No pain medication? that HAS to be tough. I think you are probably right in firing your ortho. Do you see a rheumatologist? A rheumy maybe more helpful.
I hope this new doctor is more understanding and helpful to you.

I had shots. didn't work. I had knee replacements in May of this year.
I am 46. I think the age thing is becoming less of an issue and quality of life is the focus. but every orho doc is different and it depends on the severity of the condition of the knees. My ortho doc took one look at my knee x-rays and said wow! you need replacements. your knees are bad.

I had Hyalgan shots. My rheumatologist adminstered those. I had a series of six shots over 6 weeks. they didn't do a thing. one shot hurt like hell, I think the doc hit something in there. the subsequent shots were not bad but were uncomfortable and some pain and I could feel things. He did numb the injection site with topical lidocaine. knee shots are no fun. I am sorry yours are so painful for you.

Congrats on your weight loss so far. Losing weight is a smart move and having a good weight will help with surgery recovery and for Physical therapy. If a good weight is maintained it is less stress on the prosthetic knee and will help keeping the knee replacement longer.

I was told 20 yrs but possibly longer if I take care of myself and the knee. Depending on activity and weight.

I do hope you get some pain management help soon. That is pretty terrible you are having no pain help. And I wish you success in losing more of the weight. You are doing so well and I can guess it isn't easy. The hard work will pay off. Keep on at it.

Hi, Java,

I am sorry you are in so much pain....I have had both knees replaced. With my left one, I went through all the cortisone, synvisc etc and it didn't
help me either. I had an ortho like you who would not give me pain meds despite a positive mri. I would have left the practice had he not retired in the middle of my treatment. Fortunately for me, he transferred me to another MD within the practice. He looked at all the xrays and wanted to schedule an arthroscopy which revealed arthritis. He wanted to do a psrtial replacement on the left mainly because of my age but it failed, and then he did a replacement and unfortunately it failed. This is more than likely due to the fact that I have a connective tissue disease. The third surgery on the left knee has been a success. My right knee has given me no trouble at all.

Like you, I was in my forties and am now 54. Knee replacements should last between twenty and twenty five years.

There can be complications--infection, blood clots, etc even death. But highly unlikely for most people. They screen your health completely. Most orthos do not want to do the surgery until you have lost 100#s or so but every surgeon is different.

Congratulations on your weight loss. and best of luck to you. Would I do it all over again? Yes, yes, yes....I was about to lose my mobillity and independence if I didn't. Feel free to message me if I can answer any more questions.

Melinda

Javafirst; thank you for your original post. And also, thank you everyone for your posts. I'm thinking about synvisc shots in my left knee. Steroid shots have helped in my right knee but not left earlier this year. I am 41 and use a brace and sleeve on both knees as needed to do a lot of activities; that OA would sideline me forming doing with out braces/sleeves.

About weight loss and knee/back.ankle pain - Javafirst sounds like you've got a goal to work towards. It makes a big difference for me being five-ten pounds lighter.

Please keep us updated on your decision.

I'm 36 and just had a knee replacement. The surgeon used Verilast (?) and it's supposed to last for 30 years. He said that he's been using this type of replacement for 17 years and it's still in its first generation...which is good...there haven't been problems to require new models.

I'm kinda bummed that these knees won't last me the rest of my life, but if I can have 25-30 good years, it would be well worth it.

I have had 3 knee surgeries over my life time. I tried the syvisc but it didn't work for me. The dr. said I had a tear, and a cyst but that because both of my knee's are so arthritic just having those problems taken care of won't relieve my pain. He told me to let Him know when I was ready for a double knee replacement. I am 53. I have not had it done because in previous surgeries my body creates adhesions. I am afraid that this will complicate the results as I had a relative whose knee ended up stuck do to adhesians. Trying to live with this pain and using a cane and suports.

Quick reply to concetah:

Do not let your ortho talk you into doing both at the same time. I have a friend who tried it and had to be in a rehab facility for eight weeks. At our age and from my own experience, do them one at a time.

Melinda