Swollen neck joints

[cosana]

Hi everyone!

Woke up today with a terrible pain in my neck area. At first, I thought I didn't sleep in a good position, but that happened to me before and the pain would ease by the end of the day or by massaging my neck.

Not the case this time; in fact, I can barely move my head to the left or up. The pain is really intense.

Could RA do this?

My RA has become pretty agressive lately, since almost all joints in my feet are affected as well as the finger joints, my rheumy increased MTX conc to 20 mg weekly and the inflammation doesn't seem to go away.

Did anyone experience this?

[dembonesDAMNBONES]

The same often happens to me, but my rheumy puts it down to the OA rather than the RA.

Mention it on your next appointment.

My hands and feet tended to get worse at the same time as my neck and he sent me to x-ray straight after my appointment with him, who confirmed the OA.

Wear and tear, unfortunately, but the rheumy may increase your painkiller dosage, as mine did.

[cosana in reply to dembonesDAMNBONES]

I am sorry to hear that you suffer from both RA and OA.

Fortunately, I am only 25 and for the moment, I hope I am safe from developing another bone/joint related disease.

So my neck pain is definitely not from OA.

Anyways, doesn't matter whether it's RA or OA or anyhing else, as long as we suffer.

God bless you!

[dembonesDAMNBONES in reply to cosana]

Not necessarily.

The wear and tear in OA is often associated with the aging process, however wear and tear can still be caused in young folk, due to stresses (accidents, bad posture, etc) or inherent weaknesses.

Sorry to drop that one on you.

Whatever the underlying cause, I hope you get to the bottom of it, catch it at this early stage and find tne right treatment.

[Hidden]

RA can develop in any joint. This happens and still does on occasions with me, I personally find a warm wheat bag and painkillers taken before hand, then gentle movements of the neck does help, don’t allow your neck to stiffen as I find it’s worse. Good luck 🤗 x

[cosana in reply to Hidden]

Yeah, true. I woke up in the middle of the night and realised the pain was much worse, because I didn't move my neck while sleeping, so due to this it became stiffer and more painful.

Took some anti inflammatory pills and now I am looking forward to move my neck easier and pain free, if possible.

Thank you for your advice! It's worth a try!

[Ferret18]

Yep, my RA gets me in the neck too 😩

Try putting a wrung out wet towel in the oven on 140 for about 10 mins then put that round your neck over a thinner towel so as not to scold you. Can help 😊

[Sarah_89]

Hi Cosana,

I have had neck pain with RA before, but when I mentioned to my Dr he told me that RA will not affect the joints in the neck. I read up about this online though and some sources state that it can affect the neck joint! So I told this to my RA Dr and again he said no, although he said it could be referred pain from the shoulders.

So who knows! Maybe someone with a better understanding will comment

[cosana in reply to Sarah_89]

Well, I am not a doc, still my sister's mother in law is a GP, her nurse also suffers from RA and she told me last night that neck joints (cervical joints respectively) can be affected too.

Next month I am seeing my rheumy, so I will ask her whether RA is to blame or not.

[Ferret18 in reply to Sarah_89]

I saw my rheumy nurse yesterday and she said any joint can be affected, although the muscle pain in my shoulders is probably due to me holding my neck in a funny way cos it hurts

Have had to take day off work today as feel so rough. Started on sulfasalazine yesterday

[dembonesDAMNBONES]

There's ongoing discussion on a few threads that poses the question: Is Sulf the culprit for causing really weird dreams?

If it is, then it's something for you to look forward to experiencing. Lol.

[Happygranny1958]

My R.D started in the neck. Like you I woke up thinking I had slept awkwardly. I couldn't turn my head in any direction or up or down. I had physio twice a week, exercises to do and acupuncture. Slowly it eased off and then moved to my knees. I was then referred to rheumatology. Mine does move around a lot. It's now in my hands and fingers and I am awaiting tendon release surgery on my fingers. Hope your pain eases soon. X

[Hidden]

Yep I had this a few months ago along side fatigue lasted a few days then went. That was the first time I had it and haven’t had it since.

[Hidden]

Sorry that hear this

I have to physically lift and support my head some mornings as so stiff

I tried a collar and it helped but not nice to sleep with