Hello to all | Arthritis Information

 

Hello to all here, to be honest with you I wish I was not, but having been diagnosed with R/A on July 7th I need to speak to others with the same problem.
My problems started in April of this year,, one afternoon I felt a pain in my left shoulder, it got worse durin gth evening to the point where I could not raise my arm over my head.
Thant night I went to sleep and the next day i was fine. A few days later I got a pain in my left knee again by evening it was worse, I got out of i the middle of the night and decided to sit in my lazyboy chair, by 4:am I could not get up, I tried everything but as soon as I moved my left leg I would get this severe pain which ran from above my knee around the outside to just below the knee.
I had to call out for my wife, she did out hear me ( sound sleeper) so I ended up calling her cell which was on the charger nest to her bed, I asked if she could help me up as I could not get up, after about 1/2 hour and many attempts I finally gritted my teeth and she pulled me up the pain was such that i almost passed out! Now I tried to walk and could not walk, I finally managed to shuffle my legs a few inches at a time until I go to the bath room once there I took some aspirin and went back to bed so I would be near my wife if i needed her again.
I had to sleep on my back (something I never do) with my legs straight out, and the slightest movement on just about any part of my body caused this severe pain to re occur. Again by morning I was fine but scared , "what the H---" was that all about?
My wife suggested I make an appointment with the Doctor, but I shrugged it off, saying" I must have pulled a muscle or something".
With a few very minor flare up all was good until the end of April first of May My hands started to swell and pain shot up my wrist's, my ankles also swelled up as well as my knees.
I decided to take Aleve and it did help somewhat.
About middle of May I decided to see the doctor, (I had spoken to my Granddaughter pediatrician and he said "just a guess but sounds like Psudo Gout to me" ) after looking up Psudo Gout I was sure that is what is was time had gone by and it was now late June, the pain and swelling had parked it self in my hands, wrists knees and ankles and was not going away even after taking tons of Aleve (like 2 tabs every 2 hours), so I made an appointment with the Doctor , he said he doubted it was Psudo Gout and wanted to run a bunch of blood work, ok, ( mind you I have no insurance) the bill came to 0.00 plus dollars, but he gave me a discount so it only cost a little over 0.00, I almost fell thru the floor at that cost!
When the results came back on July 7th it was RA!
He gave me a shot of cortisone in my arm saying that would give me some relief  (it didn't) and a RX for  Naproxen  5oomg to be taken twice a day.
After a few days of wlaking, around in a fog,  feeling like a zombie, I decided to stop the med.
I have to go back to the doctor on August 8th for a follow up. I had told the doctor i did not want to take steroids  because of the side effects.
I don't know what to do, every thing I read discourages  me more, most every med, the side effects are worse then the problem.
I  am back to taking the Aleve, and aspirin  until i see him again, but they seem to be ineffective now.
I have had to give up my lazyboy because once in it I can't get back up without help and the pain in my knees is blinding!
My wrists and fingers are in constant pain and both my thumbs are to the point of being worthless, I can not open a soda bottle, to pour a cup of coffee takes 2 hands, I sleep about an hour  before the the pain wakes me up, and then it takes a while to get back to sleep.
Question at this point? maybe someone is still reading this LOL does heat or cold help with the joint swelling and pain? I can't seem to find a happy medium with either?
I should add that I am 63 year old Male, and have always been in perfect health except for headaches which I take aspirin. Now I read that aspirin and or other over the counter meds might have triggered this, Is that true?
I read elsewhere that a change in diet might help, but no diet was provided just suggested.
I joined here in hopes of getting some information and peer support and would appreciate any and all responses.
I'm sorry to be so long winded, maybe the fact that the pain is worse now cut me short or I might have rambled on longer.
Please all I want is some relief from this pain, constant pain!!!



Welcome slohand 2 sorry you have to be here!

Thank you for your response, I will discuss those meds wit my Doctor! and if he prescribes them I hoe and pray they will do for me what they have done for you!

Don't be discouraged if it's not an immediate relief- it sometimes takes awhile to kick in. Best of luck!

If i could get it to subside for one day just to get some relief i could wait out the meds to take effect I think, lol Ask for some pain meds too- you need to get over the hump. I found once I got the pain to "bearable" levels I started to heal faster. I will try the Handeze. thanks, the icyhot I tired didn't seem to help at all, but it was no the gel, so maybe I'll have better luck with the Gel thanks

A friend suggested copper bracelets, do they work?  that I haven't tried- but I think I heard it's an old wives tale

Welcome to the board, slohands2. I am sorry you have RA.

Ok yes I do take hot showers too, Just before going to bed and it does seem to help.
I guess I should be reading more , please excuse me for not , I will read all infor here, but just very frustrated with the level of pain and need I don't know something, I guess support from guys like you!
I read that Vit.D  (sunlight ) help and that people that don't get enough tend to get RA, I fould that interesting, so I spent 1/2 hour in the sun today and will keep it up, so I guess I have a great tan if nothing else lol.
I did spend much of the day inside and did not get out much, but I guess that holds true for most of us unless you work outside.
It is my intention to spend lots of time here , learning at this point, and maybe someday  being in a position to be able to give advice to someone like me now!
Thanks for baring with me!
Maybe ask for pain meds to help with the pain. Welcome  - my RA started out somewhat similar to yours about 2 years ago.  It would hit one joint or side at a time and then be gone.  No pattern to it so I just figured I over-did something.  Then, my feet started in and gradually went to both hands/wrists.   Things can get better once you find your combination of meds, so don't despair.   Until then, just do what you can to minimize any extra stress on your hands.   My first purchase was an electric can opener - couldn't open cans w/o it.   My husband became my bottle opener as well.   Now, I can do these on my own, but still ask him to help out somedays - just to keep him in practice.   Hello and welcome slohand2. Like the others have mentioned I am sorry you have to be here but you will get heaps of info and understanding so fire away!