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experiencing pain in hands and feet from rheumatoid arthritis

Posted , 5 users are following.

wirelesvaleygrl
wirelesvaleygrl

I have recently been diagnosed with having rheumatoid arthritis by a rheumatologist and I am to taper off until medication called Methotrexate kicks in which will take up to 6-8 weeks. Started taking prednisone only 3 days ago to help with inflammation of hands wrists, fingers, feet, legs etc. Have been waking up with pain in my hands and fingers for past 2 nights. Take 5 mg of prednisone at 7am and symptoms of pain appear within less than 8 hours. Started ttttaking methatrexate 2 days ago. Will the ppain be persistant until methotrexate kicks in.

Sincerely,

Concerned wirelesvalleygrl

1 like, 4 replies

4 Replies

  • hope4cure
    hope4cure wirelesvaleygrl

    Posted

    If MTX doen't help after the trial there are many Bio drugs that can help the pin and slow down the progression of RA.

    I HAD experienced a lot of crippling pain in my hands and I understand how this effects out lives.

    MTX helped me for years then dropped and moved on to DEMARDS. 

    keep eps posting everyone here will come along sharing what has helped them .

  • Rowbirdie
    Rowbirdie wirelesvaleygrl

    Posted

    it s likely that this is the situation until the mxt begins to work. But- you are on a low dose of prednisolone, which is good in a way as Drs don't like to over prescribe it because of long term effects. But if you can't manage with that and pain killers go back to your rheumatologist who might increase the dose of pred.  The methotrexate is designed to hold back the disease and its symptoms. As someone else said , there are further meds that the rheumatologist can try if the mxt doesn't help enough.

    Everyone seems to react differently to different meds so it's good to keep a diary of extent of pain, joints affected so rheumy can see what is working. All the best on your journey. It will get better as they find what works for you. 

  • Paula2212
    Paula2212 wirelesvaleygrl

    Posted

    Hi there.

    everyone is different I'd say so you will certainly have your own experience. Mine is that th prednisolone helped quite soon with the pain as it reduces inflammation but ideally, you don't want to be on it for too long if possible. For us, the methotrexate took about 10 weeks and then still the pain so the rheumatologist increased it. To date, I'm still on a low dose steroid as well as 25mg of mxt weekly. It takes a while to find the right mess for you, and the right balance. Wishing you the very best of luck and hope your pain reduces soon.

  • ihavenonickname
    ihavenonickname wirelesvaleygrl

    Posted

    compression gloves may be helpful...they work in two ways, they prevent heat loss and the compression encourages the fluid back to the heart...less swelling equals less pain.

    Before you put them on, raise your hand over your head for 60 seconds to get the fluid running out of your hand...without lowering your hand, slide the compression glove on. In about an hour, you should be pleasantly surprised in the reduction in the swelling.

    Wear them to sleep and you should sleep restfully.

    You may purchase them at a pharmacy, a medical supply, or Amazon.

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