Clumsiness: Hi all..hope this morning finds you all as... - NRAS

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Clumsiness

Shazz10 profile image
26 Replies

Hi all..hope this morning finds you all as well as can be.

Just a quick question. Is clumsiness part of RA? I don't mean due to pain ...I've no pain on my hands/wrists at the moment but I seem to have no coordination. I've been dropping plates, glasses, any thing really and tripping over stuff a lot lately and have just thrown a much longed for cappacino all round my car and let the parking ticket I bought fly out of my hand into the wind. Does anyone else experience this or is this something else completely like my age maybe? Am menopausal and sometimes feel like I'm on another planet latley!

Thanks ☺️

Sharon 🌸

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Shazz10 profile image
Shazz10
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26 Replies
gillianf profile image
gillianf

Oh boy, where do I start. How many plates and cups can one person drop. I think the level of clumsiness depends on how much joints are stiff so I am more clumsy (much more) first thing and if I have been sitting for a while. Ho pe you feel better soon.

spott profile image
spott in reply togillianf

destroyed my laptop with cup of coffee...thought it was just me..thank you

I thought it was just me with this problem. Sometimes my son looks at me with a concerned expression when I walk. I asked him what he was thinking and he replied, " It looks like you are drunk" .

Shazz10 profile image
Shazz10 in reply to

Hi Suzanne...just wondering how things are going for you now that your back at work a while. Hopefully all is good. My work agreed to part-time hours for two months..on full time pay!! Then full time or reduce to part-time. So I'm well pleased. Thanks for all your help and encouragement with it all. I start back on Monday and am a mix of excitement and nerves.

Sharon 🌸

in reply toShazz10

Oh Sharon, I'm so happy for you. :) Take it one day at a time and everything will work out for you.

Things are going well for me with work.

Greencliff3 profile image
Greencliff3 in reply to

I've got a jar opener which is fixed to the wall and you insert the top of the jar in it and turn it.

weathervane profile image
weathervane

Hi sharon , same problem ! I dropped a full jar of mustard, splattered all over the place , on Sunday- what mess🙁. I drop things regularly as my grip is not as good, as well as dropping jars I've difficulty opening them ! It helps to hold with one hand and put the other underneath but I don't always remember. Best wishes xx

SoulmanPaul profile image
SoulmanPaul in reply toweathervane

Hi. I also have grip problems and have found that if you have a jar to open, wearing washing up gloves makes a big difference.

Ps mine are black manly ones! :-)

weathervane profile image
weathervane in reply toSoulmanPaul

I have dropped stuff in the shop as well ☹️At Christmas I dropped a large tub of cream which splashed all over me another customer and all over the floor. If the ground could have opened up and swallowed me id have been happy😳

Birminghamowl profile image
Birminghamowl

Hi there! We could be twins!!! Don't trust myself to lift things with one hand now, not since the cat food incident in the supermarket - the poor woman was very understanding as she hobbled off with a sore foot - doh!

KayEP profile image
KayEP

I drop things, trip over things, fall of things, can't open jars without the help of a wonderful battery operated device (never thought I would have so many useful devices!), etc. Used to swear a lot, but now just let it go - decided that's my life. Never thought it was menopause related, but have related to my RA because I find it difficult to pick up small and large things, although I guess that the falling over may be related to age (ha ha)!!

avocadothrower1 profile image
avocadothrower1

When I was checked out for neck ossification the neurologist said I should come back when I started breaking cups etc because of clumsiness and "walking like John Wayne" because this is a sign of bone pressing on nerve. Might be worth raising with Rheum to see if MRI to detect damage is needed?

cabbie profile image
cabbie

I drop things constantly trip over nothing, its great to realise its not just me 😀

Yes me as well .😱

Shazz10 profile image
Shazz10

Thanks guys for all your replies....glad to see I'm not alone so am feeling a bit more 'normal' so to speak. Thanks for the tip about the MRI advocadothrower. I did have an MRI a few months back and some damage was detected on my neck so maybe that's causing it. I will ask my rhuemy next time. It's a small issue really just a) embarrassing in public -sympathise with the cat food incident Birminghamowl! And b) getting expensive replacing crockery! I'm sure my daughter thinks I'm having tantrums deliberately smashing crockery in the kitchen. And like you with the mustard weathervane a recent one for me was a full bottle of brown sauce all over the kitchen floor. I do find swearing helps though kayep ! So I might have to allow myself to continue with that !

