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Joint pain


Timbo

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I started getting some joint pain recently and I am trying to figure out if it POTS or arthritis.

The pain is in my fingers and elbows. When I wake up in the morning my fingers are stiff. After an few minutes to a half hour the stiffness gets worked out and disappears, but the pain remains.

Has anyone had a similar experience?

Thanks,

Tim

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Hello Tim,

yes I have similar problems, with stiffness and pains in my arms and legs - sometimes it is impossible to walk, I drop pens, mugs etc. When I was younger my GP (guess like your internists) was convinced I had arthritis - it was disproved. The pain varies, but I do find when extremely dehydrated the pain is particular bad.

I am extremely hypo-extensive, and have a great deal of clicking in all my joints and my jaw... not sure if this is related.

Another thing that happens is my hands and feet turn into claws, and seize. My professor seemed to be interested in this, for me it was just normal... it's funny I hardly seem to know what is normal and what isn't anymore.

I am very lucky that my neurologist has teamed up with a rheumatologist in their quest for information on POTS. I am seeing him mid April, I shall let you know how this goes, and what he suggests - it may be helpful.

There was a thread a little while ago, that was talking along the same lines as this - I can't remember which one it was but maybe you can find some extra info there??

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Yep this has been a problem for me many years. At times it got so bad that I was unable to move around for 3-5 days. Other times it's just in my knees, hands, elbows, etc. When I'm sick it hits me in all of my joints.

I have visited numerous doctors, including 3 rheumatologists, many of which had me on experimental medications. I went from Oregon to New York to see a rheumatologist. Dr. Grubb was the first person in over a decade to treat my joint pain. Dr. Grubb started me on Neurontin (it blocks out neuro transmitters), which I almost didn't take. I know of Neurontin to be an anti-seizure medicine, but found out later that it's a multi-purpose drug ;) It's been the first relief that I've experienced in over a decade. Thank god for Grubb!

http://home.tampabay.rr.com/lymecfs/nfaq.htm

Steph

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Hi Tim, I also get the stiffness daily and pain off-and-on. I've found that heat helps me. In the mornings in order to get going I have to take a hot shower (what you're not supposed to do right?) to get past the stiffness. When I get pain it typically affects my hands the most, then my legs next.

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I also have joint pain that has increased since I started on the Florinef. I found that a moist heat (heating pad) and some bengay (they have a type that doesn't have that awful smell!) really helps me. When all of that doesn't work then I use ice just to numb it up. Also, my mom had a sudden onset of pain, stiffnes, and swelling in her fingers and hands and she went to an allergist for something completely unrelated and he found out she was allergic to our cats. He gave her a shot of an allergy med and within 10 minutes her hands returned to normal. Kind of weird, but I thought you might want to look into something like that if you have common allergens around you. Good luck!

Jaime

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Thanks for the answers guys. I am started taking glucosimine and chondroitin this morning. We will see if it helps at all. The pain is more nagging than hurtful. I was a tad concerned about rheumatoid arthritis since I have an auto-immune disease already. Hopefully this is a POTS thing.

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