In early March the top of my right leg was sore, nothing to see, no bumps, nothing, it was all internal. It was diagnosed as tendonitis and I was 'scribed meloxicam -- which started to work in a couple of days. The arthritis came on suddenly, literally overnight. I woke up on Easter Sunday, April 4, and my right wrist was on fire. Right shoulder too, although that was rotator cuff pain -- also brand-new overnight. I will be 71 on the 21st of this month. I was forced to retire and close my business (toolmaker). A couple of weeks later my left wrist was on fire, but not quite as bad as my right. I was diagnosed with osteoarthritis in my hands and three different doctors said that yes, it can come on suddenly -- which was news to me. The meloxicam is also good for arthritis. After a tortuous few months, it has stabilized and become less acute. I tried the arthritic grease you spread all over your skin for ten days, but it was a smelly mess and didn't help at all with pain. I went to one session of acupuncture 2 weeks ago, not sure if I'll go back. I'm also taking CBD capsules although I don't think they're doing much good. I also developed pain around my right knee a month or so ago (knee joint seems fine). I saw my doc today and he said it is probably tendonitis also. He also said that my arthritis could come roaring back with the ridiculous acute pain in my hands. Great. The doctor's visit today was pretty worthless actually. I guess I'm stuck where I am. What is anyone else doing for these problems?
Yes, I've heard the oil is a more powerful than the capsules for pain relief. Another thing worth trying is homeopathic arnica montana 200c or ck. Can be found on Amazon and probably most larger health food stores, and in Whole Foods. Usually recommended is taking 3-5 pellets 3 times a day for level 10 pain for about a week, and tapering back to 3-5 pellets once or twice a day, then every other day until not needed, or as needed. It's not a cure for the cause of pain but will help reduce sensations of pain. If you haven't taken homeopathic remedies before, be sure to mind the following: don't touch the pellets with your fingers screw pellets into the cap while cap is on remove cap with pellets and tip cap so they drop under your tongue let pellets dissolve under tongue, don't swallow don't put anything in mouth 30 minutes before taking don't put anything in mouth 30 minutes after* avoid smelling eucalyptus, cedar, tea tree oil, peppermint at all times by nothing in mouth I mean, no water, juice, coffee, cough lozenge, toothpaste, paper clips, fingers, pencils, other meds, mouthwash, etc. NOTHING!!
@Bruce Andrew Most interested to hear you are (were) a Toolmaker.......My Dad was a Tool & Die Maker. As a kid, he took me to an open house at the Fisher Body GM plant near us. He marveled at what he called "Keller" Mills which profiled dies following a model. We saw roofs, doors, hoods being formed and blanked by giant presses. Some of the big Danly Mechanical triple actions were set down in a deep pit below the floor! Frank
Hey Frank. I was actually an injection moldmaker, a specialty under the "toolmaking" part of the machining trades. I started in 1968 and learned all the old methods for making odd shapes, contours, etc. in steel and graphite. I worked at the Rochester Products division of GM in nearby Rochester, in the die cast area from 1977-81. Self-employed since 1985, I got into CAD-CAM in the late '90s; I would have been out of business if I hadn't. It was a huge learning curve but it made things so much easier, and it made me at least 1/3 more productive. Things that used to be difficult and time-consuming were now easy (and more accurate). Before computers, we worked with real models too. But computers made it possible to create digital models (much easier) the computer would toolpath right from that, and send the data to the milling machine. 3D printing is the same concept only it adds material instead of taking it away. At any rate, I suppose a half-century+ of throwing 50-100 pound blocks of steel around, never-ending tightening and loosening mill chucks, etc. took their toll on my hands.
I started this thread on August 3, and posted my problems going back to March. I said that they had stabilized (as of August 3) and had not gotten worse. Noticeable change has been very slow. Since then (almost 4 weeks) my hand/wrist pain has actually decreased quite a bit. I don't need the toothpaste tube roller anymore that I'd just bought; I can squeeze it out again normally with one hand. It hurts a bit, but is doable. And I can do many more things that I haven't been able to do since this all started. I mowed my entire lawn Friday, although I did use wrist braces on both hands. Both of my legs and feet ached for the past two months or so; that has mostly disappeared in the past 2-3 weeks. Rotator cuff pain in both shoulders is mostly gone, although I'm still doing PT at home every other day for them. I had a lot of Lyme disease symptoms, although the test in July was negative. So after all this, with no help from 5 doctors on this specific point, and doing a lot of reading, I think I have chronic inflammation. Osteoarthritis is inflammation of the joints, rotator cuff pain is tendonitis of the shoulder tendons, and my leg pain back in March, was diagnosed as tendonitis -- and tendonitis IS inflammation of the tendons. It has affected a good portion of my body -- all of this has happened inside of 3-4 months where there were no previous problems. Chronic inflammation is not good, it can be a precursor to most lethal diseases that we know about. That's pretty scary, but I am slowly getting better so hopefully I can dodge the killers for a while.