Thanks everyone...hope you all have a smashing ! Day.

Sharon 🌸 🌸

farm123 profile image
farm123

We never progressed to glasses from plastic cups as the kids grew - we would have had so much glass everywhere, the kids range from 27 to 15 and the older 2 have now moved out and hate plastic cups. My last lot of plates have a thick outer rim which have seen less chips round the edges and they have lasted well. Farm

AgedCrone profile image
AgedCrone in reply tofarm123

When I'm alone I use Melamine crockery ...most of the time it bounces!

I read your post and laughed to my self, as i too thought it was just me that had suddenly turned into frank spencer from some mothers do have em! it never used to be like that, i used to have the dexterity of a fox, and now i seem to trip over my own feet, and a stranger thing happened that was i live alone but my daughter called round with her daughter, and started laughing and asking if i had broken any more plates or cups, 10 mins later i decided i was going to have a salad, and will use the new unbreakable pic-nik plate she has brought me, loaded it up with all the goodies out of the fridge, sat down at the table only for my daughter to ask me " why are you eating off Katies Frisby?" ha ha, an easy mistake i think?

Shazz10 profile image
Shazz10 in reply to

Omg...that has given me such a good old belly laugh!! Picnic on a frisby...this could catch on with us RA sufferers. Lol😂

Sharon 🌸

janmary profile image
janmary

Me too. And as for getting hold of small change or thin cards from a purse - especially with a queue behind me..

Nerves go past joints so swollen rubbish joints mean squashed nerves I suppose.

SoulmanPaul profile image
SoulmanPaul in reply tojanmary

Too right! And on that topic-who the hell designed Mtx tablets to be so tiny????? Here's a tip though-once I've managed to get them out of the packet I place them on the table. I lick my finger and pick them up with a dab...much easier!

Dotty55 profile image
Dotty55

Dotty55

I too trip up over my own feet I am an home help and my service users ask me if I'm drunk it can be embarrassing and when I walk outdoors I walk as if I am drunk my daughters and my husband get worried about me never mentioned to doc only neurologist but it doesn't seem too worry him

Dotty55

Greencliff3 profile image
Greencliff3

Hello. I am 70, quite fit and active, despite recovering from a dislocated shoulder from bringing in horses two weeks ago. I often find that I drop things and don't coordinate well. My hands are arthritic and the tendons quite swollen in my wrists but this doesn't stop me driving and doing stable work. I thought the dropsie went with RA . It's another frustrating aspect isn't it?

Shazz10 profile image
Shazz10 in reply toGreencliff3

I'm kind of glad to learn it is associated with RA as I thought there might be something else I'd have to deal with. I suppose a higher budget for crockery is not too bad all things considered! Lovely to hear it's not prevented you enjoying your stable work...I'm finding driving a challenge at times...but it's early days yet for me I suppose.

Sharon 🌸

Greencliff3 profile image
Greencliff3 in reply toShazz10

Hello Sharon. I just try not to let it beat me. It's a challenge at times, especially just now as, I was on hydroxychloroquine which has affected my cateracts so badly that I've had to cone off it and am currently on prednisolone low dosage . It's also made me colourblind to brown and green which is trial as I spend a lot of time in fields picking up poo! It's got so bad I'm having to have my cateracts done privately as the waiting list is so long and I'm nearly unfit to drive! I was doing ok till I hit 70! It's gone a bit downhill this year . It can only get better. Lol

Shazz10 profile image
Shazz10 in reply toGreencliff3

Gosh you do have a lot on your plate at the moment...although i laughed at you trying to see the brown poo in a green field ! Best of luck with your cataract surgery. My mother had hers done last year (Not RA related) and is like a new woman it was a great success. She only appreciated how bad her eyes had become once she got them done and could see better than she ever remembered seeing before.

Hopefully you don't have to wait too much longer best of luck.

Sharon 🌸

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