Major Flare-ups...

sunnyhours

Hey everyone!
Sorry to bother you all...it's my first MAJOR Flare up...My knees have been killing me all day (10am-Now) and I can't sleep because of thee pain...my flare-ups usually are in the morning till late afternoon and can somewhat be tolerated with naproxen or diclofenac...but not today/tonight...nothing seems to work and I'm desperate for relief...
I'm wrapped up in my pyjamas with a warm blanket on top, cuz it usually helps with the pain...
Anyways, I guess I'm just looking for some support...
Thanks,
Fred.

dreamdaisy

Morning sunnyhours, join the gang. Mine started last Thursday and show no sign of abating. Have slept the last few days away, can feel every single one of my affected joints and I feel lousy. There is not rhyme or reason to these things - my longest one lasted three months but then I was without meds. On meds now, so I have my fingers metaphorically crossed that this blows over soon. I'm brighter in the mornings then fade gradually throughout the day. It's not great, is it? I hope you feel brighter soon. Dreamdaisy

frogmorton

Hi Sunny

Sorry you feel so bad

I have amitriptyline too - which helps me to sleep? Have you gto any of that?

Have you any pain releif other than your anti-inflams?? If not then a trip to the docs would be an idea.

If you can get enough pain releif then you can ride it out with rest. also things like heat or ice packs can help too.

I do hope you feel better too. If there's anything decent on Tv then I try to distract myself too.

Love

Toni xx

carola

Hi Fred

Sorry to hear about your flare up.

I am having a decent day today so I am currently kicking Arthur up his backside to a pulp as I type for you.

When I go to bed at night I take x2 Tramadol. Although I still wake up a few times during the night if I turn over and the pain hits me, the Tramadol makes me go back to sleep again. They make me feel a bit trippy however it is quite a good funky feeling!

Hope you get some relief today.
Carol

louise38

Sorry you are suffering so much Fred,

I too have amytrptaline (or however its spelt) took about 2 weeks to work but after that slept better. Also mixed with co-codamol, methotrexate and fluoxetine! Cocktail anyone??

I keep a bag of frozen sweetcorn especially for my joints, it helps, but wrap the bag in a towel first!! Messy otherwise.

Lxx

dorcas

Hiya Fred,

sorry about the major flare

I agree with the others that you need better pain relief and the Amatriptyline does help with sleep.

I also find heat comforting for sore joints and avoid using ice.brrrr.. but others find using alternate hot and cold packs helpful.

Hope you get some relief soon...but maybe a trip to the docs is needed to get the right meds to cope with these painful symptoms?


Iris xx

ps..I'm curious (nosey)....but where are you? I noticed the time difference between when you posted and what you said about it being 10am :?: or is it just me that's mixed up.....

dreamdaisy

I assumed he meant 10am the previous day, ergo about three hours away from achieving 24. DD

dorcas

dreamdaisy wrote:

I assumed he meant 10am the previous day, ergo about three hours away from achieving 24. DD

my...head...hurts...



Iris xx

dreamdaisy

He posted at 5.39am on the 3rd of August - the clock on the forum posts is still on winter-time so that's 6.39 - he said 10am so that would have been 10am on the 2nd August. That's what I thought he meant anyway! Does that help? It is muddly, I know. DD

sunnyhours

Hi everyone!
Thanks for the support!
I actually had tried amitriptyline before for sleep and it didn't help much...I still had the pills and tried one yesterday and I think I slept an hour more and I didn't wake up...
For pain relief I only take NSAID's since my doctors answer for everything Is an anti-depressant...I had tramadol before but it soon became as useless as the codeine (my liver has problems processing codeine) and I've also tried a dozen of other pain killers for various accidents and fractures...
But being 21 and being treated like a junkie, I don't see when I would get a Rx for relief...
Tha ms everyone I love this community!
Btw...I'm in Montreal, Quebec, Canada lol

dreamdaisy

Oh. Wow! I have no idea how they treat RA over there - is that what you have, or is it OA? Anyway, I hope you feel better soon. DD

ironic

Hello again Fred, Hope you are feeling a tad better now.
I hope you can find an other dr soon. You really need to know what is going on. Trouble is everything takes time so you will have to pace yourself until you find the right medication.

Sorry you are going through a tough time and really wish things were going more quickly for you.

Take care and please let us know how you get on.

Cheers, Ix

speedalong

Hi Fred,

sorry you are having what sounds your worse flare todate. Hope the heat helps and if it doesn't try ice. How many hours sleep did you manage?

Canada hey - an international cyber-pal.

