Question:
I live on Motrin and Viox for joint pain can't imagine life without it!
I have terrible hip, shoulder, and knee pain and take either Motrin, Viox or Aleve daily in order to feel somewhat normal. What do post-ops take for this? Or is it really true that joint pain can go away with weight loss? Wouldn't that be wonderful! — Diane S. (posted on October 15, 2003)
October 15, 2003
I lived on Vioxx prior to my surgery. I am 5 months out and have not taken
Vioxx but 1 time (when I pulled my back). I take Tyloenol once in awhile
if I really exercise hard. I am virtually pain free since losing the first
20 lbs. Don't worry. Talk to your surgery. Mine told me that I could
take Vioxx. I just havn't needed it.
yg
— Yvonne G.
October 15, 2003
You can take cox 2 inhibitors. They just started me on Bextra it is a
anti-inflamatory,for my arms. And yes joint pain as you lose greatly
improves. mine did.Down 80 and counting!
— Autumn
October 15, 2003
Yes, you can take Cox II inhibitors, but be aware they too can cause
ulcers. 2 years post op I was on Vioxx for knee pain and developed an
ulcer which led to 4 strictures and 5 scopes. I am now on Aciphex for my
ulcer, but Vioxx really was very detrimental to me. All Cox II inhibitors
carry similar risks. If you are going to take them you may want to speak
to your doctor about being on Prevacid or a similar drug while on the Cox
II. Just don't want anyone to have to go through what I went through.
— Karen Renee
October 15, 2003
Hi, Denise: I am 8 weeks post op, and I take Vioxx for osteoarthritis in
my back, knees, ankles and feet. I haven't taken my Vioxx for about a
week, though, because since I've lost almost 40 pounds, my joints don't
ache NEAR as much! I was scared about it also, because before surgery I
was on Vioxx AND
— Moysa B.
October 15, 2003
OOPS, hit a wrong key...Anyway, I was on Vioxx 50 mg AND Darvocet for the
pain. I was really afraid that I'd be in total agony after surgery. Well,
immediately after surgery, the liquid Lortab helped me feel NO pain
what-so-ever! LOL! I'm hoping to not have to take the Vioxx much longer
as I don't want any ulcers, but I am also on Prevacid because of excess
acid and nausea.
<p>So, to make a long story short (I know, too late!) your joint pain
may very well go away after you lose weight. I still have about 80 pounds
I want to lose, but I can't believe the difference already! Good luck!
— Moysa B.
October 15, 2003
Get ready to throw that medication out !! I was taking medication for just
about everything including joint pain. I am now 11 months post op (-152
lbs) and take my Flintstones vitamins and a baby aspirin each day ---That
is all!!.. Best of luck.
— GPoynor
October 15, 2003
I was on Celebrex for knee, hip, shoulder and back pain for the past 3
years. I am now 4 months post-op, down 47 lbs., and haven't taken a
Celebrex since last month. I thought I'd be on it the rest of my life! I
don't even take Tylenol... I am pain-free!!! Good luck to you!
— ttilles
October 15, 2003
I was really concerned about this pre-op because I had been on Lodine for
arthritis and joint pain for years. They advised me to begin walking
pre-op and I did and haven't look back since. I haven't needed anything
for joint pain whatsoever since my WLS.
— Cathy S.
October 16, 2003
I had the same problem. I took at least 12 Advil a day to control knee
pain just so I could walk. After surgery, the pain didn't go away but it
did get better as I lost weight. I have very bad arthritis in my knees (in
fact, I just had a total knee replacement July 30) and there were days when
I could barely walk. My surgeon allowed me to take Celebrex occasionally
to get through the bad times (I could take one a day for 5 days and then
had to "rest" for 5 days). He said that ideally one shouldn't
take those drugs at all as a post-op, but sometimes you have to bend the
rules a little. He monitored me carefully and I had no problems. I rarely
took them for more than three days - just enough to get the pain under
control. Since my knee surgery, I've had to take a couple of Celebrex
because of shoulder pain from putting my weight on the walker or cane. I
expect to be completely free of the arthritis drugs after I have my other
knee replaced next year. Losing weight is the best thing you can do for
your body. My joints were too far gone for the weight loss alone to
completely alieviate the problem but it did help immensely. And, I would
not have been a candidate for the knee replacement without the weight loss.
