Flare ups

Hi Bob, I get the broken wrist feeling too and the same feeling in my fingers. I've just been to a hand physio and got fitted with some fingerless compression gloves and a wrist support, they are a godsend, so comfortable too. I've heard that sports towelling wrist supports help too as long as they are fairly tight. Hope this helps.

Hi bob,

I've been off work today as I have had this for the first time today. I couldn't clench my fist or straighten my hand. So painful. Its eased off as the day has gone on but still cant lift or grab anything. I would like to know what actually causes that and why it would happen. Does anyone know? Xxx

Hi Bob, I recently experienced a very painful wrist...seemed to come out of the blue. It hurt picking up the lightest of things. I was due to see the RA nurse anyway and explained to her but seems its just part and parcel of having RA. Not a lot of help! She told me I was the 5 th person she had seen who had complained about same problem. I'm waiting for an appt now to get a wrist support but the pain I had has now completely gone. I sympathise with you it can get you down especially if you've had a little run of feeling better then it's like oh no not some other bit of me playing up. Sometimes I think the hardest part of having RA is trying to work at keeping a positive attitude.After a spell of having a lot of pain in my foot also the wrist pain I was determined not to stop my daily walk but just as those things eased up and disappeared I've started to get a lot of pain while walking in my left thigh. It got to the point I was limping with it and I don't understand why. Surely there's not a joint in my thigh! Good luck getting sorted and hopefully the time between flares will get greater.

Yes my wrists are like that, I have trouble with cups, tucking shirt in, pulling on socks and so on.   None of the meds have worked for me so my wrists are like that 24/7.   I also have the same problem with elbows and forearms.

You are not a bore! And quite frankly I get p*****ed at my JRA on a regular basis...big warm hug...

The hand is comprised of 27 bones, then add 2 bones for the wrist....this is why the wrists and hands are typically the first area to express rheumatoid because this small area has more bones and therefore more joints than anywhere else in the body. Add muscles and tendons, nerves and blood vessels...an awful lot is going on in a very tight space.

I wash dishes by hand because rheumatoid loves hot soapy water. Isleep with my hands either beneath my pllow or under the blankets to keep them warm. I wear gloves to take things out of the freezer. I learned how to carry things with my elbows fully flexed supporting things with my chest so that my hands and wrists do not have the weight pulling on them. I pick things up using both hands, two is better than one. I listen for hand chatter...swelling, redness, heat...because that tells me to back down and rest, to ask someone else to pick up the box for me...not because I am lazy, but because if I rest my joints today, I will be able to do for many more years to come.

I also use elevation and ice, a heating pad, but my absolute favorite treatment is compression. Compression can eliminate swelling and thereby reduce pain in about an hour. Perhaps a trip to the pharmacy or medical supply is in order. Compression sleeves are expressly made for hands & wrists, elbows, and knees. Take a measuring tape along so that you can purchase the correct size. After you are home, hold tha joint high in the air for 60 seconds, and then slide the sleeve on while you continue holding you joint up so that the compression sleeve can push the edema back towards the heart. You may work in compression sleeves, you may sleep in compression sleeves. Compression sleeves are made of neoprene so that hold onto the heat your body is producing, thus thermally address rheumatoid which loves to be warm. If you sleep with the compression sleeve off, put it on before you swing your legs over the side of the bed.

While at the pharmacy you might also consider purchasing a couple of gel packs, the ones that can be either frozen or heated in the microwave.

Splints....you may consider a wrist splint...they have a metal support on the bottom which is formed ti cradle the hand. It is a nylon sleeve that closes with three Velcro straps. This will protect your wrist by prohibiting flexion and by liniting pronation. I have been wearing a black one since August 30. I remove it for hand washing and bathing.

I always use two hands to pick up a cuppa because by using both I make each one last longer...and remember rheumatoid loves heat...nice hot cuppa feels so nice on my hands...it's like drinking therapy.

I have posted the following before, I post it now in case you missed it. The take away is do not give up.

Rheumatoid is a dynamic disease that morphs....this is why a medication that helps today may not help tomorrow.

