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Working out how not to over do it! (and the need to vent)

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Posted 1/4/2008 6:51 AM (GMT 0)
Hi,

I am new and am from australia.  I have osteoarthritis in my neck, back, knees, hips, wrist and inflammatory arthritis in my foot.  I am currently taking oxycontin and morphine for the pain and a whole range of other medications.  My doctor and I have just about tried every pain medication there is but either they dont work or they make me sick.  I have had to resign from work and can no longer go back to office work. 

I have a rhuematologist and am also seeing the rheumatology department at my public hospital and am at the bottom of the list for the pain management clinic which means I will

have to wait a year for an appointment.

I was having a good period for a couple of weeks til I over did it doing the xmas shopping and every part of me flared up and I had to miss xmas dinner with the family and am now in a deep depression.  I was feeling better by New Years Eve so decided to go out but after standing for 2 hours since I couldnt find a chair I had to go home since my back was in agony and it has been in hell all this week and had the worse pain ever since this started this morning at my doctors surgery so had a morphine shot. (and also a panic attack and a breakdown).  How do people with arthritis learn how not to over do it and what is the point in trying to have any fun when you know 9 out of ten times it will lead to a flare up?  I am so miserable, angry, frustrated and fed up.  Can any one help me please?

Posted 1/4/2008 9:21 AM (GMT 0)
eyes   eyes eyes eyes

     Hi Blondie:  I am also new to this forum, although when I went to registered I found out I had already done so.  I have osteoarthritis degenrative disk arthrithis (may be the same) and now found out I have osteoperosis. My bone density is so bad they told me I could have a spontaneous break at anytime. Went to see an endocrinologyst who had me go for an infusion of zoldodronic acid to keep the calcium in my bones and improve my bone density. Can no longer take any pain meds. not even OC because of my abuse of previous tylenol and ibuprophen and other uses of pain meds. I now have liver damage. I havent been able to take any type of meds for a year. The pain is so bad now that it's cold I have to stay in with the room at 80 degrees. My neck upper spine spine ,sholders, lower back , sometimes hands. knees and feet are are randomly in pain every day. I am so tired of beeing  in pain don't even want to go for a walk any more. I need knee surgery, and bone spur surgery on my heels  but cannot have surgery of any kind. So take it easy , forget shopping unless it is absolutly necessary. If you need to get out ,do so but not for too long. Arthritis won't go away it only gets worse with time. I know this is no consolation . But like you I need to scream a little if only on paper. Take care an sit down for a while. confused confused june confused confused

Posted 1/5/2008 12:22 AM (GMT 0)

hi

for how long time do u have osteo. did u try hydrotherapy and swimming in warm water.

and warm pads on the place u feel the pain. did u have osteo in all the joints how u dx.

pls reply

blondie said...
Hi,

I am new and am from australia.  I have osteoarthritis in my neck, back, knees, hips, wrist and inflammatory arthritis in my foot.  I am currently taking oxycontin and morphine for the pain and a whole range of other medications.  My doctor and I have just about tried every pain medication there is but either they dont work or they make me sick.  I have had to resign from work and can no longer go back to office work. 

I have a rhuematologist and am also seeing the rheumatology department at my public hospital and am at the bottom of the list for the pain management clinic which means I will

have to wait a year for an appointment.

I was having a good period for a couple of weeks til I over did it doing the xmas shopping and every part of me flared up and I had to miss xmas dinner with the family and am now in a deep depression.  I was feeling better by New Years Eve so decided to go out but after standing for 2 hours since I couldnt find a chair I had to go home since my back was in agony and it has been in hell all this week and had the worse pain ever since this started this morning at my doctors surgery so had a morphine shot. (and also a panic attack and a breakdown).  How do people with arthritis learn how not to over do it and what is the point in trying to have any fun when you know 9 out of ten times it will lead to a flare up?  I am so miserable, angry, frustrated and fed up.  Can any one help me please?

Posted 1/5/2008 1:12 AM (GMT 0)
Hey blondie.. welcome to the forum.. so good to have you, even under these conditions.. you will find a wonderful family here of caring, understanding people going through life just like yourself..

With degenerative disk arthritis, can you take biologics? has your rheumy talked about it?

Hhm.. how do we know to not over do it? We don't and we end up in flares like you.. 'cause we'll have a good day and want to do so much, then the next day, we pay for it.. :( I know it's no consolation, but you will soon find your limits.. and you'll learn to work around them.. and get through them one by one..

How long have you been having this pain?

Hang in there and keep posting.. you're not alone..
Posted 1/5/2008 1:15 AM (GMT 0)
Hey June.. welcome to the forum as well.. do you have spondylitis? Have you been to a rheumy? You hang in there too and keep posting.. would love to hear more about you..
Posted 1/5/2008 5:31 AM (GMT 0)

Hi all,

Many thanks for your replies.  Ducky can you tell me what biologics are please?  It might be a bit different over here in Australia.  Ducky the neck pain started ten years ago when I had a major car accident and seems to flare up when I do anything repetitive or am in a fixed postion for a long time - hence the reason I can no longer do office work.  I had a knee reconstruction in December 2005 and they took away alot of the arthritis in that knee but it has all come back.  The foot pain started about a year and a half ago and am on methotrextrate for that and that works well.  The degenerative arthritis was diagnosed when I had a bone scan in August last year.  I did a course on self managing your arthritis at my local arthritis foundation and learnt alot of things I didnt know.  I have managed to lose 17 kilos in weight over the last couple of months and try to walk every day if possible.

