Normal or not

[Shadow35]

Hi. I'm waiting for a diagnosis of spondyloarthritis. In the meentime, i have naproxen 12 hours. It work well for a month on my hand stiffness, back and i had a lot more energy. Since a week, i start again feeling tire again, pain in my feet and the fingers keeps swollen and stiff. It's worst when i have peak of fatigue. I soon i have more energy, my hand are less swollen. I also have pain in one side of my ribs like a cramp but nothing make it go away. Pain and stiffness in the jaw that is now better. Is it normal the medication stop working so quickly? I spend around 40hours in emergency and they still don't know what causing the pain in my side. Ct scan, blood and urine test is clear. They just found a big gallstone. So the gallbladder have yo be remove at some point, and i'm waiting for six month for a gastro-enterologist for an endoscopy because of rgo, nausea....can the pain in the jaw and rib can be cause by spondyloarthritis? How long it can take for my hand to have permanent damage. It's like this since march 2022. Thanks a lot.

[KittyJ]

I’m sorry I don’t know anything about spondyloarthritis but if you are taking anti inflammatories and then overdo things because you are feeling better then it’s perfectly normal to suffer for it afterwards. It’s learning your limits and pacing yourself which I know is difficult as if you’re feeling better you want to do more. I still overdo things and doubt I’ll ever learn my lesson but I know what’ll happen and make my decision, but that’s me, sometimes you just have to do it.

Once you have a diagnosis then I’m sure your doctors will explain it all to you and whether your symptoms are part of it. Sorry I can’t be more help.

[Shadow35 in reply to KittyJ]

Thanks a lot. Yes i learn the hard way that the medication is not perfect. I was feeling so good the other day that i finished some hard job around the house that i wasn't able to do for 2 years and i spend 2-3 days with my hands swollen. It's just that i tought the nsaid was enought because i had one full month feeling really good. And i don't know if pain in the rib and jaw is relate to my other problem (maybe spondyloarthritis) or if it's totally a new thing. They want to remove the gallbladder but if the pain is du to arthritis, i prefer to keep it. I had to change career because two doctor misdiagnosed an other injury. So i'm always looking for more info just in case. I'm not the kind that gonna wait and see because it may be too late. It was i'm scare of. But i'm pretty sure my rhumatologist gonna tell me next month it's spondyloarthritis. I have almost all the symptom. How people cope with working. Sometime i need to lie down for 1-2hours to be able to go through the day. I'm going back to school and they gonna add more time each day and they gonna cut the lunch time. I use to skip lunch to lay down. Is it hard to find employer that accept this kind of condition?

[KittyJ in reply to Shadow35]

Your employer should make reasonable adjustments for you, once you have a diagnosis it may be easier to talk to them about it. NRAS do publications you can download or order copies of, not about spodylarthritis but about work and what your employer should do to help you. Might be worth looking at that or maybe there’s a similar charity for your condition. All worth looking up when you have a diagnosis. I know how difficult it is to work and I’ve had to stop many jobs because I just can’t do them even with adjustments. 🤞🏻 you find some answers

[CLoVee]

I have AS and I do get all the different pains you are talking about but i went years with rib pain to find out i had an h pylori infection and it was actually my stomach hurting from taking so many nsaids. I would constantly have to take them to keep my arthritis pain at bay bc they dont last too long. Now I take cimzia and colchicine and I do really well pain wise most days. It has been 3 years since my stomach infection and I still cant take nsaids. Im not sure if the nsaids gave me the ulcer or the infection did i just know i havent been able to take them since without causing serious pain and my rhuem said sometimes after that infection people just cant take it anymore. So i know nsaids can be so helpful with arthritis and early on its the first and sometimes only medication we try but it can do some damage on the stomach especially if you have something else going on. I hope you have nothing wrong with your stomach and they find some medication that really helps you!

[Shadow35 in reply to CLoVee]

Thanks for the info. I'm gonna wait for the specialist but i think i win the lottery and got someting with the stomach or close to it. I have two person in my family with crohn disease. One died of the disease and i also have others members of my family that got autoimmune disorder. The pain start before taking the nsaid but it's now worse. The medication for rgo help a little bit so i have less nausea. I saw that spondyloarthritis sometime come with gastro problem. I think it may be. The only thing that not comfirm yet is the inflammation because i have all the rest of the symptom. If it don't show on mri don't know what it is but i can't bend my fingers specially one. The nsaid help a lot. Did you like is almost normal when you have the right treatment? I'm going back to school and i stress a little bit because a lot of time i need to lay down and sleep during the day. I survived last year but this time they haf more hours and cut the lunch time that i used to relax. I know i'm never gonna be the same but i hope to be able to work normally and be able to cook or do the grocery on the same day.

[CLoVee in reply to Shadow35]

Well i hope your stomach is something you can heal. With the medicine i feel just about normal. If i overdo it i will be in discomfort/pain but getting a good night’s rest usually fixes that. Getting on the right meds changed everything it gave me my life back 100%. I hope they can figure it out and you can get yours back as well!

[Taichigirl in reply to Shadow35]

Hi i was very tired & painful fingers & neck. Diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. My jaw also hurt. Nsaids are good for temporary but unfortunately they stop working so well. RA meds helped so much but need a few weeks or more to settle in. I got help with jaw thru physio & it hasnt come back. Maybe try google for jaw excercises they work! Best of luck theres lots of advice here xx