What medications seem to work best for Osteoarthritis ?

Oh my, a double dose of an awful disease, well, I can tell you what helps with my osteoarthritis. I usually take aspirin for mine. Tylenol is totally ineffective and so are other NSAIDS. I take two aspirin when I eat breakfast, lunch and supper. That is better for me than any other meds that are available OTC. Mine has gone to my back and neck, I also take MSContin twice daily. I know that sounds like I'm using a sledgehammer to hit a tack, but my OA issues are rather incapacitating. I hurt so badly from my arthritis, I can't imagine what you must be feeling.
So, to allow some quality of life, and to allow me to function walking, standing, bending and sometimes just sitting, I take both aspirin for its anti-inflammatory properties and MSContin for the pain.

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For some people, ibuprofen or naproxen work to relieve pain, others require prescription NSAIDS. I'm sorry that you are having problems with RA and OA. As the prior poster stated,there are steroid injections into affected joints, and also an injection of a viscous substance injected into knees that cushions them while we use the knees on a daily basis. It's funny how I never worried about any of this when I was young, I guess I was hard on my body doing crazy things, and the old quip, if I knew I was going to live this long, I would have taken better care of my body, is true. It's too late now, so I am dealing with my arthritic bones as best I can.
Wishing you a less painful day,
Sweet Hippie

Hello. Wanted to tell you about my sister. She also has both. They are working on the osteo with exercise. Real exercise with a certified PT personal trainer. She has been through one pain med after another. Injections, you name it. She is working with a pain clinic and has learned many techniques to help with the pain including a support group where they share experiences. She says this is of great benefit.

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The personal trainer has focused on core strength. They have found that keeping the body strong through the back and supporting muscles keeps the spine in alignment and less pressure on the failing vertebrae. She recently told me her pain is now manageable. She is on tramadol but it took a long time to get there because of insurance. She has been battling this for ten years and is now 56. Anyhow, the training has been intense. The result amazing. She had already done a knee replacement before fifty. She says the training has given her full range of motion in the knees as well.

She dropped weight, maybe twenty pounds, she has always been skinny. And that helped too. She went to a dietician and got what a portion size is and how to eat healthier. The weight just disappeared.

What I am letting you know and others just like you, sadly there are many, that keeping the body exercised and healthy will do a lot for your pain. The body gets stiff over night as we age. If you don't move it, it gets worse. She was in terrible pain when she started. She pushed through and is enjoying life now. After all, there is only now and no waiting until later to feel better.

Wanted to pass this along. Could tell you a lot more if interested. The only thing really stopping you is you. She has a lot of resources available. Those of us in the middle may not. But your doctor will help you find a way.

Wishing you a better life to live. Karen