new treatment for my knees-anyone had hy lan inject

“ok so the doctor has ordered the hylan/synvisc for my knees. it is a new treatment for knees that have thinning cartilage. it is made from rooster cartilage cells and injected into the knees over a 5 week period. has anyone had this done? do you think i will start crowing?”

“Cock a doodle doo!

I think you can have my name. I have never heard of this.”

“just make sure they secretly arnt injecting you with the bird flu as well...”

“Hey Cyndeee...I have heard of it but I don't know anyone who attest to it's healing properties..
If it works ..I SURE want to know...k

I found this sight ..might help..Good Luck

http://www.arthritisinsight.com/medical/meds/synvisc.html”

“274 results from Google. Here's a couple:
Injections for knee osteoarthritis

# Synvisc Injection Information
# Synvisc Injection Cautions
# Synvisc Injection Side Effects
Good luck.
last edited: 11/18/05 9:19:48 PM”

“Ha...I beat you Paul. ;)”

“Yes, trekkngirl, you did good. But did you read each one? I guess we are all interested in this one.
last edited: 11/18/05 9:24:00 PM”

“i know two guys that had this done. it didn't work for one, he had a knee replacement about a year after. the other just finished up two weeks ago and doesn't have an opinion yet.

in my opinion, it would be worth a try if you have insurance to pay for it. if you don't have insurance that will cover it, look into it more. find more people that have been treated this way and see what they say.”

“my insurance is covering it so that's not a issue. i am really hopefull that it will work. i am also working on losing weight, about 22 lbs so far.”

“Congrats on the weight loss!”

“well i had my first injections yesterday with no problems. i made a mistake on the drug, it is supartz. same thing, different name. four more injection to go. at least they spray that freeze stuff on my knee first.”

“Did it help you any today? How're you feeling?”

“I didn't know that was yesterday. Good luck, keep us informed!”

“the knees still hurt and i probably won't feel any relief until i finish the regiment.
my doctor feels this is going to do the trick. i'm very tired of living in pain.”

“if yo get the urge to start strutting around and pecking at the ground, i'd begin to worry”

“well today i had my second set of injections of supartz in my knees today. the right knee was fine but while he was injecting the second knee it started to hurt. well at least i didn't pass out. i also started taking aspirin and that seemed to to a little better with the pain relief. i also am down 30lbs and i am hoping that well add to the lessening of the pain.”

“WOW!!! That's great! You go girl!!!

How are the knees otherwise can you tell a difference from now to before the first shot?”

“yes, things seemed to kick in a little today. my son and i went to tampa christmas shopping and after 3 hours i didn't come out limping to bad.”

“This calls for an updated picture.
last edited: 12/19/05 7:15:20 PM”

“nowslimmer, do you know if you or i made it into the magazine that took our pictures up at trail days?”

“I did a google search for the magazine, but could not find it. I considered writing to the guy, but forgot about it. I have his card somewhere. He took quite a few pictures of my mug. I think he liked my beard. Of course I guess he liked the sidewalk a lot, too.

Next time I come across his card, I may write.

Once I was on national TV, the Good Morning America Show or something like that. An old woman was teaching phonetic spelling in the Little Greenbrier Schoolhouse in GSMNP and I just happened to take friends there on a day that they were filming. They did a zoom-in on me and my face during one of my quiet moments. It was on TV a few days later, but I never saw it. Relatives of my friends got it on VCR, but it was destroyed before I returned home.
last edited: 12/19/05 10:08:56 PM”

“I just saw this thread. How bad are your knees? Can you still walk?

I can't walk without the aid of a walker right now. My doctors have told me the cartilidge in my knees are almost gone and that I should consider surgery. Right now I'm trying out some natural formulas befor I let them cut me open.”

“mike, talk to your doctors about supartz. this was the first morning i was able to get up and i hardly limped at all. i have been in pain since the first of this year. had torn meniscus in both knees. did the first one in april and the left one in august. the right never did get to where there was no pain. i had to have cortisone shots before we went out west on vacation. i am now feeling there is light at the end of the tunnel!”

“I may give that a try. I've had a Cortisone shot in one knee and it didn't help at all. Pridnisone helped a bit, but I was never able to ditch the walker.”

“That is good news Cyndee! I wonder if that works on discs. If you remember to ask next time you're there, I'd be interested in knowing.

HM, good luck. I totally can understand about trying not to undergo surgery. Hope you're better soon.”

“tango, it is only approved for knee joints at this time.”

“Well better to be informed. Hey check out the new gear thread, my little friend showed up today!”

“had my 3rd set of shots on this pass wednesday, still no help. i'm beginning to get discouraged. my 4th set of supartz injections will be this coming wednesday. afer our 3 mile walk this morning, i was in alot of pain, but went out to the mall anyways. big mistake!!”

“Damn sorry to hear that Cyndee. But chin up maybe for you it will take the very last injection and it will all kick in at once.

My knees were killing me yesterday and the day before, it turns out that I forgot to put the MSM that I started taking in my daily vitamin container. WOW could I tell the difference. I took the pills and could tell a difference (better) in 12 hours. I wonder what the hell that means other than I won't stop taking the MSM.

