RA & Now a bad back?

[Juliachoo]

Yesterday for the first time in my life I developed severe lower back pain.. now I’m not very au fait with this new symptom but is it related to my Rheumatoid Arthritis? Been diagnosed 3 1/2 years now. Rested up yesterday afternoon, hot bath last night, woke up this morning, not too bad, them I dropped my phone on the floor & bent to get it wow excruciating! Any feed back of cause & what to do to ease this very welcome...

[Hidden]

I'm not an expert, but I wouldn't have thought RA itself would have caused this. But you mentioned you dropped your phone on the floor and bent down to pick it up. I personally would ask my GP for an X-ray to investigate. I don't know if you are aware that RA will predispose you to Osteoporosis. I have this in my spine, and the pain of a fractured vertebrae is agony. Hope I'm barking up the wrong tree, but if you explain to your GP she/he SHOULD check it out.

[helixhelix]

RA rarely affects the vertebrae, apart from the very top one in your neck. (On the other hand, ankylosing spondylitis does).

And some 80% of people do get lower back pain at some point in their life. So the likelihood is that it’s totally unrelated, and you’ve pinched a nerve or herniated a disc. Best to get it checked out in case something more severe, but if just normal back stuff then little you can do. Gentle walking and stretching, rather than resting, heat & ice, and paracetamol/ibuprofen are what is normally recommended.

[Biofreak]

Hello Juliachoo. I have lower back pain which started about 8 months ago. However I have osteoporosis as well as RA. My rheumatologist thinks it's the osteoporosis causing the lower back pain. I am having my 3 yearly dexa scan in August so I am expecting that my bone density has decreased. In your case I would go to your GP and ask to be referred to an osteoperosis clinic to get this checked out. I am taking Adcal and Alendronic acid to strengthen my bones. This was prescribed by the doctors at the clinic when I was diagnosed. Of course it may not be osteoporosis in your case but I would definitely check it out.

Hope this helps. Best wishes.

[Hidden]

Hi I was diagnosed about the same time as you . About 18months ago I too developed lower back pain had x rays and physio eased a bit them one day that was it..excruciating pain and couldn’t move for 4 days. When I could move I went to

My Gp he was no good said I was very stiff and should do some yoga or Pilates. I did.. back went again. Decided to see a chiropractor. What an eye opener. She said I need to sort out the primary cause not the symptoms . My primary cause was my right ankle which was very immobile and altered the way I held my body and had a knock on effect. Have had no problem since. If I have a flare and my ankles are effected I may take trip to the chiropractor for a tweak. This may not be your problem but it worked for me.

[Mmrr]

My back does ache from time, generally when the RD is poorer controlled my back is worse and vice versa, of course it could be related to activity levels and not just RD.

[Juliachoo]

Thank you everyone.. I was out walking the dog yesterday morning & had no backache until the afternoon.. if not better by Monday will go & see my GP xx