Hi ccrown25 ,

I am sorry for what you have to go through , please see your doctor and tell him what you posted , if need be , take a printout of this entire thread.

My advice is , despite you pain , you must get off opioids , they are terrible and sadly there is not much help for those with arthritis , I know , I have degenerative joint disease , and my doctor wants me to take 10mg`s, per day of prednisone ( corticosteroid ) and I have not taken any prednisone since comping off of it in late Sept. , there are also biologics , Humira for example , please do not go near either of these drugs. They are dangerous and your doctor can tell you more.

Opioid issues are common place that is why your boss is cutting you some slack , but please stop getting your meds from the street , they may look familiar , but you literally have no idea where they have been.

The only advice I can give is be strong , and once you get off opioids and don`t go near the other stuff , your joints will hurt. So what can you do ?

MOVE , and don`t stop , well you must every now and then , but exercise will help take the pain away , it will not keep it away , but the more mobile you are the less pain.

If you say to yourself , it hurts to move , then you will never move. You will pass , I am sorry.

Live , fight , survive and once the pain is manageable buy a yoga dvd and do it for flexibility and strength .

Biologically what needs to happen is you muscles need to get stronger than your joints and stronger than your bones , they need to me a corset for your joints to protect them.

Once that has been done , you will feel a whole lot better , I guarantee it.

My uncle had arthritis in his ankles so bad he had to wear braces and ate ( yes ate ) aspirin like I eat M&M`s , I also watch him die of stomach cancer , believe me do not go near NSAIDS either.

His wife , my aunt also had arthritis and her dr. prescribed prednisone , she loved it , it took the pain away , but the sad affects were weight gain , she ended up taking massive doses of the stuff until she look like Mrs. Michelin Man , she also had heart issues and her heart was not strong enough to support her added water and weight gain , she passed , massive coronary.

The picture I have painted is not pretty , it is not my intention to frighten you , but to inform you , that is why you must seek help from you doctor , and like I said at the beginning , print this out and show him.

I truly am in your corner and if you ever want to PM me please feel free to do so.

Good luck , I wish you all the best

Take care

Keyplayer 