I’ve not been able to use my arms properly for over a month with severe pain when I do up my bra or wash under my arms or wash hair etc. Other than strong pain killers and wait for scan appointment at hospital I’ve not got any idea what it is I’ve not injured myself or anything.
Has anyone else had this I need answers please.
Hi twinkle
I started with pain in shoulders,uncomfortable at times but could still do bra. 2 years go i noticed it getting worse,then my movement got really restricted. Xray showed arthritis. That wasnt the whole story though, the pain i got when sharp movement was excruciating and i had very little movement ,turned out i had 2 frozen shoulders as well as the arthritis. 2 years later and i have alot more movement in certain directions,what restrictions i have now os down to the arthritis.
I dont know if any of that is relevant to you but hope it helps. X
They said my blood tests didn’t show any arthritis and I was surprised but now have no idea what it is, I’m taking tramadol for pain but can’t be long term.
Then maybe start of frozen shoulders they are very painful x
Very interesting post. I haven't been on here for a good while and noticed your post about shoulder pain. I have had limited mobility in just my left shoulder for nearly a year. I'm convinced that it is 'frozen' but have not yet had it looked at. Interestingly, I had physio on my lower arm around 2 years ago and that helped. I'm just wondering if it is linked, or that it is something different? My shoulder is painful. I had a pancolectomy with end ileostomy in 2016 and I have to sleep on my left side following the surgery.
I have this,even the doctor was convinced it was arthritis( is crunchy on movement)but I had a scan and ended up being told its tendonitis, doctor didnt know what to give me because pbc,so still waiting for real help, but I rub vicks vapour on shoulder area,and cold pads do help,worth you trying to see if it helps
Ann
Thank you, how long you had it as it’s so painful and in both arms I can’t do much, it’s getting me down. I’ve had tendinitis in my ankles and knees before this and knee was in brace as couldn’t bend it.
I recently have tendinitis in my thumb. Trying to see if it will get better on its own before going to hand specialist. My pcp says it is not that I hurt it, but from over use. Ugh!!!
I've had frozen shoulder in both shoulders, with an operation on one, and if that is what you have I can tell you it's extremely painful. I had limited mobility in my arms, I could not raise them over my head. And moving in the slightest weird way would practically drop me to the floor in pain.
The shoulder that I had surgically fixed is pretty much normal now. The other shoulder took about a year to "thaw" on it's own. I have decreased range of motion on that side, but thankfully no more pain.
You can google frozen shoulder and look for physical therapy type exercises to see if that helps at all.
I've had unexplained pains in upper left arm on many occasions; often difficult to put on a jumper etc. Don't have a problem with bra, because I'm a bloke 😉. Right biceps tendon ruptured several years ago - don't know whether this is connected, but fortunately we all have two of these so it just looks a bit weird. William
Hi Twinkle26
Have you had your CRP and ESR counts checked in a recent blood test? Inflammation that causes stiffness and pain in both shoulders could be caused by a condition called PMR (Polymyalgia Rheumatica). It also causes pain and stiffness in both hips. I have both PBC and PMR, both are automimmune diseases. It’s often confused with arthritis or frozen shoulders, but it’s always bilateral (it means it affects both sides). Raised levels of CRP and ESR are potential indicators.
There is an excellent forum here on HU called PMRGCAuk. It has some excellent and well informed members who can give you advice on how to proceed towards a diagnosis, even if it’s only to rule it out. Doctors are a bit slow to diagnose PMR..
Thank you I was thinking I was going mad as it always comes back as undiagnosed pain
I too have experienced pain and greatly reduced mobility in both shoulders. This was years prior to my recent PBC diagnosis. I had traveling pain in other areas as well, although the shoulder pain was consistent for a long time (couple of years). Like peace_lover, I too at that time was diagnosed with PMR, which according to my family doctor isn't a term/condition that's even used today and basically means Rheumatica pain of unknown origin and is a vague term used when there's pain, but no rheumatoid arthritis found. In hindsight, I wonder if it's now not related to the PBC diagnosis, as I went years having pain here and there, had abnormally high inflammation markers in my blood, but nobody could ever figure out the cause.
I did have ultrasound guided cortisone injections for it, but it made it far worse, as for me, anytime I have anything "invasive" done, I don't heal well and inflammation sets into that area, so I ended up worse. I didn't think the pain would ever go away, but it did on it's own after a couple of years and I haven't had it back, without any interventions.
Thanks for the info, I’m still in pain and waiting the scan next week appointment. My legs are beginning to take the strain now it never ends.
Pain relief after surgery
No more pain in arms and shoulders
Achy pain 
Muscle pain 
