Work Question | Arthritis Information

I was diagnosed with RA a year and a half ago. I have been fortunate to be pretty much pain free since one round of Prednisone and weekly MTX, thank goodness.

I'm semi-retired and work a part-time job. My RA doctor said I should not lift over 20 lbs. and I should not do work that requires me getting up and down a lot (I sit at a desk). I had two spells of bursitis in my hips because I was constantly getting up and down and I had to change my job.

Now I sit at a computer and type for 4 hours straight one day and then 6 hours the next day. Sitting still has helped my bursitis problems, but after typing last week my right wrist gets numb and tingly (no pain). My left wrist/arm had sharp pains for 2 days. This has happened for the past 3 weeks that I have been typing. Wearing a splint helped.

I don't want to be a wimp, but I also don't want to make my RA worse. I just read in an RA brochure that states "Avoid activites that require repetitive motion for more than a few seconds."

I feel like I am slowly losing the abilities to do my complete job and I enjoy working and the extra money in retirement helps pay the bills. However, my main goal is to keep my RA under control, if possible.

My question is this, "Should I give up the typing part of my job or just tough it out?" I worry about what damage I may be causing. What would you do?

Some background: My mother had severe crippling RA. My RA doc indicated that I am fortunate that my RA is under control now because it originally appeared to be aggressive .

Thanks for your comments.

I occasionally go through bouts of carpal tunnel and typing becomes painful/numb/tingly. I just muddle through. It goes away in a few days. Keep in mind my RA is well controlled. If your pain is persistent see if they can get you one of those newfangled keyboards where your hands type from the sides. Also try using wrist splints.

Personally, I think you should work as long as you can but you should not be in constant pain either.I would ask your doctor but I think the current train of thought is use it or lose it.I think there is a tendency when we have RA (or any other systemic disease) for us and our doctors to blame everything that comes along on it. While that may be likely, it's not always true, so I would have my RD confirm that they think it's the RA, or better yet, get it checked by an orthopedist (could be carpal tunnel or even a pinched nerve). That will also give you some time to see if this was a temporary bout or something that's going to bother you on a regular basis. And finally, if you do feel it's the RA and it's not temporary, but you decide to keep working, a neuropathic med such as Neurontin or Lyrica might help with those symptoms (and FYI, Lyrica should be started slowly because it tends to have some initial side effects such as dizziness and drowsiness that often go away within a couple of weeks). Thanks for your comments. I will go with the concept of use it or lose it. I asked a rheumy about this very thing and her advice was "keep typing as long as you can type....it helps the fingers to be used." So, while if I were you, I'd still run the question by my rheumy, but I'll bet he'll say more or less the same thing.
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