hi , i was just wondering if any of you have extreme pain but no swelling . I feel like i am in a bad flare at the moment with intense pain but at my rheumy appt the other day she said there is no swelling . my joints dont go red hot and swollen but the pain is really bad, even to touch . does anyone else have this problem ?
Hey Ally,my poor sister does this in her feet to the point of being in a wheel chair most of the time. She says the top of her feet and fat pads under her toes feel like the bone is on fire and she can bear no weight on them. But there are hardly, if any, visible signs they're in that shape. When she is on massive doses of pred her feet and hands swell but that is from the meds. It's such a crazy disease in so many ways....
I can have very intense pain with hardly any swelling at all. Strange, isn't it - especially when you read here about people whose joints are so very red and swollen. But pain is pain, no matter what the joint looks like. It's been like this for me for over 20 years. I'm just glad that I don't see redness and swelling.Extreme pain?
Is it asymetrical? Could it be Palindromic RA? A lot of us don't get swelling or redness (until later).
Pip
I have a history of psoriasis in the family and the pain was bought on by the trauma of being in a coma from an asthma attack . the rheumatologist did a lot of tests for RA but diagnosed psoriatic arthritis.Oh dear, without your RA meds, you will have the pain. So sorry, I hope the pred gives you some help while you recover from your lung infection....thinking of you, meMy flares are bizzare! While most of the time I do have swelling there are times when I'm definately in a flare and have little to no swelling. There have been days that even I am looking at the part that hurts so bad thinking....Why isn't it swollen? What the flippin flipper is going on here?
I hope you feel better soon!
Peace & Love....Neasy
I have flares like that too. It bites.
Neasy...you have such a way with words I just love it!!!
[QUOTE=Pip!]Extreme pain?
Is it asymetrical? Could it be Palindromic RA? A lot of us don't get swelling or redness (until later).
Pip
[/QUOTE]
Pip,
Does that mean that the pain from Palindromic Rheumatism is generally more severe than the pain from RA?
On those rare occasions that I do have visible swelling, the pain is not as severe. When I don't have visible swelling, I would describe the pain as excrutiating.
I also have had times when I've told my rheumatologist that I haven't been doing so well and have been having severe pain. Then he checks my joints and tells me I have minimal inflamation and swelling. Grrrrrrrr!
But on the other hand, there have been a few times when I have told him I think I'm doing better and am having minimal pain, and he tells me my joints are extremely swollen and inflamed.
What's up with that???
thanks guys , i dont feel so unusual now . i got the opinion from my rheumy that its only bad when the joints are swollen . maybe more will show in my next blood test .Me!!!KweenB -
That's my take on PRA since I found the IPRS. There are a ton of posts on the 'gnaw your arm off' type of pain. At first I assumed it was only me; I'm a known wuss. And as I was newly diagnosed all the docs would offer me was 'ice bags'. Yeah, right. I got a lot of 'it can't be that bad'. Well, it was. NOBODY should ever feel that type of pain. Also, here I've seen posts from regular RA people that only need a asprin or two. WOW! I was taking 16+ a day and when I finally got Vicodin it didn't really cut the pain.
I'm not diparaging people with regular RA - amybe because my diagnosis was 'severe'? Who knows?
I did see some research that said the Palindromic people may get extreme pain as the bodys response to isolate the joint. I, of course, think they got it part way right. I think its the bodies defense at trying to corral the mycoplasma's.
Pip
I've never had my RD offer "ice bags" for pain. He's always tried to find a solution. I've worked closely with my RD and internist to find solutions for the pain and for the most part we've succeeded. This doesn't mean that I haven't used ice, heat, hot water, paraffin, meditation, accupressure, acupuncture, massage, pain pills, art, friends, and family to relieve pain. I've used it all. Combination of these things have workded best for me. I have PA along with RA and the pain has been unbearable at times and during those flares I've seeked relief and found it.
Now, let me tell you about standing and walking with knees that have no cartledge, spurs, and floating pieces due to OA.......................Pain levels aren't the same. It doesn't matter what type of RA or other arthritis that you have. My 8 level isn't your 8 level, etc. etc. Sometimes it takes a long time to find the right combo of things to do to relieve pain and it may seem like you'll never achieve a pain free day but eventually it happens. I don't know if it's due to the fact that I have less pain at that particular time or if what I'm doing to relieve pain is working. Who know and who cares as long as it works.
Amen, sister.
Pip
I've never had a lot of swelling. Just some redness and a feeling like rats are chewing on my joints. (Hands & toes and bottom of feet) Pain meds dull the pain, but it never really goes away.
Well, it did go away for a couple of days when I first started Humira a month ago, but came back. My RD is going to give the Humira another month (Embrel did nothing), and if nothing improves he's going to start Remicade.
I've never had what you would call excruciating pain. Except for some redness my hands look pretty normal. They're a lot warmer than they used to be though.