Chronic pain Pub Corner - support thread#4 All Welcome

[Akire]

Welcome to our new shiny thread for February. The lattes and expressos were not quite hitting the mark so we have moved to the pub. Whether you need Diet Coke or stiff drink help yourself we have a tab going and hunky staff are very attentive.

Oh gosh @Gilead I hope they look after you and sort it all out. Also hoping you are in the decent hospital x

Oh no @Gilead have you got everything you need? Sounds like you may need a new hip? I mean can’t just leave you like this presumable!

My hands are getting worse in mornings probable doesn’t help that I’m on phone so much though. Usual pins and needles or numb in one or both no matter which side I pay on. Feel stiff and swollen but not so much a DR would notice but you know wrinkles on your own hand. Going get one those ring sizer things so can go armed with in the morning they are up 2 ring sizes or whatever the case may be. Though you would think hurt more at end of the day when you used them more? But does seem wear off as day goes on so who knows.

Oh no @Gilead, hope you get some clarity soon! I'll be thinking of you.

My hands are terrible on a morning too @Akire. And so swollen I haven't been able to get my wedding rings on since my last MRI pre-pandemic!

Another shocking nights sleep. Weird hallucinations are back after one nights respite from them.

@Akire my hands are always worse in mornings too. Annoying as youd think they would have been rested. Seems to be bit like Ankylosing spondylitis which is also worse with rest. No win!

@TheDoveFromAboveCooCoo what a literal nightmare for you. Wish I had answers for all of us sometimes

Had this last two winters so hope when it warmer it will improve. My last attempt with Gp was “You don’t get arthritis in your fingers”.

Sun is shining here makes such a difference just wake up and it’s not gloomy. Hope everyone has a decent morning.

Jeez @Akire that's nuts coming from a GP. I have diagnosed osteoarthritis in hands (and everywhere else) and it usually starts with some swelling around the first joint down from finger tips. It's also largely characterised by stiffness and snapping / clicking noises in these joints (crepitus)

My Dad had his hand osteoarthritis diagnosed recently by the GP. She was able to do so clinically from the above symptoms. I've also had xrays on mine too. I admit I like the certainty of diagnostics.

The rule of thumb is usually to run bloods too in case of inflammatory arthritis.

@MedusasBadHairDay hope you're ok and the Covid doesn't fell you

Thank you all of you. No break but significant impingement from deteriorating and inflamed hip. So wait and see what they decide.

Sending hugs @Gilead I have minor hip impingement. That sounds dreadful. I hope they do something for you soon.

Hope everyone is ok tonight.

Just wanted to share this.. I was a Sports Therapist for 15 years. Treated a lot of people who had steroid injections into joints for osteoarthritis etc. I still keep up with latest findings. I've just looked at a medical trial that's recently published it's results. It found that steroid injections into osteoarthritic hips was associated with more than an 8 fold increase in Rapidly Destructive Hip Disease

That’s awful why is it not national scandal?

It's literally just been published. Hopefully will hit the wider media soon.

However.. anecdotally, I'd say I saw a lot of clients who had steroid injections never saw long term relief. Often the GP would administer there and then. I've never been a fan of them personally. And that's despite having my own personal multiple pain issues. I'd say the same for certain types of surgery which isn't always successful. Again this is anecdotal, but my own personal observations. I don't have the answer, but it's another reason why painkillers shouldn't be withheld from patients suffering chronic pain with diagnosed medical problems.

@RainbowZebraWarrior that’s interesting, my hip injection, which did absolutely nothing was two years ago, and here I am with a couple of consultants saying that it’s nigh on the worst they’ve seen. Two years is a pretty rapid decline too, even with EDS and the going from being able to mobilise to completely unable was a matter of twenty four hours.
I shall be scouting around pubmed for a while.
PS I’m not at the RVI 😢

Apologies to everyone else for being boring with all my stuff. I honestly hope you have a good week and thank you for your good wishes.

A brief overview

[quote Gilead]@RainbowZebraWarrior that’s interesting, my hip injection, which did absolutely nothing was two years ago, and here I am with a couple of consultants saying that it’s nigh on the worst they’ve seen. Two years is a pretty rapid decline too, even with EDS and the going from being able to mobilise to completely unable was a matter of twenty four hours.
I shall be scouting around pubmed for a while.
PS I’m not at the RVI 😢

Apologies to everyone else for being boring with all my stuff. I honestly hope you have a good week and thank you for your good wishes.[/quote]
Gilead I remember having my first hip xray 3 or 4 years ago. They stated osteoarthritis and hip impingements at the time. It's gotten rapidly worse and I keep citing the possibility that some forms of arthritis are aggressive / progrssive. Most medical folk go by the yardstick of "it usually takes x amount of years to deteriorate'

Yeah, but hoofbeats aren't always horses. Sometimes they are zebras.

For info, I'm a member of Medscape. Some great heads up on the latest medical advances.

Hope you have everything you need. PM me if you do need anything. I'm only a stones throw away.

@Gilead

Hip is inflamed and disintegrating, apparently impinging on nerves, also possible blood clot. Despite a cocktail of morphine (20mg) Paracetamol and Naproxen, I still cannot mobilise! I’m being kept in.

Oh no you poor thing! Thinking of you

@Gilead ❤️❤️❤️

The consultant who did my hip replacement said that I could only have 1 steroid injection for this reason.

That was 4 years ago. Am still waiting for the other side to be done. So 8 years total wait both both hips (he didn't want to do both together)

I'd wandered why some people are offered so many injections when this is the case.

Hopefully you'll get it done sooner where you live Gilead

@Daimyum

The consultant who did my hip replacement said that I could only have 1 steroid injection for this reason.

That was 4 years ago. Am still waiting for the other side to be done. So 8 years total wait both both hips (he didn't want to do both together)

I'd wandered why some people are offered so many injections when this is the case.

I have no agenda to push here, but I honestly believe that steroids are damaging to healthy tissue and bone. There's a reason why steroid creams are given with a warning about using them in thin layers.

Being in hospital and in pain is the worst moan as much as you like @Gilead. Hopefully they tell you of a plan soon. I hate when they don’t tell you stuff or you find out months later by letter. It’s like I was sat there did you not want to waste your breath? Maybe they forget patients get copies as well as Gp!

Exactly Rainbow, he said it will damage the hip and make it more difficult to operate on. I'm already young having it, so want it to last as long as possible before needing another, so, even though waiting ages on the waiting list, haven't pushed for another steroid injection.

Ow I remember why I hate this hospital. I spent a considerable amount of time on Saturday and today in piss ridden sheets. ( I can only manage lying on a bedpan at the moment). I was left without pain relief this morning, and have now been waiting 25 minutes for pain relief. Was meant to have a scan this moynit porter only turned up with a wheelchair so no scan as yet! Bloody joke!

Oh no @Gilead hospital care can be dreadful I know they work hard and not their fault short staffed but still no excuse to leave people like that. Hope they appear with meds soon. Have they told you what plans are yet? Can’t be that many options for you why the delay?

@Gilead how awful for you! I'm furious in your behalf they've left you in such a state. That's not on at all.