Chronic osteo pain please help

I’m sorry you are suffering so much Valerie.  I can’t help very much but just wanted to commiserate with you.  Dealing with pain every day is exhausting.  I have Polyarthritis (as well as PMR), so I know what pain is!😡  I don’t like taking strong pain killers either, but sometimes I feel they are just necessary.  I take cocodamol if I am having a really bad day (never more than 3 or 4 a day) - they help a bit.  I also have to take cortisone because of the PMR.

Doctors are always on about excercise, but talking is easy!!  I wonder how many of them take their own advice when OA or RA strikes?  I can only manage to walk for about 20 minutes ( with a walker)!  I find swimming difficult, but walking, floating, general excercise in water does help, especially in an extra warm pool/hot tub.  The arthritis diet is very good.  Have you googled it?

Hope I’ve helped a bit.  Try not to get depressed, there is always someone on this or the OA forum who will “talk’ ‘listen’ to you.

All the best from Constance. 💐💐

Oh Valerie, so sorry to hear of your pain problems.  I do sympathise.  I too have OA in the upper spine, although not as severe as yours by the sound of it.  I also have it in one ankle (bone on bone), both thumb joints and recently developing in the knee.  I also have Fibromyalgia and ruptured bicep tendons on both arms (these are the bits that hurt the most).  I applaud you getting away from Tramadol but I do understand that without it, it's difficult to find an effective pain relief.  I could never take tramadol as it just made me sick.  I cant take NSAIDs either unfortunately (eg ibuprofen, naproxen, etc).  I've spent so many hours researching what I can do/eat/take to lessen my pain, there seems to be a lot of conflicting info however and if I bought every supplement or expensive weird and wonderful food item I'd be penniless.  I really do find help from ginger - the fresh root rather than powdered or stem ginger.  I mince it and mix it with body lotion and rub it into the affected joints.  Couple of hours later I notice a significant lowering of pain.  It can also be steeped in boiling water and drunk as a tea, with the addition of lemon, or even sugar, to make it taste nicer.  Curcumin which is the active ingredient in turmeric is of help too but the good stuff, ie high concentration and from certified sources, bought from reputable health food shops is quite expensive, a little too steep for me to take regularly.  Hydrotherapy, ie warm water exercises, especially those specifically targeted, is excellent. However, getting access to it is very hit and miss and will depend on what's available in your health authority area.  The only other thing I've found very very helpful is meditation.  There are types that are designed specifically to help with pain control, eg Mindfulness.  Definitely look into that, it helped me enormously.  I've unfortunately had to stop recently, mainly because I cant drive at present and cant get to the classes but I'm hopeful I can start again soon.  Nothing takes the pain away completely but a lot of non pharmaceutical remedies do help to lessen it to a point where it's possible to get on with life without it occupying every one of my waking moments. Good luck hon. xx

Valerie, I can literally feel your pain.

I have OA in every joint, except my elbows and (thank God!) my knees.

I've had 2 surgeries on my neck (C2 thru C7), one in 2006 and the other in 2011 and sad to report I've had the same pain now as I did then.

My ortho doc more or less said that my 'hardware was in place so try PT.

Sorry! It didn't work for me!

I've done the regular route: hot and cold packs, heating pads, topical gels and creams, massage and nothing has eased the pain.

I do take 1 Vicodin a day and Ibuprofen 800 mg 3 times a day.

They take the edge off slightly but when the pain is really bad I try to lie flat on my back for about an hour and sometimes this has helped.

I won't do injections. Period.

My friend has had 33 injections in his lower back, none of which has lasted more than 1-2 months.

I don't know what else to tell you but to keep trying and sooner or later you may find something that helps.

There are several medication out there that is not addictive that helps with the pain of arthritis. Has your doctor offered anything like that? Are you seeing a rheumatologist for your arthritis or is it just your GP? I strongly recommend you see a rheumatologist. Because a rheumatologist will know better how to treat osteoarthritis. Have you ever had an MRI done of your neck or back? What did they show? Gabapentin is one thing that they will prescribe for pain. It helps for some people and not for others. It can have some pretty nasty side effects. I've heard people complain about losing their short-term memory and I have also read that it does something to your synopsis of your brain I don't exactly know what that means. Because of these things I turned it down once when my rheumatologist offered it, the second time around I went ahead and said yes and I would try it. I haven't been on it for more than a couple weeks and so it's still out there whether it's going to work or not I don't know yet. I've had a lot of medicine changes so I don't know what's working and what's not.