More Meds

[becky26]

Went to see the rheumy specialist yesterday. He couldn't give me a steroid injection into my knee as it is too swollen so just had the usual one in my bum lol although he says it probably wont ease it much. Hands are swollen from using crutches and im now just trying to use one instead of two as they hurt me. Been put on amitripyline to try and get my sleep pattern back as im still not sleeping and back to the physio next week. Still just been told to take paracetamol for the pain though. You would think that people would be given something stronger regarding how sore you can get.

[LavendarLady]

Hi Becky, so sorry you are in such pain. I have posted before on these blogs about painkillers. If you can take it, nurofen gel capsules at 400mg coupled with 1000mg of Paracetemol is very effective. This was the advice I received from my consultant when the pain was bad and told to take them every 4 hours. The Nurofen is also anti inflammatory and helps with swelling etc.

The steroid injection in your btm will help with the knee swelling but probably not as much as you would hope. I had the same problem with crutches after I hurt my knee badly some years ago and eventually had to stop using them as my hands and shoulders were on fire with pain. Even walking sticks hurt my hands as well.

I was put on amytriptylene but had to come off it as even half a tablet made me a zombie the next day and unable to drive as I was so sleepy. I do react very badly to those type of treatments so stay well away from them.

Have a word with your GP about pain killers as well or even your local pharmacist who will be able to check for any adverse reactions to over the counter drugs to the ones we are on already. My Pharmacist always does that when he receives a prescription from my GP.

Hope this helps. LavendarLady x

[becky26]

Thanku for your advice xx

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Some people can't take Amitriptyline for the same reasons as Lavender Lady. I find its the only thing that helps me sleep just now apart from zopiclone - which I don't want to become dependent on and my GP wouldn't prescribe regularly. Amitriptyline is okay for me if I take it regularly and providing I take it early enough in the evening at least 3 hours before bedtime. It does zone me out a bit the next day but not as much as sleep deprivation and it also seems to take the edge off nighttime anxieties and aching plus it helps with bladder control. So I'm one of those who swear by it now!

Lavender Lady is right you probably need an anti-inflammatory as much as you need pain relief at this stage. Naproxen really helps me but its prescription only. Tilda x

[becky26]

Thankyou I'm just hoping the amtripyline helps me get some sleep going to try one tonight x