By observing a person's reaction to a drug, we can learn a lot about the rheumatoid in that person's body...Both Enbrel and Humira are TNF, tumor necrosis factor. Individuals whose rheumatoid responds well to either Enbrel or Humira are said to have TNF driven rheumatoid. Rituximab is a monoclonal antibody against the protein CD20. For those who respond favorably to Rituximab, we say their rheumatoid is CD20 driven.

Sometimes rheumatoid arthritis can be successfully treated with an NSAID...non steriodal anti inflammatory drug...such as Orudis, Feldene, Naprosin, Naproxin, Motrin, Indomethacin, Butazolidin to name just a few.

Steriods...not to be confused with anabolic steroids...prednisone, budesonide, methylprednisolone are three of many. Many decades of study have taught us to use steroids judiciously because steroids cause unwanted side effects such as bone density loss. Today, steroids are prescribed using a burst approach...high dose fast start, immediate graduated decrease, off.

DMARDs & Biologics... disease modifying anti rheumatic drug...

This class of medications modify, literally change the way rheumatoid behaves... Methotrexate (now the gold standard), hydroxychloroquine, sulfasalazine, Orencia, Remicade are all typically oral.

Rituximab is delivered by infusion.

Enbrel in the mid nineties was the first DMARD. I still remember watching the television news that night with tears running down my face. Those of you who face rheumatoid today should never face the full fury of this disease. Nevertheless, matching a sufferer with the best medication to defeat their rheumatoid continues to take time. As the class of medication used increases, so too do the possible adverse side effects. Be patient and work with your rheumatologist, only a board certified rheumatologist, to fine tune a treatment effective against your rheumatoid.

54 years of severe juvenile rheumatoid has left my body permanently damaged and deformed because medicine did not have the wealth of knowledge it has today.

I am grateful for all of the analgesics, NSAIDs, and steroids that made it possible for DMARDs & biologics to modify even my severe juvenile rheumatoid. Today my JRA relatively quiet. And once my rheumatoid quieted down, I forgot about the really tough times it raged.

kind regards

At night, I wear a Hand Energizing Support Glove made by F****o (not sure if they allow products' names on here).  They fit on to either hand and are more comfortable than the hard splints, yet still support the hand and wrist.  I wear them on both hands.  They help a lot during the night.  I rarely wake up now from pain like I used to before when my hand would twist.  Each glove costs under $20 and you can get them either in the drugstore or online.

Thanks everyone i know am no alone with RA and the broken wrist feeling and fingers i think i will give the compressed gloves a go my wrists seem ok just now but i know with in 4 or 5 days it shall it will return....i would like to ask others as well i have swollan ankles but this last while i have been gettin pain on the outside of right foot just below ankle its there none stop this pain can you get RA in that part of your body outside off foot i am having some battle with my RA now from just being diangnosed in 2014....and i know only to well you guys are in the same boat thanks for taking time to answer my post very greatfull👍👍👍

warm hugs...

it saddens me to tell you that rheumatoid is capable of effecting every joint in your body.

Please remember that capable and probable are two very different things.

Each hand and wrist is a symphony of 29 bones working in concert with each other and the foot and akle are a concert of 28 bones playing together...So two hands and two feet represent 114 of our body's 207 bones....so the hands, wrists, ankles, and feet are very vulnerable to rheumatoid.

Perhaps you will consider compression hose to the knee. You put them on before you swing your legs out of bed in the morning. That will hold back swelling and thereby reduce the pain. They typically are available in black, white, and beigh. You may sleep in them or you may remove them once you are in bed.

You are so very welcome

Hi Bob, My wrist felt broken and I went to the emergency room and the Doctor thought it was broken even after xrays, it was very painful.  But turns out it was carpel tunnel and RA.  The meds did not agree with me so I stopped eating all sugar and gluten and they gave me 4 cortisone shots.  It has been about 6 months and the pain all over my body has stopped.  The pain in my wrist is gone.  I made sure to eat grass fed beef and bison, salmon, and a lot of vegetables and fruit and brown rice.  I hope this helps.  I believe the sugar drives the inflammation.  It is very discouraging but this has made a big difference and I believe it is pretty much in remission.  Dr Axe has a diet for RA that I basically followed.  I am not on pain meds and not on any RA meds.  Marcia