Pushing through RA pain in feet?

Hi

I was diagnosed with RA 2 months ago after a year of foot pain (it's only in my feet). I'm on steroids and sulfasalazine which is slowly bringing things under control.

I am active with regular Pilates and lots of walking but I just don't know if I should be doing this when I feel pain?

I've 'pushed through it' before my diagnosis but now I'm wondering if it's best to wait for the pain to ease before carrying on?

I'm typing this now after having had a Pilates class this morning, I'm in the middle of cleaning the house and my feet have become tender, where there is mild pain when walking. Do I carry on or stop until tomorrow when it might have calmed down? I just don't know what the balance is between keeping active and not making things worse?

First post so advice gratefully received, thank you, H

Comments

  • Ellen
    Ellen Moderator Posts: 1,591

    Hello @HG80 (H) Welcome to the Online Community.

    I see from your post that you have a very recent diagnosis of Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) and are taking sulfasalazine and steroids.

    Your query is about how much is too much I think?

    This subject does come up fairly regularly people not wanting to cause damage, but also wanting to keep active. Pilates is an exercise which is often advised for those of us who have arthritis.

    Have you had time to do much research I wonder...this information contains some advice (section entitled 'Managing Symptoms') for what you can do to cope with pain.

    In general I myself do pace myself and almost certainly would stop if my feet were too sore and rest up, but it's very much an individual thing. It could be something to discuss with your medical team in future.

    Would you be interested in looking at this:

    While you're here maybe you would like to look at some of the other categories Living with Arthritis is very popular.

    Best wishes

    Ellen.

  • HG80
    HG80 Member Posts: 10

    Thank you Ellen, I'll give those links a look!

  • Arthuritis
    Arthuritis Member Posts: 443

    @HG80 I would very much recommend stopping the excessive walking, I am certain it made my RA ramp up, a place where its very difficult or impossible to rampdown from. I’d push through the pain, telling myself not to be a wimp, but the first oddity I noticed was feeling more pain after resting and resuming walking, where as previously having a rest was beneficial.

    The other thing I’d recommend is getting a second opinion on your treatment, is this the best treatment for your specific profile to get you into remission? Pilates comes highly recommended, so thats worth continuing.

  • HG80
    HG80 Member Posts: 10

    @Arthuritis thank you for your reply, I'll definitely give myself a break when I start feeling pain, don't want it to ramp up! I have my first progress review in 4 weeks so will have a chat about the treatment then, especially if it continues to flare as it currently does.

    And reassuring to hear about the Pilates, would be absolutely gutted to give that up!