Working with pain

Nurses General Nursing

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Specializes in OHS, Emergency medicine.

I posted this in nurses with disabilities forum but, am posting here too just in case it isn't see. Two months ago was diagnosed with stage 3 osteoarthritis and had the knee scoped with among other things a subtotal meniscectomy. Orthopedist gave me meloxicam for the inflammation and suggested at some point might have to consider Symvisc. I have returned to work 12 hour shift on the floor of CSICU, by the time 1600 rolls around all I can do is think about getting off my feet. Have medial and posterior knee swelling and pain around the patella, when I get off I head for bed and an ice pack on the knee. So am curious if any others are working with osteoarthritis and how you are managing.

Thanks

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I'm not recommending it, but ibuprofen, around the clock, is what helps me deal with it. You might also look into knee braces.

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Specializes in PCCN.

wow- I had to check to make sure I didnt write this:) I have been having the same problem. 11/09 had grade III chondromalacia and partial meniscectomy arthroscopically done.now the medial space is reduced, and have arthritis now. My daily regimen is one celebrex, 1000 mg tylenol at 6 am, and 1000 mg at noon. Despite this, i still get swelling, and terrible medial knee shin pain. doc says options now are a brace( which is a custom one with settings, or a tibial osteotomy. so i opted for the brace , but havent tried it yet. Somedays i am practically in tears on the way home from the pain. i have a very hard time working 12's- i ususally have 8s to 10's , but sometimes they do run over time( part of the job) On bad days I have a very noticable limp. The swelling makes it so i cant bend too well, or the pain in the bone is too much to bear full weight.Doc wouldnt consider synvisc for me for some reason- said he didnt think it would be successful in my case. I do have an appt with him mon- i will reiterate what we can do. I cant quit my job. Am also seeing pain mgmt doc, but sometimes what good is that. cant do anything about pain while im at work , so dont know what to do. I go home after like you and spend the rest of the eve sitting with ice on the leg. It really sux. sorry youre having to deal with it too.Oh, and i changed jobs from a floor to an or type setting, but standing in one spot for sometimes 3 hrs at a time doesnt seem to help either:( Pm me if you want. hope you get some better answers here.

oh, btw- i have had 2 cortizone injections in the knee , and they would only last 2 weeks :-(

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Specializes in Peds, PACU, ICU, ER, OB, MED-Surg,.

"Your knee's, you will miss those when their gone"... This was a line in a song from the past that I have come to understand. I have had osteoarthritis for the last 10 years. My right knee swells almost daily. I've had to start spreading out my days of work. I can work 2 days in a row during the week. I can do 3 if it is the weekend. (We all know it is less crazy on the weekend). I now have osteoarthritis and 2 bulging discs in my lower spine, that makes my knee pain almost laughable.

I'm thinking I need to leave bedside before too long. I had thought I needed to go to a NICU/Nursery where the patient's are smaller but guess what? I floated to NICU and my back pain was worse with all the bending over bassinette's. I took Celebrex for a long time after getting an ulcer from all the motrin. Then the celebrex stopped working. I've had two SI joint injections in the last 6 months. I take tramadol when I get home. No words of wisdom, just take it slow and try to rest. Get your feet up on lunch/breaks (?)

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Specializes in ICU, PICU, School Nursing, Case Mgt.
I posted this in nurses with disabilities forum but, am posting here too just in case it isn't see. Two months ago was diagnosed with stage 3 osteoarthritis and had the knee scoped with among other things a subtotal meniscectomy. Orthopedist gave me meloxicam for the inflammation and suggested at some point might have to consider Symvisc. I have returned to work 12 hour shift on the floor of CSICU, by the time 1600 rolls around all I can do is think about getting off my feet. Have medial and posterior knee swelling and pain around the patella, when I get off I head for bed and an ice pack on the knee. So am curious if any others are working with osteoarthritis and how you are managing.

Thanks

OK!!!!