I'm praying for you Cyndee.”

“i may need to add the MSM to my daily vitamins, i take glucosamine/chondroitin. i'll check it out, thanks. how many mg per day?
last edited: 12/31/05 1:34:15 PM”

“cyndeee - I've been hoping to hear some great news from you. Sorry to hear that those shots have not done wonders for you, yet. I hope that it just takes time to produce favorable results.

Tango - How long have you been taking MSM? I investigated it recently on the Web, but could not find any convincing evidence for taking it. How did you get on to it? Does your doctor know about it? Sure am glad to hear that it seems to help you.
last edited: 12/31/05 2:24:59 PM”

“About 2ish weeks. I could tell a difference within 2 days of starting to take them. I had actually heard somewhere that MSM had clinical trials that helped. I just went to (OMG) Walmart and bought their cheapest brand so if it didn't work I wouldn't be out a lot of money. I also have been taking glucosamine and chondroitin I don't think that's helped me. I am considering stopping taking them. Dr. doesn't know I haven't seen her in awhile.

I was quite amazed when I found I had skipped a few days and my knees hurt.

All I can say is MSM worked for me!

Good luck to both of you.”

“Thanks, Tango.”

“after mass this afternoon i stopped by walgreens and picked up a bottle of msm. i'll let yall know if it works.”

“I sure do hope it helps, even a little bit.”

“Hi all...

I'm not sure how I missed this thread other than having been rather busy during the holiday season.

I'm a Orthopaedic Surgical PA and do about 20 viscosupplement injections per week (Hyalgan, Supartz, Orthovisc, Synvics, etc).

If you have any questions, please feel free to post. Some will get benefit after the second or third injection but I routinely tell people to expect the maxiumum benefit 4 weeks after the entire series of injections are completed. It is true, some do not get any benefit - probably somewhere around 80-85% do and my compiled experience suggests an improvement of about 3-4 points on a pain scale of 0-10.

I wish you the bes and hope they improve your symptoms.

In regards to Hikin Mike - some people with advanced osteoarthritis may benefit but if there's little cartilage left for support, it will often be neglible or short lived.

Rob Ritchey, MS, PA-C”

“Robert,
I think the only thing left for me is knee replacement. After my MRI tomorrow I'll know for sure.

Thanks for posting!”

“HM, My Grandfather had a knee replaced and when his Dr. was done he told my Grandfather when he was ready to come back and he'd do the other knee. My Grandfather showed up 8 years later. The Dr said "Steve, I meant a month or two!" Anyway during those 8 years they made alot of improvements and the 2nd surgery was much better.

Good luck HM. You better get better, cause you ARE going to hike with me and show my some super photographic spots where I can't screw the pictures up too bad!!!”

“Tango,
I'm going to ask about getting both done at the same time. I don't know if that's smart, but if it's possible that is my plan.

I'll be looking forward to that day!”

“tomorrow i will have the 4th set of injections. the msm seems to be working. i'll ask my doctor about it when is see him. thanks robert for the info.”

“I had Knee replacement about 6 years ago on one knee...

its ok. It was great for a while but its wearing out it seems like-”

“cyndeee - How can you be sure it is the MSM rather than the hylan injections kicking-in, finally?

Did you make it over to Ocala yet? If not, please let me know when you go. I'd like to see your new playgirl figure! You can be proud of what you've accomplished.”

“hey now slimmer, when i didn't take the msm today my knees were hurting again. of i am off of it for a day or two. i will be in ocala next week to help out my cousin and was thinking of taking the tent to camp out at least overnight at juniper springs. i'll let ya know.
btw, not a playgirl figure yet but i'm really working on it.”

“SC,
How long did it take you to recover? How do you know it's wearing out?”

“Wow Cyndee! Good luck with the shots. NS have you started taking the MSM?

BTW I do not own stock nor get any commission from any MSM companies!”

“Tango - No, I want to clear it with my doctor, first. Except for one short spell, I've been off the crutches for three days. But there has been pain. Today the knees are better. It must have been helped by all the Holiday Chocolate that I've been eating. Gotta go to ths store for some more sweet pleasures. Rather enjoy M&M's instead of MSM.”

“so today i went for a hike on the pinellas trail with surfergirls dog, monty. i loaded my vapor trail pack with with 6lbs for a total pack weight of 8lbs. i thought that was a good place to start. my knees bothered me some going up and over the overpasses. the knees hurt some tonight but no more than usual. i will keep adding miles and weight to my workout to make sure i can do this hike without any problems.”

“Yesterday evening I left my crutches in the car and worked out in my aikijutsu class. It felt real good and raised my spirits a lot. I lasted about one hour before my worse knee said, "rest!" Althought the knee recovered I sat out the rest and just watched. So maybe eating all the chocolate did help a modest recovery. Time will tell.
the story
last edited: 1/05/06 7:55:19 PM”

“That's great Cyndee! I am on a mission for a new pack, I can't use my beloved Golite Trek anymore.

Good for you NS.”

“I'll carry you gear for you any day!”