wrist and hand pain

[Jeanlindenburn]

I’ve had PMR for over seven years… I’ve managed it quite well with a few flares along the way.,I did get down to three and half m.g for a while but now I am back up to 5. Over the last few days i am having pain in my wrists and the back of my hands. I seem to be losing my grip.. is this another flare or something else ?

[Merryfield]

this is a good question. my right hand pinky was painful. that went away and yesterday morning, my left thumb was hurting. now neither😳

[Jeanlindenburn in reply to Merryfield]

I’m hoping mine will go away also.

[Louisa1840]

I too have had PMR for nearly seven years and am currently hovering around 6mgs. I know that pred weakens our muscles and I do lose my grip quite often resulting in dropping things. Try rubblng your hands with hands with hemp/magnesium/wintergreen rubs or something similar. Good Luck.

[Jeanlindenburn in reply to Louisa1840]

I will try that…thanks

[Charlie1boy]

I developed pain in my wrists and hands after some two and a half years on pred. Following advice from this Forum I upped my pred dose by 3mg, and in a day everything was back to normal.

Not saying this would necessarily work for you, but there have been quite a few similar type posts over the years where pmr has affected wrists and hands.

[Jeanlindenburn in reply to Charlie1boy]

Thanks for your comment, I am going to up my dose of Pred this morning…hope it does the trick.

[Biba5 in reply to Charlie1boy]

hands and wrists are on fire since I tapered off prednisone late last year.

[PMRnewbie2017]

Have you developed Hebdens nodes on your fingers? Sounds more like osteoarthritis to me. PMR is a disease of muscles and blood vessels not bones and joints. The scaphoid bone at the bottom of the thumb towars the wrist is a common site for OA. Increasing your Pred probably will help but not really advisable. Losing grip strength is unfortunately a fact of life for us all as we get older. You could try Paracetamol, ibuprofen gel. Mine is helped by heat or cold, it varies. Also this damp weather is definitely a factor. Sounds mad, but I've just returned from a skiing holiday (yes i can still ski with PMR). At 2500m with dry, cold air I experienced no pain anywhere. Hands,knees, hips all perfect.Note to PMRpro, is your spare room available!??!

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer in reply to PMRnewbie2017]

Agree on the weather - damp has a big impact on OA - and is definitely not mad! Annoying certainly and sometimes depressing...

[Jeanlindenburn in reply to DorsetLady]

Living in Wales the weather is very damp at the moment ☹️☹️☹️

[Jeanlindenburn in reply to PMRnewbie2017]

I did develop He dens node on one finger and I do have osteoarthritis in my hips, if the pain gets any worse I will see my rheumatologist….

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to PMRnewbie2017]

Could be ...

Have you said - where were you?

[PMRnewbie2017 in reply to PMRpro]

Ischgl on Austrian- Swiss border. Very cold (-17deg C) first thing at top lift 2850m bur snow was superb. Actually going to Obergurgl, also very high, in 6 weeks. Will be interested if my high altitude experience has any substance . Schuss!

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to PMRnewbie2017]

Yes, much the same here but the snow was great apparently - my cousins were in Corvara for 10 days and then came to me for a few days. It was less cold at altitude most days than it was here in the valley. And lots of sun most of the time.

[PMRpro Ambassador]

I have much the same hand pain, I think it is different from my hand pain in the past but it is making holding things difficult even if it doesn't hurt - very strange! Unfortunately, Flexiseq isn't easily available here or I would try it to see if it is osteoarthritis - maybe worth a try?

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer in reply to PMRpro]

Is the postage via the big A extortionate? - if so, you'll have to get next lot of visitors to bring some over...

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to DorsetLady]

Apparently there is a Lloyds pharmacy partner in Italy - not up here in South Tirol though!!! I will have to conquer my aversion to purchasing online ... One daughter tried to buy stuff and send it to me but that didn't work any more.

Was going to ask the next lot of visitors - but they are travelling with underseat baggage only they hope! Only coming for 3 days so should be possible. No-one can bring the stuff they used to - no cheese, bacon and the like! Haggis is OK - if it is vegetarian! Veggie haggis is excellent actually!

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer in reply to PMRpro]

No A. won't/can't send lots of stuff overseas nowadays - I found that with stuff for NZ...

[kulina]

I've had PMR for 8 years and had swollen painful hands and wrists throughout the years. A few years ago, at its worst - badly swollen hands, the only remedy that worked was a Cortisone shot. (I'm now at .75 mg Pred.) Last summer, when I was at at 1.50 mg. the finger pain returned, so I tried the topical remedies such as arthritis pain with 1% NSAID and FlexiSEQ. Sometimes they worked, sometimes they didn't. The last time I had painful fingers, because the topicals didn't work, I doubled the Pred dose for a week and that alleviated the pain and I haven't had any pain in my fingers for about 6 months. Now that I'm trying to reduce more, there are days when I feel a slight pain and hopefully it won't come back in full force. My blood work came back to normal for the last 6 months so I try to take the less medicated path first. I don't have osteoarthritis, so you might have to figure out what works best in your case. Good luck, this forum is amazing!

[Purplecrow]

my hand pain is arthritis inflammation, aggravated by using my iPad. I got hand/wrist braces which totally help.