Apart from drop 5 stone immediately what the hell can I do about knee pain ?!?

[bignamechangeroonie]

Shit, I'm in so much pain

It started a few months ago climbing stairs. I thought it was a one off or referred hip pain as my hips are painful all the time.

But no, it's ALL the time. I'm sitting on the couch with no pressure on my knees alternating 800mg ibuprofen with 1000mg paracetamol and it's still really painful

The ibuprofen is hurting my chest and my stomach and I feel sicky with all the painkillers

Walking is normally fine, I do between 6-10,000 steps a day but right now it hurts so much I want to cry and not walk

obvious question first - have you seen your gp?

what can you do immediately - see a physiotherapist. if you can spend 100£ you get an initial assessment plus some excercises. or an indiation for your gp what's wrong so that they can refer accordingly.
losing weight should be a long term goal but will definitly help.
good luck!

Very sturdy trainers too to keep things aligned. My knee throws out when my shoes wear out.

Anti inflammatory drugs like Ibuprofen or Voltarol gel will help.

Sorry, clearly not any tablet that's upsetting your stomach.

Have you seen a GP? Tramadol, naproxen, or voltarol gel would all help.

800mg ibuprofen is a lot, how many times a day are you taking it?

Go to the GP just in case you actually have one of the hundreds of forms of arthritis (arthritis just meaning "joint pain") which have dedicated treatments other than ibuprofen.

All of the above, esp. see a physio (hint: private ones are usually much better than nhs ones, if you can afford it). In the meantime, heel lifts done slowly with the heels hanging off the edge of a step always help my knees if they flare up. They might be too much for you though, so go very gently at first and make sure you keep your legs straight.

I haven't registered at a Gp yet (just moved).

I'm taking maximum ibuprofen (only just started alternating ibuprofen and paracetamol today) which is 3200gm of ibuprofen

Internet does tell me it's a form of arthritis, tendinitis specifically if it hurts when you walk up stairs

I took co codamol prescribed (not the low dose over the counter stuff) for about 3 months when I put my hips out about 5 years ago. It made me all spaced out and I didn't like it, couldn't find the balance between lower pain and wibbliness. I think you might be right and a different painkiller might help

I've also got constant low level chest pain which I'm wondering if it's the ibuprofen

Like this

I can afford a physio. I'm more likely to make an appt with a private physio than a gp.

I'm off for 5 minutes to try the heel lifts. I can't do squats as they're agony for my hips but I've never tried a heel lift.

You can build up to doing each leg individually as tou get stronger.

Thing is, though, you might need a scan, but I suppose the physio will know that and refer tou back to the gp if necessary.

shotgun how dare you suggest that NHS physios are inferior to private ones!

no, private physios are not better than nhs ones. but they are a) easier to get appointments with (usually) b) do not have the time and treatment constraints the nhs does

Try orthotic insoles, if you haven't already. www.amazon.co.uk/Orthotic-insoles-supports-joint-available/dp/B004CRDHU2?tag=mumsnetforum-21
They put an end to my knee pain. Give them a fortnight to 'work in', you might feel worse at first, then the pain is gone.

Internet diagnosis is useless - you need to see a dr. and get a referral for an MRI scan to rule out something that may need to be surgically repaired ie a tear to the ACL, meniscus or patella tendon etc. Or you may have arthritis

If this is all clear then physio to increase strength in the muscles that support the knee would be a good idea and to have a gait assessment (sometimes people walk in a strange way with an injury putting pressure on differnt muscle groups/joints) . You could also see if warm water hydrotherapy is available

Just to say that you don't have to think you must lose 5 stone to improve things at all. Dropping ten pounds or so, or 5-10% of body weight, will make a difference. You may well have other things going on but this is likely to help with any joint issue. Please don't despair on this, myfitnesspal did it for me and things improved really quickly with my hip/back pain that I'd laid out money for physio appointments for.

As you were... hope you can get to the GP tomorrow if only to sort out the pain relief.

Ok Greentea maybe I worded it badly or maybe it's more a case of what RedMug said. But the only decent advice or treatment I've been given over thame last twenty or so years has come from privately seen physios and the referrals they've sent me for. NHS ones always just gave generic exercises ime.

You shouldn't be taking ibuprofen at more that 400mg three times per day without a doctor prescribing it. You risk serious side effects such as gastrointestinal bleeding and acute kidney injury.

Re ibuprofen dose.
Maximum dose in 24hrs is 2400mg not 3200mg.
Heat pack any use?

Sorry, I meant I'm taking 3 lots - so 2400mg

The last time I saw a doctor they said it was fine. That was years ago mind.

Just don't take the 2400mg ibuprofen dose for more than 2-3 days without trying to sort out a GP appointment.
Good luck.

Gp appointment and physio. Gp for blood tests (ask for rheumatoid factor test if possible) and x-ray. And physio for exercises. It might be a self contained injury or damage or could be start of something systemic.