hands : I am fairly new to R A. Can anyone suggest... - NRAS

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Happy2shop profile image
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I am fairly new to R A. Can anyone suggest what is best to avoid food wise as I wake up with such stiff hands that I can hardly move. All very restrictive. Just wondered what I might be eating that’s making them worse and certainly no improvement since I’ve been on Sulfasalzine. And now on Methotrexate. Have only had two lots of that. So is it too early for any improvements. My Rheumatologist seems to say give it 3 months. But I have no knowledge of R A at all

I’m feel so down as just can’t carry out normal tasks

Thanks in advance

Lynda

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Happy2shop
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25 Replies
HeadInASpin profile image
HeadInASpin

Hi and welcome to the club that no one wants to be in. I have only had RA for two years so can totally understand how confusing and overwhelming it is when the disease strikes and you get your diagnosis. The best place to get your information from is nras. At my hospital they give out nras booklets and leaflets at appointments. In addition there is a little place, staffed by volunteers, that has information on all aspects of the disease. If that’s not available to you then you can order them directly from nras and you can speak to an advisor on the phone. Try not to use dr google as you’ll end up more confused than ever.

Morning joint stiffness is difficult for most of us and I’m sure you’ll get lots of tips…try them all and see what works for you. I usually fill my bathroom sink with hot water and plunge my hand in for a while, slowly exercising my wrists and fingers as I do so. Maintaining a healthy diet is good for your general health but unfortunately it’s unlikely that the disease can be controlled through diet alone. Some people find a certain food may make them feel worse but that’s trial and error.

The folks on these forums are a pretty nice bunch and have helped me a lot with hints, tips and more importantly staying positive. Take care, Spin x

hazelcats profile image
hazelcats

And epsom salts in the warm water helps with some pain relief too. Can get that in chemists or supermarkets. Mornings are my very worse times. Using cold packs,or heated wheat bags help too.I am waiting for some occupational therapy courses from my hospital, concentrating on the hands and wrists - maybe ask your gp for a referral?

And definitely I agree with post below, contact NRAS. Some essential booklets to help explain things and give advice - I would have felt very lost at first diagnosis without their information.

Mushroompicker profile image
Mushroompicker in reply tohazelcats

Hi I am new to this forum just joined, I was diagnosed with RA in 2023 been on methatrexate for 2 years plus biologic my hands are very painful in the morning I find heat helps also use bio freeze gel !!!!

hazelcats profile image
hazelcats in reply toMushroompicker

I always think I sound odd when sometimes I need ice and others times heat! I think ice helps most with inflammation, then the heat more with stiffness? Its a funny combo but I often find I am even wrapping my wrists around a glass of cold water... And that reminds me, as my grip can be weak I find using a plastic tumbler lighter ( and safer) than glass and I use a large 'bowl' type of cup,so I can cradle it, otherwise using the handle can hurt my finger joints.

Cat-E profile image
Cat-E in reply tohazelcats

I find it funny too, I always feel heat helps on my hands but ice on my knees and ankles. I can't even bear the thought of ice on my hands!

Deeb1764 profile image
Deeb1764

at the start I tried different food to avoid but nothing changed for me and this is the same for supplements. I now do 16:8 food lifestyle but joints in the morning being stiff is typical of RA so it’s finding solutions ie warm shower, gels or exercises for hands. It’s a learning curve keep a journal of things tried and failed or worked to keep track too! Best of luck 🥰

Boxerlady profile image
Boxerlady

Happily my hands are much better now but I do find that it helps to flex them gently whenever I wake in the night - maybe it's the long periods without movement that make them worse. At the beginning of my RA journey, I saw the Rheumatology OT who gave me some exercises to do and some resting splints to wear at night as well as some to wear occasionally during the day. The first few months were very challenging but things really improved once I'd found "my" medication regime and hopefully it will be the same for you.

Personally, I don't think that what I eat makes any difference to my RA; I do try to eat healthily but also don't hesitate to enjoy a treat now and then 😊

Fruitandnutcase profile image
Fruitandnutcase

Ah it’s a real pain isn’t it. When I get up in the morning my body feels like it’s been run over by a truck during the night. Funnily enough if I get up to go to the loo during the night it doesn’t seem to ache all that badly then in the morning I wonder if I will be able to walk to the loo when I stand up.

