Arthritis and Kidney Transplant

[1transplant]

Does anyonesuffer from terrible arthritis, what if anything do you take for the pain?

[LisaSnow]

I don't have arthritis per se but have joint pain in general. I use cbd oil topically.

[Mgt8]

Hello,

Sorry to hear about your issue with arthritis. I too, suffer from this and have also had a transplant so can't take a lot of the pain killers that are available.

Neck, back, hands and feet are the main areas and paracetamol just won't cut it.

I was refered to physio at first and given regular exercises which have helped a little. Keeping moving is another thing that takes the edge off my neck and back pain as well as does a heatbag when I'm sitting down.

Hands and feet are a bit more difficult and giving them a rest helps somewhat.

But the best thing I have found for hands and feet is my wax hand and foot bath. Each time I get a flare up, a wax treatment helps to ease the pain. It cost about £25 on Amazon.

It's also worth investing in little gadgets to help such as 'key wings' that go on house keys and give more leverage as you turn them. Rubber bottle openers, electric can openers, automatic opening umbrellas...

It's amazing what you can find on Google....😁

There is also a forum on here for arthritis on Healthunlocked and there is a wealth of info on there.

Hope this has helped and that fellow sufferers can give some more ideas.

Best wishes

Mgt

[Yankcg70 in reply to Mgt8]

I have it pretty bad in my knees and hips. I take aleve when its inbearable. But i also found that Voltaren gel has been pretty good to help out. You can get it at Sams for a good price or have ur Dr give u a prescrip for it. The generic for ur ins may be cheaper.

[1transplant in reply to Yankcg70]

I was told that Nsaids were not possible to take with a transplant. Voltarin is new OTC, but I don't think it's cleared for transplant patients. Actually, my transplant surgeon told me that some people opt out of having a transplant because they must stop taking any arthritis medication. I was hoping things changed in the last 8 years. I was just hoping there was something new in a prescription for arthritic transplant patients. I exercise daily. I don't sit still very long. Most of the time, it's because I'm in pain. Oh well, I'll keep hoping.

[Yankcg70 in reply to 1transplant]

As far as i know, transplant patients can use the voltaren. My dr prescribed it for me. As far as im aware, i also use aleve but stay away from tylenol. I think it kinda depends on ur dr.

[nosillap in reply to 1transplant]

Same here. 6.5 years & in a lot of pain & can't take much. All that better change soon. Am tired of being in pain & everything I ask about taking is a NO.

[Hidden]

Yes. Some days are worse than others, but it is always there. I use accupuncture, stretching and try to stay active. I stay away from sugar, because for some reason sugar aggravates arthritis. Since I can't take otc pain meds, I take a low dose of tramadol when things get rough. It takes the edge off, but by no means does it stop the pain.

[1transplant in reply to Hidden]

Does acupuncture work for you?

[Hidden in reply to 1transplant]

Yes. It takes several treatments, but does help. Look for a provider with a lot of experience because several people practice it currently. Just know dry needling is not the same as accupuncture.

[meggy619]

Diet is Everything.

I had a kidney transplant on Nov 8th 2019, all was well till mid January 2020, I was informed that the drugs were causing me to become Diabetic.

The Doctors wanted to give me a short treatment of insulin to try and stop it, I decided to try and control it with diet first, removing all foods with refined white flour and minimum sugar intake, switched to oats with milk in Morning and basic meat and veg diet It worked, Glucose returned to normal, after about three weeks I started getting pain in Hips and knees, plus back and thigh muscle pain, ended up on a walking stick, I was convinced it was drug related, what convinced me, was the amount of people with the same symptoms reported on National Kidney Foundation website.

After a while I realised that I had increased Milk intake by 2.1 ltr per week, I wondered if this is what athletes refer to as hitting the wall, (Lactose build up), I changed diet again, made oats with water, after one day there was a big improvement, after three I was back to normal and threw the cane away. all is now well.

I had become lactose intolerant at these levels of milk consumption.

It just shows how difficult it is for Doctors to diagnose problems, to be fair even the Consultants were skeptical at first.

[Drdetroit]

Transplant told me that Prednesone from my long term use of 8 &1/2 yrs defiinitly caused my weak bones & arthritis .I used to walk 4 miles a day & exercise. Now I can only walk 2 or 300 yards before needing to rest from the pain. Eliminate sugar as much as you can, as it does seem to help.