I've had a swollen painful wrist and stiff sore fingers constantly since October last year. I've been on Plaquenil for 4 months now, and on Friday I had an injection into my wrist joint. I've still got the pain, in my fingers and my wrist
Thanks for any feed-back
^ Plaquenil should take up to 6 months to work, it takes a while to build up in your system to work. If it isn't working, perhaps you should ask your doctor to add another DMARD, like Sulfasalazine, and a NSAID... Corticosteroid injections work within 48 hours, in my experience.
Can you take any OTC NSAIDs?
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NSAID's tend to give me a runny tummy so I avoid them. I just don't understand why the corticosteroid hasn't worked?? The swelling has reduced slightly but that's all. Sounds like you might be right about adding another DMARD..thanks for the advice.
Perhaps the dose of steriods wasn't strong enough May. Can't comment on the plaquenil as I got liver problems and turned yellow within weeks of starting it.
Good wrist supports can help with wrist pain. I have some really good ones that are made in the States but I've cut the tabs off them so can't tell you what brand. They have metal strips in them.
Hope you get some relief soon
hope you're feeling better soon!
It took about 3 days for my steroid injection to kick in...unfortunately, even with that, I didn't get my full range of motion back, but it did provide significant relief. Have you tried taking something like Prevacid or Aciphex with the NSAID? Or Aleve? I had symptoms much like yours and while NSAID's didn't take all the swelling down, they took away a LOT of pain. Also the stomach side effects from one to another can differ, I couldn't tolerate Indocin, so maybe try a different one? Good luck!hi may. my wrists have been swollen for 13 yrs no matter what meds i have
taken. the inflamation has sometimes been minimal but never gone..
Boney
It's really hard to determine.
Drugs work differently on people. Some start working almost immediately, while other people it may not work on at all.
I have been on arava about 8 months now and still nothing. They upped it and i will start the 20mg tonight.
It's scarry, but remember to give all drugs time. This drug may not work for you, if it doesn't, there are many more out there that could.
I wish you well.
Hello May,
I'm sorry to hear that you're having problems with your wrist and fingers. Give the wrist splints a try while you're waiting for the cortisone shot to kick in. Sometimes it can take a few days to feel the benefit and sometimes it might take more than one injection to get the swelling down.
Thanks to you all for your kind words and advice
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