Speedy

sunnyhours

Wanted to give you guys an update...I tried to go to the clinic but they were all full so I'll go earlier tomorrow. My mom had some Diclofenac, it helped a little but it still keeps me from doing normal activities with my friends...and it's been a while I haven't been out with them so it's kinda getting on my mind...on another note I got 4-5 hours of sleep but it's better than usual since I'm pretty much insomniac :P

dorcas

Hi again sunnyhours

I am keeping my fingers crossed for you that you do get to see a different doc today

having your arther treated as a depressive illness is, quite frankly, appalling. :shock:
yes, we do get 'down' with trying to manage this long term condition and it can be necessary to have this aspect of our health treated with anti-depressants ...but that is additional to having good quality, individual and effective treatment for the arther. :!:

Many of the NSAIDs and DMARDs etc take time to work and you need to be on them for a period of time before judging whether they are going to be the 'right' treatment for you.....and hopefully once you are on better meds you'll be able to enjoy being part of your social group of friends again.

Good luck sunny and let us know how you get on?

iris x

ps...I was in Vancouver a few (well more than a few!) years ago...beautiful!

mummyb

Hi Fred and welcome to the forum, you will be well supported here as people understand what you are going through. A major flare is no fun at all, had one myself last year when every joint in my body was affected, yuk. Hope you get to see a decent doctor today who understands what is going on. Good luck and looking forward to hearing how you go on.

Best wishes, Brenda xx

sunnyhours

I saw a new doctor today...he pretty much said it's highly abnormal at my age to have so many joint problems and, he then proceeded explaining to me that there are forms of arthritis that can develop at young ages...
He gave me a form for blood tests...he told me he'd refer me to a rheumathologist when the tests come back.
I'm just hoping I'll have treatment soon, he prescribed Arthrotec 75 for the pain. I'll see how that goes...

dreamdaisy

Developing arthritis at a young age is unusual but not unheard of. Poor you sunnyhours, I feel for you. At least if they can sort a diagnosis the drugs may work better in halting the comparatively 'young' progression of the disease, ie it hasn't really gotten a hold on you yet. (Like my attempt at Canadian grammar? We dont' use 'gotten' over here, shame really, it's a good word!) I wish you well - keep in touch, we really do want to know the outcome and your progress! DD

justinbarrow

Sorry things are not going well, I find it hard work sleeping and need the help of amitriptiline but it makes me quite groggy in the morning.

Hope things get a bit better soon.

wibberley

Hi Sunnyhours, I hope the new drug works for you.

It is unusual to have joint problems at a young age, but not impossible - I was diagnosed with arthritis age 7 and my cousin, age 15.

A friends mum is a dowser (ok, not entirely sure what that is?) and says that for the past 2 weeks the earth has been low on energy which has been having an effect on people with long-term illnesses. Wouldn't it great if all our recent ills were down to that!

Lois x

dreamdaisy

I dowsed for water once, in a shop somewhere in Somerset (not Glastonbury tho). I was given two sticks of willow, one held in each hand, quite loosely, and told to walk around the shop. I did so and sudenly the sticks crossed, right above a source of water. I found a couple of others too. My mum had a go and it didn't work for her. Other people tried, it didn't work for them. It's all connected with ley lines and so on. Don't the Chinese call it chi or is that something else? Dowsing is a method of finding a water source. DD

joann1

Hiya Fred

Hope you feeling better soon, i dont know if it will help but im taking dihydracodine x 2 30mg before i got to bed, when it starts to work you do feel like your sinking into the bed, i must admit sometimes they do work for me & sometimes they dont, my next step is morphine as ive tried everything else, only problem is morphine tends to make me vomit so at the min its a no-no even though im getting desperate and need some sleep, i also take condine through the day along with some other meds but have to stop taking it at least 4hrs before taking the dihydracodine as they interact with each other, roll on my op hopefully make the pain better,

Let me no how you get on

Jo-Ann

frogmorton

Hi Fred

So very gald to hear that the doc IS taking you serioulsy the arthotec will help a little and a fefferal to rheumy iS a result.

Well done

Please keep talking to us if you want to - we can help you get through until you get some 'proper' help.

Love

Toni xx

tillytop

Hello Montrreal!!! How exciting. We don't get many people from exotic lands posting on here!

Glad you managed to get seen at the clinic and hopefully these tests will provide a proper diagnosis so that you can get some relief.

Hope the new pills help in the meantime.

Love Tilly x

sunnyhours

Hi everyone!
I'm feeling better today...I guess it was the weather that gave me those terrible and non-ending flares...
We've been having very humid/rainy weather in the last couple of days so I'm hoping we won't get any of this for a couple of weeks...
Thanks for the support,
I'm waiting for my medicare card (we have a FREE clinic/hospital card here ) to arrive by the mail, and as soon as I get it I'll go and get the blood tests done, since it'll be free I better wait...my new very nice doctor is going on vacation saturday anyways, so I'll see him tomorrow to get something for the pain in case it comes back again while he's gone and I'll see him again when he comes back. Because those pains aren't new, I'm just not use to them lasting THAT long (IE: multiple days)
Sadly he isn't accepting any patients as a family doctor, but they're pretty much open everyday so that's good!
Hope everyone is feeling good as I do today :P

dreamdaisy

I'm glad to hear you have some bounce back! Well done you, sunnyhours, I hope it lasts a while. Keep in touch, let us know how things turn out - we are interested! I wish you well. DD