35year old needs advice with symptoms

[Traceyleth]

i am a 35 year old who was diagnosed with oesteoarthritis 5 years ago after suffering with smphysis pubis dysfuncion during my three pregnancies. My surgeon has told me i will need resurfacing at some point. My last x-rays were 18months ago and i am due back for more in march 2008 although i can go back sooner if need be. I feel that in the last six months my mobility has decreased and the amount i can do before i am in pain is significantly less, however the worst symptom is when i try to get out of the car or stand up after sitting in a chair, i find that i cannot straighten up my hip feels locked, i can not move or weight bear the pain is excrutiating and it is often several minutes before i am able to walk which is not good if your trying to answer the phone or move out of the way of oncoming cars! This symptom i have experienced since my first pregnacy which was 14 years ago however it has worsened in frequency over the years and recently i had 2 weeks where every time i sat down i could not get up. It has settled down now but every day around half of the time i sit i am experiencing this discomfort, it feels like bone rubbing on bone and the pain is wearing me down. Has anyone else found a way of dealing with this, i take co-codamol pain killers but they do not have any effect on this type of pain.

 

[Josephine]

No, indeed they won't! You need a cocktail of meds to help you cope. You need to discuss this with you GP of course but I would suggest that you try using an NSAID like ibuprofen along with your co-codomol. If you take the i/b two or three times a day but the co-codomol every four hours, you should get much better coverage. Of see if your GP will prescribe you diclofenac instead. It's also an NSAID but a much more effective one. Co-codomol is actually 500mg paracetamol with 16mg codeine phosphate. So if you took them separately you could take 30mg cod phos but the only disadvantage is that it could make you drowsy but you would soon get used to that.

Have you ever tried a TENS machine? It has been found to be beneficial in some cases.

Are they going to deal with your hip any time soon? Or are they making you wait?

 

[Traceyleth]

Thank you for your reply. My surgeon has advised against taking NSAID as she says they may affect the surface of the joint and that would make resurfacing more difficult, at my age a resurfacing operation would be better than a THR. My last x-rays were march 2006 and as there was not much change from the year before she said to leave it two years before reviewing, but did say not to struggle and to come back sooner if necessary, she also said it would be bad to let it get too bad as this itself might make resurfacing impossible. I am confused i dont like to make a fuss and some days i can manage but others i just cant i have no family near me to help and three busy children my husband is wonderful but works very long hours so is not around at all during the day. My GP is very sympathetic but he has never had a patient my age with OA and says there is very little he can do other than suggest i revisit my surgeon. How do i judge that the OA is bad enough for surgery?

 

[Josephine]

How do i judge that the OA is bad enough for surgery?

At the point when you feel that life is impossible and/or the pain just too much to bear. Sounds to me like your at or pretty close to that now. It's all very well for doctors to make these statements but at the end of the day, he's not the one having to live with it. And your OS did say not to struggle. I'd go an see her again and talk it over with her.

 

[Traceyleth]

Thanks for getting back to me. I will make an appointment with my os.