Re: New to group: issues with my hands

[Guest guest]

Welcome and you are in the right place if

you have anything resembling RA. You should be seeing a rheumatologist

because few other doctors really know how to diagnose or treat RA and in fact I

wonder about some rheumatologists. Many of us start with Prednisone as a

bridging medication because it is a strong anti-inflammatory and usually does

wonders to help the symptoms of RA. However, it does not do much to slow

damage to the joints and long-term use has some bad side effects so we usually

try to get off it as soon as the slower-acting RA medications become

effective. Usually Methotrexate is given as the first real RA medication

and along with that doctors almost always prescribe Folic Acid to help reduce

the side effects of Methotrexate (nausea, mouth sores).

I’m not really up on Ibuprofen

because I didn’t take it for very long. I got a slight indication

of stomach problems and it wasn’t doing that much good so I just quit

it. Some people get a lot of benefit from it, however.

Most of us use conventional Western

medicine because we don’t think there have been enough long-term studies

of other treatments to know how well they slow down joint damage. Just

feeling good in the present is not enough because we want to avoid permanent

joint damage.

RA Criteria (Any 4 qualify for positive diagnosis)

1. Morning stiffness, lasting for at least an hour, present daily for

at least 6 weeks

2. Arthritis of 3 or more joints, lasting for at least 6 weeks

3. Arthritis of the hand joints, lasting for at least 6 weeks

4. Symmetric arthritis, lasting for at least 6 weeks

5. Rheumatoid nodules

6. Positive rheumatoid factor (blood test)

7. Joint changes on x-ray

The criteria listed above were developed

by the American College of Rheumatology for diagnosing

RA. Because of the variability of RA there is no single thing that

permits or rules out a diagnosis of RA. They have seven criteria but

having any four qualify for a positive diagnosis. I have six of them but

I’ve never had morning stiffness.

Post any questions you have and someone is

likely to have some useful information for you, or at least we can offer

sympathy and understanding. God bless.

From: Rheumatoid Arthritis [mailto:Rheumatoid Arthritis ] On Behalf Of lcs249

Sent: Friday, June 02, 2006 12:42

PM

Rheumatoid Arthritis

Subject:

New to group: issues with my hands

Hi all,

I'm not even certain I'm in the right place since I only believe I

have rheumatoid arthritis - have not heard my

doc say so, yet.

I'm 57, I write for a living, and typing has become painful.

The problem was manifesting on occasion, but last December I did some

strenuous hand activity for two solid days that seems to have made the

pain permanent. It keeps me up at night.

A few months ago when I asked my doc about it, he said to try

Glucosamine Condroitin for a month or two and if it didn't help he'd

put me on an anti-inflammatory.

My local health-food store/vitamin shop advised me to add TSM to the

Glucosamine.

It hasn't really worked, and the pain actually wakes me up at night.

How much Ibuprofen can one take in a day - I take 3-4 in the morning

just to be able to work, and 3 as needed with meals laters.

So, should I go for the AMA " better living through chemistry "

approach?

thanks, LCS

[Guest guest]

Dear LCS- You should see a Rheumatologist. PCP doctors are worth the trouble if you have need a referral but they try to be the specialist and that keeps a patient such as yourself waiting and in PAIN. You should get xrays, and a prescription NSAID with perhaps darvocet or a small dose of steriod. I wear both wrist braces and edema compression gloves that come 3/4 the way up my fingers. They feel great on the computer, sleeping etc. You cant do dishes with them but anything else works. The wrist braces you can wear anytime and help prevent carpel tunnel etc. Try ICE if your hands feel hot and swollen or HEAT if they feel stiff and painful. For the compression gloves go to www.wisdomking.com and search for edema compression gloves 3/4. Any rite aid carries the " ACE " brand wrist support bands. Yours, Deborah.

On 6/2/06, lcs249 <LCSnews@...> wrote:

Hi all,I'm not even certain I'm in the right place since I only believe Ihave rheumatoid arthritis - have not heard my doc say so, yet.I'm 57, I write for a living, and typing has become painful.

The problem was manifesting on occasion, but last December I did somestrenuous hand activity for two solid days that seems to have made thepain permanent. It keeps me up at night.A few months ago when I asked my doc about it, he said to try

Glucosamine Condroitin for a month or two and if it didn't help he'dput me on an anti-inflammatory.My local health-food store/vitamin shop advised me to add TSM to theGlucosamine.It hasn't really worked, and the pain actually wakes me up at night.

