Things are starting to make sense . . .

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YellowFish
YellowFish Member Posts: 33
edited 25. Jan 2013, 14:01 in Living with Arthritis archive
Well, after moving 200 miles/getting married/new job and several months pain free I saw a new rhuemy last week.

The guy is as batty as a fruitcake but I suspect also a bit of a genius.
Basically, he got me to pin down that I have been suffering from 2 types of pain. One is a steady, continual pain which goes alongside swelling in my hands and feet.

The other is much more intense, random, jumps around and does not link to any swelling.

He reckons they are caused by different things - the hands/feet is a rheumatoid related problem, as shown by swelling on MRI scan (but not blood test) and the other is hypermobility. (He has a fair point - I can touch the ground with my palms flat to the floor and legs straight). Apparently I would always have been hypermobile but some sort of trauma (possibly a virus?) has triggered the pain.

Been food for thought! Would explain why the drugs for rheumatoid arthritis didn't help much, and why it's been a confusing for me and the Drs I've seen. Has anyone else got problems with hypermobility? I don't really know much about it - but personally it's affecting me more than my steady hand/feet pain. The unpredictability is hard. It can hit me really bad all of a sudden - in the airport last month they asked me to use a wheelchair to board a flight because my walking was so bad (although I didn't agree - my body may have been ready but my mind wasn't!)

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  • elnafinn
    elnafinn Member Posts: 7,412
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
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    This link may be of some help:

    http://www.hypermobility.org/whatishms.php


    Elna x
    The happiest people don't have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything.

    If you can lay down at night knowing in your heart that you made someone's day just a little bit better, you know you had a good day.
  • elnafinn
    elnafinn Member Posts: 7,412
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
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    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/9349660/I-feel-brain-fogged.-Its-a-cruelly-deceptive-illness.html

    This article was in The Telegraph some time ago,

    Elna
    The happiest people don't have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything.

    If you can lay down at night knowing in your heart that you made someone's day just a little bit better, you know you had a good day.
  • MumV
    MumV Member Posts: 71
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
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    http://www.arthritisresearchuk.org/arthritis-information/conditions/joint-hypermobility/symptoms.aspx

    hi Yellow Fish, my daughter has JIA and was also told she was Hypermoblle, seems to be mainly a girl thing!


    your new consultant sounds great. good Luck with everything, sounds like a very exciting time for you.

    The above link leads to a wealth of information, about hypermobility, have to say, my daughter is now 20, I don't think the hyper mobility has caused her any particular problems....Good luck, I hope yours eases.

    Kind regard

    MumV
  • frogmorton
    frogmorton Member Posts: 29,429
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
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    I am so pleased for you Yellowfish that you have found someone who can help you :)

    There are definitely a few folk on here who are hypermobile

    I have 'bumped up' an old thread with a link might be worth a read

    Toni xxx
  • barbara12
    barbara12 Member Posts: 21,281
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
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    Hi yellowfish
    I am so pleased you have got such a good rheumy, it make such a difference when they are willing to listen.
    and does seem that you are getting there....where ever that is.. :)
    I do wish you well with everything...x
    Love
    Barbara
  • YellowFish
    YellowFish Member Posts: 33
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
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    Thanks everyone.
    Will look into those links.
  • Nicchick
    Nicchick Member Posts: 191
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
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    Hi!

    I have hypermobile joints too and have the random joint pain you describe - it is quite different to the dragging and unrelenting RA pain.

    I used to think that I was so good at yoga and had no idea that I just had freaky joints...

    I use splints on my thumbs and wrists if I'm doing strenuous stuff and hada couple of physio sessions with a hand therapist who gave me tips on how to protect joints. There maybe some ways you could do similar with affected joints - my hands are particularly bad and as I use them for work there was some concern about them.

    Good luck with the barmy genius, it's great when you feel you're getting somewhere....

    Nic x
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