Hello

lindac222
lindac222 Member Posts: 3
edited 28. Nov 2023, 14:05 in Living with arthritis

hello. i have recently been diagnosed with polyarthralgia.(had never heard of it before this!)it wakes me up every morning about 5am with widespread awful stiffness so i am almost bent over after getting out of bed and the joints are painful.it does get less after about 10 minutes.i have had it for about 6 months now and getting fed up with it day after day. i self medicate by using Flarin and paracetamol.i am waiting to have a telephone consultation with the consultant, cant see her in person due to current situation, so she is only speculating that i have this illness.just wondered how other people with polyarthralgia cope and what medication they use and if it helped.also does an overnight full body heat pad that is kept on all night, help?would be very glad of advice as obviously most people dont have the condition. thank you for your time.linda.

Comments

  • Shell_H
    Shell_H Member Posts: 548

    Hi @lindac222, and welcome to the online community!

    You've recently been diagnosed with polyarthralgia, and you're wondering how people cope on a long term basis, especially with pain and stiffness, and what ideas and aids would help.

    I had to google polyarthralgia to be honest! Apparently it simply means poly arthritis (lots of arthritis) - do correct me if I'm wrong. Sadly arthritis, if you have it, is likely to be had in more than one joint or place in your body. So having it in multiple places is very common among sufferers. I too get very stiff in the mornings - I've found talking different supplements has helped me, although everyone does react slightly differently to supplements so it's worth trying out a couple (one at a time so you can see how it affects you). Sadly I've found I need to be taking them regularly for at least a week if not longer before the benefits start, so it's not an immediate help. Have a look at what's said about supplements here:

    Another things which helps stiffness is having a gentle stretch - there are some routines you can do wholly while lying in bed, and they gently loosen your muscles up to make it easier to move. I'd suggest trying that out, as I've found stretching to help me when I get stiff - of course, make sure you move in a way which doesn't hurt you! You know your own body best. Heat pads can help reduce your pain, and may help warm up your muslces, but be careful with pads that stay on all night. You might do better getting one and turning it on after you wake up, or getting smaller, targeted pads. You haven't mentioned which kind of arthritis you may have, so here's some tips on coping with the pain:

    I hope this helps, and I'm sure the other members will be on and share their ideas as well. Have a look around the community and do join in some of the other conversations and see what others are saying.

    Nice to meet you,

    Shell

  • frogmorton
    frogmorton Member Posts: 29,332

    Hi@lindac222

    I am sorry to hear you are struggling especially with COVID lots of members have not been able to 'see' a consultant.

    For me an all over body heating thing would probably stop me sleeping as I'd end up having a 'flush'!!!!

    I do however have some medications available to me which can help such as my anti-inflammatory (like your flarin) is Arcoxia which is a 24 hour tablet so in theory less pain on waking/inflammation. Same with my pain killer which is in patch form. (Although I am trying off them at the moment - my choice).

    So at the moment I wake up take my tablets, (including a proton Pump inhibitor - Lansoprazole for me which protects my stomach from anti-inflammatories - talk you your Dr about this it can be important - my stomach isn't right after too many years of taking ibuprofen without food😮 -), and sit a while before doing anything much.

    I think most of us have 'steady' starts to our days.

    I hope you get a diagnosis soon or if not at least treatment which helps.

    Take care and let us know how you get on.