Diagnosed with osteoarthritis - don't want to be a victim

Bird, I refuse to refer to you as broken, because you're not. Like all of us, you're somewhat bent, maybe even cracked, but not broken now and not broken ever. Humans are much stronger than we could ever believe if we're in perfect health.

First, don't let this interrupt your recovery no matter what. An inadequate diet can only make your quality of life and your arthritis worse. Are you seeing a psychiatrist? I would suggest counseling and probably some anti-depressants are in order if you're not already getting them. I also have a number of painful and debilitating conditions, and can remember when I wondered why I only got conditions that wouldn't kill me, but only make me feel worse and worse until I died.

Fortunately for me, I continued to seek medical help. Some of my other conditions have been brought under better control. I had physical therapy - several series over the years - which helped me with ways to stretch gently to ease the pain. I saw a rheumatologist for definitive diagnosis, and he was very helpful with pain management. I am not and never will be pain-free, but it has eased enough that I can distract myself and look forward to my life.

I'm so sorry that you're having all of this mental and physical pain, but I'm very glad you found this forum. I hope you'll find help and comfort here and we'll see you around for a while. Welcome.

Hey, we've all been in that place, Bird. Glad this morning is a better time for you.

Hey, I hope you are feeling better. Osteo is not the end of the world. I am a 48 year old male. I have had Osteo all of my life. It has caused me tons of pain and surgery's. It has caused me to have both hips replaced in the last year and a half. When I was a in my early 20's I broke my neck, C4, C5. This is just for starters. I colapsed a vertabre in my mid back in my 30's. My bones are very weak. I went to the ER last week due to my lower back hurting. They gave me a ct and found 13 small compressin fractures. I could continue on, but don't feel like a victim. Due to all of issue's I still coach children in various sport and many other things. Hold your head up high and keep a positive attitude. Most of all keep the faith. God bless you, Cary

Hello - I too have osteoarthritis in both knees. I live in the NE and winter gets to my bones. My arthritis becomes very painful. My daughter has ulcerative colitis and is on medication. She is managing it ok I guess. I have come to discover that both health problems are inflammatory in nature, and I've been looking into trying an inflammatory diet and encouraging my daughter to try it also. Some foods really flare up my joint pain, and I think I'm going to cut them out of my diet from now on. I've also come across an herb named Curcumin that helps with inflammatory issues and eases pain in the joints. Does anyone know how or if this may help in controlling the pain? I take Meloxacam daily (15 mg.) and arthritis Tylenol sometimes during the winter. I cannot take Tramydol - it makes me very sick, and I don't take any of the hard pain meds. My arthritis doctor has told me that I will eventually need knee replacement surgery, but in the meantime I get the Synvex shots and cortisone shots in both knees. I take care of my 86 yrs. old mother and the surgery is out of the question for now. There is no one else to take care of her if I take the time to have the surgery.