How much Ibuprofen can one take in a day - I take 3-4 in the morningjust to be able to work, and 3 as needed with meals laters.So, should I go for the AMA " better living through chemistry " approach?

thanks, LCS

[Guest guest]

Thank you for your very thorough response - this is very helpful.

LCS

>

> Welcome and you are in the right place if you have anything

resembling RA.

> You should be seeing a rheumatologist because few other doctors

really know

> how to diagnose or treat RA and in fact I wonder about some

rheumatologists.

> Many of us start with Prednisone as a bridging medication because it

is a

> strong anti-inflammatory and usually does wonders to help the

symptoms of

> RA. However, it does not do much to slow damage to the joints and

long-term

> use has some bad side effects so we usually try to get off it as

soon as the

> slower-acting RA medications become effective. Usually Methotrexate is

> given as the first real RA medication and along with that doctors almost

> always prescribe Folic Acid to help reduce the side effects of

Methotrexate

> (nausea, mouth sores).

>

>

>

> I'm not really up on Ibuprofen because I didn't take it for very

long. I

> got a slight indication of stomach problems and it wasn't doing that

much

> good so I just quit it. Some people get a lot of benefit from it,

however.

>

>

>

> Most of us use conventional Western medicine because we don't think

there

> have been enough long-term studies of other treatments to know how

well they

> slow down joint damage. Just feeling good in the present is not enough

> because we want to avoid permanent joint damage.

>

>

>

> RA Criteria (Any 4 qualify for positive diagnosis)

>

> 1. Morning stiffness, lasting for at least an hour, present daily for at

> least 6 weeks

> 2. Arthritis of 3 or more joints, lasting for at least 6 weeks

> 3. Arthritis of the hand joints, lasting for at least 6 weeks

> 4. Symmetric arthritis, lasting for at least 6 weeks

> 5. Rheumatoid nodules

> 6. Positive rheumatoid factor (blood test)

> 7. Joint changes on x-ray

>

>

>

> The criteria listed above were developed by the American College of

> Rheumatology for diagnosing RA. Because of the variability of RA

there is

> no single thing that permits or rules out a diagnosis of RA. They have

> seven criteria but having any four qualify for a positive diagnosis.

I have

> six of them but I've never had morning stiffness.

>

>

>

> Post any questions you have and someone is likely to have some useful

> information for you, or at least we can offer sympathy and

understanding.

> God bless.

>

>

>

> _____

>

> From: Rheumatoid Arthritis

> [mailto:Rheumatoid Arthritis ] On Behalf Of lcs249

> Sent: Friday, June 02, 2006 12:42 PM

> Rheumatoid Arthritis

> Subject: New to group: issues with my hands

>

>

>

> Hi all,

>

> I'm not even certain I'm in the right place since I only believe I

> have rheumatoid arthritis - have not heard my doc say so, yet.

>

> I'm 57, I write for a living, and typing has become painful.

>

> The problem was manifesting on occasion, but last December I did some

> strenuous hand activity for two solid days that seems to have made the

> pain permanent. It keeps me up at night.

>

> A few months ago when I asked my doc about it, he said to try

> Glucosamine Condroitin for a month or two and if it didn't help he'd

> put me on an anti-inflammatory.

>

> My local health-food store/vitamin shop advised me to add TSM to the

> Glucosamine.

>

> It hasn't really worked, and the pain actually wakes me up at night.

>

> How much Ibuprofen can one take in a day - I take 3-4 in the morning

> just to be able to work, and 3 as needed with meals laters.

>

> So, should I go for the AMA " better living through chemistry " approach?

>

> thanks, LCS

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Thank you Deborah (and Harold) for giving me helpful suggestions.

I have a question which may sound stupid, but is based on experience

with an injured back:

As I mentioned in my first post, the pain in my hands had been on and

off, but was brought on full force (and made permanent, so far) by

strenuous hand activity (squeezing hard on bike grips) which I got

back into last December.

Will stopping the activity reduce the pain or is here to stay now that

it's unleashed?

I learned years ago when my back went into spasm that it wasn't the

bending over to pick something up that caused the spasm, but all the

things leading up to that moment, including a herniated disc. So in

that case ceasing activities has no effect - I just have a bad back

and have to watch myself.

best, Leon

> >

> > Hi all,

> >

> > I'm not even certain I'm in the right place since I only believe I

> > have rheumatoid arthritis - have not heard my doc say so, yet.

> >

> > I'm 57, I write for a living, and typing has become painful.

> >

> > The problem was manifesting on occasion, but last December I did some

> > strenuous hand activity for two solid days that seems to have made the

> > pain permanent. It keeps me up at night.

