Just diagnosed degenerative joint disease...have some questions?

I have been having severe lower back pain and I went to the ER about a week ago. The xrays showed that I have degenerative joint disease. I will be seeing a primary care doc next Monday but I was wondering what meds I might expect to be prescribed or what I should ask for? I don't have this pain all the time so I don't want to go to a pain clinic. But will most primary care physicians treat this with narcotic meds like vicodin? They only gave me a script for 6 vicodin in the ER (and nothing else!) and it did help me feel better, so should I ask for it?

I have it too. I take NSAIDS, like Aleve, or Advil on a daily basis. I also keep a stronger med on hand for the times the pain gets really bad.

Tell your doctor what they gave you in the ER and that it helped. Some of the narcotics can upset your stomach very badly so if the Vicodin didn't upset yours that would be the one to keep on hand.

Take care and good luck.

your dr will know best what is best for you. trust your dr and be prepared for a life of pain as this progresses. unfortunately,there are no cures.
my wife has had this for several years now and i don't envy her a BIT!
good luck to you and we will carry you in our prayers
Earle & Vida

Degenerative joint disease can be found anywhere in your body where you have joints! A degeneration or 鈥榳ear and tear鈥?of articular cartilage usually accompanied by an overgrowth of bone (osteophytes), narrowing of the joint space, sclerosis or hardening of bone at the joint surface, and deformity in joints.

Over many years and with activity and use of a joint, and sometimes damage due to trauma to a joint, the cartilage may become frayed, injured, torn, and may even wear away entirely. When this occurs, the bone surface on one side of the joint tends to rub or glide against the bone on the opposite side of the joint, providing a less elastic joint surface, and generating higher contact pressures at the end of the bone. Over time, the contacting bone surfaces become hardened and 鈥榮clerotic鈥? a process that causes the bone to look polished and on x-rays produces a whitened appearance.

It sounds as though you are in the early stages where you have pain off and on. This can be due to changes in temperature and weather, overuse, swelling.

Usually physician's will start a patient out on NSAID's, (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs). Motrin, Ibuprofen, Relafen, drugs of that nature. The problem with these drugs is they tend to cause stomach upset and sometimes ulcers. So you start with one problem and end up with another one. The one drug I found that is useful is Ultram or generic tramadol. It is touted as non-addictive, but as with any drug, overuse is possible and a person can become addicted to it. Also, I have used Soma (a muscle relaxant) in the past for low back spasms associated with the pain.

Doctor's rarely start patient's out on heavy narcotic medication as they are addictive in nature and if you are at the beginning of the disease, you'll have no relief in subsequent years.

Sometimes, steroid injections into the back will help. They are not painful. I've had the injections many times and they help tremendously in the early years of the disease. Unfortunatey, I had fallen many years ago and also injured the disc. I finally ended up having the disc removed and fused and I no longer suffer from any pain in my back. Although the degenerative changes are still there, the surgery helped to slow the process down considerably. Now I only use Ibuprofen and Soma once in a while to help.

Warm compresses alternating with ice packs seem to help as well.

You should write your symtoms down and present them to your doctor. If you have extreme stiffness in the morning or a change in the type of pain you have, anything along those lines, discuss with your doctor. Only you know how you feel and you must explain that to your doctor in order to get the help you need for your diagnosis. Good luck.

Well you will probably be put onto an anti-inflammartory drug but I owuld trust my doctor to make a correct choice with discussion with you. Also not everything works for everyone and you may find you have to find the best med for you by trial and error.
Als you may find something works wonderfully and then stops working so don't be afraid to let your doctor know.
You doctor may also suggest some physio as well as some muscle strengthening exercises. By strengtening the muscles you allow them to carry the load taking some of the strain off the joint itself.
If you want to try the herbal approach I wqould consider taking glucosamine which definitely does help strengthen and rebuild the joint capsule. It will take about 3 weeks to see any effect.
The other herbal medicine I havused is Milk Protein ( as long as you are not lactose intolerant) which is a special formulation that helps to tighten the joint capsule to prevent the pain causing chemicals in your body passing through to where they can do the most harm.

The other evry improtant thing to know is that there comes a toime where you will not be speaking of pain-free but managed pain. As eventually you will have to ber a certain amount of pain but at a low level. I do hope that that time is years away.

Right now the doctor at emerg gave you somenarcotics to take the intense pain away but your treatment regimen will more likely be to keep the inflammation down and avoid getting to the acute stage you are at now.