Istone - I have tried hydotherapy in warm water but when I lost my job I could no longer afford to go anymore.  I could go to the open session at my arthritis foundation that costs $4 but the problem is that I need to take my pain medication in the morning so that means I cant drive to get there (not going to risk having an accident).  But I do it when I am good. I do use a heat pad and a tens machine and they seem to work.  Istone - according to the bone scan I do have osteo in all my joints and my whole spine.

Posted 1/5/2008 6:14 AM (GMT 0)
hey blondie.. the biologics are the TNF-Inhibitors like Enbrel/Humira/Remicade.. I know they are not prescribed for Osteo-arthritis, but couldn't remember if they are for degenerative disk arthritis.. Losing weight is a great way to ease your discomfort.. the more weight we carry, the harder it is for our joints and/or bones to carry the weight as well.. good for you!
Posted 1/5/2008 9:58 AM (GMT 0)
 

     Hi Ducky--- I am not familiar with spondylitis . I will look it up later. It's 3:00 am here and can't sleep as usual. I went to an RA about 7 months ago. She did the usual blood work, and physical strength and muscle tone exam. When the labs came in she advised me that I did not have RA (or any other type of arthritis) and I was taking to much calcium.???                          

     I have had bone scans , MRI's, etc. since I started with the lower back pain around 1990 . At that time I was told I had degenerative arthritis. I probably had deg. of knees as well at the time since walking up stairs made my knees crackle. A couple of years later I had surgery on one of the bone spurs on my heel. Then the joint pain began. When the bone density scan was done two months ago I was sent to an endocrinologyst , who said my arthritis and bone density were severe. But I don't have RA. Thanks for lending an ear. june

Posted 1/6/2008 1:00 AM (GMT 0)

Ducky said...
hey blondie.. the biologics are the TNF-Inhibitors like Enbrel/Humira/Remicade.. I know they are not prescribed for Osteo-arthritis, but couldn't remember if they are for degenerative disk arthritis.. Losing weight is a great way to ease your discomfort.. the more weight we carry, the harder it is for our joints and/or bones to carry the weight as well.. good for you!

Ducky - actually I technically have osteo-arthritis as my diagnosis (RA test came back negative - but the doc said that sometimes that is a false reading) but my pain was so severe and my inflamation was so painfully obvious that the doc immediately started treating me as if I had RA.  After a few years of going through the typical RA treatments (with some merciful improvement but with lingering problems) I have just ended up on Enbrel (which seems to be working very very well). 

Blondie - before my first visit to the rheumatologist (which took me about nine months) the pain became almost unbearable.  It took several weeks for steroids to even take the edge off, and many many months of that plus methotrexate and a few other things just to get the pain to a tolerable level where I could at least function of sorts.  I'm in the USA and not sure if the drugs we have and the drugs you have are even available in each other's countries.  I admittedly know very little about such things, but I've never even heard of the drugs you mentioned. 

I agree with Ducky about losing weight.  I was "puffy" at the time my symptoms decided to go from irritating to arse-kicking.  I've managed to lose a total of 50 pounds over the past couple of years (half of that since 9/07) and I truly believe that is a big part of how I feel today.

Posted 1/6/2008 9:46 PM (GMT 0)
Leeloo.. you can have RA even though all your tests have come back negative.. it is also possible that you have OA as well as RA.. Being that your doc put you on Enbrel, he probably suspects RA as well.. as you said that he said it gives false readings.. at any rate, at least you are on something that is helping your Arthritis... Biologics are typically not prescribed just for OA alone.. When did you go on Enbrel? Was that before or after you went on Celebrex? Good luck to you..
Posted 1/7/2008 8:09 PM (GMT 0)
My doctor is a "she" actually! She can tell which joints are bothering you just by touching - very perceptive.

My left knee has always been the most persistent in causing me problems (although I've had worse actual pain in other joints), and after some success with MTX and Prednisone here and there as needed, the knee just started ignoring all the drugs around July 2007 or so. That was when the doctor put me on Celebrex and I think that is when I started Plaquenil also. Neither one of them seemed to do anything at all.

I started Enbrel around the end of October 2007 and saw results within three days. Most symptoms were completely gone after about two weeks (and my acne, which I've had for 23 years, since age 13!). The left knee, which was swollen and quite bothersome and had limited range of motion, simply unswelled and today I have almost the full range of motion back (the joint hurts a bit if I fold me leg back all the way - but I'm surely not complaining in the slightest!). I had some trouble getting set up on Enbrel through my insurance, so I was off it for about the entire month of December and the symptoms only hinted at coming back but never really did.
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