> >

> > A few months ago when I asked my doc about it, he said to try

> > Glucosamine Condroitin for a month or two and if it didn't help he'd

> > put me on an anti-inflammatory.

> >

> > My local health-food store/vitamin shop advised me to add TSM to the

> > Glucosamine.

> >

> > It hasn't really worked, and the pain actually wakes me up at night.

> >

> > How much Ibuprofen can one take in a day - I take 3-4 in the morning

> > just to be able to work, and 3 as needed with meals laters.

> >

> > So, should I go for the AMA " better living through chemistry "

approach?

> >

> > thanks, LCS

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

[Guest guest]

Hello LCS , Glade you founld the group theres alot of good people here and they'll help you any way they can I really don't know much I can add to Harolds and Debras They'er very good at this so i'll just say hello for now . johnlcs249 <LCSnews@...> wrote: Hi all, I'm not even certain I'm in the right place since I only believe

I have rheumatoid arthritis - have not heard my doc say so, yet. I'm 57, I write for a living, and typing has become painful. The problem was manifesting on occasion, but last December I did some strenuous hand activity for two solid days that seems to have made the pain permanent. It keeps me up at night. A few months ago when I asked my doc about it, he said to try Glucosamine Condroitin for a month or two and if it didn't help he'd put me on an anti-inflammatory. My local health-food store/vitamin shop advised me to add TSM to the Glucosamine. It hasn't really worked, and the pain actually wakes me up at night. How much Ibuprofen can one take in a day - I take 3-4 in the morning just to be able to work, and 3 as needed with meals laters. So, should I go for the AMA "better living through chemistry" approach? thanks, LCS

Ring'em or ping'em. Make PC-to-phone calls as low as 1¢/min with Messenger with Voice.

[Guest guest]

Leon- YES stopping the activity right away is essential. Stop gripping, or even wringing out wet towels etc. The kiss of death for arthritic hands. Pressure on your joints is a bad bad thing so dont poke press squeeze or grip anything without extreme caution!!!! visit www.arthritisfoundation.org for more info. Hugs, DeborahOn 6/5/06, lcs249 <

LCSnews@...> wrote:Thank you Deborah (and Harold) for giving me helpful suggestions.

I have a question which may sound stupid, but is based on experiencewith an injured back:As I mentioned in my first post, the pain in my hands had been on andoff, but was brought on full force (and made permanent, so far) by

strenuous hand activity (squeezing hard on bike grips) which I gotback into last December.Will stopping the activity reduce the pain or is here to stay now thatit's unleashed?I learned years ago when my back went into spasm that it wasn't the

bending over to pick something up that caused the spasm, but all thethings leading up to that moment, including a herniated disc. So inthat case ceasing activities has no effect - I just have a bad backand have to watch myself.

best, Leon

> >> > Hi all,> >> > I'm not even certain I'm in the right place since I only believe I> > have rheumatoid arthritis - have not heard my doc say so, yet.> >

> > I'm 57, I write for a living, and typing has become painful.> >> > The problem was manifesting on occasion, but last December I did some> > strenuous hand activity for two solid days that seems to have made the

> > pain permanent. It keeps me up at night.> >> > A few months ago when I asked my doc about it, he said to try> > Glucosamine Condroitin for a month or two and if it didn't help he'd

> > put me on an anti-inflammatory.> >> > My local health-food store/vitamin shop advised me to add TSM to the> > Glucosamine.> >> > It hasn't really worked, and the pain actually wakes me up at night.

> >> > How much Ibuprofen can one take in a day - I take 3-4 in the morning> > just to be able to work, and 3 as needed with meals laters.> >> > So, should I go for the AMA " better living through chemistry "

approach?> >> > thanks, LCS> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >

[Guest guest]

Thanks very much for the welcome.

best, Leon

Hi all,> > I'm not even certain I'm in the right place since I only believe I> have rheumatoid arthritis - have not heard my doc say so, yet.> > I'm 57, I write for a living, and typing has become painful.> > The problem was manifesting on occasion, but last December I did some> strenuous hand activity for two solid days that seems to have made the> pain permanent. It keeps me up at night.> > A few months ago when I asked my doc about it, he said to try> Glucosamine Condroitin for a month or two and if it didn't help he'd> put me on an anti-inflammatory.> > My local health-food store/vitamin shop advised me to add TSM to the> Glucosamine.> > It hasn't really worked, and the pain actually wakes me up at night.> > How much Ibuprofen can one take in a day - I take 3-4 in the morning> just to be able to work, and 3 as needed with meals laters.> > So, should I go for the AMA "better living through chemistry" approach?> > thanks, LCS> > > > > > > >