Conservative management of OPLL

Hi samopll,

I have never dealt with OPLL but we all deal with pain here. For myself when I am really hurting there is just no chance I am going to be doing anything that could remotely aggravate things because the pain is so intense especially exercise. When I start to feel better or at least am not in high pain levels I try to excercise as much as possible. This is a real challenge though because with the nature of RA I have days that are up and days that are down and rarely if ever do they follow a schedule so I have learned to just take things as they are and work as best I can when I am able to toward my goals.

As far as dealing with pain I think we all deal with it differently. I was diagnosed with RA at 26 and for over 20 years rarely had need to take pain meds even when I was barely able to walk. The last bad flare I had changed all that though. I have quite a bit of deformity now in my right hand and am in constant pain because of it. Also, my left knee is sore most days as well now along with my feet. I took NSAID's and Ibuprofren all those years and now my stomach can not handle them at all. So now I take pain meds as needed and make the best of things. So long as you are accountable to yourself and your Doctor (a spouse if you have one) I don't see an issue with it. Especially, if your quality of life is better as a result.

I know that not all people feel this way but it is something that we all need to decide for ourselves, a one size fits all approach to pain management I don't think works.

One thing I do believe and that is that there is no reason for someone to suffer daily with high pain levels. There are Doctors who specialize in this if yours would rather not tackle it and there are many treatments available to help alleviate pain and help us to live as pain free as possible. It is all a matter of finding what works.

I hope that you find some relief.

Well, I always took a lot of care with them to make sure that they were the coated type and that I had food with them but I relied on them an awful lot. I don't know that it would make a lot of difference honestly but we are all different. You may not have issues with them like I have had. I don't have any liver or kidney problems and they have both been looked at because of the other drugs I am on.

When I began to have problems with them I tried to ignore it for a while and I ended up in the emergency room because of it. It was there that a nurse told me that given my chronic illness I would be far better served to take pain meds than continue taking NSAID's due to my stomach. She told me that they have far less of an adverse affect on the small intestine. At that point I was in a very bad flare of RA and I was taking them anyway for break through pain but trying not to and still clinging to ibuprofren for help.

Looking back, I don't know that I would do a lot differently. The reason I say this is that living with a chronic illness like RA is a matter of using whatever works for however long it is able to. I have been on so many meds over the years and I am very grateful that many of them have offered some form of relief. Sometimes for years. One thing is certain, RA isn't going away so I need to make the best of things however they may come. I try to do that as well as I can.

I wish I had something I could tell you that would be more helpful. I think as long as you are being cautious and taking as many precautions with them as you can then you are certainly doing the right thing. It has been my experience that chronic illness throws wrenches into our lives that we have to make the best of. It sounds to me like you are doing just that so keep it up and hang in there.