Arthritis Support Group

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic, inflammatory, multisystem, autoimmune disorder. It is a disabling and painful condition which can lead to substantial loss of mobility due to pain and joint destruction.

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carolk1955 09/05/2020

I've had constant knee pain for the past 4 weeks. Just woke up one morning with pain. Same knee that had been operated on previously for torn medial meniscus and then I fell on it last year. It's the worst pain I ever had; hurts most when I put weight on it but when I don't it hurts also. Went to the ER twice. They tried prednisone and that helped, but I could only be on it for a few days. Saw my family dr who tried prednisone also. Saw an ortho asst who told me I had bursitis also and she gave me steroid shots in both the knee joint and bursa. Saw my family dr again and she put me on diclofenac (formerly Volteren). Unfortunately that's not helping much. I read where diclofenac and tramadol together give really good pain relief. I called her and asked about this and she won't do it. She says she doesn't know what she's treating and thinks I'll probably need an MRI. I have an appt with another ortho asst this coming Wednesday. I saw him in the past. He's really a sports medicine specialist so I don't have my hopes up that he'll give me tramadol or anything else that works. I have another option: to go back on the antidepressant Cymbalta which is approved for musculoskeletal problems and works with diclofenac to give better pain relief. Problem is it will take awhile to switch from what I'm on, Lexapro, to 60 mg of Cymbalta daily. In the meantime I'm hurting. I feel so helpless, that there's nothing I can do. It seems like my family dr doesn't care how much pain I'm in. I'd appreciate any suggestions on what to do next. The ER thought it was arthritis but my family dr was thinking it is pseudogout. I am so tired of this.

flowerwmn 09/05/2020

I can relate. Pain was right down to my foot. for months trying to walk was a horror.. Went to an ortho group. Saw their foot Dr while I was at it. Was desperate for pain relief. Had surgery. It turned out there was a fracture which may have happened when I fell two years before. Feels like a new knee and foot. there was also arthritis in the knee. I hope you get relief soon. I feel for you. Love and Hugs.

carolk1955 10/22/2020

Update: It is now 2 months later and I still have the knee pain which is now somewhat better due to diclofenac, which is an NSAID arthritis drug, and I'm now on 60 mg Cymbalta as well. My family dr is telling me that I can only stay on the diclofenac for 90 days but I can find nothing on the Internet that supports that. I signed up with one really good pain management doctor and then found out that if she has to give me an injection I have to go 25 miles to get it at her other location. I was not happy to hear that. I found another pain management dr who looked good enough, is local, but does not take my current insurance. Since it is now open enrollment for Medicare, I changed insurance to one he takes and am not really happy that I have to wait until January to see him. Wondering if my family dr will let me stay on the diclofenac that long. I was seeing a PA-C orthopedic specialist and didn't really like him that much. My family dr referred me to another ortho group and an older surgeon. For the past four weeks my personal care home is in a COVID lockdown and the person who gives me rides to dr appts refused to take me when I was scheduled for an MRI, even though I tested negative for COVID. So i still haven't had an MRI. My life is on hold and there is so much uncertainly about how much longer this lockdown will last. I don't know what the options are for my knee arthritis. I know they only consider a knee replacement once they've tried everything else, but what's everything else? Maybe the ortho surgeon when I see him will be able to explain that and maybe the MRI will show something they can fix. Has anyone been through something like this?

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