Hello again,
Instead of posting twice, I am asking two questions here!!
What does everyone do for the achy pain/stiffness that isn't meds?
Second, CRS disease.... Can't Remember S...... er, Stuff. I don't know if it is because I am so tired or preoccupied with all of the stuff that has suddenly changed my life, but I keep forgeting to do stuff, important work stuff that is getting me in hot water. I am starting to write EVERYTHING down in a notebook in an attempt to not overlook stuff, but this is weird for me. Anyone else have this problem?? Solutions?
Heat works wonderfully for me for aches and stiffness. Heating pad under a blanket, a hot shower, an electric blanket, a bag of rice warmed up in the microwave, snuggling up under blankets with my husband or my dog lol.
As far as the CRS goes, you are on the right track. Write it down if you have to. I walked around in a fog when I flared real bad. I still do but not as bad lol. Writing things on my calendar helps me. I used to be able to remember when bills are due but now I have to write it all down.
CRS......man, I have this BAD. Between popping out two kiddos in 2 years, wacking my head a few times, and whatever this is that is making my joints hurt...I'm just stupid! I carry a pen and paper EVERYWHERE now.LauraT, I haven'd heard it called CRS. I love it. Thank you for that. I feel like the Queen of CRS. But I'm sure there are plenty of contenders here too. It's aggravating and hard on the ego too. I don't have any help for it, wish I did.
For aches and stiffness, I do a dozen things, besides celebrex, which helps lots more than ibuprofen every did, and waiting for the other drugs to kick in.
Like everyone else says, heat helps a lot of the time. Running warm water over hands. Heating pads. Showers or baths. Putting my laptop near sore knees. This weekend I was holding my frozen feet in my hands in a movie theater because it was so cold in there. I had two layers of socks on, but my feet were cold so the joints froze solid. I live in the south, so it was a/c and not cold weather in the theater, but the effect is the same.
I recently got a foot spa from the drugstore. It helps relax my sore feet in the evening so I can sleep. Also just got a paraffin dip thingy at bed bath and beyond. I've just used it once so far, but it helped my hands a good deal. (all of this help is temporary, you understand, but any relief is good relief).
sometimes heat makes me worse, strange though it is. Sometimes I'll wake up in the night and I'm hot (either because of menopause, or I fell asleep with a heating pad on low, or I just have too many covers), and I hurt and ache because the heat seemed to get the inflammation stirred up. So a cure sometimes is great and sometimes is not.
And sometimes one joint wants heat and another wants cold. Bizarre.
I'll hold a cold glass of ice water when my hands are hot and sore. I'll dip my hands in and out of a bowl of ice water (I learned this one when I was peeling boiled eggs that were resting in a bowl of ice water, and it felt so good I couldn't stop).
Sometimes it helps to alternate heat and cold on the same joint.
And I find distraction helps. I'll put on music that soothes or uplifts me, and often it truly helps soothe the aches. I'll put on a book on tape or a relaxation cd when I ache too much to fall asleep. It nearly always makes me feel better, and ofen puts me to sleep. Even though I'm a reader, I sometimes feel to bad to concentrate on reading, or a book feels to heavy. It's so soothing to be read too, on my walkman, instead.
And exercise helps a lot of the time. Unless I'm hurting really, really bad I'll do some gentle yoga, gentle walking, or my elliptical trainer. It helps the stiffness, and helps the achiness in general. Sometimes it helps the achiness right away, and sometimes it doesn't really and even adds some temporary extra soreness, but I notice that later, and overall, I'll feel better than I would have without the exercise. The endorphin thing I guess. It's hard to make yourself do, but it helps.
I keep a daily diary of pain and achiness levels and how I'm functioning. I read this in a book. I thought it would make me a disease-focused hypochondriac. It didn't. It gives me data and a sense of control over my well-being.
All this stuff does that for me. Makes me feel like I'm not taking this lying down, so to speak, like there's always something I can do for myself if I'm willing to do it.
And sometimes it's too bad for any of these home remedies to touch, and that's when it's the doc's turn at bat.
Sorry...but what does CRS diseaes mean?