is this the way it is | Arthritis Information
hi all
I have a question.
I have had stiffness and pain in my hands and fingers since Nov. 2009 (24/7) and I mean the stiffness is there 24 hours a day. It is now also in my wrists. I am having some real bad days where the pain is so bad in my wrists I can barely turn them and have had to even miss work on and off lately. I work in an office.
I even had trouble turning key in car to drive home. Is this normal progression or is this considered flares or is this life. The pain is so bad sometimes I have to take Tylenol 3's on top of my regular 2 x a day anti-inflammatories and 2 x a day sulfasalize. It totally incapacitates me I am confused when I read that people with RA are leading normal lives.
Please shed some light on this for me. Thanks
I had pain and stiffness in my hands and wrists, so bad that I couldn't pour or hold a cup of coffee in the morning. I put up with it for almost a year before going to a Rummy. He put me on predisone and Methotrexate. After just a few days the swelling and pain went away completely. It has been five months now and so far so good. I am off the Pred, and up to seven MTX once a week.
Yea this stuff bites, but I wish you good luck with it
Vitimins, it may be time for a visit with your RD. It sounds like you need a boost in meds to better control your inflammation. Tylenol is good for pain, but hard on the liver so I try and minimize how much I take. Have a set to with your RD and let her know what is going on, ask what the game plan is to achieve better control and better pain relief. You may want to ask for a pain reliever without the acetaminophen too. Hopefully, there is a med that suits you and you can have better days.
I'm sorry you are feeling so bad, and I hope you can put a call into your RD soon for some relief. Best to you and let us know how you are doing.
I agree with waddie - hve a chat to your rheumy and see if something can be added to your mix of meds; I found that mtx was a great help to me. It doesn't suit everyone, but even so there shd be something else that you can take. Most of the meds have some side effects but hey, RA has a really bad "side effect" too
Oh, and don't be led astray by some of our jokey, crazy posts here - I'd say that compared with our pre-arthritis lives, many are not leading a really "normal" life, but with the help of meds, docs, and those in here who have helped with hints on how to cope, we manage. I truly hope that soon you will get a mix of meds that will help u.
Lorraine
I've been where you are and fully understand about not being able to turn the key.
I was almost at the stage of having to be spoon fed, only thing I could do without pain was blink.
When I first went to the doc he slammed me on 75mm of pred which relieved the symptoms dramatically
I almost felt normal.
Currently I am on 3/5mm pred (Daily), 25 MTX (week), and Humira (fortnight) and is holding...... just.
Everybody's "normal" is different, and so is the amount each person has to adjust to RA. I don't even remember what my normal used to be. Find a good rheumy, treat each symptom as it comes up, and be flexible in your mind (if not your body!). Once I accepted that this was the new me and this was my life now, it got a lot easier.
One of the most important milestones for me was finding proper pain relief. Tramadol works well though I know a lot of people can't take it. I take the smallest dose I can to lessen the pain so I can live my life. When I stopped fighting the thought that "I don't want to take a narcotic" and started thinking "I need to find a pain relief that I can live with" it improved my quality of life immensely.
Good luck and keep searching for what will work for YOU.
I initially thought that I would have to deal with the stiffness, swelling and pain forever but I found a new Rheumatologist who increased the methotrexate and put me on predinosone until we could get Humira started. I was truly amazed at the releif I got with the Prednisone. (Still waiting to go on Humira). I was able to do more than I had been able to do in the last 3 years. It wasn't what I used to be able to do but I was so grateful to be able to at least vacuum my floor and stay up past 5PM that I almost cried. I second what everyone has said...see a good Rheumatologist as quickly as you can.
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