Anyway, I vary, sometimes I sleep with compression gloves on, sometimes I try splints and I’ve started wearing alpaca bed socks which seem to make my feet feel better but it’s probably just down to luck.

I love a hot bath with magnesium flakes, some drops of patchouli and lavender oil in with the flakes, I often rub Better You Magnesium Gel on my aching lower back and hips and I also use Volterol on the same aching hips. I take hydroxychloroquine daily and if I’m feeling really, really creaky I top up with a couple of paracetamol.

I have bought some gadgets to make life easier around the house. I use plug pulls on three pin sockets to pull them out of the wall, I put furniture gliders under furniture so that it is easy to move, I’ve got new and very sharp graters for vegetables and I keep all of my kitchen knives really sharp. I bought a mini Magimix blender thing also for vegetables when I broke my wrist (I’ve also got osteoporosis) I also treated myself to a very lightweight hairdryer and a stick vacuum cleaner that is light and easy to use.

I have always said food doesn’t make a difference to me but there has been much talk of tomatoes in the group recently and as I have been eating masses of tomatoes recently and my hands have felt quite painful - right now I’m experimenting to see if life without tomatoes makes a difference - I’m beginning to think it might but I haven’t really been doing it for long enough to be sure.

For me keeping moving is the secret. I walk for at least an hour most days and do Pilates twice a week with a teacher who is a physiotherapist as well as doing some at home. We are all in our 70s to 80s with a variety of medical conditions and most of what we do is gentle stretching - everything from fingers to toes and all the bits in between. I also do (when I remember) the hand exercises I was given after I fractured my wrist. If I didn’t move I think my body would seize up.

Neonkittie17 profile image
Neonkittie17

Sorry you have RA. 🩷 Yes, it needs 12 weeks (but I saw/felt a lot of improvement at 8 weeks) but see if you can get any hand wax bath treatment from the physio at the hospital. Ask the rheumy/nurse. Did wonders for my hands and wrists which were awful. I also had my hands in a basin of hot soapy water at home first thing, moving them gently for 5 minutes, or or the shower directly on them to easy the stiffness and pain. Now I sit with them on a micro wheat pad if I feel I have overdone things if they hurt, although my RA is under good control days.

As for food … I’d keep a note of anything that definitely makes you feel worse and try avoid it. You need to eat well though. x

Brushwork profile image
Brushwork

I can only tell you what works for me and always alongside medication;

I follow a plant based diet, vegetarian, almost vegan actually, with very little sugar and absolutely avoiding highly processed food. I believe and the evidence is mounting to prove that eating inflammatory foods increases the inflammation in our bodies.

Zoe on YouTube has lots of good information about inflammatory food and there’s a recent podcast about RA.

YuzuShiso profile image
YuzuShiso

Hopefully as your body responds to your current meds regime, or you find a new one, everything will improve. The patient’s important job of being patient is very challenging - I hope your condition improves soon.

Like others have commented, I haven’t noticed any connection between food and RA. I have quite a lot of food allergies, making me careful of what I eat. I find the most pain relief (other than and in addition to prescribed meds) when soaking in a hot bath. Thirty plus years ago when there weren’t many medications available, I did find that hot wax treatments at an RA clinic were helpful, as well as soaking my feet and hands in a tub of hot (and sometimes cold) water at home. Making flexing movements with my hands and toes throughout the day is also good, but it’s hard to avoid the pain and stiffness upon waking or a period of not moving much.

Rusticgarden profile image
Rusticgarden

For any RA meds it can take up to 3 months to see improvement, I find sugar and processed food makes me worse.

Chester1975 profile image
Chester1975

please read this post x x x

healthunlocked.com/nras/pos...

LTC1607 profile image
LTC1607

hi,

try wearing compression gloves overnight and hot water in the morning.

Tonkie profile image
Tonkie

Hey lovely. I sympathise, I’m the worst in the morning with my hands and wrists. It takes a good hour to limber up. I wanted to add I came off my meds (methotrexate) in October. By December the first thing I noticed was how stiff I was in the morning. I’ve been trying to reintroduce methotrexate since but unfortunately had a lot of infections.. so I too am on my second dose.

When I started it initially, it did take around 6 weeks to feel any benefit and 3 months to get the full benefit. So I know I still have a long wait until the stiffness goes. But I can tell you it does. I was getting up at 5 and swimming for 6 when I was on methotrexate continuously. Now life is very different off it.

