Hello! My name is Lisa, I'm 44, and I live in Iowa. I'm going to try to make this as short as I can, but please bear with me: I've been diagnosed with OA and I'm waiting for a second diagnosis that my orthopedist is relatively sure will be one of RA. Basically, my knees are gone; between my last X-rays a year ago and a set yesterday, my joints have deterioriated to the degree he commonly would see in five year's time. I'm bone-on-bone in both knees, with significant pain and swelling in my left. I had a cortisone injection yesterday and will have Synvisc as soon as my insurance company agrees to cover it for me, probably in about two weeks' time.
Prior to yesterday, my ortho believed I had OA only, based on my symptoms (joint deterioriation and spurring) plus strong family history, but the degree of deterioriation and deformation in such a short time is leading him to believe that RA may be the underlying cause, and that I in fact have both OA and RA.
My ortho is suggesting replacement of the left knee within a year, and I'm really OK with that; believe me, the relief would be worth all the negative things about the surgery.
My questions: I'd like to hear more about Synvisc. I've read quite a bit about it; has anyone seen it "buy them time" before knee replacement? And, not to be a giant wuss, but do the injections really hurt? I'm so tired of needles in my inflamed knee. Currently, I take Relafen with some fish oil thrown in for good measure.
Thanks for your time!
Hi Lisa,
Seems we have a similar situations. I did not have synvisc, but rather euflexxa, which I believe is similar. The injections were not so bad, but sadly for me it does not seem to be working. I hope you have better luck
I know how confusing it is to deal with. I am 55 VERY active and am having my right knee replaced 1/2/08. I did the Synvisc route. First off if your Doctor doesn't "freeze" your knee prior to the shots be prepared for some serious pain. I have a high threshold for pain and it left me in tears. And after 4 shots had no relief. I was one of those it didn't work for. My daughter had the same procedure and it worked great for her. Since I don't know where you live, I don't know about the doctors and hospitals. Check around carefully, especially with your state medical boards on the infection rate post op for both Doctor and hospital. The last thing you want is the possiblility of infection. EVERYONE I know who has had the surgery say it is like a new lease on life. I can't wait. Good Luck
Hi Lisa and welcome to the forum. I was diagnosed with OA, 10 years after my RA diagnosis. Somewhere between the 2 diagnoses I was also diagnosed with psoratic arthritis. I was bone on bone within 1 year and had my knee replaced 6 months ago.
I had Synvisc injections every six months prior to the knee replacement. I'm due to have the other knee replaced but I'm hoping that Synvisc will buy me a couple of year's time before replacement. I'm in the midst of having injections and they're not painful but they are uncomfortable. They will freeze the skin on your knee with a spray, sterilize the skin and inject. You'll feel pressure in the knee area. My RD trains other RDs on how to inject the knees, so I'm really comfortable with him injecting. In fact he was better than the orthopod I had inject them the first time.
My surgical knee is doing great. I was walking the aisles at WalMart 3 weeks after surgery and golfing 6 weeks later. I'm not ready to have the other knee done due to the rheumatoid arthritis flares that come with going off my meds prior and post surgery. Good luck and don't be afraid to try the injections, they will buy you time. PM me if you want further information about knee replacement. Lindy
Hi, I had total knee replacement last year. I also had synvisc in both knees prior to that. They did not work at all for me. They are very expensive and these shots DO hurt. I have had epidurals in my spine several times, and also many cortizone shots but they do not compare to the pain involved with synvisc injections. Also, my doc uses no local to numb you first at all. Some do. I have heard other people say they did not hurt as bad. Maybe it has to do with the amt. of arthritis you have, I dont know, but for me I thought they were terrible.
Synvisc is marketed to help mild to moderate OA. If you have bone on bone I doubt they will work.
Lisa,
I have the same sort of thing going on, but have OA in the spine as well. I understand the pain, but be relieved that they will give you a replacement this soon. I have to wait until I am 50, so nine years of more and more pain.
I have had the steriod shots which I love, b/c I can be pain free for a while and the swelling really goes down. Now the synvisc I tried on a knee that they just operated on in June. Got synvisc in Sept. besides the pain of the shots there has been no significant change in the knee. I am getting ready to see if I can have another steriod shot in both to see if I can weather the winter. I do not want to have a repeat surgery, but looks like I will.
I hate all of these promised things. I wish I could just have the replacements and get on with the hips and ankles.