arthritis and durolane injection

Hi everyone;

I am curious if anyone has had the experience of something I am going through at the moment, I started with pain in both  knees last year and was giving painkillers, pain went away but came back approx. 3 weeks later and from that point on its making my life miserable.  I am under the care of a Orthopedic Specialist who when I saw him the first time this past May 9th, extracted 33 cc of water from my knee and injected me with cortisone, the pain subsided and I thought it was gone however it came back so I saw him again.  He advised that the treatment I received was not working for me and that after taking xrays of my knee (it settled down in 1 knee) it showed I had some arthritis and that he would have to look at alternative solutions for the disabling pain.  The issue here is that I saw a chiropractor and he advised that I showed all the symptoms of a torn meniscus especially since the pain is not really in my knee but on the inside of my leg, I advised the Specialist of that and was told that "pain always travels" and even after I had an MRI done he could not really tell if the meniscus was torn but since I am over 40 (I am 50 and active) they would not consider repairing the meniscus but that it in his opinion is arthritis in the knee.  The alternative treatment the dreaded Durolane injection I received this past tuesday and while I have read the statistics on this injection, I had to do this as another issue in my case is that I gained a lot of weight due to Thyroid/Graves disease that is know under control but put a lot of extra pounds on me that is obviously not helping the knee (each 1 pound you gain puts 6 pounds of stress on your knee).  The Durolane injection was very painfull and sofar I have the same pain in my leg as before the injection.  I would love to hear from anybody who has or is dealing with something similar as I have my doubts about the Durolane injection being of benefit to me.  Hope to hear from anyone.

Hi Ducky;

Thanks for your very nice e-mail.  I'm sorry to hear you have Graves disease but rest assured its very manageable.  I just started with a little swelling on 1 eye lid and it puzzled every doctor I have seen, my family MD finally diagnosed that I had a thyroid problems and send me off to an Endicrinologist who after ultrasounds etc. found that I had 3 growths on my thyroid (they were preventing the thyroid from normal production), so neither over or under active but he put me on medication (no Prednisone) to start shrinking these nodules while at the same time stop the progression of the Graves disease.  After a couple of ultrasounds and to be on the safe side we decided to used the RAI treatment to let the thyroid die off and I would receive a supplement instead, the Eye Specialist could not operate on my eyes (Graves) to restore it to normal unless the thyroid had settled (basically he could not operate on a moving target), I had the surgery on my eyes last October 15, with grafts in the lower lid and lengthening of the upper lids and that was a great success.  In the interim I am still waiting for the thyroid to die off so I can receive the dosage of supplement that my body needs but its doing it very slowly (had RAI procedure done Feb, 2007) so basically my bodies hormones are confused and my metablism seems to be stagnating which is pretty normal but frustrating.  Have to go for a blood test every month to see if it has died off more and then increase the medication, so my system is always playing catch with the thyroid. Now that I gained this weight my frame is just not big enough to hold the weight and its taking its toll on my knees big time.  Thats it in a nut shell.  Tell me about your Graves please, what and how and have you had eny procedures done, love to hear from you since everyones experience is different. How are YOU doing and managing because its not fun.......could be worse though.

Ciao for now

Hi Bits;

Thanks for your nice email, Durolane is a lubricant that they inject into the affected joints and it really acts as a cussioning for the cartilage that has maybe been worn down, its very costly (approx. $450.00) and usually not covered by any benefit plan since its not really a drug.  Unfortunately the succes rate is only 50/50 but I felt I had to give it a try at the very least.  If it works then it would be good for 6 months giving you some time to try to get rid of some of the weight gained from the nemesis thyroid, if that all comes together I may not need any further treatment on the knee at all but I dont think that the Durolane is working for me to be honest, almost 2 weeks and while the knee is stronger, the pain on the inside of my leg is the same.  Although you have to wait a full 4 weeks to get the maximum and total effect of the Durolane injection. Also if it does work and your weight gain has not changed then you can actually get an injection every 6 months (costly and painfull), I rather loose the weight.  As for your advise to seek a second opinion which I appreciate its as follows, I do trust my specialist completely (one of the best here), have known him for a long time and he works together with a couple of specialist to ensure he provides the correct treatment, he is the head of the Orthopedic Surgery in the hospital were I see him and a collegue of the doctors I work with, so I "hope and pray" that I in the right hands.  Thats my story but enough about me, what brings you to this forum (which I  found accidentially but find it great), love to hear from you.  Hope you  are enjoying the weekend.

