What Hurts?

[Boom Boom]

The new digital aids are working great, but I can only stand them for 2 - 3 hours as they're a tight fit, and very powerful.
 
 
Debra - are you feeling better today? Pneumonia is really uncomfortable.

[Boom Boom]

I've gone three months since my last cortisone injection for arthritis, and now the arthritis seems to extend to my left shoulder as well as both hands and wrists. I'm scheduled for low-intensity X-rays to track for arthritis on March 1st, and hopefully will get the injections as well. The pain is sometimes excruciating, but overall manageable. Growing old sucks.

[Antonia]

  It ain't for sissies.

[sparqui]

It ain't for sissies.

Yup, growing old sucks. My knee(s) - one that was injured back when I danced with dinosaurs moreso than the other - have been acting up with this mild, wet Winnipeg winter we're having.

I can't take NSAID type anti-inflammatory drugs because I react/am sensitive to them. This one walk-in clinic Dr. misdiagnosed my frozen shoulder for arthritis and ignored my mention that I couldn't take NSAID when he 'scribed me "Arthrotec" (sp?). Mr. sparqui started using it for his back/disc pain and said it was excellent for killing pain. You might want to try it, Boom Boom. Mind you, it's not cheap.

[Boom Boom]

Thursday night I had low-intensity X-rays of both hands at the hospital and they definitely showed I have arthritis in both hands. After the X-rays I then had cortisone injections while viewing live action X-rays - this was the doctor's guide/road map to see where to inject and if the cortisone was indeed flowing to the inflamed areas. Fascinating to watch. However, he could only do one hand because according to him, doing both hands at once would subject me to intolerable pain. Well, the pain is already pretty bad, and I wish he had gone ahead and done both. It'll be two weeks before the clinic here gets the report from the hospital, and I don't know how long after that I hae to wait to see my physician for him to explain the results and hopefully put me on a treatment plan.
 
Meanwhile, we're under a winter storm watch today for heavy snow - this is after a week of extreme cold weather. It's been a tough winter here, although it didn't start until mid-January which is very unusual for us.

[Toedancer]

BB, me mum had the bone spurs and cartilagenous tears scraped out of both hands, at separate times. That was about 7 years ago and the pain has lessened 85%. But I believe it depends on which type of arthritis one has, she did not have rheumatoid.

[Boom Boom]

Is anyone taking plaquenil for their arthritis? How effective is it?

[Antonia]

I say, ask Dr. Google.

And Dr. Wiki.

[lagatta]

As for complaints, after a bad cold or flu-like condition (some fever) I still have sinus pain. Other friends do as well. Wondering if inhalations or a humidifier would help?

[Boom Boom]

Today is the worse day I've ever had for arthritis pain in my hands - can't peel potatoes, carrots or turnips - and can barely open the door to go outside, and using the skidoo controls is really painful. Have to wait two weeks for the next round of injections. And my driveway is all ice! Wish spring would come.

[Boom Boom]

I say, ask Dr. Google.

And Dr. Wiki.

Yes, I did a google on it quite a while ago, was just wondering if anyone had any personal experience with the drug. I've just learned that a relative of mine has been using plaquenil for 16 years - daily! - with no side effects. That settles it for me.

[lagatta]

In Europe, most doors seem to have doorhandles rather than doorknobs - much easier for arthritics to use. Lots of other adaptations are possible, on cars, skidoos and bicycles. Also peelers

I take ibuprofen almost every day - didn't take any today with the warm sun! but am worried about kidneys etc. It is great if you can find something that helps not only with pain but with function that does not have worse side-effects.

My artrhitis is not anywhere near as severe as yours, but it is dispiriting. A few years ago, I found it hard to walk (in the winter, when I couldn't cycle) and I was berated by another cyclist when I got back in the saddle and wasn't fast enough at first on the bicycle path. (A young woman). Once I'm up to speed I'm a better cyclist than most, except "real" athletes.

[Boom Boom]

I take ASA every day to thin my blood (doctor's orders) as well as a variety of other meds. As for the arthritis - nothing seems to work, whether it's Advil or Tylenol. I also have stronger pain killers, but I need too many to have any effect, and they make me drowsy, let along what they may be doing to my kidneys and liver. The cortinsone injections are almost useless. That's why I'm hoping my physician will prescribe plaquenil for me.
 
I dunno if I'll be able to bike again, but we'll see. I guess I'll be applying to Home Care again - even it is done by a very attractive young woman   and my social worker is pretty, too.   Maybe my pretty neighbour will peel for me (carrots and potatoes, not whatever else you were thinking )

[Boom Boom]

Arthritis and Medical Marijuana   
 
excerpt:
 
The use of cannabis as a treatment for musclo-skeletal pain in western medicine dates to the 1700s.12-13 Evidence from recent research suggests that cannabis-based therapies are effective in the treatment of arthritis and the other rheumatic and degenerative hip, joint and connective tissue disorders. Since these are frequently extremely painful conditions, the well-documented analgesic properties of cannabis make it useful in treating the pain associated with arthritis, both on its own and as an adjunct therapy that enhances the efficacy of opioid painkillers.
But cannabis has also been shown to have powerful immune-modulation and anti-inflammatory properties,14-17 suggesting that it could play a role in treating arthritis, and not just in symptom management. In fact, one of the earliest records of medical use of cannabis, a Chinese text dating from ca. 2000 BC, notes that cannabis "undoes rheumatism," suggesting its anti-inflammatory effects were known even then.18

Modern research on cannabidiol (CBD), one of the non-psychoactive components of cannabis, has found that it suppresses the immune response in mice and rats that is responsible for a disease resembling arthritis, protecting them from severe damage to their joints and markedly improving their condition.19-20

Human studies have shown cannabis to be an effective treatment for rheumatoid arthritis, one of the many recognized conditions for which many states allow legal medical use. Cannabis has a demonstrated ability to improve mobility and reduce morning stiffness and inflammation. Research has also shown that patients are able to reduce their usage of potentially harmful Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) when using cannabis as an adjunct therapy.21-22

[lagatta]

I'd be very interested in that. (I'm slightly aching all over as I write). No, not for getting "stoned" - I'd certainly have no trouble achieving that and finding joints right around the corner. But for something that has that properties but that does not dull my brain for working.

Non-stoner moment! Nothing against getting a bit stoned or tipsy, just want most of my moments to be productive and sober.