RA pain vs. FM pain- how to tell? | Arthritis Information

 

So my RD has added FM to my RA diagnosis. Whoofreakinghoo! So now my question (which he talked around, over and thru,but never really answered) is how do you separate FM pain from RA pain? How can you tell if the MTX or whatever is working if you still have pain, you just don't know from what? And even more so if your labs stay exactly the same....I am frustrated frustrated frustrated.

For those of you with FM and RA what works for you?

Thanks for letting me blow off some steam! Laura T

I don't know how you can tell. Whenever something starts to hurt I always chalk it up to my RA. Sometimes I worry that I might be misreading the pain and it is actually a symptom of something else.

Since RA can affect connective tissue, I don't think you can tell the difference between RA and FM all the time.

I do know a good's night sleep is crucial for FM. So do the best you can with that (i know that may be impossible).

Good luck!

Hi Laurat, I have RA, fibro, Sjogren's syndrome and OA. What I'm finding is that if you have one autoimmune disease, you're very likely to have more than one. My original diagnosis was OA. Next they added fibromyalgia. I was experiencing a lot of stiffness and muscle pain along with chronic fatigue but at that point all the blood work was normal. It was only when my blood work showed a positive rheumatoid factor that they added RA to the mix. Then Sjogren's  once the blood work showed RA. I had had a sore throat with absesses and dry nose and eyes for years.

To me, the most trouble is caused by the fibro even though the doctors don't give it much attention. The constant fatigue and body aches can really get you down. Getting a good night's sleep is extremely imortant so a hot bath before bed along with 3 extra strength tylenol usually at least puts me to sleep. I give myself plenty of down time to rest during the day. This year I switched from full time to half time as a teacher so I can rest  more. It's really made a difference. Exercise helps too but in slow increments. I had a physical therapist work out a program for me and if I do my exercises at least 3 times a week, I function. If I stop, I stiffen up really fast. Sometimes I have to do less if I'm having a bad day. Warm water exercise is a must for fibro. You can do exercises in the water that you wouldn't be able to do without damage on land. Good luck and hang in there.

Hi Laurat - I also have fibro as well as RA - just what we need. I have fibro in my jaw & recently posted here myself trying to differentiate between RA & fibro in my
shoulder. I know it is very painful & so hard to get to
sleep.   I find a good splint on my wrist seems for some reason to help my shoulder - probably keeps it aligned.
I take anti inflams & codeine & sleeping pills although I am tapering off sleeping pills as they are so addictive.   I am sure the splint helps a lot & seems to keep the serious pain down to one day.   I also sleep with a tri-pillow instead of a normal pillow - my sleep isnt fantastic but I do get some sleep which is so important as I am worse the next day if I dont sleep.
Hope this is of some help. Cassandra, I have splints for both hands that imobilize the wrists. I have Carpel Tunnel in both hands that sometimes affects the arms all the way up to the shoulder. The splints are really making a difference. I was having throbbing in both hands at night and wasn't able to write without pain. One splint is like a pillow that surrounds my hand and thumb. I can get it off fast to go to the bathroom or blow my nose-whatever I need to do at 3:00 am when I usually wake up. The  other is a resting splint that pretty much completely immobilizes the hand and arm movement.

My PCP has Fibro and she said that the Fibro pain is more like the aching during a bad flu and the RA pain is hot and sharper.

I have both and if I listen to the doctors, I am totally confused. This Rheumy (that I now hate) put down that I had 18/18 trigger points for Fibromylagia. He will not treat me for RA because my bloodwork is fine right now. But he is doing nothing for the FM.

Is there really a treatment other than painkillers, exercise and antidepressants? It seemed like a couple of years ago that I was hearing about real treatments. But I'm not being offered anything but painkillers and strong ones like morphine and oxycotin which I won't do.

But if any of you are really being treated I be interested.

As for how I feel about it, RA seems to make me feel sick all over and my joints feel swollen and hurt. FM seems to affect my muscles.

But the doctors can't seem to agree on what is causing me the most problems. And, frankly, they are driving me nuts.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fibromyalgia

Gotta love wikipedia.

It would seem that the biggest help is a good nights sleep, where you are in REM sleep for the proper amount of time. So even if you sleep 8 hours a night, it might not be enough. You may need a sleeping pill that kicks you into REM sleep, and you may need more than 8 hours. Then from there, the anti-depressants would come into play when taking care of the achy-ness and skin pain. Exercise would seem to be a way to boost your adrenaline and other naturally produced endorphines(sp) that you lack with Fibro. I think you guys should try joining up at www.butyoudontlooksick.com I think there's a good SLEW of people on there with Fibro, and I'm always seeing them with tips and advice. :)
I have the same question because I seem to have a lot of random complaints
that I don't feel are RA related but maybe are. I have been having left jaw
pain the past few days. I have bad shoulder stiffness. I get strange pains
here and there through out the day that just come and go. I am so stiff and
plaquinil has helped a little bit with that. The rigormortis feeling is terrible
some days. I really hope there is a reason for all of this suffering. I'm sure
what doesn't kill me will somehow make me stronger. :)
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