Why is diagnosis so long to be made?

[Emmeline3]

Why does it take so long for diagnosis and treatment of OA? It affects the quality of life, physical and mental health, massively?

This site is very helpful just knowing not alone in experience!

[Raelouise]

Depends on how badly your OA is affecting you as to what treatments will be offered to you and where you live, but your never alone 😁

[teakbank12 in reply to Raelouise]

There isnt really any treatment for OA my rheumi suggested GP prescribe Butrans patches up to 20mcgs and referredme back to GP.

It took me years for GP to finally refer me to rheumi.

Rheumi initially did cortisone jabs in both ankles and years ago i had one in knee and that was that.

Id had xrays and ultrasounds done on ankles/feet/knees.

OA is down to wear and tear ie getting older

[Raelouise in reply to teakbank12]

Most of the time it's down to the individual to find solutions to manage the pain themselves, I know that's not much help in itself

[teakbank12 in reply to Raelouise]

As long as you can take NSAIDS.

I cannot take anything that affects bowel/stomache.

[Raelouise in reply to teakbank12]

Oh that's abit more tricky then, how do you manage the pain/inflammaton?

[teakbank12 in reply to Raelouise]

Oramorph in desperation, amitriptyline and paracetamol. Reducing Butrans patches to finish soon as not effective.

Been on Gabapentin ages for nerve psin but neuro wants me off them as they interfere with his drugs

Tramadol didnt work well plus they reacted with other drugs i was on.

Pain never goes away throughout my body.

Even pain clinic referred me back to GP as being difficult with multiple chronic illnesses.

[Raelouise in reply to teakbank12]

Amitriptyline didn't work for me me and I'm allergic to naproxen,

[Hidden in reply to teakbank12]

My GP Put me on Fentanyl patches 25 mcg and 12 mcg, plus Oramorph liquid Morphine for Osteoarthritis and pain from spinal fractures due to Osteoporosis. As I also have Rheumatoid Arthritis I have DMARDS which don't touch . Osteo.

[Raelouise in reply to Hidden]

Jesus isn't fentanyl a bit scary?

[Hidden in reply to Raelouise]

No scarier than any other Opoid pain relief.

[Hidden]

Look into taking turmeric and black pepper capsules daily, (but not if you are taking blood thinners) vvery good for OA pain relief although they don't work for everyone, it might be worth a try.

exercise if you can do it can help a lot too.

[MikeG1944]

Basically, because OA has to cure the GPs just don't want to know. The first time I mentioned it to a GP about having creaky joints he said 'it's arthritis, we've all got that; bye'. Years later another always said to me when shaking my hand goodbye, 'Keep warm'.

The only things that used to reduce it were NSAIDS which the GPs will now not let me have.

No other painkillers work on me but there is one other thing that seems to work, and that's keeping warm; my OA (knees, hips, and one shoulder) are very sensitive to temperature; the difference between the room temperature of 20°C and 24°C is the difference between pain and no pain. I have a throw which I wrap round my knees when watching TV which works and at night a very good 0-9 heat, dual area (above waist and leg heating) electric blanket which by careful adjustments means I can lie in bed painless except when getting in and out. I strongly recommend the heat treatment including an Infra red lamp when you have no options left.

Mike.

[Kneesandtoes in reply to MikeG1944]

I have also found warmth important, yet if I tell others they do not believe me. It is impossible to get across that one does not feel the cold only the pain. I was dismayed to find that M&S has reduced the wool content in their socks to 53%. Details like that matter.

Other things helping me are exercise and diet. Keeping the muscles surrounding the joints strong helps. I stopped using margarine and sunflower oil, avoid anything with a long list of ingredients and eat a lot of fruit and veg.

The most important thing is having an open mind and being prepared to try different things. I was rather suspicious of seeing a chiropractor, but when I did, she sorted out my knee problem.

I am very sorry for people here, who are in so much pain, conventional medicine just does not seem to have an answer to OA.

[MikeG1944 in reply to Kneesandtoes]

Yes Kneesandtoes, people don't realise we need warmth with OA; especially when they leave an outside door open for a few minutes and a draft comes through and sets off the pain. I also forgot to mention having a warm to hot bath each night before bed helps a lot but keep the bathroom warm while drying off.

[Coco54]

Same here has taken me 9-10 years (and only ever been given co-codamol which causes horrific constipation) to finally be referred to Orthopaedics...not to see a consultant but a senior physio (this is how I finally got referred here via another physio which the GP sent me to as their budgets no longer warrant scans so they pass it onto other health areas to deal with). However, due to negligence from my GP practice as my condition worsened unfortunately, I had a lot of other underlying issues which caused me to suffer with chronic fatigue and my GP just fobbed it off to my OA but still with no change of meds or investigation to check it was due to OA.

Then back in May I got rushed into hospital after I rang the GP as I had woken up with loss of sight in my right eye and it had totally clouded over which ended up being Endocarditis (heart infection) which spread to my brain causing Meningitis, Septis, Pneumonia and last but not least the eye infection which has now caused that eye to have permanent sight loss. Apparently it was touch and go as they didn't think I would make it out alive.

So yes GPs are flippant in dealing with our OA but we really need to take the bull by horns in managing and taking control of our own health care instead of just accepting what our GPs say. When I first came home the GP practice bent over backwards for me now 4 months down the line just another cattle even though I am now high risk. Oh and I I even went to a local hospital with the pain a week prior to being rushed in to hospital to be sent off with more Co-codamol....I'd completely forgotten this due to the meningitis but found the tablets when I came out of hospital and I remembered that I had been saying that I would go to A&E as I couldn't take the pain anymore.

I hope you get some joy soon just don't accept no from your GP make them work for their money.