I was just diagnosed with arthritis in my knees.  I am 31 years old and had RNY almost 3 years ago.  I am devastated because I have no idea what to do for the pain anymore.  Tylenol? Yeah right! 2000mg at a time doesn't even touch the pain.  I am going to have blood work done to see if I have RA or if it is just osteo, however, I caution all pre-op RNYers.  Please remember that NSAIDS are a no-no after surgery.  No more ibuprofen.  I wish I had realized what I was doing when I had this surgery.  Granted, I wouldn't have lost enough weight to get pregnant and have my beautiful daughter, and I am so thankful for that.  But now, having to deal with arthritis pain is a nightmare.  My PCP has prescribed Vicodin for now, until I can get in to see my surgeon to find other possibilites...

my rheumatoid factor is elevated.  I will be going to see the rhumitoligist on Feb. 2nd and was wondering what sort of questions I should ask. And what I should expect to happen. 

A little history is that I have had hand and feet joint pain for about 1 1/2 to 2 years.  Also get pain in my ankles, knees, and hips, but nothing like my hands and feet.  I have had these labs run more than I can count and have always come back fine, so this time was a little bit of a shock for me.  I was really thinking no big deal, everything will come back fine.  Well suprise, suprise!

Also how does having WLS and RA affect your life?  I am scheduled for RNY on Feb. 23rd.  Is this something I might want to re-think?  Also my insurance only covers RNY and the band, and I  just don't have the money to pay for a different surgery myself. 

Thank you in advance,
Tori

Hi Katie:
Sorry to hear you are in pain.. I will be having my knee replacement of March 9th.  Im really scared, but my knee is bone on bone all the way around.  The ortho told me that between now and the replacement day one of the nerves in my knee could be affected and cause paralysis in the bottom part of my leg.  I have lost 100lbs, my surgery was Jan 2005.  Im still not where I need to be, due to the fact that I really have not been very copliant when it comes to exercise. Iam kickstarting my program like I had surgery yesterday and try to get some weight off before the knee replacement.  Good luck to you and if you have any questions I will be happy to answer them if I could.

Denise

I think you'll get a lot more responses if you post this on the Main board---this board specializes in Arthritis problems.