Joint pain

I was having this conversation with the clinical nurse specialist at my jospital unit yesterday. We have chatted before amkoffee. I had dreadful pain in my feet also sometimes in knee joints ankle and hands. Hydroxychlorequine has worked wonders and is often prescribed for this kind of joint pain.

I often don't tolerate certain drugs. Codeine is an absolute no no for me. Because of stomach issues drugs are often problematic. Others just don't work. Your problems could be compounded though if you are over medicated. There may be interactions between hydroxychlorequine and other meds. But do ask as it has been amazing for me. I was beginning to really struggle with walking my feet were so bad and this has taken a lot of the pain away.

My pain was exactly as you describe. I could not flex my ankles in the morning and had to walk on tiptoes on getting up in the morning. I also invested in a feather mattress topper because the pain in my knees at night made sleeping impossible without this soft support. I was put on hydroxychloroquine and the pain in my feet, hands, knees and shoulders is now a thing of the past I am delighted to say. I also have erosive arthritis and it has helped those joints but not my back for some strange reason.

Thank you to both of you for taking the time to answer my question. I was on hydroxychlorequine for several months and didn't think I was getting any pain relief from it so with my rheumatologist approval I stop taking it. Now that I have this joint pain I'm wondering if it was doing that good a job and that's why I now have joint pain whereas before I didn't. I did not have the joint pain when I started the hydroxychlorequine so I suspect that the joint pain may have started while I was on the drug and I didn't know it because I was on the medicine.

Last night I looked up a drug I'm on called Gabapentin. I started it when I stopped the hydroxychlorequine. Well it turns out that one of Gabapentin side-effects is joint pain. I didn't really want to be on this drug anyway but she asked two different occasions and I agreed to it the second time she asked. So I'm going to ask this morning if I can just get off of it and then I'll see what happens with my joint pain. And we both agreed and I can start back on the hydroxychlorequine after I had an MRI of my hands. And that's scheduled for tomorrow.

I think most doctors give out drugs because they don’t know what else to do for us. No real treatment for Sjögrens so they give out pills that may help but most likely won’t help. It’s a guessing game for them too. Maybe someday they’ll come up with a cure but until then we just take something hoping for relief.  I’ve tried gabapentin etc etc. had this for over 20 years. Now on azathioprine to calm the immune system and amitripyline at night to help with nerve pain and sleep. Both seem to help. I’ve been on them both for 5 years and my small fiber neuropathy doesn’t seem worse. 

Have severe arthritis in both thumbs so dealing with that with cortisone shots and next year will have surgery which the doctor says is very successful for the majority. 

Hope all of you get some relief from your pain. 😥

I have tons of joint pain, some of which responds to ultram/tramadol and some of which does not. I can't tolerate any stronger Rx pain med tgan ultram on a regular basis, and I use as little of it as possible.

One of the things it doesn't touch is arthritis in the C-spine. Fortunately I can control that by alternating Tylenol AS with 600 mg. Ibuprofen. I take 1 or 2 of the Tylenol AS first thing in the morning, ibuprofen 7 or 8 hours later, 1 or 2 Tylenol AS 7-8 hours later, and 400-600mg ibuprofen with my sleeping pill. This particular pain has to be treated prophylactically because otherwise I get into a pain deficit cycle that's hard to break. Physical therapy helps a lot on my neck pain.

As to my shoulder, it responds only to Chinese pain patches, acupuncture and the Ultram; PT only aggravates pain in this joint. No one can explain why the different meds work or don't work on certain joints. I am glad that the Ultram doesn't work on the neck as I prefer being able to keep it in reserve, PRN.

Good luck. Joint pain stinks and I hope you find something that helps you.

I am considering the plaquenil.