Tramadol Anyone On This

Only one for Zigster though

 

Thanks once again for the many replies,I never realised that so many people on here had been given these pills almost handing out sweets on a drug that I have since found out through you good people and research on the internet that these pills are so addictive

@clueless1 I had initially asked our nurse practitioner to start the ball rolling so that I could have the bunion on my left big toe seen to as it was causing me so much pain when we are out walking and and in the evenings if I have been on my feet all day.I wasn't expecting to get to see the Podiatric Surgeon for at least three months as everyone kept telling me that was how long the NHS waiting time was so I was surprised to get the appointment come through so quickly.My right knee has been painful for months which has is nothing unusual as I always have problems with them in the winter months.

I have tried to keep mobile and active especially as my BP has been slightly on the high side recently.The Locum Dr I saw wasn't even interested in the pain behind my knee which feels if I stand wrong like someone is pinging the back of my knee with a large elastic band (only way I can describe it) all he said was that my knees are misshaped and that I might need knee replacements and then proceeded to prescribe the Tramxdol which incidentally I have stopped taking after the horror stories I have read about on here.I can't believe that these tablets are being dished out without telling the patients the side effects of them and how addictive they can become If I had stayed on them then I would have had to have been weened off of them by the Dr so now that I have already stopped taking them I won't have that problem

Anyway the Clinician (not a nurse as I thought) told me that the muscles in my legs are very tight due to my feet problems and even my Mortons Neuroma is being caused by my bunion problem so fingers crossed that problem may be sorted as well but I have already been warned that even after the op the bunion could come back.It is the recovery time and not being mobile for some time that I am not looking forward to

Thanks everyone for your input

 

Tight muscles cause all manner of problems.

The good news though is its usually solved without surgery or medication. Why not ask to be referred to physio? Very often it's a simple phone discussion while they work out what's up, then they send you some simple exercises to do daily.

Basically you need to gently but frequently stretch the muscles. There should be no pain (pain is bad) while doing it. Being brutally frank, forgive me, but a very important thing that is often neglected, even by professionals, is the bum muscles. They do so much and are so often taken for granted. If they are misfiring, then your legs will twist, the arches in your feet will collapse, and your poor knees will take such a hammering as they try to take the forces of walking all on one side of the joint.

This all comes from a mix of my own fairly in depth research plus advice from an excellent nurse practioner who immediately picked up on things that several doctors overlooked. Both my knees packed up suddenly without warning, and the NHS rehabilitation was going to be many months. With the physio, the exceptional nurse, and a lot of my own reading, I was back in martial arts training within 2 months.

I'm not asking you to take my word. I'm not a medic. I just thought if I share my experience, it might give you questions to ask of your doctor, that might help to find the quickest resolution.

 

@shiney Thanks for that link.I had a quick look at it but there is a lot to take in so will have a more in depth look at it when I get a bit more time

@clueless1 Thanks for your detailed reply Yes muscles can cause lots of problems and it is amazing just how they work and what happens to them if things are out of kilter

I have had the results of the X-rays and it appears that I have Osteoarthritis in both my feet (I suspected as much because of the pain I am in with them,and the feet and toe pain plus the bunion problems are what has caused the problems with my knee.The Dr said this morning we are made to walk a certain way through evolution but if there are any feet/toe problems then we tend to start walking a certain way to try and take the pressure off of the affected foot, hence the reason why I have such chronic knee and back of the knee problems

I showed the Dr my knee brace and he said it will help the problem.He also asked how I was getting on with The Tramxdol and I said that I discontinued with them after taking three of them as I didn't want to get addicted to them and he agreed with me that is what can happen to some people.(Well it isn't going to happen to me )

Anyway here is a photo of my problem toe and hopefully some time in the New Year it is going to be sorted but have to see what the Surgeon says when I go to see him on Thursday I know that for the next few years I could still be suffering with my feet but the way there are now and the pain I am in,I will be a big girl and put up with whatever life throws at me.As long as Mr Kandy understands that I am going to need some help and that possibly I won't be able to put as much work into the garden,greenhouse, allotment as I would like next year

 

I too have a serious problem with one of my big toes. Basically I smashed the two halves of my big toe joint together, flattening both halves of the joint. It's like the bone equivalent of square wheels now. Add to that the fact that in its failed attempts to heal, little spikes of new bone now interfere with what remains of the joint. The result being that my big toe won't flex properly and it is very painful to walk normally, and it really knacks if I accidentally bend it.

