Pain

General
1

Hi All, Just wandering if someone can tell me if the pain ever goes. I am able to function, but every time I start physio to try and get back to work I end up in a lot of pain again. Mind you I am only taking panadine forte now for pain. What do people take regularly for pain to help them go about there day to day routine. Thanks in advance regards, Trish

2

I Alternate between 3 alieve during the day and make a mix of Asper cream and biofreeze that’s gold and if pain is to bad I’ll take a tramidol and lay on the heating pad. My pain gets so severe that I’ll be incapacitated for 4 days to a week. ( can’t walk or move) joints all lock up. I am disabled so I don’t have to worry about going to work. So, maybe u should look into disability unless u don’t have a real demanding job and think u can still work.
Hope u find what works for u ; )

3

thanks for your reply, you are a lot worse than me I was like that at the start. I do have a demanding job and I love my job so I want to try and get back to it if I can.

4

Hi Trish. I read your profile so I could see what meds you're on. Your ankle pain must be awful, so I'm thinking that is what you're referring to.

You didn't show a biologic on your list of meds. Once I went on Enbrel, my pain decreased a great deal. Feet are a problem, though. Mine have been giving me quite a bit of pain lately-for me, applying ice packs works. It works fast, too. But its not my ankle-it's the middle of my feet. When I had neuropathy, ice helped also, but I was prescribed Nortriptyline, which got rid of the neuropathy completely.

Idk if my advice would be helpful for your ankle, but I sure hope you get some help for that! I hope your rheumy puts you on the right stuff to get you feeling better!

5

Thanks Grandma,

Its not nice the pain, worried I will never get back to work

take care

Trish

6

Trish, yes, the pain diminishes. I won’t promise that it won’t be there to some degree, or that it won’t resurface from time to time. But with the right treatment and lifestyle adjustments, it all becomes bearable. The trouble is, you aren’t there yet. And “yet” is the important word.

What medications are you taking now, besides panadine? Are you still on methotrexate, and if so, have you noticed any improvements? What is the treatment plan that your rheumatologist has for you? It’s been three months since you were diagnosed, so you will most likely be sing him/her again soon. When is your next appointment?

There is a great deal of good advice from many people on your August “Pain” thread. It might be a good idea to revisit it, now that you are a few months further into your treatment.

Thinking of you, Trish.

7

Before I started on Ebrel I needed 1800 mg of ibuprofen a day to keep me functioning. Not good for my liver and if I missed a dose I paid the price. I'm only 18 weeks in on Enbrel so I still have my ibuprofen if i need it which I try to avoid.

8

Hi Thanks for the reply's :

I am currently on 15mg Meloxicm daily, 10mg Leflunomide just started and 2 tablets of methotrexate. Just started back on amitriptyline 50mg. Plan: to go back to rheumatologist in December to see if the Leflunomide has helped in anyway and to start back at work.

regards

Trish

9

So long as you are concentrating on the pain, it will never go away. When you concentrate on your managing treatment (physical activity, meds/med monitoring, and life style (diet, weight loss, aids, etc) you will make progress.

As Seenie said most learn to live with a certain level of pain and adapt. The bottom line is you have a progressive incurable disease that if you do not maintain a strong level of physical activity will get worse.

10

Hi Trish,

I've been on Methotrexate for 3 months and that has helped, I was on 150 mg of Tramadol but that has a dissapointing side effect so am switching to Aleve. The Tramadol worked well but I don't spend more than 1/3 of the day on my feet. I just started Humira and so far the pain seems to have subsided some. The pain is mainly in my feet ankles and knees. I know the side effects of the biologics are scary but living pain free sure would be great.

Brad

11

Complimentary therapy...soaks in Epsom salts or, if you can find it, buy Epsom lotion. They sell it at the local pharmacy where I live. I use it on my feet and ankles at night and it really calms down the pain after the day. So sorry you are having to deal with this - but you have lots of people here who can empathize.

12

I never heard of Epsom lotion! Thanks for the advice, Just Me, I'm gonna buy me some of that!

Just Me said:

Complimentary therapy...soaks in Epsom salts or, if you can find it, buy Epsom lotion. They sell it at the local pharmacy where I live. I use it on my feet and ankles at night and it really calms down the pain after the day. So sorry you are having to deal with this - but you have lots of people here who can empathize.