I've had chronic knee pain for a number of years . I've tried numerous pills and potions. At current I'm taking gabapentin, sevredol morphine tablets, amatriptaline tablets, morphine patches (fentynal) and lidocaine parches. I'm due to see my gp next week so I'm going to ask about stem cell therapy. (Which I've read about on Other sites. But if anybody can recommend any meds that they've taken and found that they help for them, please feel free to mention them. After pain since I was 18yrs old (now 42) I'm willing to try anything
Tia Debbs
Pain meds only address symptoms not underlying causes. Gotta see a knee surgeon. I'd choose the group that also handles your local NFL, NHL, MBL, etc. team. Stop the drugs...get the real help you need.
I'm with Chico - get to an ortho and get a new knee!
I just had knee surgery....
So from the little iv learnt about knees, I think u should ask your GP to refer you for an MRI.
Also an Ultrasound & XRay to find out the actual cause of the pain.
Popping pills without knowing what's wrong is bad for your Liver too.
After u get these results u she ask your Gzp to refer you to a Orthepedic Surgeon/Specialists for the final decision.
I'm not sure on which part of the World u live.
But if u live in Melbourne Australia then i recommend my surgeon Dr Russell Miller without any hesitation. He is fabulous & well experienced.
Hope this helps.
Maybe you have torn cariledge... Maybe you have odd bone growth (my son's problem)... Maybe you have zero cartiledge and have bone-on-bone pain... Who knows??? Gotta start with an exam and x-ray at a good ortho's office. MRI may be called for. With me, MRIs never showed anything conclusive.
Four knee scopes later... After each, all the pain went away...for a while. Then I'd screw up a knee again (44 years of playing hockey came to a sudden end)... Meniscus (both knees) and femoral condyle (both knees). After that, I got SynVisc injections for a number of years. Verry good results.
Moved to TX from the cold of NJ...nice warm climate...able to put off anything else for another six years. At age 68, nothing else worked so I got "the last resort"...a TKR. Note: "LAST RESORT!!!" Who knows what your problem is and what therapies will work for you. TKR may be your only option but that's for you and the ortho to decide AFTER you get a real diagnosis. Fentanyl patches? Really? Those are for end stage cancer patients...this is just a knee...which can be fixed. Why are you living with this pain?
Get a real good doc and off those meds. My daughter was on Vicodin for two years for a crushed L1...started rotting her teeth out. You do NOT want to be drug dependent for the rest of your life.
You need a diagnosis and treatment. SynVisc? Scope? Steroid shots? TKR? Ya gotta know the underlying cause of your pain before you do anything else...and the TKR is the last stop on the train. Let us know what the doc says.
Hi chico. I've been seen by numerous surgeon. An all I get regarding a new knee is I'm too young,and would have to have it replaced after x amounts of years. My reply was surely it would make sense to do it now wilest I'd get some use out of it. Still reply is no.
Thanks for replying. I've been seen by numerous surgeon's in different hospitals. They all say the same because I've had so many surgeries on my knees they won't operate as this would make things worse. So now it's a case of managing the pain as now been told I've chronic pain. I also have had 2 ops on my shoulder and suffer with terrible bk pain. So my meds can't be ditched as there helping control the pain.
Hi Tania. I've had mri scans ,xrays done and have been seen by numerous surgeon's. Due to the fact that I've had so many operations on my knee they're reluctant to do any more surgery as this will only make matters wrose. I've had so many procedures done would take forever to list. I'm only 42 but feel 92. The meds I take are for controlling the pain for my knees back and shoulder as now have chronic pain. Hopefully when I go see my gp I want to discuss trying different druid but have tried so many to get to where we are today.
Chico, you are right on the mark! Great advice. Drugs alone only leads to more and stronger. Fentany? Seriously?
There's stem cell and there's also concentrated platelete injections, both are experimental. Your best course is to get Viscosupplementation with Sinvisc, which lasted me over a year without pain. Great stuff
Gezz...wish I could have had Fentanyl post-tkr!!! Guess I went to the wrong hospital. Problem is that "F" is very short-acting...1 mcg wears off in 15-20 minutes. Now a Fentanyl PATCH is a different story. At 50 TIMES the strength of morphine, you do NOT want to go near this drug...ever.
As bad as the TKR is, the pain is a short-term thing. 30-90 days on a non-linear declining scale. Remember...the mind can only hold one thought at a time. If that thought is pain, you will feel the pain; if it's something else, the pain recedes into the background. Read a book, watch a movie, shoot aliens on x-box. Better...concentrate on PT and exercises post op.
But the problem here is that Deb doesn't know what's really wrong. Gotta get to an ortho ASAP.
When I reached the point where another scope would do nothing, that when my (and your) only option is a TKR. I'm 5 months out...all the old pain is gone. Still looks a little swollen, still a little stiff. May take another year to get past those things. Yeah, it still bothers me sometimes but the more I walk, the better it gets. If you're at that point, you don't need a GP and more meds...you need a good orthopedic surgeon and a TKR.
Think about this... A new knee will last 15-20 years before it will need a revision. In that time alone, the drugs will kill you...period. So you have the choice between 20 years of pain or a great, drug-free life after TKR recovery. Go see the ortho docs who take care of your local professional sports teams (NFL, NBA, NHL, etc.). Get healthy and live a good life.