I understand that now.

Rough day today my knees are very bad and locked up getting up so I caught myself with my arm and crunched my shoulder.
Sounded like a firecracker.

 

[lyra]

@Karl_K Arthritis was prevalent in my family on both sides, but it is my dad who passed on the AS to me. I also have psoriatic arthritis, which he had as well. I am well managed on the biologic though, I can't complain. Except to say it is not covered under my husband's insurance, so I have to get it through a patient program from the manufacturer. I get it free. In the States, the co pay would be about 100-200 per infusion. The actual cost of an infusion is 6000. Crazy! My province would cover it in full if I was going blind--but the infusion prevents that so catch-22. ETA: I survived a pulmonary embolism while in the hospital for pancreatitis.

 

[Karl_K]

[ETA: I survived a pulmonary embolism while in the hospital for pancreatitis.

Iv had 4 dvts in my leg and a PE which is why im on blood thinners for life and cant take almost all pain meds.

 

[House Cat]

I have arthritis all throughout my back and neck. I was told by the doctor that I inherited this.

I don’t talk to my bio dad but he was a heroin addict. Maybe this was part of the reason why.

 

[Karl_K]

What I found helps me the most is keeping the house warm. 77 in the winter and 80 in the summer.
At lower temperatures my knees and elbows in particular get really crunchy after a 3-4 hours.