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RA swelling but no pain

Posted , 3 users are following.

Buckeyes
Buckeyes

Does anyone else have severe swelling but no pain?  I was diagnosed in November.  I had severe pain in my right forearm and horrible swelling in hands feet and ankles.  Blood work showed RA factor to be 815.  Apparently it's supposed to be under 14!  The rheumatologist gave me a prednisone shot and a prescription for it also.  The pain is gone except for achy wrists.  I might add I am also on enbrel, methotrexate, prednisone and various vitamins.  After my second enbrel injection my pinkie and ring finger on both hands went numb!  I have severe swelling n both feet and ankles, progressively getting worse during the day.  But I have no pain!  A few years ago I had a sciatic episode and went to an orthopedic doctor who gave me some type of steroid prescription and the pain was gone overnight!  I am wondering if it's the prednisone that has taken away the pain.  My rheumatologist suggested that maybe the enbrel wasn't working!  My husband is a driver and transports different clients in his orofesdion and happened to drive a lady last week to give a talk on RA.  She was an RA expert n that field.  She told him, after discussing me, that I wasn't getting aggressive enough treatment.  I keep reading of all the posts about you dealing with the pain and I feel for you.  I was in the same boat and it's horrible!  I dealt with it for a full year before ai knew what was wrong with me!  But as I asked before, anybody with swelling and no pain?

0 likes, 4 replies

4 Replies

  • peter_webb
    peter_webb Buckeyes

    Posted

    hello i found if it swells it hurts and sometimes only a cortisone injection helps

    i had a nasty episode at christmas as my knee swelled up to the size of a small mellon and my wrists also swelled and i could do nothing for 3 days till the swelling started to go and i could get to the drs for a injection

    if it swells its your body fighting against the fluid between your joints and that causes the swelling and the pain maybe you need to be taking a small dose of prednisilone as a buffer against any flare ups and pain ?

    • Buckeyes
      Buckeyes peter_webb

      Posted

      Thanks for your reply!  I am already on 10 mg. of prednisone daily, down from the original 20 mg.  I complained about the extra 25 pound weight gain and was reduced to 5 mg. but because of the swelling was upped to 10 mg. again.  I'm wondering what all this swelling is going to do to my joints, if I'm going to eventually going to be deformed to the point I can't walk!  Still, I don't have any pain!  
  • peter_webb
    peter_webb Buckeyes

    Posted

    what you might find is you need a drug to hit the RA hard and get it under control and then you could reduce the Prednisalone

    i was on 20mg of pred and 20 mg of ethatrexate for a year and then started to reduce both and got done to 1mg of prednisalone and only 2.5mg of Methotrexate  for some years until i started to get flare ups and had to increase the Methotrexate right up to 20mg again and still suffered until my Prednisalone was increased for a short while then the pain went and i can move my fingers and wrist again  but i am not deformed and all my joints are still normal

    but i find any sort of painkillers like naproxen and tramadol are useless only a cortasone injection or Prednisalone works on the pain

    also i eat what i want and the amount and drink what i want and i dont gain weight only lose weight as my body is working at fighting the RA flare ups  i must be lucky !!

    • Buckeyes
      Buckeyes peter_webb

      Posted

      Thanks for your reply!  I thought when I went on enbrel it was aggressive. The lady my husband drove said I should be on some kind of infusion.  I go to my rheumatologist Thursday and will see what she thinks.  The last visit she was wondering if the enbrel was really working. I had to have an MRI and blood work for lesions on my adrenals and found that I'm pre-diabetic so they want me to lose weight and exercise!  Easier said than done!  Prednisone is putting extra weight on and on top of that I have degenerative disc disease that causes spasms in my back making it hard to even walk at times!  I'm starting to get really depressed with all that they are finding wrong!  Even found out that my thyroid is enlarged and am supposed to have an ultra-sound on that in September and another MRI on the adrenals too! I've spent a year in doctor's offices getting tested  and I'm pretty sick of it!  Not to mention the medical bills!  So far, at least, no cancer is showing up!  Thanks to God!  
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