Hand pain!

[KathyB]

Goodness! For the past week, I've had a nagging pain in my right hand. Owww! It's worst in my thumb and is now running up my arm nearing my shoulder. The ache is pretty constant with cramping and shooting pains. My left hand is just a bit uncomfortable -- same stiffness though.

Having moved to NC, I just got a new PCP so I mentioned it to him yesterday at my first appointment. He thought it was tendonitis. Since I can only take Tylenol (no anti-inflammatory drugs), he prescribed a topical anti-inflammatory cream. I'm going to pharmacy now.

Has anyone had this problem?? My knees are also sore and throb at night mostly. Otherwise most joint pain is dull.

KB

[Dirty Don]

WGs is my first thought, as is natural. Roving/spreading pain is not good, especially for WG. No streaks anywhere on your arms or legs? Always watch for poisoning. Could be simple flu, but there should be a temperature. Tendinitis? All over your body simultaneously? Not likely...keep an eye on it, look for other symptoms, and get to a doc if anything starts to 'scare' or threaten you.

[mishb]

As mentioned on another post, I get the hand pain constantly and the knees and by the end of the day, my knees are always hot and red and sore.
This is part of the RA for me unless they feel like they are broken or have been slammed in a car door, then that is WG pain.

Last night my hands felt like they were slammed in a car door and I found that it was something I had eaten for dinner (we went out for my husbands birthday).
I try to eat things that I know want affect my joints but sometimes (especially when going to restaurants) you can't fully know what they are cooking with.
I cannot eat anything with citrus in it otherwise my hands and knees are shot. I also can't eat peas or anything from the nightshades food group.

I find that putting ice on the painful area helps quite a bit.

I hope it comes good for you in super quick time.

[Pete]

I occasionally have cramps in my hands. Usually, my thumbs want to tuck into my palms, and I can't bend my index fingers. I eat at least one banana every day and take a potassium supplement every day. I also try to keep hydrated. This generally prevents the symptoms.

[drz]

I have had cramps in my hand long before the Wegs and it turned out to be Dupytren's contractures. The fingers lock up in a closed position and the growth of "cords" in the palm make it impossible to lay hand flat on a any surface. I had surgery at Mayo during early stages of Wegs before it was diagnosed. They cut the cords but said they would come back again in a couple years. Might need to repeat that again. The spasms or cramps are quite painful and it can take several minutes for them to pass and to regain use of the hands. Like most things the Wegs seemed to make this problem worse too until I got into a drug induced remission for the Wegs. But before this time I was also suffering from some serious malnourishment and the high dosages of treatment meds that might have also contributed to the problem. Neuropathy can also cause some cramping in muscles as motor nerves are affected.

How are cramps now and are they improving?

[gwenllian111]

I get this too, and synovitus (swelling of the joints). Very painful. Try using wrist splints (from amazon) and a bandange underneath to stop swelling.

A warm bath can sometimes help.

Watch out for carpel tunnel too.

My rheumy injected my wrists with steroid in the end, which helped with the inflammation no end. :hug3:

[KathyB]

I'm doing so much better! My new PCP prescribed Voltaren Gel (diclofenac sodium topical gel 1%). What a difference it made in my hand! Thank goodness!! I haven't tried it anywhere else yet (hips, knees) but am 100% pleased with the results in my hands! Thx to you all for your thoughts and suggestions!

KB. :thumbsup:

[gwenllian111]

I'm doing so much better! My new PCP prescribed Voltaren Gel (diclofenac sodium topical gel 1%). What a difference it made in my hand! Thank goodness!! I haven't tried it anywhere else yet (hips, knees) but am 100% pleased with the results in my hands! Thx to you all for your thoughts and suggestions!

KB. :thumbsup:


I'm going to give that a go!

[Sangye]

I've used Voltaren gel with success too, though I still feel you need to get it properly dx'ed. Voltaren is a bandaid, not a fix.

[greenjanet]

yep thats how my wegers started my hand..... underneath my hand where the fingers start, pain thumb, swelling of fingers wrist and terrible pain up my arm. janet

[drz]

yep thats how my wegers started my hand..... underneath my hand where the fingers start, pain thumb, swelling of fingers wrist and terrible pain up my arm. janet

When I went in the hospital for first time with Wegs i thought I had a broken arm or wrist due to pain and swelling.

[mishb]

When I went in the hospital for first time with Wegs i thought I had a broken arm or wrist due to pain and swelling.

Yep, slammed in car door, squished/broken.
It is much different pain than RA or other arthritic pain which seems to be mild and achey in comparison

[KathyB]

I so appreciate all of your thoughts! I'll be with both my nephrologist and ENT on Wednesday and will discuss with them what's been happening. Thx again!!

KB

[Dirty Don]

Good Luck KB...be tough, ask questions, consider all angles!

[vdub]

As far as pain goes, I can't say enough about Tramadol. Non-addictive, cheap, stronger than T3, and it does a pretty decent job on pain. I'm taking 6/day, but you can take up to 8/day. Good stuff.

[gwenllian111]

As far as pain goes, I can't say enough about Tramadol. Non-addictive, cheap, stronger than T3, and it does a pretty decent job on pain. I'm taking 6/day, but you can take up to 8/day. Good stuff.

Really? I find tramadol does nothing for me - neither does oral morphine (just nausea and vomiting).

I just put up with the pain now.

[vdub]

As far as pain meds go, I think everyone reacts quite differently. For instance, hydrocodone is not so good for me, but oxycodone is pretty decent. When I had my brain surgery, they had me on morphine and it was real good....

[drz]

Really? I find tramadol does nothing for me - neither does oral morphine (just nausea and vomiting).

I just put up with the pain now.


I found many of them do seem to cause nausea or other unpleasant feelings for me. When I had hand surgery regular Tylenol worked best for me. When I had my osseo-implant surgery Tramadol worked good for short time I needed it. Lot of people seem to get easily addicted to pain meds but the feelings I got from most of them really made me wonder why but I guess they work differently on each of us.