bent fingers with pain

[Jueloz]

Hi - I have Lupus and having both my hips replaced soon due to osteoarthritis I think or due to the lupus.

Does anyone with Lupus experience finger pain - my fingers are gradually bending the wrong way and I am putting heat pads on them all the time.

Basically is this RA? I don't know if it s RA OA Lupus or what?

Last time I had a blood test my rheumatoid factor was normal.

Any ideas?

[Natura]

My sister, who is a pediatrician, said it looks like osteoarthritis. My two forefingers have bumps on the top joint. They hurt on and off. I also have bad hip pain, but not doing anything about that. You are brave to have hip surgery. I know someone who just had both done too. Hard life....hope you feel better...I read somewhere about flax seed oil omega 3 helping joint pain.

[Jueloz in reply to Natura]

thanks for replying - it is the two forefingers - very painful. I have no choice re the hips as they are completely "gone" Whats the difference between Rheumatoid and Osteoarthritis - I thought finger waved off the wrong way was RA?

Might try the omega 3 but alas I think its too late! X

[hanb27]

I have pretty much continuous finger pain, some days are much worse than others, but no bumps on mine! I believe rheumatoid arthritis is an auto immune disease, so you either have it or not, and osteoarthritis is what you generally see older people with ,as it usually caused be wear and tear on the joints but also by our friend Lupus! Of course you can have Lupus and RA but RA is easily traced in a blood test. Are you on any meds for your joints ? Naproxen or something similar?

[Hidden in reply to hanb27]

Sorry Natura but RA is not easily picked up in a blood test at all. Around 70% of people with RA are sero positive - the other 30% are sero negative. Twitchy

[Jueloz]

Hi methetrexate injections so does lupus cause arthritis in the joints?

[anbuma]

I have finger pain but it is mostly in the joints -get a sudden stinging pain in them.also swollen between

knuckles and tips.sore and red around nailbase and fingers bending the wrong way -signs of lupus-ie hitchhikers thumb.my bloods are said to be normal but there are sero negative bloods.the first two fingers maybe a sign of carpal tunnel syndrome.i have this in both hands -mostly left-and wear wrist supports-gotten from physio.

[Jueloz in reply to anbuma]

Yeah much the same - is it Lupus or arthritis ?? That causes it (confused)

[anbuma in reply to Jueloz]

id say lupus-fingers turning up.stinging pain in palms of hands too

[Hidden]

I have RA rather than Lupus - although it seems to be morphing into a more Lupus/ Sjogrens like type of RA. However I can tell you which finger joints are RA and which are OA as I have both. The knuckles, or MCP joints, can be affected by OA but are most commonly affected by RA of all the joints in the body. If it is RA they will feel hot and "boggy" in the swelling and the pain feels somewhere between toothache and cramp. Often the tendons around the knuckles are swollen and painful too making the hand feel very tight so fingers may be hard to bend or to open.

The PIP joints are the next most commonly affected and these are the ones in the middle of the finger - same goes with the hot, boggy type swelling rather than bony with OA. The DIP joints (dystal) are the joints closest to the finger nail and if they are sore then it is most probably OA as these aren't synovial joints and RA starts with attacking synovial fluid around the joint. Lupus generally causes OA and non erosive pain I believe where RA is an autoimmune disease that erodes and deforms the joints. I have heard that there is sometimes overlap which is somewhere between the two. If your fingers are bending towards the little finger this is called ulnar drift and usually affects people with RA rather than OA

Lupus and RA have a lot in common in that they are both systemic autoimmune diseases and both make sufferers ill, fatigued and can affect organs so it can be very hard to diagnose or distinguish between them. People with RA can be misdiagnosed with Lupus and Vice versa. Hope this helps!

[Hidden]

Ps and OA in fingers to me feels more very sore and stinging rather than fracture-type pain of RA.

[Wendy39]

Hello. From my limited knowledge RA is when the joints swell, or the shape of the hands etc change or become deformed, and the effect of it can be seen by the naked eye. osteoarthritis is when the wear and tear on the bone changes the bone itself and it obviously cannot be seen. I have osteoarthritis in both my hips and have been told that I will eventually need both replaced. I was 38 when told that. I had a hip arthroscopy last year and the Consultant Orthopaedic surgeon said he could not work out why I had such advanced arthritis for my age. Anyway, since then I have been diagnosed with Subacute Cutaneous Lupus (SCLE). The two Rhuematologists that I have seen say that I have just been unlucky and inherited bad hips and lupus. However, even my GP was surprised that they dismissed it out of hand. I have read in one of my Lupus books that Lupus suffers do mainly get RA but 4% get osteoarthritis. I am seeing the Consultant Orthopaedic surgeon who did my hip op last year, in October about my right hip and am hoping that he will be able to give me an answer once and for all. I have recently been getting aches and pains in my knees, lower legs, hands and wrists, which are new symptoms for me. Also my rheumatologist said that she can tell from examination that I have a tendon problem in my wrists/hands but didn't address it any further. So I am left wondering if this is Lupus related, or have I again just been unlucky???? It's frustrating not knowing the answer to our health mysteries isn't it! Good luck with your operation Jueloz. Would you mind telling me how old you are? Just curious, as wondering how long I can put off my hip replacements etc? Best wishes. Wendy