Your doctors should know, but I have never known anyone who had osteoarthritis make an acute presentation like that, especially if you had no significant pain prior to that. You can "infectious" or septic arthritis make that appearance, as can the autoimmune diseases, such as lupus or rheumatoid arthritis, but those are more prevalent in women than in men. There are any number of different arthritis types, but I am glad you seem to be getting it under control. Wife is taking Meloxicam for hip pain and has taken it for shoulder issues in the past. Lyme disease testing is not all that reliable, and that could be the cause of some of your symptoms. I, too, have rotating joint pain that hasn't been properly diagnosed or treated, so I can identify with some of your issues.
I have osteoarthritis and degeneration spinal lumbar intervertebral discs with bone spurs. I get regular epidural injections for my lower back pain. I was also getting cortisone injections in both knees every three months for years until they no longer helped relieve the pain. In March, I had a total joint left knee replacement surgery. I did all my therapy exercises and recovered well from it. In October, I’m scheduled to have my right knee replacement surgery. I still have arthritis pain in my legs so use Voltaren it’s a diclofenac sodium topical gel for pain relief. If my back and knees are both hurting I’ll take an 800 MG ibuprofen. I try to take daily walks. And when I feel up to it I’ll swim laps.
Hi Don. I know, it's strange, the wrist and shoulder pain came on literally overnight. Me and three friends got stuck on that despite an orthopedist, a neurologist, and my primary who all said it can happen. The ortho did a blood test and ruled out rheumatoid arthritis. The neuro only found slight carpal tunnel compression and nothing else, and said the carpal tunnel wouldn't be the cause of my problems and was normal for my age. I saw the X-ray of my wrists and the ortho showed me the arthritic joints. Okay, wear and tear, that didn't happen overnight. But the acute pain did. Something doesn't add up. My doc said the Lyme disease tests are not accurate unless I had caught it last year, then it would definitely show positive. My neighbor took his 5 year-old girl to the same doc earlier this year. She was not acting right and had a red mark on her back. He didn't even bother testing her because of the inaccuracy, and gave them a script for antibios. She is fine now. I've been on a half-dose of meloxicam (half of 15 mg) for 2-3 months now. I quit it twice and the pain came roaring back two days later. I just started taking a half-dose every other day and I will see what happens. I'm sticking with chronic systemic inflammation until somebody -- who knows more than I do -- tells me I'm wrong.
Good luck, Ann. My (late) dad had both knees replaced almost 40 years ago and they worked out well for him. I'm sure the technology is much better today. I used that gel on my wrists, didn't help at all.
You could also try fish oil supplements to see if they reduce the joint inflammation. I had one doc say that supplements containing high levels of EPA were better than the regular fish oil since they were less likely to cause A fib that is experienced by some people on fish oil/omega 3 supplementation. Some folks claim turmeric/black pepper supplementation works for them. Look at some of the vitamin/supplement websites to see if they offer any insight. The FDA won't allow them to make claims but there are hints as to traditional uses, etc. I use Swanson in North Dakota, but Puritan's Pride is in your neck of the woods and can provide products if you want to try them.
The thing that helps me the most is diet. It is also my undoing. I have had my left hip replaced and am soooooooooo happy with the result. But I am working totally off that leg. I have pinched nerves in my back which make me believe my right leg has some horrible pain in it. Yoga can help with the posture/pain. Yoga for old folks, not young bend in a pretzel folks. But I need to abstain from anything with sugar and simple carbs in it. Read labels. White anything: bread, rice, potatoes, boxed anything...I don't drink anymore but no alcohol and probably no smoking. Most of those cause inflammation. I know when I eat the aforementioned items, my arthritis flares up.I was going to try fasting if I can do it. If I eat only hard boiled eggs for a day or so, I don't get hungry and my pain gets less. But some are allergic to eggs.
Yes, I had just recently read about fish oil. And turmeric is in my Amz cart as of a few days ago. But I'm already pilled to death, not crazy about taking more.
I've been reading a lot about diet lately too. I avoided refined carbs for years as best I could, but started eating them again a few years ago. So I've been staying away from them the past week. Not completely, but eating them less than I was. I go to lunch every day with my buddies and it is almost impossible to get anything in a diner that doesn't have bread or pasta in it. This is pretty much my whole social life, so I'm not quitting lunches. We'll see. I am getting better without having changed anything.