Ciao for now

Hi Bits;

Just saw your email coming in, thank you and yes I hear you, sometimes we think we have received all the answers but then you find a site like this and find out that other people have different experiences and that reading these only makes you wiser.  I saw you wrote that you have RA and assume that its active, I was diagnosed with having it in my system but its not active and I hope it stays that way.  Are you in a lot of pain from the RA Bits?, and I can only assume that your suffering from arthritis as well.  Its definately not fun but knowing that others are dealing with the same issues makes it somehow more tolerable I find.  Are you taking supplements to deal with your issues?, I have always been very much into "health supplements" and find they definately help so I motor on hoping that the problem will soon be history (whishfull thinking) but we have to stay positive.  Anyway keep me posted if you like of course, here is to good health.

Cheers

I noticed that you said that you were diagnosed with Graves Disease, I had went to the doctor because of swelling in my ankles and legs as well as my eyes seem to have something going on, one seems puffy and the other one seemed droopy and she decided to do my blood work, and it came back with low TSH, was sent to a specialist and he said Graves Disease. They did more blood work and said that it came back showing my hemoglobin and hemocrit was elevated and wanted to test my B12 and Folate. Did that and came back with the B12 at 276 and folate was fine, said that even though the B12 was within the normal range it was on the low side of it, so they want me to start taking B12 daily 1000mg. When I saw the specialist for the first time he did start me on meds for my thyroid. But I am not sure if there is something else going on. Any suggestions or comments on where to go from here? I guess I am just trying to figure out if this is all one disease or if they are just treating each symptom. I am sorry if I am posting this in the wrong area, but when I looked up the symptoms this was the only thing that came up.

Natalie

This is a very nice forum.

I have had left knee problems since Junior High School.  I recently had my fourth surgery and become a candidate for suppartz.   My right knee is strong and healthy 38 years old and my left knee is very unhealthy 55:)  My doctor recommended two types of injections. The first is Synvic and the second is Hyalgan.  Does anyone have any experience with either of these? My doctor's office also suggested that I buy them from distributors outside the US such as Canada or Turkey? 

Thank you.

I have pain in both knees which my doctors tell me is caused by osteoarthritis , I had the durolane injection at $499.00 my health insurance did not pay for the cost but I just wanted to get rid of the pain and stiffness so I gave it a try . It did not cause me any pain

before or after the injection but it also did not work for my knee pain , it did not help at all. have anyone tried the synvisc injection ,is this any different then durolane .I have now tried cortisone  injections and for the last three months I have being pain free. I know this won,t last much longer Is there anything I can try before I have a knee replacment which the Droctor says is comeing.

boater64

I just received the durolane injection in my right knee.  I have RA as well as Osteoarthritis in this knee and I could hardly walk-sit-stand without my husband's assistance.  The injection was not very painful at all-about the same as a cortisone shot-and not at all what I expected. The knee is very stiff now but the pain is reduced considerably so I am thrilled.  It was very expensive but definitely worth it if it continues to relieve the pain.  I would strongly recommend this shot if you're ready but still waiting for knee replacement.

Expressway,
nice to meet you, hope that injection continues to help you...this is an older thread and
I don't know if some of the people who started it are around...but it would be nice
if you could introduce yourself and start a newer thread....Do you have RA as well???
Many well wishes to you and again I hope the injection keeps helping you...

I wish I could get mine on the NHS! I am on a tiny income so paying almost £600 each six months is crippling in itself.
But what can I say about Durolane? I am 58 and have been told by my surgeon that my left knee joint is so bad after so many failed operations in the past ( plus the removal of a patella) that a replacement is just too risky.
Then he told me about his trials with Durolane and how he believed it could really benefit me.
I did not believe him for a minute.Nothing was going to help ease my awful pain and mobility problems with that knee.
I was so wrong! My quality off life soared. I could climb stairs and even had a dance with my husband. More importantly I slept well for six pain free months before it wore off. Now I have just had my second jab.The injection point was sore for almost two days (I had a local anasthetic so the actual injection was almost pain free).

I have heard of folk through sites like this being in agony at the time of injection and not being given pain relief. To this case I would say ditch your doctor and only go to a qualified practionior who his highly familiar with this product and its correct administration.

My experience was NP scrubbed the area, applied topical to numb and the injection was not any different than a vaccine.

I went to work and did walk some on my leg but mostly sedentary. Later I noticed my knee sore. I went to bed feeling ok some tenderness but nothing major. During the night I was slightly nauseated, my knee had swollen substantially and I could not find a non-painful position to sleep. When I woke that morning I could barely walk.

I applied cold packs and this improved mobility dramatically. I will continue this. The pain is due to the amount injected that needs to be absorbed so minimizing the swelling is VERY important.

I called the nurse who stated she could not find nausea as a symptom. I can tell you I’m pretty sure I’m nauseated by this. Could be my sinuses or maybe my vitamins I took.

I’m drinking smart water and when I eat I’ll add aleve 220mg so low dose. If I’m still nauseated tomorrow I’ll be calling them especially if I have fever. No fever right now.