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OA in both knees.

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svs0802
svs0802

Hello, I am knew to this forum. I am 54 and i was diagnosed this past January with OA in both of my knees. The right one is the worst. I had the Gel One injections in April and they have not helped at all. My doctor told me I could continue with conservative methods such as weight loss, medications, physical therapy, ice, cortisone shots every 3 months or a pain management center. The last resort is knee replacement. I am holding off on that. I have a good amount of weight to lose. I take naprosyn, tramadol, and the diclofenac cream. I was hoping the gel shots would work. Does anyone out there have any uplifting stories to share? I know they say to exercise but my right knee hurts so much after walking on a few steps. I need to get into some non-impact workouts such as water aerobics.

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  • lyn65518
    lyn65518 svs0802

    Posted

    I had a steroid injection last Friday in my thumb joint, but now my wrist joint is so painfull, I have osteo in my low back left shoulder right thumb wrist and knuckles. I haven't found any pain relief that works apart from getting in water, but I have to travel so far, I don't like travelling long distance now, I am 64.
    • sparkle1
      sparkle1 lyn65518

      Posted

      Lyn, dont know if this helps but has helped me... I saw Chris Khoo Hand Surgeon and he basically mae me hard plastic casts which i wore almost round hte clock for 12 weeks. My left is bone on bone, no cartilege left and right is half gone.  I have 3 lots of splints now - one for the whole hand, to protect knuckles, one for thumb and soft ones for typing on laptop.   I found they worked wonders - but you have to ear them a lot. I only wear at night andtyping now. Pain free 99% of time now.  What surgeon explained to me was that he wanted the joint immobilised as you have 2 other joints in thumb which will take over from the meta-carpal joint. He says eventually the bone will basically fuse together and i'll have 99% of my movement in my thumb retained and be out of pain. Seems to have worked on left one for me and very rarely in pain now on either.   Not everyone does this - but worked for me.  Never had any jabs as he warned against them. He basicaly immobilied my thumbs for 3 months and then at night or if they start to hurt i pop on the splints. If the house was burning down, i'd pick up my splints first!  Get a ecent hand therapist to fit them... hope this helps
    • lyn65518
      lyn65518 sparkle1

      Posted

      I did wear a splint from the physio lady but it was very uncomfortable rubbed and caused a itchy rash up my arm. I am not sure what to do next, different parts of the country get different treatment, I think I live in the wrong place, I have been in pain for about 20 years but the pain in wrist thumb and left shoulder only the last 3 years..
    • sparkle1
      sparkle1 lyn65518

      Posted

      Hi Lyn... where do you live?  If anywhere near Maidenhead, go and see Meryl in the Bridge Clinic and she will sort you out with a comfy splint...

      ​Were your old splints plastic or sort of neoprene material?  If they are plastic, they kind of become maleable in hot water so you can mould them to make them comfy for you - the hand therapist normally makes sure they are really comfy.  I'd try again, as i think they are just brilliant and a couple of my pals now wear them with same results really.  Dont give up - i have ones for my knuckles which really gave me almost immediate relief and then the ones for thumbs - they made thumbs stiff for a while but according to surgeon, that is exactly what they are meant to do.   I went to Chris Khoo in Maidenhead. Brilliant. He is just a hand surgeon but as far as i can see, will go out of his way to not operate... sorted my hands out anyway. He is also involve in "the scar free foundation" and i can only say that where i have see the results of his operations on a wrist it was unbelievable - really an amazing surgeon. Dont give up... try again... ):

    • svs0802
      svs0802 lyn65518

      Posted

      I need to go ahead and start water aerobics. I have no excuses. This OA is awful.
  • sparkle1
    sparkle1 svs0802

    Posted

    Hi, diet worked a lot for my knees... know its nt popular to say so, but i also saw Andy Goldberg (genius) knee surgeon at Wellington and he is on a similar diet!  I guarantee you wont get hungry and i lost 1 1/2 stone in first 3 months on it...

    ​Brekkie Wheat free Muesli & lots of berries or fruit. I normally use soya milk.

    ​Lunch Salad - lots of different veggies as carbs to keep you going

    ​Dinner Fish and at least 4 or 5 different veggies.  I bought cookery books on veg and learned to cook them so they are scrummie...  Snack on nuts and seeds. 3 brazil nuts a day (gives you 100% selenium you need)

    ​I cut out Wheat, Sugar, Alcohol, Dairy and Meat for 12 weeks but i then added back in chicken and eggs.   I eat very little - if any - wheat and low daity. Tons of fish and make sure i am outside an hour a day to get natural vit d.

    ​Surgeon on very similar anti-inflam diet. Took me a week to get into it but i was in so much pain i actuayl found it easy and my partner liked me thinner (!) so kept it up...  Have yoou seen the x-rays? Is your right knee bone on bone or have you got some cartilege left?  

    ​I also found Sketchers Go walk brilliant to wear and as the inside of knee is normally first to go, then try and keep them apart slightly turned out to put more weight on the outside ... a good musculo-skeletal physio or pilates person who is into musculo-skeletal will also help.  I took up swimming but that ended up hurting my shoulders!   So back to the Tai Chi and Pilates.. and keep mobile...it will get much worse if you do not... however, i found that no point in being mobile when in agony - so if in agony, took anti-inflamms, stuck to diet and when it got a bit less painful then i;d make sure i walked...

    I feel as if i am in control of it rather than th eother way round now. I guess time will tell.  But the good chemicals in the joint need anti-oxidants to clear the free radicals and the joint needs pressure put on it to release anything good.... start lying down maybe with a pilates band; sleep with pillow between legs helps take pressure off inside and cushty matresss toppers can help. 

