It has been a terrible few days. We have had a series of small little storm symptoms coming in and out. I have so much OA knee pain. I was dx with OA in my knees at 17 years old. I have been dealing with it for 32 years! I have tried years of meds, heating pads, cortisone shots, weight loss, aqua aerobics, physical therapy, Synvisc etc...
I have limited mobility. I can get only about a 90 degree bend in my right knee on bad days, about 95-100 degrees on good days and I can’t straighten it to save my life. My balance is way off.
A year and a half ago the radiologist report said I had moderate OA damage that also involved my patella. The insides of my knees are more involved than the outside. My knee now feels worse than it did then. I wonder what he would say now?
It feels like it’s getting to be bone on bone time. I walk with a painful limp that favors my right leg. When my pain is a little better I still have a limp. When my OA is raging it is difficult to walk and or stand. My strange gait has now caused pain in my lower back. I have given my self Plantar Facititis on my left foot with all my limping. My hips are starting to develop OA pain. My right thigh muscles have atrophied over the past few years.
Last winter my physical therapist had me doing 1½ hours of PT three times a week. Plus he gave me an hour of at home exercises 3 times a day. My PT kicked me out of PT after 3 months because I had gotten as much as I could from PT even though there was no real improvement. I still couldn’t straighten my knee and still had limited mobility. My balance was still off. My muscles did begin to gain a small amount of size perhaps I didn’t notice much. When my physical therapy was over it began to atrophy again even with continued PT at home. The physical therapist said that I would be lucky to have 90 degrees after a TKR. He suggested that I have a TKR sooner than later.
My Osteo Surgeon Dr is trying to buy me some more time before having a knee replacement. I guess I'm just getting tired of it all. I'm only 50 and she of course would like me to wait as long as possible before a TKR.
When I had my Synvisc shots last year my Dr. did admit she never read the PT’s report. She never has as far as I know.
I received another round of Synvisc shots this November. There is no difference in pain levels or in my limp. I do have a small amount of increased mobility when I bend my leg. I still have difficulty bending down, putting on pants, socks, and shoes. Unlike the last round of Synvisc I am still having PAIN. The shots this November didn’t seem to work.
Meanwhile, I can’t sleep because of the pain, I guess I'm having a bad day today. Even my less seriously damaged OA joints are raging too. I haven't been able to sleep much in the past four days. It is really starting to get to me. I am living with my heating pad and warm baths. My Vicodin is not touching the pain. If I take more that one pill a day I can't sleep at night. I have been trying to tough it out and only take one a day. That leaves me in pain.
ARGH!
Without the sleep my Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue is really raising their terrible little heads. I wonder if my Fibromyalgia is increasing the pain I feel from the arthritis? Basically, I am a mess.
I'm so fatigued and in such pain. Boo Hoo, whoa is me. Sorry, bad day :-( I guess I just needed to vent.
How long do I wait? How old is too young? Does this ever end? I wonder if my Fibromyalgia is increasing the pain I feel from the arthritis? Am I ruining my chances of mobility by putting off the TKR? Jeanne,
I'm truly sorry to hear you're in so much pain. Sounds like you've got a lot to deal with. How impressive that you've been able to stand it for 32 years!
It's a shame that the most recent round of Synvisc didn't help at all. Did they have an effect the first few times? It seems that for a lot of people, they seem to stop working at a certain point.
It sounds like you're getting mixed messages from your PT and your OS... My completely non-professional gut reaction would be to side with the PT. If the pain is that bad now, why wait? I assume that your Osteo surgeon wants to wait, fearing that the knee replacement will wear out while you're still young (some sources say they last about 20 years, but this may be dubious - the data's 20 years old, after all!). Even if this were true, what's the point? Would you rather have 20 years of pain-free mobility sooner rather than later?
If price is the issue, then there are options as well. Medical tourism provides a low-cost alternative to the prohibitive prices in the U.S., for example.
Anyway, I wish you the best. At the very least, you should stress to your OS that she should read the PT's opinion, so you're at least sure you're getting her most accurate possible recommendation.
Let us know how everything turns out!
DonIf your knee is severely damaged by arthritis or injury, it may be hard
for you to perform simple activities such as walking or climbing
stairs. You may even begin to feel pain while you are sitting or lying
down.
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