Any other members get awful back pain? | Arthritis Information

I was told by my rheumatologist 2 years ago that i have RA in SIJ, facet joints, and also multilevel disc degen (6 discs). Joints in other parts of my body are effected too but its my back that is ruining my life.

Did some web searches and it looks like this may be almost common for RA sufferers. I'm 'severe seronegative' which is a bit confusing because it seems to be related to psoriasis and anklosing spondylitis, that fuses your spine. Don't have the bony spurs but it is SO painful and limiting. Can't sit at all, and try to stay on my feet (they ache too of course) for an hour before slinking back to the couch like a sick puppy. Last year I was swimming and that really reduced the pain, but this flare-up is in my shoulder so can't do backstroke or freestyle.

Any other members with this problem? I get crazy upper back and neck pain. I do have a TENS unit but the problem is, I have a hard time reaching back around to apply it to the correct areas. Sometimes I take it to school and the nurse helps out. But, it does help quite a bit.Hi Janalex, yes, I have degenerative disc disease with bone spurs, spondylolisthesis, disc bulges and multi-level facet joint hypertrophy, C1 to C5 and L1 to S1 and T3/4/5, pretty much wasted, have had one spinal op on L5/S1, that was a great success, but has only just recently started to really hurt again. It worries me what am I going to be like when I am 60, I am 44 now and have had spinal probs since I was a child, undiagnosed but certainly had the pain!!!!! I hope you can get some help with yours, I hope I do tomorrow with the new pain specialist. Hugs Janie. Welcome and its nice to see you posting even though the subject matter could be better. I have horrible back problems and have for years...before RA was dxd. I had surgery last summer on L4/L5 and L5/S1 and it helped wonderfully, but has started really causing me problems again, and I don't know why.yeah... when I was 22 my dr did xrays and said I had degenerative artritis of the spine..

when I was a kid I had Scheurmanns disease.. which is a spine disease of the growth plates, usually gotten by teenage boys..

my SI joints are affected too.. It hurts a LOT in my back to stand for any length of time.

I have a lot of back problems too. MRI's and x-rays show DDD, Buldging disk and the orthopedic spine specilist my RD insisted I see says RA affects my spine. When I'm on medication to control the RA it does help a lot with the in general pain of just standing. If the RA isn't under control I only stand in short spells before the pain becomes unbareable.

You aren't alone.

I've had DDD long before the RA. I have 2-3 cervical levels and 3 lumbar levels in varying states, cervical stenosis and spondylosis, plus horrible pain in the SI joints that prevents me from standing or walking for more than a couple minutes. Before I got the RA diagnosis, I was worried I might have ankylosing spondylitis, but thankfully it was "only" RA.

They won't do surgery on any of it, and I'm about to get my second lumbar epidural nerve block. They might do SI joint injections at the same time. If that doesn't help much, they'll try facet joint injections. Beyond that, they have no suggestions that I haven't already tried.

[quote="janiefx"]It worries me what am I going to be like when I am 60, I am 44 now and have had spinal probs since I was a child, undiagnosed but certainly had the pain!!!!! [/quote]

Janie, I know what you mean. I've always had the pain and was diagnosed when I was 30. My father always says "what are you gonna do when you get to my age?" (he's 84 now). I can't even imagine.

I'm so sorry you guys are going through this!

I get so frustrated because I have back pain as well. It's almost like my spine does not want to straighten out after sitting, kneeling, laying, etc. It hurts like crazy!! Does any of your pain feel like this? Maybe I can diagnose myself via AI family members.

I often feel like my spine just doesn't want to hold me up anymore. Especially after standing too long. I do get that same sort of feeling Mel after kneeling and then trying to get it. It's hard to explain but you explained as best as you can I guess. It's like you can't hardly straighten up.

I have numerous problems all working against me so it's always hard to pin point what's what. The only problem I can say I know exactly was it is would be the disk thing. It doesn't bother me constantly but about twice a year I can make one wrong move and WAM! I'll be down for days and can barely make it to the bathroom. That's not RA....that's the disk problem and it's by far the worst. Luckily in my case it usually settles down after a few days and I'll be back moving around; slowly.....but moving at least.

It took years of problems for me to ever actually get answers. X-Rays will show some stuff; but it wasn't until I saw the orthopedic specialist did I actually get better answers through his knowledge as well as an MRI.

Not every one agrees that RA will effect that back but this specialist I saw swears it can and does quite often. There isn't a lot they can do for it besides work to control the RA and then control the pain with muscle relaxers, pain meds and sometimes PT. I still like knowing what is going on through.

I'm 37 and was recently dx'ed with osteopenia as well. To say the future is worrisome would be an understatement for sure.