    ​What helps or not really depends on how badly the joint is damaged - if not completely bone on bone, things do help but you have to be a bit patient is what i found and not expect miracle overnight.  I do feel in control of the pain no and when i eat something im not meant to, i do normally get mre pain within the week - i write it all down so i can see what i'm doing wrong.   My knee surgeon gave up wheat entirely which is interesting.

     

    • svs0802
      svs0802 sparkle1

      Posted

      Wow thanks for this information! My knees are bone on bone. The X-rays showed that. The MRI I had on my right knee shows bone spurs. I know I will need a knee replacement later but again I'm only 54. When I walk it feels like a knife is sticking in my right knee.

      The food things are very interesting. I'm planning on going back to weight watchers to see if I can get a jumpstart on losing this weight.

    • jan56581
      jan56581 sparkle1

      Posted

      Very good information.  I am going to try this diet.  Where can I get written instructions?  thanks Jan

       

    • sparkle1
      sparkle1 jan56581

      Posted

      Hi,

      The basics are any fruit, nuts, seeds, fish veggies are fine. There is quite a good book called Arthritis RX written by an American you can get on Amazon... ignore the commercial bits - the guy seems on the right track. Also you wont go too far wrong if you google "Novak Djokovic diet" (the guy who is tennis no 1) as he is pretty much following it.  Try and keep off the supplements as they aren't as good as the real stuff - they have things missing in them... make sure you get enough sunshine - an hour a day to get natural vit D. Lots of medical papers go on about importance of Vit D.

      ​I found it easy once i;d bought a few decent veggie cookery books as otherwise it gets a bit boring - and a steamer so you can do e.g. 5 veggies every night easily... to get you started this is my fave:  chop rounds of leeks & Saute them in smallest amount possible olive oil or similar; grate a courgette just before leeks are done and add with one teaspoon of nutmeg and then add a tablespoon of soya cream or similar to serve... yummie...

      I have tones of roast fish & veggies - you basically need good fish and veggie cook books ):....  There's another great one to roast fish where instead of using oil, stick all the fish on rounds of lemon (which prevents it sticking).. thats pretyt yummie.. it is actually easier than you think - just go down supermarket aisle and stick a few of every veggie in and mix up the colours every day and eat tons of them and you cant go far wrong. Nutmeg is good with a lot of them... Chuck in the herbs and spices ... if you are down, watch "One Hundred foot journey" on DVD - that cheered me up and ever since watching that i ladle in the herbs and spices! Good luck..

    • sparkle1
      sparkle1 svs0802

      Posted

      As long as you only eat fish veg nuts seeds, fruit and veg forget the calories - its almost impossible to overdose on this ... i found a lot easier than weight watchers as i was too lazy to record everything.... take up cooking veggies is way to go for anti-oxidants... you need to get your LDL level down (which is related to OA) and you need to get your anti-oxidants up to get rid of the free radicals in the joint and you need pressure on the joint from weight bearing to release the good enzymes... so weight watchersnot necessarily the answer as that is all about calorie counting really... which is not really what is needed - you need to lower the LDL and up the anti-oxidants fairly dramatically.

      ​If it is bone on bone, then i think the pain issue will be very difficult and perhaps you should ask to be referred to one of the teaching hospitals doing a stem cell trial at the moment in the UK. They may be able to help you more - worth a try.

    • svs0802
      svs0802 sparkle1

      Posted

      Hi, I do not like seafood and it's odd because when I had my first skin test for allergies it said I was allergic to mixed fish. Years later I had a skin test done again and it says I'm not allergic to any seafood.

      I'm single and I rarely cook. I eat the steam fresh veggies that you microwave. I love brown rice but I probably need to get away from that.

  • jan56581
    jan56581 svs0802

    Posted

    I too have some of the same problems.  That said, your doctors are giving you standard answers to your pain issues.  Try to find some form of exercise while seated.  Swimming of course will help.  Four times a week.  Our body can only hold so much weight and then any area that receives stress on weight bareing joints give out. There are many webstites that offer diet suggestions for people with OA. I take Belucca 150 mg. A drug that is slow release pain medication.  I put the drug under my tongue twice a day.  Look into getting more aggressive pain meds. Try to start a new activity long and learn how much you move during the day.  Seeing your activity in a diary sometimes help.  I also use Vicodin as needed.  Just had a ganglion impar nerve block.  Which kills nerve activity for about 6-8 months.  Let me know how you are doing and I will give you some positive input.  Good luck Jan
    • svs0802
      svs0802 jan56581

      Posted

      Thank you Jan. It is so hard to get motivated to exercise when it hurts but I know it's for the best. I was really hoping the gel one shots would work. That was motivating me to get geared up and exercise and lose weight but I felt deflated when they were not working.

      I'm glad I found a forum to share my thoughts.

    • jan56581
      jan56581 svs0802

      Posted

      Yes, this forum does help when you need a hug! or just need to express your frustrations.  Shots have helped me in the past but the weight issues I have seem to still be around.  I have troube exercising too. Hang in and try exercising when you can.  Anything will hep.  Try sitting in a chair, lift weights, use long thin rubber strings to exercise your arms or place under feet and pull upward or outward for arms and tummy.  Good luck and keep on keeing on.  Hugs Jan
    • jan56581
      jan56581

      Posted

      I forgot, I have a great Tens unit the Pain Doc ordered for me.  It works great when pain in my back or legs, knee or elsewhere really bother me. I wear under my clothes.  I don't notice pain at.

      Jan

       

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