Have problems with OA of knees, Trochanteric bursitis for which I had a steroid inj in August and Sacro-iliac joint problems arising from old slipped disc for which nothing can be done unfortunately. Although I go to an osteo almost weekly I usually rely on Ibuprofen to keep the pain at bay along with paracetamol and codeine. I don't take huge quantities of either of them but just enough to keep me walking out of pain - maybe just one of each as necessary. Now since starting Apixaban I can't take the anti-inflammatory or supposedly Turmeric or fish oils. I have PAF but not very much and don't even know when I have it and have only just been diagnosed. What do people take to keep pain at bay. The Cocodamol by itself doesn't do the trick and I'm now between a rock and a hard place. I didn't take the blood thinner this morning but took a Nurofen instead and am now relatively painfree and will take Apixaban this evening.
Any suggestions would be gratefully received!
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hausjac
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You have my sympathies as one who is having considerable pain from hip , knee and foot and awaiting xray results.
The plain truth is that Ibuprofen and indeed all NSAID s should not be taken by anyone with an AF diagnosis. They have been shown to promote arrhythmias and must be avoided.
.If you have been prescribed Apixaban you must take this daily as instructed at the same time of day. You cannot and must not mess about with anticoagulants or you will not have the stroke protection that they are intended to provide.
I take CoCodamol which gives some relief for a short period of time but is by no means ideal.
Hi Hausjac, I’m somewhat in the same boat and feel your pain. I’ve had good luck with rubbing the areas with a good massage oil fortified with ginger essential oil. The ginger gives me instant relief of the stiffness associated with OA, for knee and lower back; it’s less effective w my hip as that’s a little deeper. Don’t add too much and don’t apply ginger oil directly, it’s too harsh on the skin. For pain, I’m having some relief using diclofenac cream. It’s an NSAID, granted, but since it’s a topical application I feel it’s an acceptable divergence from the standard “no NSAIDs “ recommendation for AFib. Of course I’m no doctor, so maybe that last risk acceptance isn’t mainstream. Hope this helps.
Hi, I am in the same predicament as you, and this week has been extremely bad as I had a flare up, not only in the knees but hands and arms, it’s so depressing as unable to take ibruprofen because of it’s ability to cause other problems, however can’t stress enough that you must not stop taking your blood medication as this can cause worse problems.My Doctor is calling me this Thursday because I have felt so low with other health problems going on at present, but I do sympathise regarding the control of pain there is nothing available apart from morphine which is regarded as a last resort.
Don’t think anyone can really appreciate how debilitating constant pain can be until you feel it yourself. Broke my hip 18 months ago had another fracture a few weeks later, osteoarthritis in knees , af and all it’s other affects, plus cataract in left eye and cataract and hole in macular of right eye.
But I still have a sense of humour and a lovely family so life goes on.
Almost forgot also type 2 diabetes, and no I am not overweight, don’t know how I got this.
So good luck with your AF and take your blood medicine.
Hatten28
I have been told that topical ibuprofen or diclofenac, at recommended doses, is fine. Sadly I don’t think it is safe, either for the blood clotting levels or for adding to the risks of AF, to drop one anticoagulant and take one Nurofen. I was told that a very occasional use of a NSAID was ok for AF, but that was before I went onto Apixaban- not possible now. I hate losing the NSAIDs, but I fear I have had to lose them. I have lots of osteoarthritis.
Hi Hausjac, thank you for posting your health issues so eloquently as I'm pretty much the same with slipped disc at No.3 Lumbar vertebrae and SI damage. I've struggled to get any meaningfull pain relief and now have bad sciatica due to pressure on the nerve so I was vert interested in the replies from our friends here and will be looking into some of the advice given.My question tho is when you say "nothing can be done" with regards to the disc, and you may be right but I've been looking at some of the disc replacement methond on You Tube - is that not an option for you and me, I haven’t been offered this but was wanting to look into it before I end up crippled with the worsening condition.
Please let me know why you can't be offered this as it could help with my understanding of it, thank you.
Thank you to all those who replied regarding the pain management options.
Thank you so much for asking this question and thank you to those who replied. There seem to be so many of us in the same boat!I was taking 1000mg daily of naproxen until my AF began and I went on apixaban.
My arthritis is lower back and the pain is dreadful. I’m 65 and can only walk for 12-15 minutes.
My doctor has told me to take paracetamol and codeine. The codeine makes me sleepy and constipation. Oh joy!! It also doesn’t help very much at all!
The only thing that helps me is anadin extra and I’m probably not supposed to take that either!
It seems it’s either that or I become house bound, just as my retirement begins and I’m not going to do that!
I have spent many hundreds on chiropractors, acupuncturists and others.
I’m not overweight and swim weekly.
It’s so frustrating and I agree, people really don’t understand how this constant pain feels.
My shoulder needs replacing, had one replaced 13 years ago but EP said he couldn’t sign off on my having it as he didn’t think I would make it, thinking about seeing a pain specialist as it’s hard to live in constant pain. It’s worse at night . I could live with the pain in the day but sleeping has become impossible.
Hi HausjacI like you have been diagnosed with PAF( 2016) and am unaware of when it occurs.
I think it’s called asymtomatic.
Last year I was prescribed Gabapentin for suspected arthritis of the neck , which gave me headaches, pain in my shoulder and arms. This seems to give some relief.
I also take Apixaban.
Like others have said you must take this as directed!
I have many of the same problems. In my case, however, plain old acetominophen seems to help, and (as far a s I know) is approved for use with apixaban.
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