does your pain change? | Arthritis Information

Hi All! I've been extremely busy lately, with the kids and school...but it's nice to come read what's been goin on here.

I have a question, does your pain change location and intensity throughout the day? I've always wondered about this. Do you feel pain in a joint for a few minutes then it goes away until later or is it continuous? My bad joints hurt pretty much most of the day, but there are moments when I forget I even have arthritis. How about you? Do you have pain-free moments in the course of a day?

mom-to-5

I know what you mean. Sometimes I have pain free moments for several days. The only exception is my feet. They always hurt, sometimes worse than other times, and my toe joints are always painful. My elbows and my knees tend to come and go as does my right ankle.
I also have flares of sciatica in my back and neck from time to time, but not all the time. |

NancyThis is exactly what I experience, sometimes I can go a few days without anything hurting and then it starts - wrist, arm/shoulder, then one knee, then the other etc etc. these can all be on different days, when something starts aching I wonder how bad it's going to get and when to kick in the heavier painkiller etc.I don't want to take them every day. Thismorning my knee was painful and after about two hours it went away. My continuous medication is plaquinel/methx. The pain earlier on (before being diagnosed) was unbearable but it's not like that anymore, however, it comes and goes and possibly this is the pattern of the disease in some people. Do you find you get more pain and discomfort at the end of the day and into the evening? This happens even when I haven't been too busy during the day either. Okay, I thought I was going nuts. My jaw will be really swollen and very painful for a few days, then it's the wrists, or the knuckles, or the knees, etc. They're all swollen almost all the time, but the degree of pain/swelling, seems to move around. I thought I was a nutcase. Is this typical? I'm new to this stuff but assumed that if your knees and wrists were the worst, they'd stay the worst....Yes I have have this type. My Rheumy calls it Palindromic(sp?) Arthritis. It is a form of RA, and RA often starts out this way. I've been like this for 8 years. My labs are all messed up, but my xrays do NOT show any damage.

I started out with Palindromic RA and here is a great site for info on it. Take care everyone.

palindromicrheumatism.org

This is the way things have been for me a great deal of the time with RA. Even when well medicated it's a here and there; come and go type of thng.

Mine is usually worse when I first get up in the mornings and after a couple hours I feel better. When I sit for extended periods of time I get very stiff and my knees will be painful when I get up; but will be better after I'm up a minute.

Rarely have I had horrible constant pain since the onset of RA. In the beginning the actual pain was much worse; but I've been on continuous DMARD and later biologic treatment for many, many years. Provided I'm on these it contols it. Without it I do experience more actual pain.

You certainly aren't crazy!

I too have pains that go from one joint to another with RA. I started with my hands and feet> I almost always have pains there varying in intensity. The pain went from there to my left shoulder/arm/wrist to my hips to my knees. The only way I can describe it is "tag teaming" like in wrestling. One minute it's here, next it's there. '

The disease is crazy but you aren't!

CinDee

I have noticed that when a joint first becomes involved it starts out by hurting a little bit on occasion. Then it progresses to hurting A LOT all the time, getting unbearable in the evening. Slowly the pain becomes more and more bearable but never goes away until I start a new med.

When I first went on MTX my feet and knees were really bad. After MTX that got better but my wrists and shoulders hurt like a son of a gun. After Enbrel, that went away but since then I have developed pain on a different part of the wrists, no swelling, but some decent pain and weakness where I cannot even hold a magazine for very long.

Sometimes if I have had a particularly trying day I might hurt in some of the old places when I am winding down in the evening.

How interesting! That's how I am! This pattern of pain can make you feel like you're crazy and that maybe you're imagining things, specially before diagnosis. It's tough! People think you're lying when they see you limping one day and fine the next.

thank you all for your answers!

This RA, its plays with your head! I generally have no pain now unless I forget to take my Mobic like the other evening, yesterday was a bit uncomfortable but not serious.

Am I lucky? I guess. Will it stay that way? Who knows? Thats what makes me nervous, what will happen next or can I relax and hope its under control/in remission.....