arthritis...oy

I'm 2.5 years out from RNY and let me tell you that my arthritis is better but it still hurts and is still there very much so.

I know we arent supposed to be taking nsaids and I havent even looked at the possibility of taking one. I have however looked at a bottle of ibuprofen lovingly and lusted after the pain relief LOL

What can we take that doesnt make us all loopy?!(I was prescribed tramadol but it nocks me out)

Kinda stuck with Tylenol 

Yep... Tylenol, tramadol, and then opiates...

If the problem is your knees, you can do steroid injections and something that temporarily creates a version of synovial fluid that helps ****il you are completely bone on bone... then it doesn't do much).

Lora

Here's the deal about prescription medications:  As in all things, we can and we will build a tolerance to the medication.  There are pluses and minuses to this.  Plus is once your system gets use to the dose on a regular basis many folks can take them and function without going nite-nite.  Down side, the more you build up, the more your body requires.  I take doses of pain meds around the clock for an auto immune disease that attacks the muscles and joints, called Polymyalsia Rhuematica.  I am 60, and usually effects people older but can effect people at around 50 and up.   Plus my hip joints are gone so what I take in a combination ****tail of meds would knock all of OH out for a week.  This disease comes out of the blue and leaves right out of the blue, but no one knows for sure.  Pain is 24/7.  I am on a walker and have been now for 2 years.  I have lost 85lbs and yes, this has helped me be more mobile, but once the damage is done to the hip joints which are bone on bone, I will have them replaced after I am done with my weightloss.

Lady Heidi said it the other day there is the damage from obesity that we don't think about.  We think about heart disease, diabetes, high cholesterol and so forth.  She is in pain 24/7 herself.  So for all of you out there, get your exercise no matter what.  I *****ed and moaned for years I hated walking.  Guess what?  I am eating my words because now I would give anything to walk around the block.  I go to the gym to work on my body by a trainer as a form of therapy.  Do I drive? NO!!!!  I don't want to endanger others or myself by being on the road so hubby takes me after work.

As usual, I get off on tangents and I know your pain, Dear.  In fact today I turned 60!!!!! Holy Crap!  But you know what? Everyday above ground is a good day in spite of the pain.  I don't want it to sound like I am on the pity pot because believe me, we know our lives could be so much worse. 

For all of us out there suffering some form of something, physically or mentally sometimes we have to put on our big girl panties and keep going.  I am getting ready to do some steam cleaning of my carpets and it can be tricky with the walker but you would be impressed!   Hahhahahahahah  Advil, what a wonderful drug it is, and I would have maybe got the Sleeve if it had been covered and my doctor does not do the DS.  But I have never regretted the RNY.

So, to make a long story short, hahahahaha, (right, Jane) Do what you can on the Tramadol. Cut the dose in half but ALWAYS check with your doctor or pharmacy to make sure it's  a medication that can be cut.  I wish more would get on the Fibro and arthritis forum to deal with this on a more personal level. 

Take care and thanks for listening! (Like you had a choice).  My thoughts are with you, Jane

Thanks for the replies ladies! I guess I'll just have to make sure and stick with tylenol if I'm needing to work or drive and take the pain meds at night or when I have a driver around.  I already had a cortizone injection in one of my knees. She was swollen to the point that they thought I had popped it out of place... 30 years old and Arthritis like that..oy why didnt I do something sooner about my weight?! OH, because I wasnt listening to everyone telling me to LOL oh well whats done is done...gonna try to talk to bypass docs about this too just so its on record as well as my pcp. (bypass doc sees me once in a while because it's easier to get in to see them and they talk with my pcp on the phone to get things done, the pcp's staff sucks but it's a county clinic :( )

I second the suggestion of taking half a dose of Tramadol if the prescribed dose males you groggy.  They are easy to cut with a pill splitter.

Also, I wanted to let you know that I feel the same way about the regret that I did not do something about my weight before I caused such damage to my knees.  Granted, the worst one was damaged from more than just the arthritis, but my better knee isn't too far behind the worst one... Almost bone on bone (it just doesn't have the plethora of bone spurs that the other one does).  I knew of the risks of obesity in terms of heart and potential diabetes, etc. but it never once occurred to me that I was destroying my knees until they started to make a crunching noise when I flexed them.  By then, of course, the damage was done.  Some days it really aggravates me that I did this to myself, but there is no point in beating myself up (or for you to beat yourself up) for something that is done and cannot be undone.  One of my favorite quotes is from Shakespeare: "Let all things without remedy be without regard."

Have you considered Synvisc (or similar) injections?  Some people get a tremendous amount of relief from them (there are three different manufacturers that I am aware of, but Synvisc is the only one that is a single injection; the others require a series of three or FIVE(!) injections a week or two apart). The injection takes about 3 weeks to fully take effect, and then it lasts up to 6 months and then has to be repeated. It helps my right knee quite a bit, but doesn't help the left one nearly as much.

Lora

I havent heard of the injection but I'll ask about it when I see my doc.  I'm just scared that I'll have to live with pain again. The knees are tolerable with a cortizone injection every 6 months but my wrists, hips and back are bad. Granted, NO WHERE near what it was with the weight, even the 20 they just took off with plastics helped oh so much and I'm very thankful! I've had the problem with my wrists since I was a teenager actually. Multiple sprains from being overweight and clumbsy.  It only acts up when I drive too much or if its cold :-/ so at least it's not a year round thing!