spreading arthritis ?

hollybella

Hi I was diagnosed with facet joint arthritis and degenerative disc disease about 2 years ago ,i'd like to know if arthritis can spread I have pain in my neck shoulders elbow I can't use my right hand very well it's weak and painful I had carpal tunnel surgery which was really good I thought that was causing my hand pain and weakness but its still there I have pain in my hips knees the right one is really swollen and gives way last week the middle finger on my right hand was red swollen and hot to touch thats never happened before I use bu trans patches but am still in a lot of pain I don't sleep very well because which ever way I lay it hurts I work full time and thats it I don't have any energy to go out cook see friends or clean I finish work and collapse on the sofa my weekends are spent sleeping is this all I have to look forward to for the rest of my life ? Thank You

Rowantree

This sounds like me. (See post below yours!) hopefully we will get a reply soon. I'm wondering whether to go back to the GP.

helpline_team

Dear Hollybella,

Thank you for your post to Helplines. You sound as though your arthritis is very severe at the moment. The image has stayed in my mind of you hitting the sofa after work and not having the energy for much beyond work. If your pain and tiredness has taken away friends, cooking and looking after your home, then I wonder how you'll be able to carry on like that?

Would you like a chat? You'd be welcome to ring us. Does the GP or anyone close to you know how things are?

I don't know what you may feel might help. But you'd be welcome to ring us and explore what's on your mind.

There may be some signpostings we can suggest for getting help, that might be done better having had a fuller chat, but come back to us on here if you prefer and we can explore signposting if that's what you would like.

I hope we can help further.

Kind regards

Guy