You asked for an expert opinion....I am the arthritis QUEEN!

I started with problems in my 30's---Hips and Knees-----Dr's always kept thinking it was RA---but not....

I did all of the above...

Synvisc did not work, just made my checkbook "lighter".

on all of the OTC NSAID's and Celebrex, Vioxx (when it was still available) Mobic, Daypro,and a few others I can't even remember. Did PT, even ended up on the "Big Gun" drugs. Nothing really worked.

I finally had a total hip done waited 6 months and had the other one done...

I did return to work in between.

2 years later I had Bilateral knees done (the only way to do it, as far as I'm concerned) and returned to work about 6 weeks later.

I was out on short term disability each time for about 6 weeks and now.......

IT IS NOTHING SHORT OF A MIRACLE!!

I Have No Pain---well, not in my knees or hips anyway, just in my hands, shoulders, neck and back (but I digress)

I am not suggesting you have surgery, it's really a personal choice, I just know what worked and didn't work for me.

I can honestly say that when I came out of anesthesia, the post op pain was far less than the pain I had been in before surgery.

and-I did go back to work in PICU, then in house Hospice, and then LTC all 12 hour shifts which I love.

I did however, work nights, that is my personal preference...it may be a little less hectic but in an ICU and Hospice the pts do the same stuff day and night.

Good Luck

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I sent you a message. Let me know if you are interested.

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Specializes in ER, Trauma.

Went the whole knee route several years ago. Total knee replacement was a Godsend. Now I'd give anything for a back replacement.

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Specializes in ICU, telemetry, LTAC.

I have a friend who's a respiratory therapist and she has a really severe case of RA. She switched from her hellacious amounts of ibuprofen to ultram a couple times a day and is also on plaquenil, and one other drug which I forgot. Gone is the methotrexate, gone is the enbrel and all the others like it. For her, ultram's the miracle drug.

I have a family history of lupus, RA, osteoarthritis, oh and the whole cardiovascular/renal bundle of crap. So far I have a nice discolored redness to my cheeks that's pretty permanent, some varying knee things that I don't like, and expensive shoes. My back injury earlier this year did something- what, I have absolutely no idea and neither did the doctor- to my hip. I swear it feels like arthritis but apparently isn't.

Anyhow enough rambling. I hope you find something that just works, because relief can be a lifetime quest.

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Specializes in ICU, ER, EP,.

Tramadol, steroid injects (last two weeks for me too). I've already hit scope #2 on the same knee and I'm almost out of meniscus. So then it's total knee... I'm excited and waiting to be a few years older to get it done, we nurses are crazy:rolleyes:

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Specializes in ICU, M/S,Nurse Supervisor, CNS.

I don't have osteoarthritis, but I do have RA which has forced me to work in extreme pain since last summer. I began to have pain and joint swelling last August, but thought nothing of it (just figured it was due to some rough days in the ICU where I was working). It wasn't until I realized I could barel bend my fingers, everything was stiff in the morning, and the tons of Aleve I was taking was not working that I finally asked my doctor about it. I was diagnosed in Jan. of this year and have been on meds since. I still do have a lot of pain and am still working with my rheumatologist to find the "miracle" drug combo. I've had to switch to a less physical job in staff development, but still do ICU a few times a month.

Though we are suffering with different types of arthritis, I definitely feel your pain...literally! Mine affects my feet, ankles, hips, wrists, shoulders, and hands, though fortunately the pain is a LOT less severe than before, but still troublesome. Keep your head up and keep trying new things until you find the right drug/treament regimen.

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Specializes in OHS, Emergency medicine.

Thanks all, at least I am not alone.

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Specializes in Health Information Management.
Went the whole knee route several years ago. Total knee replacement was a Godsend. Now I'd give anything for a back replacement.

If you find someone offering back replacements, SIGN ME UP!!!! Either that or total body prosthetics, where someone just drops my brain in and makes me into a cyborg.

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