I'm waiting for my appointment for the next stage. All conservative measures have failed, so likely surgery is next.

In the meantime, I have to find ways to live as normally as possible. I even still manage my martial arts training, although I've had to develop my own adaptation of various techniques and I can no longer train in bare feet.

For general knocking about, the trainers have had to go. They flex too much and bend my toes as I walk. Sturdy boots are the thing now. The soles are rigid enough to protect my foot from bending, the soles are slightly curved to allow my boots to roll as I walk, and being boots, I can secure them firmly at the ankles to much of the force is taken away from my feet.

One important thing to note is this. When rediscovering how to walk, you must be mindful of where the forces are being redirected too. I realised I was subconsciously transferring all the weight to my heels. They can take it, but unfortunately that then forces the leg to try to bend the wrong way. A surefire recipe for knee, hip and back pain. Transferring to the outside edge of the foot is not a solution either, because that tries to bend the legs inward at the knees. Again, pain. For me, it helps to focus on the tripod that is the foot. The heel, the ball of the foot under the big toe, and the ball of the foot under the little toe, together form a tripod that should be loaded as equally as possible on the three points. Be sure to avoid subconsciously leaning forward as you walk too, as this loads the front of the feet and also tries to bend the knees backwards.

The trouble is, walking is something we don't think about because it's something we've just done for as long as we can remember. When there's a fault, don't rely on instinct to sort it. Try to be mindful of what's happening, where the forces are, what's bending and when etc, and balance the load as evenly as possible so as to minimise the loading on injured joints, but without excessively transferring forces elsewhere.

 

@clueless1 i don't want to be bossy but you really need to go and get your foot problems sorted out as t sounds like you have done a lot of damage to them and the longer you leave it the more chance you will have Arthritis problems later on in life.

Anyway,been to see about the results and of my foot X-rays this afternoon at the hospital although it took nearly an hour before I was seen as a patient from the main hospital who was having podiatry work done,started having pains in his chest and so Paramedics had to be called to assess what was going on

Had a chat with the surgeon and it looks like I have got quiet severe arthritis in my ankle as well as my toes and foot bones and after chatting technically with the clinician about how they should go about my problems it has been decided with my agreement that my toe will be broken and then fused which should they said take away the Arthritis pain in that toe.The x-ray also shows that I now have a flat left footdue to the ankle Arthritis and the surgeon said that if I don't have the work done as suggested I will have to have more ops in the future as the Arthritis will make my problems worse Evidently Mr Bolt of running fame has two flat feet and look how fast he can run

So surgery is expected to take place in two months time and it will be a local anaesthetic so I will hear all the sound effects as they break my toe and realign and fuse the joint

Perhaps I should have carri d and n with the Tramxdol after all then would have been too spaced out to worry about itMight need plenty of this instead

 

I know. My big toe joint is carnage. I've seen the xray. The MRI revealed even more. It seems that when I broke it, a fragment of bone from the joint surface ended up in the wrong place and set there when it healed. A&E missed the fact it was broken at the time. To be fair, they don't have much time per case at A&E.

Anyway, I'm in the system now. I have been for months. The NHS doesn't move quickly but again to be fair, that's probably a good thing. They always want to try the least invasive / intrusive treatments first. Like seeing if one can learn to live with it, then anti inflammatory medications etc, then special insoles etc, then finally, possibly surgery. That's the stage I'm at. I'm waiting for my letter for my appointment with the orthopaedic consultant.

I've yet to speak to the surgeon, but based on what I've been told by the podiatrist and the GP, in my case a fusion is not a good option. A replacement joint is most likely. But there is a reluctance to do it before its absolutely necessary because it will only last maybe 10 years, and while a second replacement is a possibility, that's a much bigger and more invasive operation. They cut out and remove over an inch of metatarsal bone to make room for the artificial joint. Eventually it will come loose, and then a the bone they attached the joint to will need replacing with a graft. I don't know where the graft comes from but it doesn't sound pleasant.

So I'm at a stage now where I'm still experimenting with footwear, still trying to find a balance between medication and lifestyle tweaks, still trying to find the best way to deal with it, but open to whatever the consultant has to say when I eventually meet him or her.

Regarding your fusion, I'm sure it will all work out well for you. The only reason it's not recommended for me is that my choice of hobby / fitness (martial arts) requires my foot to flex in ways that don't matter for most activities.