I am so glad this site is up again. I saw a message on one of the other sites that this one was back up. Yeay!
I had a root canal done on Friday and have had a bad weekend following it. I searched on root canal to see if others with RA had had bad experiences with this - would appreciate any other input though.
I have had root canal before (pre-RA) without much problem but this one was very difficult. I tensed up once in the chair, went pale, sweaty and shocky 3 times during the procedure, kept trying to relax but I just couldn't. I knew I was clenching my hands to gether and hanging on tight to the chair etc - just about leapt out of it when he gave me the 2-3 injections at the start.........not a good patient.
On Friday evening the tooth was very sensitive which was not unexpected. But yesteday, Saturday, I developed a major flare in my left shoulder and somewhat milder one in my left wrist. Got worse and worse well into Saturday night. On top of that, after a very small dinner (hard to chew when it hurts) I started having abdominal pains to die from - it felt like I was in labor and it lasted for 2 hours. I couldn't get comfortable, sitting, standing, lying, walking....nothing helped. I was writhing. Felt the urge to burp and did a lot of that. After the 2nd hour it started to subside and then it was gone. (This has happened twice before - 2 days in a row in May during a very stressful week.) Shoulder is still sore today but not as bad. Tooth the same.
Are these three things all connected or am I becoming the Biggest Pain in the Neck Patient in the world? Any one of those three events would be painful but all together - I was beside myself. Is this the RA? What do you guys think?
Cynthia
It is possible that the dental work released a lot of bacteria into your system. I can't have dental work done without first being on an antibiotic because of mitral valve prolapse. The same is true if you have a joint replacement.
Any time they do dental work, all that bacterial flushes through your system. With a damaged autoimmune system, this can set you up for getting an infection.
If this doesn't resolve quickly, then call your doctor and get on an antibiotic.
p.s. I hate and I'm scared of dentists. You're braver than me.
Thanks, Deanna. It seems unlikely to me that these three things all 'happened' to happen at the same time. TOmorrow I'll call the dentist and see what he recommends. Marigold do you have an ulcer? It sounds like when you get stressed your tummy hurts. If it keeps happening i would tell your doctor. Where is the pain upper or lower abdomen. It takes a while for the tooth to heal from a root canal it will be sore. I would stick to soft food . I know when i go to the dentist they have to let me get up and move around. I get real stiff and sore if i don't. With you gripping the arm rest probable made your shoulders flair. I hope you feel better real soon (I also am a big baby at the dentist)Gizzy's right about that possibility, especially if you are on a lot of pain killers. I didn't think of that. The last time I got a stomach virus, I had to go to the ER and they did an xray to make sure I didn't have a bleeding ulcer or anything. That's one of the major complications that you can get from all these meds. It is considered a medical emergency as it can be life threatening.
If your stomach flares like that again, go to the ER or to your doctor ASAP. If Gizzy is possibly right about this, you need to have it checked out. The good thing is that they have so many wonderful medicines to heal up your body from damage.
Hope you are feeling somewhat better.
Your stomach problems sounds like a little gastritis...prob. caused from multiple things...meds, anxiety, etc...and the tension didnt help your RA either. Hopefully some rest will do you good. Stick to a lite diet and avoid acidic foods ( oranges and tomatoes, citris ) and limit dairy for a day or two.One thing I have found to help with the stomach problems is if I take my Zantac the same time I take the rest of my meds, except the Cipro, with some yogurt. That has really eased the nausea and the upset tummy and even some of the intestinal flare up. crunchy is right ,she said what i wanted to say. I am not good at wording things probable why i have trouble with my Doctors.Susan
Thanks for all your replies. Today I feel fine - shoulder no longer hurts, tooth only a little tender and my abdomen not hurting at all.
The pain that I feel when the stomach thing is happening is like muscle spasms or like someone is in there Wringing my intestines in this direction and that. On Saturday night it hurt mostly in the lower abdomen but the burping and spitting up (sorry!) and the fact htat it happened right after eating and drinking a full glass of cold milk BTW, made me think it might be triggered by cold foods when I am stressed to begin with. Oh boy!
I had a whole range of intestinal tests last Spring so I know there's nothing wrong there. I even had the capsule test where you swallow a little camera and it takes a photo of your insides every 15 seconds while it goes on its merry little journey through the system. Negative there too.
We'll see if anything else happens. Hopefully if I can get a grip on stress I can stop it from happening again. Will keep an eye on the foods mentioned etc and if it does happen again, I will go to an ER or the doctor while it is happening.