I do find that a bath helps my whole body.. but it’s hard to do that when you’re feeling so robotic.

I think in a few weeks time you will get some relief and it will keep improving the more you take. And me too! And also.. I cannot tell you how different life is in the water - I feel like a bl**dy ballerina in the pool.. I’m the tinman on land!

Toni x

bpeal1 profile image
bpeal1

There’s lots of great advice here already. I also don’t find any connection between food and my symptoms. Both NRAS and Versus Arthritis have some useful information about diet.

nras.org.uk/resource/diet/#....

versusarthritis.org/about-a...

Evie3 profile image
Evie3

Morning. From my own experience years ago I found sleeping in hand/wrist splints was helpful. As Headinaspin said…dunking them in warm water helps. Hope your meds help but there are so many out there now so dont suffer in silence. Takecare

Bethany02 profile image
Bethany02

I found massage with oil and frankincense helpful make your own using jojoba oil as a carrier and buy organic essential oils if you can. There are a few that are supposed to be good anti inflammatory google has good information but for me as others the right meds make all the difference. I have found for me cold is better weirdly.

Stills profile image
Stills

note my unusual diagnosis…. result is the same though, stiff, painful joints. After 40+ years of this I recommend ( obviously if suitable for you as we’re all different), heat, support/elastic bandage and rest. I find foods with tannin make it worse, sadly that’s tea and red wine. Some sufferers report ease when gluten free, worth a try.

pammi2 profile image
pammi2

i take ibupropen , you can take 2 before night time and maybe 2 in day time to get you trhough while meds kick in

Green230461 profile image
Green230461

My consultant suggested using a stress ball for five mins a day it has helped me. Good luck🍀

Happy5 profile image
Happy5

When I was in my early days of RA my hands worsen, so they sent me to have them x-rayed . It showed up the OA in them which was also a factor of stiff , weak and painful hands. I was sent to physio where a delightful lady gave me all sorts of advice about exercise, equipment, and reducing pain with either ice or warm pads depending n time of year. Everywhere is awful during RA flare including my hands and I have never found foods made a difference in my case.

So suggest you speak with specialist nurse via your advice line as to has it been long enough time for your meds to have started working? Three months is a usual time frame for some improvement. Also to ascertain if it's OA in your hands too?

medway-lady profile image
medway-lady

It’s fairly normal until the RA is under control. I find it best to just keep going as it’s fleeting. I also do a lot of cooking so it helps to keep your hands mobile and I’d suggest the tennis ball squeeze might help. I can’t comment on splints etc as never had them but once under control apart from the odd blip when off medications it does resolve.

Lhasalover profile image
Lhasalover

Hi Lynda, I too have a RA diagnosis and remember it being very hard in the beginning. My finger joints were very swollen and looked all out of shape and it is very upsetting, however it does get better. It took 10 weeks or so for the methotrexate to kick in. As such I tried lots of other things that were recommended and continued to use the following. Consider looking online for Isotoner compression gloves. These were recommended by the hand therapy lady at the hospital. They work great and you can sleep in these every night. Don't waste your money on any that aren't Isotoner they don't work as well. A hand massage machine for £50 also works a treat both myself and husband use this when needed and it makes the hands feel so much better. Even after the prescribed meds kicked in I wasn't completely happy and undertook my own research. I came across hyaluronic supplementation. RA affects the levels of synovial fluid in the membrane of the joints, this supplement increases it, so my hands feel much better when taking it. It took 11 weeks to take effect but I could feel a difference at this point. I buy mine form Weightworld who make a quality product. Hope these things help you too, regards Deborah

JenniferW profile image
JenniferW

Just to clarify, as I see you have mentioned food a couple of times on posts. Rheumatoid arthritis is a genetic condition, we aren't sure which genes yet, but last year they discovered the gene for one of the severe forms of lupus, which is a similar condition to RA, autoimmune and affects the joints and organs. When it has been discussed on here lots of posters have mentioned people in their family having RA, my gran and great grandad did.

There are various triggers which cause the RA to begin, for some it's pregnancy, for others it's a period of great stress, a tooth abscess, a bad virus, like covid, recently we have had a couple of new posters saying their covid vaccine triggered it, anything really which puts the body under stress.

Food does affect some people with RA where they have an intolerance and the body's immune reaction to it worsens the auto-immune condition, but it's only some people.

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