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Chronic Knee Pain Meds Question

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I have had chronic bilateral knee pain for almost 6 years now, both of which are service connected. Also have degenerative arthritis. My PCP at the VA has been giving me NSAIDS for my knees and they dont' seem to help at all with the pain. I told her this and all she has done is changed to a different brand 3 times. My PCP tells me that for chrodromalacia patella syndrome NSAIDS is the only thing they can give me... is this true? It does nothing for my knee pain. The pain keeps me up at night and gives me trouble sleeping.

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  • HadIt.com Elder

NSAIDS help with the inflamation in the joint, but does very little for the pain. You need pain medication for pain relief. There are several pain meds on the VA's formulary list. The VA will only supply what is on this list, if you can get your PCP to prescribe one that is.

Look up the pain meds and ask your PCP what would be best for your Knee's. If they refuse to prescribe something to relieve your pain, ask to be assigned to another PCP.

A PCP that chooses to watch you suffer is not worth having.

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  • HadIt.com Elder

Ask for referral to pain clinic. Your PCP is probably one of many doctors who believe that any pain med that is an opiate is bad. Get a new PCP if this one won't refer you to the pain clinic. Everyone will try and talk you out of using narcotic pain meds, but if it is keeping you up at night then that is when you need something.

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wow, I did ask for a referal to the pain clinic a few months back and my PCP told me basically I didn't meet the requirements. Thanks for the comments and suggestions guys, I would have never known. I'm calling right now to ask for a referal again and if they say no again I will ask for a new PCP. Thanks!

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I spoke to my doc last week, well he was filling in for my pcp who is a PA. He was a doctor. I told him that the NSAIDs were not working and I was put on ultram. I'm happy with that , maybe you may want to think about that. Good luck.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I am on oxycodone for my back. My knees are also arthritic. The oxycodone helps with the knees quite a bit. I also get syn visc injections in my knees every six months. They give you a novacaine shot before the injection so your knees are pain free for a few hours anyway. I don't know if that is something that would work for you but it helps me a bit. The pain thing seems that most things help a little but there are no magic bullets out there.

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