Non-steroid option for arthritis pain?

[AloeSvea]

Hi y'all. I have had arthritis for the past eight years or so? that at times has become very severe - particularly in my left ankle joint. I was seen, via the national health system, for the arthritis in my finger joints, but due to the odd way of dissecting and treating body parts (imho) - the osteoarthritis expert could not also deal with my ankle at the same time. That was nine months ago, and I have not been called back for my ankle.

My ankle pain has since gotten very bad at times. I get very concerned as I am quite physically active, and need to be able to stand and move my feet to keep that up. My dillema is - I don't want to use steroids (via injection into the joint), due to my T2D, as I would be very surprised if steroids did not dramatically affect my blood glucose, as steroids are wont to do. It takes a long time and lots of hard work for me to bring my blood glucose levels back down after medical interventions that raise them, so I am loathe to do the steroid route. But is there another option? Has anyone else had effective treatment against foot and ankle pain that is not via a steroid injection? Or if they have had that shot, how did it affect their blood glucose levels and regulation?

Any and all experiences and advice much appreciated!

 

[EllieM]

Have you tried any "deep heat" type creams? Some people find they help, others don't.

I think voltaren is one you can get here, but there are probably other brands.

I will follow this thread with interest (Husband has arthritis, I probably do).

 

[AndBreathe]

Hi y'all. I have had arthritis for the past eight years or so? that at times has become very severe - particularly in my left ankle joint. I was seen, via the national health system, for the arthritis in my finger joints, but due to the odd way of dissecting and treating body parts (imho) - the osteoarthritis expert could not also deal with my ankle at the same time. That was nine months ago, and I have not been called back for my ankle.

My ankle pain has since gotten very bad at times. I get very concerned as I am quite physically active, and need to be able to stand and move my feet to keep that up. My dillema is - I don't want to use steroids (via injection into the joint), due to my T2D, as I would be very surprised if steroids did not dramatically affect my blood glucose, as steroids are wont to do. It takes a long time and lots of hard work for me to bring my blood glucose levels back down after medical interventions that raise them, so I am loathe to do the steroid route. But is there another option? Has anyone else had effective treatment against foot and ankle pain that is not via a steroid injection? Or if they have had that shot, how did it affect their blood glucose levels and regulation?

Any and all experiences and advice much appreciated!

There are topical non-steroidal anti-inflammatory creams available, such as Voltarol or Ibuprofen, but I am not allowed to used then (or any other N-SAID) due to another condition.

In my experience steroid injections worked ok. I have had a number in various parts of my body. The only not very satisfactory one was on an elbow, for tennis elbow.

My feeling would be that you are balancing quality of life, versus a short-term, explainable rise in blood glucose.

Whilst steroid injections aren't too pleasant, after the first 2/48 hours the reliefe can be blissful if you have had a lot of pain. If that allows you to maintain your activities, which likely help with mental health as well as maintaining blood glucose numbers, perhaps on balance it is worth it.

Sometimes it is hard to ensure the dog is wagging the tail and not the other way around. But, only you can decide,

 

[Pipp]

I frequently have to have oral steroid meds, for breathing problems following colds and viral infections. Of course that is different to steroid injections, but they knock my blood glucose levels out of kilter for several weeks.
I have twice had a steroid injection. Once as a teenager into my knee, and more recently in thumb joint. As a teenager I didn’t have diabetes, so no idea if there was any raise in BG as I wasn’t needing to test. The thumb injection did raise BG, considerably for around 2-3 weeks before it returned to my usual levels. There was no discernable pain relief, and I had an allergic reaction, which was unpleasant. Though would add that I am allergic to lots of things.
Sorry, @AloeSvea not sure about ankle, though for my arthritis I keep up with exercise, mainly in water as that is less painful, being weightless as I glide through the water.

 

[TriciaWs]

I can't take oral ibuprofen but find the gel doesn't trigger my asthma.

 

[Scimama]

Hi there is a capsicum based cream that can be used for arthritis or joint pain, it does take some getting used to, but works well.
Alternatively have you tried tens machine or chiropractor? Husband uses these to manage his arthritis.

 

[Outlier]

Dunno if this is an option for you, but I find massaging Tiger Balm into my arthritic bits is helpful.

 

[CatsFive]

Try the 10% ibuprofen gel - I find it fairly effective. It's available without prescription for about £6 per tube. I think the bonier the part of the body it's applied to the better it works.

 

[AloeSvea]

Big thank you, you guys. All input hugely appreciated.

 

[AndBreathe]

Hi there is a capsicum based cream that can be used for arthritis or joint pain, it does take some getting used to, but works well.
Alternatively have you tried tens machine or chiropractor? Husband uses these to manage his arthritis.

Oooooh, I had forgotten about this. @AloeSvea , it was recommended to me by the rheumatologist! (How did that fall out of my memory?) It is called Capsaicin. There are lots of variants of it, and it is possible to make it at home. I actually made some and have used it from time to time.

It feels to me like the benefits derive from the heat generated, both my the cream, but also the friction of rubbing it in.

Particularly the home made versions don't contain any nasties, and it doesn't have to be dealt with by our livers, so it has to be worth a go in my book.

 

[AloeSvea]

Coming back from a wee hike, I had to give my poor ol ankle time out - it hung in there for about an hour and a half, but the last fifteen minutes -. eeee ouch! Anyway, next to a very pretty stream was a park bench already occupied by an older chappie and his dog. I apologised for sitting next to them (a cultural no no in small town Aotearoa/NZ), explaining I had to sit down right away, and would not be able to make it to that empty park pench over there, due to the beep beep painful nature of my poor old arthritic ankle. (I was taking off the compression band to rub in the Voltaren cream I now don't go on longer walks/hikes without.) (It only lasted as pain relief for about five or ten minutes, alas.)

