If I were betting, I would put my money on trochantric bursitis. That's what I had and it was really hard to get over it. I am much better now, but it has taken a long while of doing specific exercises. I couldn't afford physical therapy, so I went online and found the exercises on the web site for the University of Michigan School of Medicine. Here is a link that might be useful: U of M exercises for trochantric bursitis

The most important thing is to have a proper diagnosis for any and all orthopedic problems. Physical therapy can help, but if the exercises are treating the wrong problem, then they can make things far worse than they already are. The same goes for a chiropracter especially. Manipulations of the spine or any joint that are done without the proper diagnosis can do serious harm, especially if there is any osteoporosis going on or displaced joints. Please see an ortho doc that specializes in your specific problems and they will send you for the proper tests, usually MRIs to determine the problem. Then, together, you can formulate a treatment plan. Just swallowing pain pills will not resolve the underlying problem. Catherinet, you need a new PT person. The best would be physical therapists who are sports medicine ones. They are well trained in all kinds of PT as well as new techniques and fibromyalgia as well. As for how a knee can cause all kinds of problems and pain elsewhere, it's simple. If you think of your body standing up to start with and look at it that way, you will see that the pressure on your body, goes from the feet up to the ankles, the legs, the knees, thighs, hips, spine, neck to your head. Any one of those pressure points, when not moving or functioning correctly can and will throw the entire body off and cause pain both below and above it. For example, if you have a problem with your knee, then you are not standing on the affected leg, ankle, knee and foot. You put pressure incorrectly on the hip, all the way down to your foot. By doing that, you then put strain on all those joints, tendons, muscles, ligaments. At the same time you are pulling the spine and neck on that side off as well. As you do this to the affected side of your body, you start putting strain on the opposite side and you start pulling everything out of wack. Sometimes, what you are feeling a permenent pulled muscles and joint irritation from what is going on and sometimes it will create further medical problems from long standing problems with one joint. The other big issue is the spine. As we age, the spine starts to wear down, and though we may think that the pain in the knee or the hip is directly from those joints, the real problem is with the spine. Don't be sorry that the pain is getting to you. I've been there and no what that is like. I've had several orthopedic issues for the past 10 years and found out last year, that everyone of them was stemming from spinal stenosis in my lower back. When that was fixed, oh, the pain was completely gone, until my feet decided that they like my back the way it was before and created ortho problems for me. Got that taken care of and the ankles got pissed at both the spine and the feet. So took care of that, all with custom orthotics, good shoes and Pt. I just have to remember that I can't over do or I really get screwed. Like now. Really over did it last weak and tore a muscle in the lower back that needs big time PT and pain meds. If not healed in 4 weeks the muscle wil have to be stitched. Anyway, get the proper diagnosis for what is going on before you head off to a PT and if you are suffering from any kind of osteoporosis, a good doc will tell you to never go near one ans the manipulations will break bones on you. Try seeing a sports medicine orthopedic doc that specializes in spines. And below is a great link to a spine forum with lots of support and helpfull info. My doc thinks it's one of the best locals on the web for info and support. Click on the link and when the page comes up, go to the left side of the page and click on discussion forums. You have to register to post on the forums and use the live chat. same kind of thing as with GW, but its a wonderful site to be part of. I joined and love it there. Good luck and e-mail me if you want any further info or help or someone to vent to. Fran Here is a link that might be useful: spine-health.com

It's a TV fictional show - NOT reality... you are giving it WAY too much credibility. BTW - I know MANY people who have learned to live with the pain. That is not unusual. It is a shame that you will not try anti-inflammatories for you pain....

Wildchild, I think you're exactly right. (And that's brave of you to say, too.) My sister is bipolar, too. She is pretty good about taking her meds and staying in treatment, but the doctors have always had a hard time treating her. She is depressed most of the time, with periods of mania. She's tried virtually every drug they use to treat bipolar, plus several rounds of electroconvulsive therapy. Susan_on, that quote from Drew Pinsky was a lightning bolt for me. That's *exactly* what I think about her. She doesn't bring the problems on herself (kidney stones, car accident where the other driver was cited, etc.), but she is pleased when something happens, because it gets her attention and narcotic drugs. It's hard to judge someone else's level of pain, but I always wonder. For example, right now, there's something wrong with her hip. The doctors thought it might have been fractured, but it wasn't, and they are thinking it's just a pulled muscle. I watch her - it's painful for her to walk, and she has to adjust herself to sit comfortably, but she'll watch television for hours without pain. It doesn't seem any worse to me than when my hip bursitis flares up - quite painful, but certainly bearable. It would never occur to me to use narcotics for my bursitis, but she immediately reaches for them. Sue, yes, she's tried to get to the root of the pain. It isn't any one thing. At one point it was her shoulder. She had surgery, it got better ... and then there were kidney stones. They passed, she got better ... and then something happened to her hip. She goes to the doctor, does physical therapy, tries alternative therapies, but something else always goes wrong. And she always asks for something for the pain. I'm not at all convinced that getting rid of the pain would take care of the problem. In fact, I'm pretty much convinced otherwise. I don't know that she's physically addicted, simply because she doesn't get enough of the medication. She certainly has a tolerance to narcotic pain meds, but so does anyone who takes them long-term, addicted or not. She misses the drugs when they're gone, but never has any sort of detoxing symptoms. (I'm intimately familiar with those, from watching my addicted clients when they get locked up without their drugs.) She won't agree to hospitalization or treatment of any kind, and she's not at a point where she could be forced. She goes to work every day, her daughter is well cared-for (by me, when she's on a drug binge), she keeps her doctor appointments. No court would find that she was a danger to herself, and I don't really want to do that, anyway. I've spent a lot of years trying to save her from herself, and finally got it through my head that it's not helpful. Linda_in_Iowa, I spoke to my doctor yesterday, and she recommended the same thing as you did. I've got the name of a pain clinic, and I suggested that she go. We'll see.