Hi everyone 😊

Miri69

Hi there,

My name is Miranda and I'm 51. I recently started to get pain in my elbows and now have excruciating pain in my shoulders. I tend to get on with my day to day activities but find by the evening I'm in terrible pain and feel exhausted. Voltarol and nurofen are my friends lol. I have just recently had blood tests which shows something is definitely going on as the rheumatoid factor has risen since my last blood test in March along with the nuclear factor. I am currently waiting for an appointment with the Rheumatologist and also waiting for an x-ray.

The Doctor prescribed Naproxen which I took for the first time last night along with omeprazole but I have suffered with a burning stomach all night and so won't be taking that again. Also after reading the side effects of the Naproxen I think I'll give that a miss.

Anyhow nice to have joined your group and wish you all a good day. 😊

Shell_H

Hi @Miri69 - welcome to the community!

I see you have been having awful pain in your shoulders, which while you carry on during the day has made you exhausted by the evening. You've had tests and been referred to a rheumatologist. Your GP has given you some Naproxen to help with the pain, but you had an awful stomach with it even with taking Omeprazole.

The first thing I'd suggest is for you to get as much information as possible - the diagnosis journey can be confusing and difficult. We have some information on shoulder pain which may well help - it also has a very useful section on managing your symptoms, which is well worth a read:

https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/conditions/shoulder-pain/

There are also specific exercises you can do to help. We suggest exercises of your affected joints as this can help stretch out your tendons and muscles which can really help reduce pain. It also has the best outcome for long term mobility if we do exercises regularly. Strengthening your muscles around your affected joints can also mean that the muscles will do more and take some of the strain off your joints, which is a huge bonus.

https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/exercising-with-arthritis/exercises-for-healthy-joints/exercises-for-the-shoulders/

I'm sure some of our other members will be on soon to say Hi. Do have a look around the community and join in wherever you see something interesting - we always like new voices.

Lovely to meet you!

Shell

stickywicket

I don't think we're supposed to take naproxen and omeprazole at the same time of day as the omep can cause the naproxen to be absorbed too quickly. Always take the naproxen with a little food but, in any case, ensure your GP is aware of the problem as, if you do have RA or another inflammatory form of arthritis, those meds, too, can upset the stomach. Also, if you're using voltarol gel with naproxen, you might be absorbing too much anti-inflammatory material.