[TKR] Pain Under Knee and Medial Side...Six Weeks Out!

[TKR] Pain Under Knee and Medial Side...Six Weeks Out!
Diclofenac is an NSAID (whether as oral Voltaren, generic oral diclofenac, Voltaren gel or Flector patches). For me, the problem with NSAIDs was when I was taking them prophylactically for arthritis pain when glucosamine & chondroitin didn’t seem to work and the COX-2 inhibitor Vioxx was pulled off the market (Bextra and Celebrex didn’t seem to work). COX-2 inhibitors are a form of NSAID that is a bit gentler on the GI tract but still not innocuous. I'd discovered Vioxx during the last years of my perimenopause when I had severe dysmenorrhea and menorrhagea, and it was the only thing that held the cramps at bay until menopause finally occurred. I took Aleve as my painkiller of choice, and pretty much BID regardless of symptoms. Bad idea. Push came to shove after 9 months of taking the “Bonesmart Cocktail” of ibuprofen and acetaminophen on a regular basis after my RTKR--I kept getting rejected for blood donation due to mild anemia, and my FP ordered an upper endoscopy to see if my GERD had morphed into a GI bleed. Instead, the diagnosis was a “small GI lesion of chemical origin:” basically NSAID abuse. I was ordered off oral NSAIDs in April of 2013, and told to use the topical ones sparingly. My last set of blood tests showed no more anemia. So I have developed a healthy respect for NSAIDs. I was told I could take them only when absolutely necessary, and for no longer than necessary. So this episode of bursitis, according to the ortho clinic, counts as “necessary.” As soon as I can go 12 hrs. without full return of symptoms I will discontinue the Aleve and return to either the time-release acetaminophen or icing as needed. I'm lucky--as long as I’ve been on an angiotensin receptor blocker (since 1992), I’ve been normotensive regardless of whether I’ve been taking NSAIDs. Original article and pictures take https://bonesmart.org/forum/threads/pain-under-knee-and-medial-side-six-weeks-out.25667/ site