Me, grumbling again.......Fingers especially sore

PowerOn

Hello everyone!
Hope everyone is managing to stay warm and cosy.
I'm back grumbling about a few things.
I was prescribed anti inflammatory tabs but choose not to take them as my IBS has been playing up and I was worried about stomach problems from taking the tabs.
Not taking the tabs caused me to wonder if they do much good or if arthur being a "good time, bad time" disease makes it seem the anti inflams are working, is there any way of knowing?
What has made me wonder is that before getting the prescription I was having major and nearly constant extreme pain and heat in my knees.
It was so bad I have stayed at home and just taken things very easy so of course the pain and heat has decreased, but when I was very bad even that did not help!
Do the anti inflams prevent damage in any way?
The last few months my fingers have been extremely painful and stiff especially in the mornings.
I have trouble typing and what is really annoying is the feeling that my fingers are swollen (they don't look swollen) to the point I can not make a tight fist, that may sound like a little thing but it is really sore to desperately need to move your fingers and they just will not give way.
I have physio booked for next week for my knees and plan to ask about finger exercises.
I think the question I would most like answered is, does anyone think or know in anti inflammables halts or slows arthur or do they just deal with pain from inflammation?
Very worried that my fingers will get worse! worried enough that I will chomp all the anti inflamms prescribed if that makes my fingers better or at least slows arthur down, not going out is bearable as long as I have my internet access for which I need my fingers to type!
I do need my fingers for more then that ofcourse! but some things you can get help with (open this jar for me etc.) but typing here and other places is something a person needs to do for themselves.
Have been avoiding writing reports at work and other stuff, am going to get caught out soon, but doing my best to keep the few hours work I have :-(
Just to give an idea, typing this has hurt enough and my right hand fingers are hot even though I have mostly typed with my left hand.

dreamdaisy

Anti-inflammatories (when you find one that suits) do what is promised: they inhibit the production of fluid. That in itself is not a cure and does not hold back the determined tide of arthritis but it can ease the worst of the symptoms, make life more comfortable and hopefully delay joint damage. What anti-inflamm have you been given and do you also have a stomach protector?

Arthritis isn't a good time bad time disease, well not for me. It's a constant bad time, end of. I'm rather glad about that actually, 'cos at least I always know where I am with it and thus it rarely takes me by surprise. As for the fingers, I can't make a fist until about lunchtime, and yes, they hurt. I find typing uncomfy but, as everything else is uncomfy too that kinda fits in! I recently bought myself a pair of hand therapy balls each of a different resistance and I've been using those to try to build up some strength and stamina in the fingers (I had a double carpal tunnel op last November). Maybe soaking your hands in a bowl of warm water will help to get them moving, pretend you're playing the piano whilst soaking to ease them, quite a few on here treat themselves to wax therapy, Ar*os used to sell a kit but I don't know if that is still the case. I hope things feel better soon. DD

ShulaArcher

Hello

Sorry to hear about all you're going through. I take anti-inflammatories for my painful hands particularly and have tried to do without them a few times but soon realised I can't manage without them. I agree with all that DD has said about them. Warm water can be a blessing, especially in the morning.

Shula

PowerOn

Hello DD and Shula, thank you both for answering.
Yes, hot water is a true blessing, I put on lots of hand cream and a pair of rubber gloves and do the dishes-lol dishes as a pain relief and beauty treatment!
I have not heard of the wax treatment, sounds like something lovely to try, I will look for that, another thing I am tempted to try are gloves I have seen for sale which have batteries in them for warm hands!
I totally understand the "not get taken by surprise" element, it is very cruel to have a few good days followed by arthur kicking his way back into the joints, when I am bad for a few days I get used to that then improve then get bad again and the getting bad is tough to take - a very confusing disease as that must sound totally wrong to people who do not have arthur and think a person would love a few great days. I do but the getting bad agin is very tough.
I have been resisting medicine for over a year now but this time if the physio does not work well enough I am just going to have to take the medicine, it is getting too sore to put it off.
I went and got my med out of the drawer and am surprised to find that I have 2 boxs of the same meds, Naprosyn EC 250mg tabs (1 twice a day) on the label on box but on the chemist label it says Naproxen.
I am surprised because I was prescribed these before with a stomach protector (which I had not realised and had taken the Nap without them) the Nap annoyed my stomach and I had other side effects that were very worrying so I told the GP and said I would try without meds and see how things went.
Then I went back to the GP and he prescribed what I thought were different meds, but looking now I see they are the same.
The stomach protectors are Lansoprazole 15mg Gastro-resistant Capsules 1 daily.
Maybe because it was on my notes that I had not taken my stomach protectors he thought the Nap was worth another try..
Are they known for being mild on side effects or is it pot luck?
I also take Lisinopril 1 daily 5mg for high blood pressure, it had been 10mg but I got the GP to reduce it.........BP is fine on 5mg.

dreamdaisy

Naproxen/naprosyn are indeed one and the same. I take my omeprazole (like your lanzop) first thing on an empty tummy, then breakfast, then do the rest of my pills. I am now on diclofenac and I find that if I miss my daily dose my Achilles tendonitis fires up again, anti-inflamms are better taken as constant drip-feed rather than as a blast every now and again, I guess their effect is cumulative. As for side-effects I read the leaflets once then put them away, only checking if things start happening which I don't recognise.

