AboutAmelia Yaussy Expertise I can answer questions about systemic scleroderma and live and internet resources to help you cope with this disease. I have personal experince with scleroderma, osteoarthritis, fibromyalgia, and Sjogren's Syndrome.
Experience I am a systemic scleroderma patient (12 years) and have been active in support online for nearly the same amount of time. I proposed the Usenet newsgroup alt.support.scleroderma and own the website ihavescleroderma.com.
Organizations I am a board member and volunteer for the Scleroderma Foundation, Ohio Chapter.
Publications Arthritis Today, Sept 1997, "A guide to the internet"
Education/Credentials International Webmasters Association, Web Technologies Certification
Awards and Honors Volunteer of the Year, Scleroderma Foundation, 2004; Advocacy Appreciation Award, Scleroderma Foundation, 2005
Question I have fibromyalgia and other stuff. I also have moderate osteo-arthritis in both knees, I am in pain every day. I had a cortisone shot and it helped for about 2 weeks. I would rather have a root canal with no anesthesia than to have that again.
I am taking anti-inflammatory rx naproxen. Any other suggestions?
Thanks
Answer I've heard for years about how moderate exercise can help with both osteoarthritis and fibromyalgia, but I was skeptical. The first few weeks it certainly wasn't helpful, and the aches, whether brought on by exercise or just continuing pain, made it really easy to quit.
This summer I was determined to keep up a daily walk, mostly for my dog's sake, as he also has OA in just about every joint. We'd start out fairly slow to warm up, then go at a comfortable pace. We weren't doing any marathons, either. We worked up to a mile, then topped off at about a mile and a half at the end of the summer.
By September's end, I was suprised at how much it had improved my hips. I was on my feet for about 5 hours on Oct 1 for a local scleroderma event, and the degree of pain was way below what I expected. I'm trying to keep it up inside on an elliptical trainer. It's no miracle cure - I still take pain meds just about every day. But there is a noticeable difference in comfort.
Speaking of noticeable difference, I know there was a study this year on glucosamine/chondriotin in knee arthritis that showed it wasn't effective. I've been taking it on the advice of the orthopedic doc who diagnosed my OA from just about day one, but thought I'd try backing off on it to see for myself if it made a difference. It did! I halved my dosage, and by the end of a month of that, I noticed more pain, especially that first-think-in-the-morning pain and stiffness. This is OA in the hips, so I can't testify for knee arthritis, but it may be worth talking to your doctor about taking it.
And one more thing - according to my rheumatologist, the reason why some cortisone shots are painful is the size of the needle. She was telling me this one day several years ago while injecting cortisone into my hip, and I have to tell you, she has it right! It was not a painful procedure at all. I'd have it done again anytime, as long as _she_ was doing it!
