Saw the Rheumatologist, went well, Metoprolol update, and I have trigger finger

[sdowney717]

I have been reducing on my own for a while, was at 12.5 from beginning dose of 30mg prednisone.

He told me to reduce the evening dose to 2.5 from 5mg. I have been able to do that so far without any pains. And my CRP is now 9 from 103. Sed rate is 23 and some other RF IGA test is pending.

My WBC count is 14. He mentioned Methotrexate but use has to be on how I manage reducing prednisone first successfully or not. The Metoprolol I quit taking few weeks ago solved my knee pains and honestly the shoulder and hip pain has not returned. I do have 'trigger finger', and it is worse in my right hand, very stiff and sore to move and will not straighten or pull in. Same finger on both hands is affected, and this am right wrist, and that 3rd long finger was swollen and red badly. I wonder now if the Metoprolol caused some damage to my hands. MY other hand, that finger can now lay almost flat and neither finger can trigger lock into a position anymore. I feel tired of late. Now I have a new worry called 'trigger finger'. One of the treatments is corticosteroid injections, which of course are bad for diabetics. Other is hand surgery to release the tendon.

[piglette]

I got trigger thumb. My doctor said I should exercise it. I also used to massage it. It was really quite painful. It lasted about nine months then one day I discovered it had gone away.

[sdowney717 in reply to piglette]

Thats great, I am hoping and praying my trigger fingers go away. trigger finger also causes pain and numbness. It has been much worse at night, similar to a falling asleep feeling. I found less pain laying on my stomach and dangling right arm off the side of the bed when I sleep. When it is bad at night, the top of several fingers feels burned, and the underside feels taught and under pressure and numb. Made or makes me think blood flow is affected into my hand.

[piglette in reply to sdowney717]

I decided it felt worse at night because I was not concentrating on doing other things like I do during the day which took my mind if it. Could be rubbish of course!

[diana1998 in reply to piglette]

I always made sure my hand was kept flat under the pillow with my head on top . So no triggering at night.

[piglette in reply to diana1998]

that is a good idea

[herdysheep in reply to diana1998]

I do that, too. I do hand exercises recommended by remedial massage guy and when working on computer use alternate hands for mouse etc and flatten the other one on desk top. Not 100% successful but so much better. Not much good with fine motor movements and have to put more pressure on with lack of strength in hands, which can set it off.

[PMR2011 in reply to herdysheep]

I play 3 hands of solitaire with a real deck of cards each day which is an excellent way to exercise wrists and fingers. I have intermittent trigger finger of middle finger on one hand and osteoarthritis of both thumbs. Cards works a charm!

[sdowney717 in reply to PMR2011]

Does trigger finger cause extreme pain in the finger joint above the knuckle? That joint is very stiff and sore and is the joint that cannot straighten or come all the way in like when making a fist. It literally cannot stretch out straight. That joint and the right hand also swells up at night very puffy and red and sore. Takes several hours for swelling to go down in the am. I may have trigger finger but I also think other things are going on with that finger and hand, like the extreme swelling. I have seen it in the am where you cannot discern the back of the hand tendons and such due to it being swollen up. The hand swelling is never consistent from day to day. Some better some days worse. Xrays show zero wrist bone issues. If that finger joint is not moved it hurts much less.

[PMR2011 in reply to sdowney717]

sounds like more then trigger finger going on. My PMR generally did not give me hand trouble, but it has many others on here. Trigger finger is where the joint sort of gets stuck and can’t open. When it does it clicks and is very painful.

[diana1998 in reply to piglette]

I had trigger thumb. Every time it triggered, it made me jump. A very nice temporary GP who was qualified to give cortisone injections, gave me one in the nodule at the base of inner thumb. It took 2 weeks to work, but I've never felt it since touch wood. Then had a trigger ring finger, most unpleasant. The temp GP had left and no-else could do one. Now it's almost gone, like yours, taken 9 months! These things are niggles sent to try us along with plantafasciitis...also nearly gone after 9 months!😀🤞

[piglette in reply to diana1998]

life is such fun!

[diana1998 in reply to piglette]

Jumping and hopping about 😂

[sdowney717]

And the nurse measured my grip strength, it is pretty low now. 30 lbs with left hand, and 20 with right hand. For me it ought to be close to 100. I tried but it hurt too much to pull any tighter. I have never been a weak guy in my past. livestrong.com/article/4689...

[diana1998 in reply to sdowney717]

I couldn't grip anything at all as that caused a trigger. Had to grip a knife to chop veg trying to keep the ring finger straight. Tricky.

[alansouthworth42]

Having had PMR for approximately 12 years and been taking Prednisolone for same length of time ( now on permanent maintenance dose of 5mg per day) I have developed Trigger finger in both little fingers, I have had steroid injections in both. but the problem has returned in the left hand and now restricts mobility in other fingers, I have very little grip strength in the hand. I am 81.

[Broseley]

I got trigger finger in 2020 in my ring finger, before I developed PMR in 2021. Gripping a fork while eating set it off and I would have to keep stopping eating to ping it back straight again. GP not interested so I just put up with it. It cleared up on its own after about 9 months.

[sdowney717]

I am still not fully convinced it is trigger finger, even though rheumatologist says it is. When my fingers would lock, I could feel it lock in the finger joint itself. They do not lock anymore. Other thing is I cannot straighten the finger with force. I was thinking if it is a muscle contracture in the forearm or tendon issue, that should be possible. Trying to force finger straight, I dont feel any tendon inside the finger getting tensioned all the pressure is in the finger joint. If I pursue this, I want an xray of both hands so they can see if the joint is damaged. Proximal interphalangeal joint of the middle finger is the problem area. Be a waste of time doing a tendon relief operation if the issue is that joint.

Other thing is the metacarpal (lower bone) in the finger can bend back fine all the way.

If it is the tendon, why would it be able to do that?

finger joints