I m a 68 year old farmer with lots of arthritis. Already had a TKR, have OA in both ankles, other knee getting shaky, bursitis in both hips, carpal tunnel both wrists, OA both hands, and need a new shoulder joint. During rehab for my TKR they also showed me exercises to help my shoulder, and it helped a lot. Only thing is at night the pain can be pretty severe, but okay during day. My othro DR. was giving me Tranadol plus Percocet.. Gov. Wolfe (Pa) passed a new tough drug law because of opioid mess. So my Dr. on last visit cut me off from not only Percocet but Tramadol too,and tells me just to start taking OTC drugs. I have been a patient at Ortho since 2013, and all of a sudden, despite knowing my history, just abruptly did this and said go to my GP for drugs, great specialist not helping me... I would take one 50 Tram twice a day, and never more than a 1/4-1/2 of a 5MG Percocet, only twice did a take a whole tab out of a 50 count script. The combo worked and let me sleep. The Dr. was such a jerk, last visit he only gave me Tram and said no Perc, just double the Tram. Then when I called for refill of Tram he said no more just the OTC. I m not a doctor shopper nor an addict, just a worn out farmer looking for pain relief. I ve read that 90 million people take Oxy, most must have real pain and not be druggies. So , the big question is what to sub for Percocet??? I just want to work a couple of more years then retire. The meds made this possible, now I feel like I m being punished for always following directions and using these drugs properly. As my GP said, a lot of cut off people will probably seek out illegal drugs like opium! Sounds like a great plan for harming a lot of innocent people! What do you think, and what non-opioid combo would be a effective? Thanks for advice
Hi, Without an exam, I can only give general information. Frankly with wear and tear, the opiates aren't all that great and aspirin like drugs are about equally effective and equally dangerous in different ways. Celebrex has some strength advantages but people vary a lot and Naproxen and ibuprofen and regular aspirin (but you need to push the dose on the Ibuprofen) are all sometimes the best. If it's really bad there's pain management and frankly, addiction treatment centers although that has loads of problems. Yes, people going onto the street is the "third wave" of the epidemic. Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further. Regards, Dr. Matt Wachsman, Addiction Medicine Specialist