Anyone had Synvisc injections?

[deanie]

I am scheduled for syvnisc injections in my knees for my arthritis. Has anyone had these and did they help at all/much? TIA

 

[sharadoc]

Hi. I had them in August for the first time. My warning is - the injection will hurt. I was surprised, since I get cortisone on a "regular" basis, but these are much larger and longer needles. I was glad I got them at the end of the day after work, because it would have been a problem working with that much pain at the injection site.

I have rheumatoid arthritis, so it's not considered to be as successful for RA, but I do think it helped. My left knee has been much better, my right knee not as good, but I also have no ACL in my right knee, so that certainly makes a difference!!

Anyway, if you have ostoarthritis, then I think it's great. If you have RA, then it's a gamble. But like my Dr. said - either we try it and it might work, or we don't try it and we KNOW it won't work. I decided to gamble and so far, I think it's better.

FYI - I started on Celebrex at the same time, so that could be helping, too.

 

[deanie]

Thanks for the reply, Sharadoc. I have RA and OA and the orthopedic surgeon feels that the RA caused the OA in my knees. I too have had cortisone injections three times in my knees and it has helped somewhat. I thought that those shots were bad enough. I am not looking forward to the Synvisc. I see there is a Synvisc One out now so that you get one shot instead of a series of 3. Is that the one you had? I just turned 55 and I am hoping to wait for a couple of years for my knee replacement surgery. We are planning a trip to WDW in early Dec 2010 so I hope I can walk OK then. I guess I can always rent an ECV. I am not on Celebrex but I am on methotrexate and Humira for my RA plus an anti-inflammatory.

 

[sharadoc]

Hi. Yes, I had the One shot. I think that's probably why it was more painful, it's a lot of stuff!

My problem is that my RA is in my other joints, so walking at Disney World is uncomfortable, even if my knees are okay. I have bad shoulders now, and just the weight of my arms pulling down gets to be very painful after a full day of walking, plus my hips and ankles get very uncomfortable. In August, I rented an ECV for the first time and it was absolutely wonderful! My family had a great time, I was not crying from the pain, or stopping every 10 minutes to rest. My DD told me it was the best trip ever and wants me to rent an ECV every time, which I will.

I am also trying to avoid the replacement surgery for as long as I can, but it's great to know that I can still keep going to Disney World with an ECV and have a wonderful time!!

I got over the fear of stares or criticism very quickly - I didn't care!!! My family loved it and so did I.

 

[Tink6666]

My husband had a series of 3 shots a few years ago(He is bone on bone in 3 parts of his Rt knee), they did not help his pain level at all. We just need him to get older so He can have his knee replaced!

 

[cybrary]

Last May I had a cortisone shot, left knee, for osteoarthritis. Didn't help much. Spent a couple days in wheelchair at Disney in July. Then on return home, had 3 shots synvisc scheduled to see if that would help. First shot didn't hurt, second shot was killer. On the third, Dr put in an anesthetic injection first before the shot, and that one didn't hurt at all. Unfortunately, I got no relief from the injections. Dr said sometimes they work, sometimes not. His own mother had bought 6 months of benefit from the injections. So we scheduled knee replacement. Today is one week since the surgery. I am now in rehab, and I am coming along fine. I am 58 yrs old and anticipate that I will do better at my age than waiting (in some degree of pain) for years. I am looking forward to retrieving my mobile life. My next trip is planned for Dec 26 and I will rent an ECV. (Watch out ev1) It's a trip I look forward to.
I wish you well with the injections. Ask for anesthetic first. Best of luck on future surgery to you and others seeking pain relief.

 

[Disneydonnam]

I had no relief with the shots. Good Luck.

 

[deanie]

Thanks so much for all the replies!! I could find very little info on the web but knew I could count on my DIS buddies!!I have just ordered my synvisc and decided to go for the series of 3 shots as that is what the doctor ordered. I am not a baby about pain but for some reason I am dreading these shots!! I will let everyone know how I make out. I would just like to buy about 2 years before I get my knees replaced. And yes, I think I will rent an ECV for our trip in Dec. 2010. Never driven one before so look out everyone!!

 

[jm-mom]

I had the Sinvisc One shots about 5 weeks ago. One knee the shot was fine, very minimal pain. The other knee hurt worse than any pain I've ever had. I nearly blacked out and I have a pretty good tolerance for pain. I'd had difficulty walking after cortisone shots so I had the forthought to bring crutches with me and I was so glad I did. Even then I still had trouble getting back to my car. The pain was pretty bad for a few days but ice and rest helped. It's been about 5 weeks now and I'd say the shots did very little to help me. I have osteoarthritis and am bone on bone in one knee and nearly so in the other. Sometimes they work and sometimes they don't. I won't be repeating them, that's for sure! As far as Disney goes, even with the shots, I had no plans to walk around the parks. I'm an ECV convert and really, it's the only way I could go. With perfect knees it's a lot of ground to cover. The ECV makes not only trip more enjoyable but also my family's. I'm not in pain and can get around with them more easily.

Good luck with the shots. I hope they work. Take some ibuprofen about an hour before you go. Also if you have any swelling prior to the shots, that knee will hurt. And don't look at the needle ahead of time!

 

[deanie]

Don't worry - I have absolutely no intention of looking at the needles before hand. The needles are sitting in my fridge now - a series of 3 for each knee. Thanks for the heads up about the ibuprofen and the crutches. I will probably not do the crutches as someone can pick me up but I will definately take the ibuprofen ahead of time.

 

[cjlvsccm]

I am scheduled for syvnisc injections in my knees for my arthritis. Has anyone had these and did they help at all/much? TIA

Hi deanie!

I had synvisc injections before our last Nov/Dec trip, and again before our June trip this year. Lucky for me they are allowed at 6-month intervals!!

I think they did help, especially in the short term... scheduled the third shot just days before each trip. I also started taking Flex-A-Min with hyaluronic acid (which is the synvisc ingredient), instead of Rx meds, and have had good results. I try to avoid steroids whenever possible, so was glad for this alternative to cortisone.

As pp's have said, the shots can hurt, but for me it was never severe enough pain that I couldn't drive myself home. I should have thought about taking NSAIDs before shot time, but I will do that if I have these again. My doc always applied a topical anesthetic, so that helped too.

Best of luck with it!!