Google hot wax (mind which sites you click on! ) and I hope you can find further information. Some therapists offer it so it might be worth springing for a treatment to see if it helps before you get your own set. valval had it done recently, she's posted about it on the Chit-Chat forum. DD

Numptydumpty

I have a small paraffin wax bath, and it is very soothing for aching hands and fingers. It also smooths the skin.
It does take an age to heat up and melt the wax though.
Numpty

frogmorton

Oh Poweron

Your finger sound really sore . Anti-inflams will take the inflamation down for you which is why swelling may seem less.

I am so glad you have a physio appointment coming up soon - hopefully he/she may help you with some tips.

A lot of anti-inflams do uspet our stomachs PPI meds like omeprazole and lanzoprazole do help, but there are some nsaids which are far gentler on the stomach called Cox2 inhibitors. You can always ask your GP for those??

Take care

love

Toni xxx

PowerOn

Hello everyone, thanks for the replies.
I will ask about the cox2 inhibitors maybe if they are more gentle i may not need the stomach protectors which would be good.
The wax bath sounds good I will look for the chit chat forum.
Hot wax sites to be wary of? my imagination is running riot!!!!!
I over did the use of the mouse wheel to day (not turning into a hamster hopefully) and ended up with an extremely sore first joint on my fore finger which I found a cure for....it worked so it was and will be worth doing more of!
I was sitting drinking a cup of tea and holding my hand over the top of the cup, I realised the heat was helping so I stuck my finger in!
Bliss, it went numb to the bone!
It did feel like it may pop but the relief was wonderful.

barbara12

Hi PowerOn
The other have given you lots of info, I just want to say I do hope you can get some relief very soon....and please don't worry about the moan it will do you good to talk to us ...xx

dreamdaisy

My hospital prescribed Celebrex (which I think is a Cox2 inhibitor) but my GPs surgery refused to carry on the prescription due to cost. I think it may be one of the post-code lottery things (which is so wrong but a wholly different argument) so I've ended up with two drugs which are cheaper than the price of one. The omep and diclo work for me so I reckon that's a good thing. DD

PowerOn

Hello Barbara12 and DD
If it is a postcode lottery thing I think the chances of my not getting the Cox2 is high, maybe I should remind the GP of all the meds I have refused in the past and ongoing LOL I have saved them a fortune.
They dont seem to have a long term plan, prevention is so much cheaper and healthier then last minute "cure"
Moaning is great here as the response is always so thoughtful and practical, a forum of bright stars indeed Thanks Everyone.

mrsshazbat

Hi PowerOn and friends

I have pain in just about every major joint from the neck down, but the worst are my hands and in particular, my right wrist/hand - potentially it's RA or PA, or even OA; all the GPs I've seen tell me something different. I'm currently waiting for a rheumatology appointment. I've got a list of things as long as your arm, that I can no longer do and this week I added 'use a manual tin-opener' to the list.

Out of nowhere today, my GP suggested changing from Diclofenac to Naproxen (irritating, since I picked up my latest Dic prescription only yesterday). I've taken Dic on and off for about 12 years now and have most recently been on the 75mg slow-release, with Omeprazole.

Previous GPs have dismissed the apparent side-effects of Dic as they haven't previously upset me (I'm also asthmatic) but this new GP was keen to change them. Of course, Naproxen is also supposedly no good for asthmatics either but that never came up and I didn't think to mention it - when the GP has my notes up onscreen in front of them, I kind-of feel that it's up to them to notice these things and judge accordingly. She could see Ventolin and Clenil on my notes. I'd already taken a Dic by the time I went to the doc's, so I won't be starting the Naproxen till tomorrow. I'm quite lucky in that I don't tend to get any side effects from medication, be it drowsiness or whatever, so hopefully that will continue. I hate having to live on painkillers so if I don't have a bad day, I tend not to bother with them. I can live with a certain amount of discomfort, depending what I'm doing (although I have already almost crashed my car once).

Hopefully the hospital appointment won't be much longer - I'm currently signed off work so it would be nice to get it done during that time.