I have a bit of a puzzle that I hope someone will be able to help with. I have Rheumatoid Arthritis, Osteoporosis of the spine and hips, Osteoarthritis of the spine,hips and pelvis and a slight bulging disc. I am on 20mg Zomorph twice a day, 400mg Ibuprofen 3 times as day, 500mg Paracetamol 3 times a day and 5mg Prednisolone twice a day. The thing that's puzzling me is that the pain seems to be following a pattern over 3 week periods. Week 1: Pain is excrutiating, can hardly walk or stand and meds don't touch it. Week 2: pain still bad but meds taking the edge off it. Week 3: first 3 days pain is bearable and can cut down Ibuprofen and Paracetamol to one dose a day. Day 4: Pain starts to get worse again. Day 5: I am in complete agony again. I have spoken to my GP and he is as puzzled as I am. I can tell you to the day when the pain is going to become unbearable. It seems as though I am only ever going to get 3 relatively pain free days every 3 weeks and actually start to feel normal!
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lara1953
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I notice you say you cut back on the paracetamol when the pain is better and then it gets worse?
I was having a conversation with my podiatric surgeon one day and he said that before he started with the NHS trust he is with now, they were always taught to tell patients to start taking the paracetamol the day before the surgery because it worked best when front loaded so to speak.
Then recently when discussing my osteoarthritis with my GP and how it is progressing and many joints are now painful, he said to take the paracetamol four times a day every day whether I thought I needed it or not, as it works better that way.
So maybe easing off the low level painkillers it is letting the pain back in? Could you try taking them all every day for four weeks and see if that breaks the cycle?
Keep taking the paracetamol!!! It builds up in your body and suppresses the pain. When you cut it down/stop, that might be enough for your body to start feeling it again. Try taking your doses of paracetamol whether it’s needed or not and see how you get on.
Thank you for your advice, it makes sense when you think about it. I also think that when the pain is bearable I tend to do too much. Last Saturday I cleaned the kitchen, hoovered downstairs and cleaned the bathroom. I hate mess and I have a 27 year old son who never cleans up after himself. I have friends and family who come round to help me, but they have said they are not doing it anymore because he just messes it all up again xx
Pacing! you need to pace yourself so that you stop before you make things worse, while you are still feeling well. So maybe do just one of those things each day, rather than all of them in one day.
And maybe you need to let your standards become more realistic. I no longer wash my floors downstairs. They are old wooden planks, and the chickens, ducks and goose don't wipe their feet when they come inside (we live in a converted barn, so they think they live in it too). I keep some kitchen paper handy for the big poos, and tell people to make sure they don't take their shoes off so that their socks don't get dirty!
I also have a sign up at my door that states I have other priorities that are more important than housework, like caring for my son and doing my university studies.
So this gives me the 'permission' I need to not have a completely clean house all the time, but just doing one bit at a time in rotation.
Thank you everyone for your replies. After reading other posts I've realised that there are a lot of people in worse pain than I am and it is a very humbling experience. You have given me some very good advice and I will certainly be taking it. I would like to share something that I have bought that has really helped me get out of bed in the morning without screaming in pain and doing a Harry met Sally impression. My neighbours must think I'm either being murdered or having a whale of a time! I don't know whether I'm allowed to mention the name of it, if not it will probably be edited out. It's called Mattress Genie. It's like a big balloon that you put under the mattress and it slowly inflates until you are almost sitting up, you then slowly swing your legs round and you can then stand up. I would not be without it and it's a fraction of the cost of an adjustable bed xx
My pains worse when period due ,I asked gp about this they said yes its a common thing because of the inflamed areas next to each other one sets other off.hope this helps.
I agree it is important to keep on Ibuprofen and Paracetamol regularly Ibuprofen is an anti inflammatory drug and needs to be taken all the time with food in the morning, teatime and bedtime. I take this all the time with 2 Paracetamol at night which prevents me waking up in the night with pain. I still ache when I wake up, but it eases up within an hour and then my breakfast meds 'kick in' ! Keep at it and be as active as possible but dont over do it. Difficult I know. We dont like to realise we cant quite do what we did before we had these problems! All the best.
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