— Patty_Butler
October 16, 2003
I lived on strong prescription anti-inflammatories from Nov 95 till 1 week
before surgery (Feb 2003), so I know EXACTLY what you mean. The week
before surgery that I had to be off them was awful. So many things hurt
like they hadn't in years. I have done every prescription
anti-inflammatory out there and was always first in line for the new one.
But surgery has changed that.
<p>In my case I have moderate fibromyalgia and an unexplained
inflammatory process going on in my body, plus some osteoarthritis in
knees. Not Lupus or anything that bad but based on how my body responds to
steroid injections (poistively) there is something that doesn't make sense.
For me it's mainly by knees, feet, hips and back as well as all over body
pain from the fibro. I woke from WLS and found all of my pains were gone,
except the ones from the WLS. I assumed it was the morphine and then
Percoset, but I quit all pain meds by 6 days PO and I was good for almost 4
weeks. I was shocked. It's not like I lost tons of weight the first month
(22 lbs) that suddenly my body had much less to carry around. I started at
442. The lack of pain was wonderful is all I can tell you. At about 4
weeks PO my fibro flared up and I tried to tough it out for about 3 more
weeks but finally had to go back on Bextra. I had discussed the situation
with the surgeon at 4 weeks and he said as much as he did not want me on
them, he wanted me moving and if that meant taking the anti-inflammatories,
then do it. Fortunately Bextra is very small. So he had me break it in
half and put the 1/2 into food that was all chewed and ready to swallow and
then do the same with the other 1/2. That way my pouch was as protected as
much as possible. What I did find is that it seemed to work better for me
than in the past. I think maybe because I had the break from it my body
wasn't accustomed to it. I used it for about 6-8 weeks and then got off.
I did not want to push my luck and end up with an ulcer and I was feeling
some better. While I still have some degree of pain all the time, I am
used to living with that. Some days my knees are quite tight and hurt a
lot, especially going down stairs. I may opt to have them injected them
with cortisone at some point in the future so as to avoid having to take
the anti-inflammatories. The other option is a steroid epidural in my low
back which hopefully would help my back some and usually gives me an
overall positive body effect. Not my first choice but an option. I am
down 181 lbs in a little over 8 months and I can tell you that the pain of
everything in my body is much less. The more I lost the more the hip pain
and cramping went away. The first couple of months I could walk very
little due to the pain and cramping, but now can walk 1-3 miles with very
minimal problems. Yes I'm sore afterwards, but at least I am able to do
it. The legs and back and hips cooperate well enough.
<p>You have to accept that you will always have some pain but 99%
chance it will be a lot better eventually. I find that extra strength
tylenol will actually help me now on the days that are worse. There is
always pain meds too. For me, in the past, Ultram produced the best
results for arthritis type pain. It's a reasonable pain medication and not
really considered addictive. There is liquid Vioxx available and I suspect
at some point there will be others in liquid form. I also just recently
heard that one of the things recommended for fibro patients is a high
protein low carb diet, so a WLS diet might just be the ticket. I realize
your situation isn't exactly the same as mine but hopefully you will have
similar results. I feel right now that I am able to work with the
situation much better than before surgery and I'm not on any
anti-inflammatories so in my book the WL has helped a lot. I hope you
experience something similar. It is worth the gamble in my book as you
will be so much heathier and able to move that even if you still do have
problems there will be that much less weight on the joints. Also realize
that while anti-inflammatories are a no-no, sometimes the rules need to be
broken. Fortunately my surgeon recognized that and did not force me to go
do something without his knowledge. He just helped me to make the decision
and figure out the best possible way to try and protect me as much as
possible. For me getting rid of the anti-inflammatories also got rid of
the Prilosec I live on for 8 years to keep my stomach happy due to the
other drugs. So WLS helps in so many ways. Good Luck!
— zoedogcbr
October 16, 2003
As for myself, the pain seemed to get worse. I still take 25 to 50 mg of
Vioxx daily along with pain medication. I am much worse in the damp, colder
days. So my surgery did not help with my pain. So, I guess it is an
individual thing.
— Sandra Y.
Click Here to Return