I want to be free of PAIN

Yes, weight issues can make OA pain worse. Losing weight through diet alone is tough. I know you can't do weight bearing exercise because of your knees, but you can exercise your upper body. Try dancing in your chair or see if you can have water therapy for exercise. It takes the stress off the knees.

I'm overweight with knee issues and I understand your frustrations. I have days where it takes all I can to drag myself out of bed and go to work.

I totally understand how you feel. I am going on 57 and my doctor tells me I am too young for a knee replacement. I also need to lose weight. I wake up in pain, work in paion and go to sleep i pain. My doctor told me to just suck it up and take the pain I told him if we don't get it fixed I will have to quit my job and he said OK. I have an appointment tomorrow and am requesting to talk to another doctor. So I do understand how you feel because I feel the same way. Will find out tomorrow what my future holds.

I am not even that overweight and was born with both dislocation of the hip and hammer toes. I WILL NOT TAKE OPIATES!

The doctors don't give a flying flip about my pain. I do swim. My ankle was busted by a physical therapist in Schenectady after my total knee replacement. This is the only hospital that would take me because I had a drug reaction to morphine (had to take oxygen).

The more these medical people screw up, the more money they make. By the way, Schenectady, New York is the corporate headquarters of Generous Electric.

Donna, Vent Away!

 I feel your pain. I know how it feels to need pain meds just to get up in the morning. I am not really overweight, (I could lose maybe 10lbs) I am 43yrs old, and I have had severe knee pain for 2yrs now. (both knees)

I went through all of the shots, therapy, and had them both scoped, but I still have regular sharp pains. It doesn't seem to ache as much after the surgery, but I will still get the shooting pains if I move the wrong way or have to stand for too long. (Not so much of the "all day ache" that I used to have)

I can't say if your OA pain is caused by being overweight, but I can tell you it does happen to people that reasonably fit.

May I ask why you are so afraid of the knee replacement? Yes, it will be painful, but it would allow you to get your life back and be relieved of some of your pain.

I was also thinking for excercise some water exercises might be a good idea to help you also lose some weight and help work on those sore knees in a gentle way.

If you can lose some of the weight I think you would be a great candidate for surgery. Some weight loss might help to relieve some of your pain, but the surgery would help you get back your life.

Hope things quiet down for you soon. By the way, I need two knee replacements, but I am putting mine off for a bit because I had another surgery last summer and had some bumps in the road, so am a bit surgery weary at the moment. Luckily the cortisone shots are keeping me somewhat more comfortable. Hugs!

I can understand your frustration. I am 49 a big guy who played sports and did physical construction for a living. The Docs say I have the hips of a 90 year old, so I too am in pain all the time.
My wife is not very supportive either, she is a runner and very active and just doesn't get it. At times I feel her motto is " Life goes on and those who can't keep up get left behind"
I just suffered a pulmonary embolysm a month and a half ago which has me taking blood thinners. I was on the road toward having both hips replaced but the blood thinning has set me back 6 months.
You can overcome your weight issues despite your pain and mobility issues. In preparing for my hip surgery I was seeing a Chiropractor/Physical Therapist/Nutritionist he helped me a lot, even with two bad hips I was able to lose 80 lbs. in a year and a half. This was with proper nutrition and gentle movement exercises 3 x a week for 2 hours. It was painful but effective.
I'm taking Tramadol 4 x a day to take the edge off and hope to endure the next 6 months of pain until I get in for the hip replacements.
From everyone I have talked to joint replacement is the way to go if possibe. Try to set personal goals because unfortunately sometimes you will not have anyone in your corner and along with pain and lack of mobility seems to come some level of loneliness and depression.

Hang in there.

I am so sorry that you are having such a rough time.  I had Synvisc injections for 5 years before having a knee replacement 3 1/2 weeks ago.  The Synvisc really helped for the first several years and then finally didn't help for more than a couple of months.

Don't be afraid of the injections.  The worst part is when the tech had to touch my knees to draw the line for the site.  I am very ticklish and had to hold my breath and clench my hands.  I found if I put my hands on top of his, I could just barely let him touch my knee.  First they spray a freezing spray (ask for extra spray - it is just cold but does a great job of numbing).  Then they inject an injection to numb your whole knee.  Then they wait about 10 - 12 minutes and inject the needle and withdraw fluid.  It was always very interesting to watch how much fluid comes out (you definitely cannot feel this injection).  Then without removing the needle he attaches the Synvisc vial and injects that (you cannot feel this).  He puts a little bandaid over and that is it.

My knee always felt great until the freezing wears off.  Take some Tylenol or Tramadol when you get home and a few hours later.  The next day you will be sore so keep the meds nearby.  Put ice on your knee when it is painful - it really helps!

I found the Synvisc kicks in around week 3 or so.

Good Luck

I've had seven rounds of Synvisc and they always used the cold, numbing "stuff". Hmmmmmmmmmm. My ortho is going to try something other than Synvisc in a few weeks. It is something new...a series of three shots, once a week, in each knee. I have RA and OA. They told me the OA is a result of the inflammation from the RA. I have a lot of OA behind my knee caps. Hope these new shots help!

Peace,
V

I don't know the name yet, but I will post it after I get my first shot. It is something new, and my doc seems to like it better than Synvisc.

V

Eyecantdeal- Have you looked into alternative treatments like accupuncture, herbs, etc?? I had a horse with RA that greatly benefited from them.