Pain when lying down

sarahparis

Good Evening,

I was first diagnosed with Lupus 28 years ago. Apart from skin rashes and hair loss it has remained mild. Two years ago I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis and started on Methotrexate together with the Hydroxychoraquine I was already taking.

I have felt unwell for the last couple of months with pain in my hands, wrists, elbow, knees and big toes. I was given a systemic steroid injection which didn’t ease the pain or swelling. My last blood results were normal and the rheumatology nurse has suggested that the pain is mechanical and I need to ‘learn to live with it ‘ My GP examined my joints and says that’s it’s inflammatory in nature and has written to my Consultant.

I have two questions . I am awaiting an MRI scan, do they scan the whole body or just one part ?

I’m experiencing intense pain in the muscles of my upper arms at night when I lay down. Is this a common symptom ? The pain wakes me frequently in the night and I’m unable to hold a glass to have a drink.

I’d be grateful for any advice whilst I await the scan and a response from my Consultant.

Ellen

Good Morning @sarahparis

Just a very quick welcome to the Versus Arthritis Online community from me.

I see your first post is to the helplines and am sure they will give you plenty of help, but please do have a look around the rest of the categories. It may be that one of our members has experienced something similar to you.

I would suggest 'Life with Arthritis' might be the most useful.

https://community.versusarthritis.org/categories/life-with-arthritis

Best wishes

Ellen.

helpline_team

Hi @sarahparis

Thank you for posting on the helpline forum, and my apologies for the late reply: it’s been a very busy day on the helpline. Thanks to Ellen, for providing the 'Life with Arthritis' link.

I’m sorry you have been feeling so unwell recently. Things sound very tough at present. I’m pleased to hear your GP has written to your consultant.

I can’t answer your question about whether they would scan your whole body, or just one part. They can, I believe, do both. It would depend on what the medic has requested in your case. Hopefully though, the MRI will confirm the cause of the intense pain you are experiencing in the muscles of your upper arms at night. I’m not sure if this a common symptom, but I do hope our members may be able to answer some of your questions on the 'Life with Arthritis' link.

You can find out more about diagnosis, including scans and blood tests here:

https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/conditions/rheumatoid-arthritis/

You can find out more about imaging in RA and the types of scans used here:

https://nras.org.uk/resource/imaging-in-ra

You are very welcome to call us on our freephone helpline: 0800 5200 520 so you can talk things through with one of our helpline team while you wait for the response from your consultant. We’re here to help.

I hope this is helpful.

Best wishes

Mags

Helpline Team

sarahparis

Thank you for your help. I have posted posted my questions on the ‘life with arthritis ‘ link.

Sarah