He told me he and his wife use collagen, as in taking it internally, and it worked wonders on their arthritis. Pro-Collagen, he said, and that it was pretty expensive. I looked it up online, and it does look quite promising, for supplements at least. But the online info was all promotional. (And yes, pretty darned pricey!) One even provided a PubMed study supporting it. (I didn't get around to reading the study.)

Has anyone had positive or otherwise experiences with taking Collagen in some form to battle very painful arthritis?

 

[Zilsniggy]

Have you tried any "deep heat" type creams? Some people find they help, others don't.

I think voltaren is one you can get here, but there are probably other brands.

I will follow this thread with interest (Husband has arthritis, I probably do).

Voltaren is a NSAID. I think you might mean creams containing Capsaicin which give a deep heat effect.

 

[Zilsniggy]

Coming back from a wee hike, I had to give my poor ol ankle time out - it hung in there for about an hour and a half, but the last fifteen minutes -. eeee ouch! Anyway, next to a very pretty stream was a park bench already occupied by an older chappie and his dog. I apologised for sitting next to them (a cultural no no in small town Aotearoa/NZ), explaining I had to sit down right away, and would not be able to make it to that empty park pench over there, due to the beep beep painful nature of my poor old arthritic ankle. (I was taking off the compression band to rub in the Voltaren cream I now don't go on longer walks/hikes without.) (It only lasted as pain relief for about five or ten minutes, alas.)

He told me he and his wife use collagen, as in taking it internally, and it worked wonders on their arthritis. Pro-Collagen, he said, and that it was pretty expensive. I looked it up online, and it does look quite promising, for supplements at least. But the online info was all promotional. (And yes, pretty darned pricey!) One even provided a PubMed study supporting it. (I didn't get around to reading the study.)

Has anyone had positive or otherwise experiences with taking Collagen in some form to battle very painful arthritis?

If the problem is that the joints have lost so much cartilage that bone is rubbing on bone, collagen is unlikely to help. People swear by stuff like Chondroitin, which may help if joint damage isn’t too severe. Often supplied as Glucosamine and Chondroitin supplements. However, if bone is rubbing on bone due to severe cartilage loss, the only real remedy is joint replacement surgery.

 

[AloeSvea]

Thanks for that @Zilsniggy, I had a strong suspicion that was the case.

The pain absolutely feels like bone against bone. And my walking is on time limits now, and hiking, very sadly, is out. Depressing to hear, but important to know.

I had to put up a fuss to be put back on a waiting list to see a specialist that I mysteriously was dropped from, so who knows what will happen. (My poor old country right now is having a massive health care crisis. Along with a cost of living crisis. I understand this is shared with other countries around the world.) When I finally get to see that specialist - hopefully I will hear about the amount of cartilage left.

 

[Zilsniggy]

Thanks for that @Zilsniggy, I had a strong suspicion that was the case.

The pain absolutely feels like bone against bone. And my walking is on time limits now, and hiking, very sadly, is out. Depressing to hear, but important to know.

I had to put up a fuss to be put back on a waiting list to see a specialist that I mysteriously was dropped from, so who knows what will happen. (My poor old country right now is having a massive health care crisis. Along with a cost of living crisis. I understand this is shared with other countries around the world.) When I finally get to see that specialist - hopefully I will hear about the amount of cartilage left.

I hope you get satisfaction, but it’s difficult to quantify the amount of cartilage left, I paid for my own MRI because it’s quite difficult to get one just now on the NHS in my area. It will show loss of cartilage as narrowing of joint space. Unfortunately I have no idea how they estimate exactly how much needs lost before they do something. I’ve been referred for an emergency orthopaedic opinion, which I’m told will take 8 weeks!

 

[AloeSvea]

@Zilsniggy - it's really good to hear from you and folks above who are going/have been going/went through the same kind of thing.

Eight weeks sounds like a dream come true to me! Which goes to show how bad it is currently in my country. When I went in to a mobility centre to buy my flash new walking cane to go with my new sad non-hiking life, the retailer told me that being mysteriously dropped off waiting lists to see specialists was a super common story, alas. 'Interesting times' isn't so interesting when it comes to health issues and time frames to get treatment, for sure.

 

[Warburton]

Hi y'all. I have had arthritis for the past eight years or so? that at times has become very severe - particularly in my left ankle joint. I was seen, via the national health system, for the arthritis in my finger joints, but due to the odd way of dissecting and treating body parts (imho) - the osteoarthritis expert could not also deal with my ankle at the same time. That was nine months ago, and I have not been called back for my ankle.

My ankle pain has since gotten very bad at times. I get very concerned as I am quite physically active, and need to be able to stand and move my feet to keep that up. My dillema is - I don't want to use steroids (via injection into the joint), due to my T2D, as I would be very surprised if steroids did not dramatically affect my blood glucose, as steroids are wont to do. It takes a long time and lots of hard work for me to bring my blood glucose levels back down after medical interventions that raise them, so I am loathe to do the steroid route. But is there another option? Has anyone else had effective treatment against foot and ankle pain that is not via a steroid injection? Or if they have had that shot, how did it affect their blood glucose levels and regulation?

Any and all experiences and advice much appreciated!

I have had problems with arthritis in my knees for about 8 years. I have the injections every 6 months and they don’t cause me any problems with my blood sugar.

 

[TrevorFisher]

I’ve had several steroid injections in my neck and shoulders, and yes it does raise your glucose levels for a few days, but living with the pain wasn’t doing me any good either.
I took a bit more insulin, and when steroids were doing their job I was able to exercise more.