osteo arthritis and fibromyalgia

amet1

hi seen the rheumatologist and have a physio appt on friday. loads of blood tests i have been told i do have osteo arthritis "by no means minor" in hands spine knees and feet and taken off propranalol as i have reynauds syndrome,dry eyes and mouth and now shes saying also fibromyalgia,i dont know what that means other than i feel like death warmed up most of the time lol but i am having specific problems with stairs and getting in and out of the bath, hand supports dont work well for me or hand rails as my hands are pretty bad, the rest of the time i am just slower than i used to be and stiff most of the time. will physio help with these problems as i still consider myself to be extremely active and apart form the aforesaid problems with stiffness i maintain an excellent standard of range of movement albeit with constant pain uncertain what help to specifically ask for any suggestions by anyone with osteo and fibro would be most welcome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

stickywicket

I don't have fibromyalgia, amet1, so I can't help on that front. For my OA I do exercises (AC produce a booklet). Keeping active alone doesn't necessarily help as we all automatically compensate for joints that hurt by doing things slightly differently and often by-passing some muscles as a result. Exercising those muscles will help.

Has anyone suggested an Occupational Therapist to help with things like bath rails?

dreamdaisy

Fibro = muscle and myalgia = pain (both very rough translations from DD's Book of Medico). Fibro can be as debilitating as an auto-immune arthritis, stuff hurts and you feel tired. I don't know much about medication for fibro but the symptoms do fade from time to time and then things are a little brighter for a while. The physio may be able to give you more information but I'm sure that AC will have some gen on it so give the Helpline a ring. Please let us know how you get on on Friday. DD

Soretoe2

Hi Amet1,
Sadly Fibromyalgia is very hard to treat and coupled with the osteoarthritis a really horrible combination.
Usually we are offered various medications, anti-convulsants like Pregabalin/Gabapentin or low dose anti-depressants such as Amytriptyline/Nortriptyline as they can calm the nerve endings down a bit. They do have significant side effects which some people find very hard to live with, on the other hand some people find them wonderful and have a very good outcome with much reduced symptoms.
There are also muscle relaxants such as Robaxin/Baclofen, again side effects are sometimes a probem for some people.
For the sheer pain there are NSAID's, if you can take them and various pain medications, including transdermal patches that you wear for 3 to 7 days, they give you a small dose every hour and can be very effective in helping with the pain, you can still take back up meds with the patches.
It is very much a trial and error thing, finding the best for you can take a while, so don't give up and get down if you are given something that doesn't help at first.
Then there are heat pads/cold wraps/warm baths and thick socks!
Some people find Tens machines (small electrical impulses at the site of a particular pain) soothing, others it does nothing for.
Pacing ourselves is very important, try and spread things you have to do throughout the day, even leave some things for another day if you don't feel up to it. If you get tired, take a break for half and hour, sit and close your eyes and try slow breathing, listen to music, read a book. You will find that this helps you to keep going.
It's also important to do gentle exercise, nothing hard and fast. If you are able a meander down to your shops and back, over the fields or whatever you have locally. Swimming is very beneficial if you are able to do it.
I can't tell you if the physio will help you feel a lot better or not, again it's a very personal thing. I've had loads and it never really makes a difference for me.
You sound as though, as stickeywicket says, you may be able to have an occupational therapist visit you and assess what you need at home. I have had rails put in outside my home, inside the bathroom and hallway, knife/fork sets with special handles, sissors, toiet seat, kettle stand and lots of other things given me, all by the occupational department. If you don't qualify for some of it now they usually check up on you once a year or so to see how you are doing.
Good luck with your appointment on Friday. Make sure you make a list and ask about anything you are unsure of. Most important of all, don't give up. Fibro can go into remission sometimes for long periods when you will feel a lot better.
Let us know how you get on. Joy

barbara12

Hi Amet
I do think that physio will help your joints, so I would give that a go, I dont have fibro but I do know people who have, some of them use nerve pain meds, ie gabapentin or pregabalin, also there is amitrytaline for night time.
I do hope you get some help on Friday, please let us know how you get on.x

RitaW

Hi Amet,I have Fibro along with R.A.I never really know which one is flaring or both as the pain is so similar.I have had both for about 16 years now.I had visits from an O.T and physio and they showed me some gentle exercises and arranged for me to have a wet room installed,stair lift and other things like rails etc.The fatigue for me is quite bad from both conditions.Amitryptaline (sp) is normally prescribed in low doses to help.I hope you get some help for this.x

amet1

hi thanx for the info very daunted at moment in the process of stopping some meds and starting amyltrip, i will ask for a referral to oc therapy coz i know that would be good, i am also going to be referred to a pain clinic to help sorting out pain relief, but my rheumy says there is a long waiting list seem to spend a lot of time getting unstiff only to stiffen up again rapidly, so dont rest so get very exhausted and run down as it isnt worth sitting down for more than 20 mins

pepperflo

I went to see my Rheumy last week, and ended up in tears, with all the pain and discomfort I was having, lack of sleep wasn't helping, and after examining me he decided I'm suffering with Fibromyalgia as well as RA.
He asked me if I was forgetful, I told him yes I felt like I was losing my mind.
He perscribed amotriptyline, and upped my gabapentin, he gave me a large steroid injection 160mg of Depo-Medrone, he has upped my methotrexate.
I came out more positive than when I went in, as I felt like no one was listening to me, thought I was putting all my pain and discomfort on, but I def wasn't, and hopefully now I will start to feel some comfort from all the added pain relief.

amet1

seeing gp today to sort out meds again as off some going to ask for some sort of slow release naproxyn and to up the pain meds as waiting list for pain clinic very long physio have to contact rheumy as gp had just put on referral pain in arms and legs as she put it not helpful at all and told her nothing so another 2 week delay in treatment

bubbadog

Hi amet1, hope your G.P appt went ok and that you both agreed on the best meds to help you. I wanted to add to the chat re Fibro, my new Rhummy consultant has said I have Osteo-porosis and I'm being tested for Inflammatory Arthritis. I'm not sure if he thinks I have that as well as Fibromyalgia or instead of ? But I have been treated for Fibro for the last 15 odd years so know a fair bit about it!! I have felt tired every day some days more than others, deal with alot of pain, and some days can't get out of bed for feeling extremely poorly. I often feel I've lost my mojo! Then the occasional day I have a good day and feel I can take on the world!! But have to pull the reins in as I could over do it and burn myself out. Does this sound familier? Hope your good days are alot more than mine!