Extreme knee pain

[Pinkmonkey5]

hi,

I am writing on behalf of my mother who is currently waiting on blood test results so she can start azathioprine, it has been over 2 weeks now and it is getting quite stressful for her as her pain is getting worse but all she gets from the doctors is shes not the only one in pain.

It is hard seeing her like this as she seems to be getting quite depressed. She sleeps about 3/ 4 times a day as she is in so much pain and just feels drained. Her biggest problem is that her joints are all swollen especially her one knee and ankle. The pain she has on her one leg is really painful where she is constantly crying when she has to get up or go to bed. It is a struggle to move it and she only has to catch it on something and she is crying with pain

she used to be a brilliant walker but is now really struggling and is in so much pain with her one leg that she is severely struggling to walk and has to limp. It only seems to be the one leg.

It is hard to see her like this so just wondering if anyone else had this and if so anything she can do now to help it?

[WinterSwimmer]

It is really hard to see someone you love in a lot of pain - and I really feel for you as well as your mum. I can remember having severe pain in my knees, feet, hands and wrists when I was first unwell with lupus - pain that would not respond to painkillers or rest, which are pretty much the only options available to her right now. Has she tried heat? Or cold? Sometimes one or the other might help a bit. That doesn't seem like much to offer- but maybe ibuprofen and heat/cold and rest all together might ease it a bit.

The only other thing to say is that once she has the right combination of medications it will get better - and she should be back to her old walking self. Good luck. I hope her results come back soon.

[Pinkmonkey5 in reply to WinterSwimmer]

Thank you for your lovely reply. She is still waiting for her results and is doing her best with cold gel and hot baths but is still in alot of pain. Hopefully she will get the results back this week xx

[Krazykat26]

Aww gentle hugs to you both 🤗😔 I hope that the results come back soon and your mum is able to start the Aza (that's as much as I can spell) Being in so much pain is totally depressing n I really feel for you both. Rest assured when the pain subsides you'll get your mum back.

As far as the pain is concerned is your mum on any pain relief? I had been taking paracetamol but the pain got so intense that the paras weren't helping so my GP prescribed tramadol which helped me. She'll be sleeping alot coz it's some kind of escape from it all.

I agree with WS that hot or cold treatments might help. When I had dislocated my knee the physio advised crushed ice wrapped in a teatowel to place on the area n it gave a lot of relief. Make sure you wrap it in a teatowel though don't put ice directly in the skin..that's important!

Biofreeze is a cooling gel that I've used many times..I get in roll on form so she could apply it herself.

She's sleeping coz she's exhausted n needs her rest so let her sleep as n when.

Placing a pillow between the knees helps with pain too..when lying on her side she can place it between her knees..this helps to align the spine..when she's on her back she can put it under her knees.

As far as you're concerned..support her as you can let her sound off if she needs to..when I'm in pain I'm hard to handle..so just listen n comfort her..you know your mum best 💜🌈xx

[Tiggywoos in reply to Krazykat26]

👼 😘

[Tiggywoos in reply to Krazykat26]

such fab advice xxxx

[Pinkmonkey5 in reply to Krazykat26]

Thank you for your kind words, she said she can really resonate with the last part lol She has decided to see a massage therapist which she said helps a little and is still doing her best with cold gel, hot baths etc. She is still in a lot of pain but hopefully she can start the drug soon xx