Do others have this?

Did you have your calcium checked too?  Vitamin D helped me with my hand pain. In the past 10 weeks I had one day of pain. 

Hi.  If you do have RA, increasing your Vit D will not help with pain or swelling, and may not impact fatigue very much at all.  I've had a Vit D deficiency for several years, and was taking otc to boost.  When I was diagnosed with RA Feb 2016, I was then put on presc Vit D in addition to the otc.

I was put on prednisone in Feb 2016 and have not gone off.  Sometime I've been on higher doses, but never less than 5mg/day.  We've been trying to get my medication right, but I still have swelling and pain.  Unfortunately, pain for me is always there on some level.  When I can't take any more, or my hand are affecting my work, then I call the rheumy.

Flares for me are when some specific area is more than usual painful and swollen.  Sometimes on pair of joints, other times quite a few of them.  Others on this board will be able to provide information on their flares.  They other thing I have during a flare is being hot and sweaty.  Very irritating.  

Hope you get some answers soon and things work out for you.

If the pain is too much before your rheumy appt, contact your regular dr for some relief and/or prednisone.  I also take dyclofenac when hurting a lot.

The pain never goes, it just varies and moves around depending on what activities you have been doing.   simple things like brushing your teeth can bring on pain if you have your hand at the wrong angle,   Sleeping wrong can also bring on hip, neck and back pain.   There are so many vagaries with this disease!

 

I have it in two fingers, a thumb, wrists, forearms, elbows, upper arms, shoulders, neck, hips and three toes, but mainly it's my wrists and elbows that hurt the most.   One day it's really bad in my wrists, next day it might be elbows, next day it might be both.   Depends on what I've been doing.   If I'm really luck and I've done a lot of walking then it'll be my left big toe.   If I've been doing a lot of squatting then it'll be in my right hip.   Every day is a new day, with just more pain.

Incidentally, you don't necessarily have pain,   have a look at Keith Richards fingers, he has RA and yet he says he has no pain, lucky devil!

Hi

it may well be RA so don't get prednisolone ( steroid) from doctor as it would dampen down inflammation and mask symptoms making diagnosis more difficult

it would be useful to keep a diary of pain/ stiffness as the rheumy will want to know how long you are stiff for in the morning- which joints may be tender or swollen.

it s difficult facing this possible diagnosis, but everyone seems to be different in how badly they get this or how they respond to meds which modify the disease. The aim of every rheumy is to get the patient into remission. If yours isn't proactive in that way, then consider changing.

although it took a year to find out what would work for me, I am now taking a biologic and have a new lease of life. Am I pain free? Pretty much. As the biologic wears off I might take painkillers now and again. Sorry you are at the beginning, but there will be light at the end of the tunnel.

All the best as you wait for this appt. rest if you need it and if you possibly can!

Here's something I've just stumbled on that may help.   A while back my right arm began aching, so bad I couldn't sleep and was swallowing ibuprofen, tramadol, paracetamol like there was no tomorrow, I also tried covering my arm with hot and cold packs for a couple of days - all to no avail.   So eventually I strapped my arm to my body so I couldn't use it at all.   Next day it was back to normal.   Normal is painful of course but not excruciating.   So now when I have a flare, which is always in my arms, I imobilize it for 24 hours.   Works pretty good so far.