Good Morning All.
Well I thought that I had heard of it all, but I learned a valuable lesson this weekend. Constant use of my arms, working in the heat can cause my Ra to mimic a heart arrack. I was helping a friend get ready for her husband's birthday party, a cookout. We had been hanging decorations for about two hours when my back started really hurting, then my chest started hurting, and it hurt to take deep breaths, so my daughter insisted on taking me to the ER. Of course they admitted me and wouldn't give me my RA pain meds which made it worse, but finally the next day the doctor came to see me and told me that my body had mimicked a heart attack because of the ra. Needless to say I won't be using my arms in the heat again!
I get that quite often myself. It was really scary at first; but now that I know what it is it's a little easier.
Mine is inflammation in my breast bones and it can be very painful at times. Scary too. I use the ice packs that come in my Humira shippments for that. I just keep them in the fridge; not the freezer. I can't take it TOO cold; but in the fridge it's just right wrapped in a thin cloth. Try that next time.
Glad you weren't having a heart attach. Sorry you had to go through all that.
One more thing to worry about. I've been very careful about the heat. I didn't tolerate it well before RA, so I don't think I'll do better now.