I have had RA primarily in my feet for over 10 years. I currently take 20mg. of methotrexate. For 6 weeks, off and on I have been having this pain/stiffness in the base of my neck. It radiates to my shoulder and is extremely sore. When it is severe, I have problems turning my head. I have to like to turn my whole body to look at something. Sometimes, i wake up and it is bad and other days it is not noticeable. But, then as the day goes on it gets worse. My family tries to massage my shoulder and it is VERY sore. Does this at all sound like a new symptom of RA in my neck or shoulder? I do not see my rheumatologist for 6 weeks and I cant decide if I should call for earlier apt. or just see my family dr. and hope this is just temporary. Appreciate anything you could share with me. Thank you.I have problems with my neck and upper back as well. It will often radiate
to my rt shoulder. I had an xray a few months ago and the RD said it was
OA there, not RA. I was surprised as I didn't think OA would be a
problem at 30. Regardless, it causes me quite a bit it of pain.
Wish I could give you good advice. Really, I am looking for answers too.Hi Sandy, welcome to the board. I recently have been diagnosed with
degenerative disk disease, not sure of the origin of it yet as I have no
rheumy right now and my doctor just seems to lump all my symptoms
together and calls it arthritis. I have more problems with numbness and
tingling in my left arm. But now looking back on things, I think many of my
headaches are from my neck problem. I also have a left shoulder that is
very sore and gets very stiff. Awww, this RA is great stuff. I just mostly
wanted to say hi and tell you I can relate to some of what you are feeling.
Hang in there and try to get into see your doctor sooner if you can. Good
luck.
My neck RA affects me at the base of my skull. its kind of a dull headache. On bad days it will radiate into the face areas. I will have trouble rotating the neck. The pain from my shoulders was down the arm..however the shoulder is easily affected by soft tissue problems with the rotator cuff and that will affect all of the muscles of the shoulder, neck and upper back
I would give your doctor a call so you can at least get an accurate idea of what is going on. If its the shoulder that joint tends to respond well to cortisone injections and physical therapy
Lorster, seriously i'd kill your dr, for telling you its just arthritis.. if its really RA.. he
I'd call your PCP to get in sooner. I have DDD of the cervical spine and had a pinched nerve once between the C5-C6 vertebrae that caused pain in my shoulder and numbness in some of my fingers. It was diagnosed by an MRI. Recovery for me was a long painful process.
One way to tell if the shoulder pain is nerve pain is how the pain reacts. Does the shoulder hurt worse on movement? If the answer is yes, it isn't nerve pain from the neck - it's likely mechanical pain in the shoulder. If the pain is the same regardless of how you move your arm, then it's probably nerve related.