Hi all
I am 23 years old and my RA is really bad at the moment. My fingers are cinstantly painfull and i am unsure of anything that will help?
I am constantly tired as this keeps me up at night
Hi Kirsty are you taken any medication ? Do u think that adds to the tiredness?
Hi kirsty. I have the same problems. RA cause me extreme fatigue and my joints swell. Can barely walk with the kner pain. My rheumatologist had to give me a cortisone shot to give me some relief.
You should let your rheumy know about your symptoms and maybe ask about a cortisone shot.
hello kirsty, so to hear your pain at moment, im 26 and the tiredness is killing me mine has got a lot worse since the medication has been in my body for me its worse than the pain. i take 15mg co- codamol for my pain but the are addictive, have you tried them? they seem to work for me. my caffine consumpiton has going up a lot in last few months which im trying to cut back on.
hello blue16, just wondering what you had a shot of, my knee is my worst part drives me mad i have been having kenolog injection in my knee they are amazing for me but soon wear off how long does your injection help you for?
Hi Kirsty, so sorry to hear this. You are so young and often people don't understand how tired and drained this condition can make you feel which can be demoralising in itself. I see Emily has already asked about your meds which is probably the first thing to look at. How are your fingers in the morning? Bent? Stiff? Well there are people here that do understand, 'worn the T shirt, etc'. Hopefully you'll get some useful suggestions. Carol x
My rheumatologist gave me a cortisone shot im my hip and most of my swelling went down; it really helps with the pain and swelling. Your rheumatologist can tell you more about how it works.
Hi Kirsty, sorry to hear you are struggling we can all sympathise with you.
Apart from looking into possibly changing meds etc. I have the same problems with my hands and fingers and after trying various things I now keep a pair of what I call
'Space Gloves' handy and wear them whenever I need to. They are coloured white,
threaded through with a silver thread , quite thin to the touch with a deep wrist band to keep the heat in. After wearing them for just a short time my hands are toasty warm and much less painful. I ordered them from a catalogue last year and did not cost much and are much better than compression gloves which I found painful.
I read that they were developed for the space programme to keep Astronauts hands warm and I think there are also socks. I can't remember where I got them from but if I come across them again will post the details. Have a look on line and see if you can find them I'm sure they would help. Good Luck, Chris
Hiya
Thanks for all your replies. I am on medication but i cant spell the name its something like hydrocloxcim... this doesnt seem to be improving any of my symptons. Its not so much the swelling its the pain that is the problem
Aw, Kirsty, contact your Rheumy. You need reviewing. They can't help you if they don't know. Good luck. Carol x
You must let your Rheumo know of your tablets are not working, or causing you too many side effects.
Over 12 years or more I have gone through the chemsts shop of different tablets, some I am have such nasty side effects I cannot take them, one other gave me such high blood pressure it became dangerous.
I have discovered anything with sulfur in it my system does not like at all, so that rules out a range of drugs, as a number of them are sulfur based.
Am presently on methotrextrate, 35mg once a week, and arava 10mg a day is all I can tolerate, rheumo is looking at maybe some other drugs, tommorrow is my appt, looking foward to some help I hope.
Hi Ben, your tiredness may be a combination of your arthritis and your cocodamol? I can only take them at bedtime if I want to function the following day! Carol x