I have pain in my shoulders and upper arms which doesn't feel anything like the inflammation pain & stiffness I have in hands/knees and other places. It particularly affects me at night and prevents me sleeping on my side. It wasn't affected by the steroid shot I had with affected the other pain and inflammation. Does anyone else have this or know what it could be?
Thanks for any input on this
I suffer from pain in my right shoulder that has been diagnosed as rheumatoid arthritis. It stops me from sleeping as well. I also have pain in both feet worse on a night. That pain is different to the shoulder pain but my doctor said although it is different it is also RA. Pain in different joints can feel different apparently. You should mention this to your doctor though. It still needs investigating.
Hi Matron,
thanks for your reply. I'll ask when I'm next at the rheumatologist's. I think it's a muscle pain rather than joint pain.
Must admit I thought mine was muscular pain but I was wrong. Yours could well be but better to be safe than sorry.
Hi Matron,
I do have rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis and plenty of pain and stiffness in joints too. It's just this shoulder pain is quite different. I have read that RA can cause some muscle pain too - just interested in people's experiences with muscle pain as well as the usual joint pains. This feels like a secondary symptom, almost like it may be related to tension caused by the other pains, or maybe muscle wasting caused by not being able to exercise much. Just guessing at present...
You're probably right. You know your own body. I suppose as someone who has been recently diagnosed I'm just putting every ache and pain down to RA at the moment. It's interesting that RA can cause muscle pain as well. I need to do more research.
Hi
I experience shoulder and neck pain intermittenty at night over periods of weeks and then it stops. My Rheumy says it is general connective tissue inflammation which is triggered by the general flare up in the body. I find I get connective tissue pain and costochrondritis in my ribcage when I have a big flare up.
Get it checked out and the correct medication so that you can get some sleep.
Good luck.
There's been a discussion on another thread about costochrondritis which appears to affect a lot of people with RA. It's something that I've suffered since my shoulder pain but never thought to mention it to my GP. Is there something that is prescribed specifically for this?
I've been suffering in a very similar way. Most nights are disturbed and yet the 'pain' feels quite different, almost like my muscles are being pulled off my bones. My feet are particularly sensitive & sometimes I can't even bear the duvet or a sheet on them. My inflammatory markers are low at the moment too. My Rheumatologist has referred me for more ultrasound tests on my hands & feet... I go this Tues. It will be interesting to see what happens ! I know many people with RA also develop Fibromyalgia. This can affect muscles, joints & even your skin. Maybe you could ask about that ?
Hi
My Costochrondritis has been dealt with in the past with steroid injections between ribs. Not particularly nice, but very effective.