Arthritis

[EmilyA]

Morning all. Need a bit of help for my husband who suffers increasingly from arthritis. The doctor has sent him for x-rays which confirm moderate to severe arthritis. He has been told that the next step would be the surgeon. He has been given diclofenac and ibuprofen on prescription, but neither do much to control the pain. I think he really needs to discuss pain management and the right sort of exercise, but hasn't been offered any other referrals. Do we need to ask to see some kind of "logue"? Are there likely to be any local support groups or does that sort of thing not exist? We are in the south of Calvados.

[NormanH]

Sorry to hear about your Husband. Nobody should be left to suffer pain,

but some Doctors have a Catholic guilt complex and don't treat as well

as they should.

Make a fuss: his rights are in the code:

La prise en charge de la douleur est inscrite dans le code de la Santé

publique : « toute personne a le droit de recevoir des soins visant à

soulager sa douleur. Celle-ci doit être en toute circonstance prévenue, évaluée, prise en compte et traitée » (article L1110-5

A few links to help you search

http://www.sante.gouv.fr/la-douleur.html

Vers quels professionnels vous orienter ?

Toute douleur sous-entend deux problèmes différents : celui de la

cause (le diagnostic) et celui de sa prise en charge (le traitement).

Dans tous les cas, c’est votre médecin traitant qui est le mieux

placé pour vous aider : d’une part pour établir un diagnostic ; d’autre

part pour proposer un traitement.

Where and who to ask for help:

GP, Pharmacist, Specialist Kiné:

http://www.sante.gouv.fr/vers-quels-professionnels-pouvez-vous-vous-tourner.html#hopital_clinique

http://www.hopital.fr/Hopitaux/Vos-dossiers-sante/Fin-de-vie/La-prise-en-charge-de-la-douleur

http://www.inserm.fr/thematiques/neurosciences-sciences-cognitives-neurologie-psychiatrie/dossiers-d-information/la-douleur

Some regions do have specialist centres:

http://www.chu-toulouse.fr/-le-centre-regional-d-evaluation-et-

[suein56]

[quote user="EmilyA"]Need a bit of help for my husband who suffers increasingly from arthritis.[/quote]

It really depends on what kind of artritis your husband has; whether he has osteo or rheumatoid arthritis.

The painkillers he has been given reduce swelling as well as helping to relieve pain but, IMO, there are much more effective pain relief agents than those. When I was in real trouble 2 years ago I got lots of advice and different painkillers to try as pain relief is very individual.

Could you go to a different GP ? Or go direct to a Rheumatologue. If you go without a reference from your GP then you won't be reimbursed the full cost of the appointment, which could be 100 euros for a full examination (providing you took along the existing x-rays) but I think it would be worth it.

If you think not enough is being done then don't just take your GP's word for it, find someone else.

Edit: And yes there is also the Kiné for exercises and massage/pain relief, sessions for which come via an ordonnance from your GP.

A good idea if you find the right Kiné as they are a mine of information in themselves and they know all the 'ologues' !

Sue

[NormanH]

You may already found this site but if not it might be helpful:

http://www.arthritis.org/conditions-treatments/understanding-arthritis/

in particular

http://www.arthritistoday.org/about-arthritis/arthritis-pain/index.php

[EmilyA]

Thank you both that is very helpful. Should have said before that he has osteoarthritis in hands, shoulders, knees and feet. I think we need to work on our doctor. Our much-loved MT has just retired and been replaced by a very competent young woman, but we find that she is a bit more reactive than proactive, so I think we need to ask for a referral to a rhumatologue and some stronger drugs. The trouble is that he pushes himself all the time working in the garden and the pain is much worse when the weather is damp. Would be nice to relax a bit more and take some salt-water cures, but there is always too much to do....

[Pierre ZFP]

There's some good info there Norm, thanks for that.  My wife has bad Osteoarthritis in her right knee. So much so that the surgeon that did a 'scrape and flush' on it said it was 'shot full of holes',  his words.

She can't get a replacement because she is too young (58) and to quote another Doc 'If we replace it now it might wear out before you die so we would have to do it again'  Great people skills some of these Docs have got!

[idun]

And that has been 'me', too young to have a knee replaced. However, I have just seen a specialist physiotherapist who is going to recommend that I have a knee replacement......... maybe helped by the fact that I am now over 60, last year, I was certainly 'too young'![:D]