What is my arm pain (at mainly at night)?

[Herrylaw]

My first post: I have a dull pain in my upper arms, mainly at night though more recently in the daytime too (though less). By morning the pain has extended down to my hands which feel weak and I find it difficult to hold my toothbrush. After a shower, the pain seems less but now doesn't completely go away and is somewhat debilitating throughout the day. The pain is similar to stiffness after exercise, not sharp, and is not related to my joints.

[Rosepetal60]

Hi, and welcome to this friendly forum. Only going by my personal experiences, it could be that you have an internal / external swelling somewhere in arm that is affecting and causing pain in your arm. Or it could be from your shoulder. Do you remember doing anything to either awhile back, that you didn't think it being anything at the time. Or are you on any drugs that might cause this pain and lack of use to your arm.

[Herrylaw in reply to Rosepetal60]

Thank you. I don't have anything else wrong with my arms or my shoulders and haven't strained them. I don't take any medication apart from trying ibuprofen for this pain.

[Ramjets]

HI Herrylaw - I'm assuming you have been diagnosed with fibro? Regardless though we shouldn't always assume that any new symptoms are related to this and I suggest you go to your GP to get it checked out. However what you have described is quite similar to what I went through when I first developed a frozen shoulder but only my left side was affected. I initially was getting pain and weakness in my arm and hand which went on for a while until it developed into a full blown frozen shoulder. Plus it always seemed worse of a night. I really hope it isn’t this as it is very unpleasant.

Let’s hope you get it sorted soon but in the meantime welcome to the forum hun, I am sure you will find it as friendly and supportive as I do. x

(P.S. Just a little tip, if you lock your posts, you are likely to get more replies as a lot of members aren't keen on responding to unlocked ones, but that's up to you of course.x)

[Herrylaw in reply to Ramjets]

Thanks for your suggestions. I haven't had a full diagnosis but have just had a couple of blood tests which showed a somewhat heightened infection somewhere - but not enough to be full-blown fibro. I found out about this forum after searching for my symptoms on the internet, but am just guessing what it is.

[Ramjets in reply to Herrylaw]

Ah right well fibro can take a while to diagnose as there is no clinical test for it and so many other things with similar symptoms have to be ruled out first. I sincerely hope you don't have fibro and you find out what ails you soon so it can be treated quickly and cured.

Meant to ask in previous post, is your mobility affected by these pains in your arms? A good test for frozen shoulder is to hold your arm tight against your side and then lift your forearm up to form a right angle with your hand open and thumb upright (so you resemble a Thunderbird puppet almost lol). Then without moving upper arm try and move forearm out to the side. If it hurts and/or can only be moved a little then this is a strong indicator of frozen shoulder. Saying that you may not have got to that stage yet but if your arms do get worse, keep trying this. Good luck my love x

[Hidden]

Have you been diagnosed with fibro?? Do you take any meds like blood pressure pills or heart problems, lots of reasons for this happening, you really need to go gp and tell him all this,, I get arm and hand pain at night it always seems worse when Im not moving it hurts now on the keyboard but not as bad,, my hands are arthralgia and my arm muscles are calcium crystal disease with fibro.

[DanielleGemma]

Hey Herrylaw

Welcome to our wonderful forum, I hope you find the support and guidance that you need - although I know you will

So sorry to hear about your pain, I now suffer from this but never use to! It's so hard as Fibro can be so unpredictable and cover so many things that you can never tell if it's due to Fibro or something else! I have been wondering recently if it is arthritis based and will be going to see the doctor about this shortly so will let you know how it goes. I find it really difficult to get taken seriously as they just blame my Fibro xxx

[rosewine]

Just like to say welcome to the forum. Strangely I had that a few years before being diagnosed it made my arms seem like lead in the mornings and as you say eased a little if I had a hot shower. It was like a dull,stiff ache as though I had done too many lengths of the Butterfly stroke. It could be best to have a word with your GP as we can end up putting all our symptoms down to fibro when it can be something else. Look forward to your future posts.x

[Herrylaw in reply to rosewine]

Thanks. I have seen my GP twice and have a third blood test this week. No firm diagnosis yet. Hoped I might get one here

[rosewine in reply to Herrylaw]

Hope your third blood test reveals something. So difficult with fibro to get a definate diagnosis as at the moment their is no definitive blood test for it. The doctors tend to test for illnesses like lupus, RA, thyroid problems etc that can all mimic the symptoms of fibro. When these all come up negative they often come to the conclusion that it is fibro.

Have you had a chance to look at our mother site Fibromyalgia Action UK as it lists all of the symptoms that people with fibro may encounter. You might find there are other things you have been suffering from that are fibro related like IBS.x