Y it B The Remicade | Arthritis Information
The Remicade really does do me wonders. It works a whole lot better than Humira did. It takes away most of my pain and problems, even this crappy neck/shoulders/upper back thing I got going on. I really do have decreased symptoms when the Remicade is working. It does not give me a boost of energy like Humira did, but it does take away most of the pain unlike Humira. So it is a good trade off - not much energy for a lot less pain.
I do not mean to be martyr and do not mean to bring the board down. It is just that this neck/shoulders/upper back pain really effects my everyday living. It has increasingly gotten worse since I have told an RD about it back in 2001. That RD took x-rays and said it was bone spurs, and nothing could be done for it. Then I told the next RD about it, he moved my head from side to side, up & down and said nothing wrong. Then I told my current GP about it and the mini black outs I get when I go to move my head when it is really painful, stiff and tense. Everything goes black for a few seconds and pain shots straight to my brain. GP suggested telling current RD about it and see if she will do something about it, since it is more than likely RA related. GP said if she does nothing about it, then they will order me to have a MRI done. But I have not been back to GP since October. Plus current RD is suppose to be ordering MRI for my hands, so I figured to save time & money that they both can be done at one time. I tried to tell RD about my neck/shoulders/upper back problem when I went for my infusion and she had to come check on me to make sure I was able to get my Remicade because the neck/shoulders/upper back pain was effecting my BP. She said to talk to her about it on my next visit with her.
It is kinda hard not to let something so painful and so debilitating not be the focus when it is bothering you. There is no way to escape it, there is no way to take your mind off of the pain. It is my neck, which is connected to my head. Many things you do to help take take your mind off of pain is done in sitting, reclining, standing positions. When my neck gets to bothering me there is only on position that helps which is laying down. I do not want to be able to be out of bed only 2-3 hours at a time, I want to be able to do things like everyone else. If it was my knee or my elbow or any other part of my body that had pain I would not focus on it because I have always had those pains throughout my life, so nothing new, but this pain is a whole nother pain. Not being able to turn me head or swallow food because of the pain it causes. And afraid that I will have another mini black out. It is scary. It is scary to read what I might have and think I might be to the point of surgery, if it is RA that has effected my neck.
I'm sorry you're having such a tough time right now Joonie. I hope you feel better soon - without surgery!Joonie-I have exactly the same problem. Neck, rt. shoulder, and upper back. My sternum is also inflammed. The RD has found OA in the neck and RA in the shoulder. He feels that the inflammation is pulling the muscles in to many directions. I see a pain dr. who on Thurs. is supposed to do a series of injections. The word "series" kind of makes me nervous. I do know that there will be at least on cortisone shot in the sternum and one in the shoulder. He also wants to inject the muscles of the neck area. Fun times.
The neck is causing me the biggest issue right now. I get crazy headaches and if I look up everything gets really dizzy. The pain dr. also believes I have Thorasic Oulet Syndrome caused by the muscles being stretched across the artery. Google it...
I'll let you know what the dr. says on Thursday. I feel like absolute crud today...caught a nasty bug on Sat. We had the regional science fair and I was the award presenter. Shook a ton of kids hands. Didn't know that a kid did a project on spreading the Plague. Anyway, I am showing one of the Blue Planet videos to the kids---I highly reccommend it along with the Planet Earth series. Very cool stuff.call your doctor and tell her you are not functioning due to the neck thing. don't wait til your next appt
and next time you experience a "mini" black out you need to get your butt to the emergency room. It may be just RA thing but its a pretty damm serious RA thing. Joonie your neck could be subluxing at the top of the neck. If it slips too far it can bloody well kill you. Surgery is awhole lot better alternative to that. You've got to be insistant about getting checked for this.
Call your doctor this morning please please please
Joonie, don't forget you have scoliosis in the mix here! If the GP and RD are dead ends/no help, try an ortho. You know something isn't right; make somebody help you. Take care.
Yep Joonie, get your neck checked out. My neck pains and were far more serious than I had hoped they'd be. Actually I put off cervical fusion for about 4 yrs. but my neuro told me that a good blow from behind could kill me. The surgery did get rid of my headaches and brought back the sensation in my fingertips that I was missing.
Be safe and get your neck checked!
Hang in there! I hope you get the help you need.There is a cream it is called capsasion or something like that. It can really help along with the pain meds or some times with out. It pretty well last the whole day. Just get some rubber or something because it can soak into your fingers and transfer to your face if you rub your face or put on make up. Or better yet put the rubber gloves on hubby and have him put it on for you. No 100 percent fix but it really can help with the neck pain.
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