Pain

[TKWoody1]

I've been reading on here that some of you cant get the surgery, I was diagnosed with grade 2 breast cancer in 2008, after surgery to remove said breast I then had chemotherapy, radiotherapy, 5 yrs of anti cancer drugs & surgery inbetween all that, I'm lucky I'm still here, but its left me with arthritis in my feet, ankles, knees, hips, & wrists, I cant stomach naproxen or tolerate codeine, I'm currently prescribed tramadol which I take very sparingly due to the dependency of them, my gp has said the surgeons wont operate as I'm too young ie 49, even though I've been like this 10 yrs, why should ppl have to be in pain like this when an operation could relieve it, especially when ther is ppl having sex change operations ( NO OFFENCE ) on the nhs, I was led to believe that A&E was accident & emergency not anything & everything.. no wonder our nhs is struggling but at what cost, esp to those that have deliberating pain through a medical illness / condition..

[Hidden]

I already had RA before I was DX with grade 3 invasive BC with lymphatic and vascular invasion. Had more or less the same treatment except radio as I have Bronchiectasis and at risk of Pulmonary Fibrosis. RA became worse after treatment was over, and I ended up with Vasculitis, OA and Osteoporosis. I can barely stand now, let alone walk. ☹️

[TKWoody1 in reply to Hidden]

It's a bigger, we beat the cancer but end up plagued with pain of arthritis,

[Hidden in reply to TKWoody1]

It's certainly an awful thing to contemplate TK. All the best.

[andyswarbs]

Normally I would simply advocate you do anything to improve your diet, and specifically heading towards a whole food plant based diet which is unquestionably the most anti-inflammatory diet around especially if you remove specific inflammatory foods. This is summed up in the Paddison Program which fronts the dietary lifestyle with a comprehensive elimination and self-education process. The latter is learning about your body.

However with a history of cancer I think I 'd prefer to refer you to the Hippocrates Health Institute hippocratesinst.org/ who have an incredible track record in helping people with cancer. Of course if you feel your cancer is history and just dealing with arthritis is what is needed then the Paddison Program may be sufficient. Both of them have plenty of free videos on yutube.

[TKWoody1 in reply to andyswarbs]

Thankyou I'm cancer free now , I got my 5 yr remission in 2013

I go for a yearly check up 🤞everything is ok, I have a food diary as I'm currently taking orlistat to lose a few lbs, not that I'm overweight I just think losing a few lbs would hopefully reduce the pain slightly, 1 can only try.. , I'll ask my gp about the food plant based diet,

[Hidden in reply to TKWoody1]

I found the best support for cancer patients is Maggies Centres.

maggiescentres.org/

They have several allover the UK and the online one too.

[andyswarbs in reply to TKWoody1]

I don't expect your doctor to be at all positive about a dietary intervention. All they are taught is to keep on taking the tablets - and anything else is heresy. And that is despite the fact that tablets never cure or get anywhere close to curing such chronic illnesses. Their main goal is to keep the illness at bay, and often that is time limited. For example the drug I was on methotrexate is known to become less effective with time, and so it is common for the prescription to increase over time until it is necessary to go on to a mixture of drugs.

[TKWoody1 in reply to andyswarbs]

Dr would like me to take 2 tramadol upto 4 times a day but as I mentioned I know they are addictive so only take them when I'm in tears with the pain it's more in my knee & hip, some days its nigh on impossible to move let alone walk ...

[andyswarbs in reply to TKWoody1]

At my worst it would take me 10 to 20 minutes to go from bed to bathroom and then needed to rest for 5 minutes, each way. Now that same journey takes less than 10 seconds.

[TKWoody1 in reply to andyswarbs]

Its so frustrating not being able to do the most basics of things, but I'm stubborn & like to try do things for myself & keep my independence.. but it's not always easy ..