Frozen Shoulder

well I do not take thyroid medication and i had a frozen shoulder. i was told if one shoulder freezes you are more likely to have the other do so also. I am sorry as i know how painful it can be. i do not wish that pain on my worst enemy- not that i have any : ) have you seen the doctor yet? i suffered for months and then it seemed the enbrel kicked in and i began to get better? dont know for certain but it did reduce the inflammation in my system and i think it helped. have you had any cortisone shots yet? they didnt ever hold out very long but they did take the edge off. when i think back to it it all seems like a nightmare. good luck and i will keep you in my prayers because i know how painful it is. hugs yally

hi sheri sorry it took me a bit to get back to you.  been on the go!

i am certain you can google for a more "medical" explanation but in lay terms when i had my frozen shoulder it was in three stages that take about a year to go through all together!

i recall there are 3 stages and forgive my lapse in memory but like child birth i have put it behind me.  it is much worse than basic arthitis in the shoulder.  for unknown reasons scar tissue called adhesions form around the shoulder and make it impossible to move.  the scar tissue actually has to be broken through to gain movement but you can not work on that until the inflammation has gone down.  i still recall being bumped when leaving a book store and hearing and feeling the scar tissue rip in my shoulder which was great because it gave me some movement.  this is so painful and you can not fed yourself, dress yourself, or move that arm for most any function when it is frozen.  eventually the pain goes away and all motion comes back.  i can do everything but wave at this point and even that is getting better!  some people have surgery to improve this condition- i did not as it is not 100% certain to be successful i was told. good luck and sorry i have blocked so much of it out of my mind- but it was to painful to remember.

Brand new member here! (60-year old male!) I don't have any real answers, but I, myself, have hypothyroid, and I am currently experiencing my second bout of adhesive capsulitis. I'm not sure what the relationship is between thyroid issues and FS, but I sort of suspect that it might be related more to hypo- rather than hyperthyroid. I had it a few years ago in my right shoulder--it took me close to 2 years to recover from it. Now, my left shoulder is in the "freezing" stage, I thnk. It is, as lots of people know, a very distinct type of pain--I experience it as an intense tearing pain, as if all the attachments inside the shoulder are being ripped off whatever they are attached to! Sorry to be so graphic, but that's how painful it is. When I last had it, the orthopedic specialist gave me one shot in the shoulder and prescribed physical therapy--which, in my opinion, was valuable only to teach me how to exercise at home. In this current bout, I am taking an herbal approach first--my physician, who is an M.D. and also trained in TCM, has prescribed turmeric and bromelain (I cannot take the bromelain, due to GI upset). I cannot say that the turmeric is helping yet, but the doctor said it is slow to act--maybe 6-8 weeks. Yep, frozen shoulder is a real stinker!

What are your doctors saying to your symotoms?I would keep on your doctors and tell them how yur feeling, it may be nthing bu it could be worse, and its best they know exactly how your feeling so they can prescribe something for you staketo aleviate your symptoms.Welltothe forums,I hope other will have more to offer, but i think th doctors are your main source of help right now as far as what to do top help alleivatehe  of t your symptoms. But we are here to listen and offer advice where we can, have you been tested for gerds for the reflux,there are meds to help that, im am on protonix to help, i also have a hiatal hernia too. ithelps that.i also have gastroparesis, which is parlyzation of the stomach, i have to take reglan it is a motilty drug that helps the food digest faster, which alleviates alot of the reflux for me as the food is not just sitting there like it was casuing me to vomit and have real bad reflux. Do you have a gastrologist

you may want to try asking some questions in the gerd forum. There is

thread in fibromyalgia about the gastroparisis if you want to pull that up and check it out. Good luck I m sorry about your shoulders, i hope you feel relief soon,, take care....

 

yes I have i fibro, ido hear alot of people in that forum with shoulder problems, you may  want to try there and see if can get any advice, I dont have frozen,but they do hurt alot when i am trying to sleep.Sometimes it gets so numb i have to use one armto move the other one.  But yeah give fibro a try and see what they have to say, good luck...

Hi piper, I've just recently been diagnosed with calcium buildup in my supraspinatus tendon and an inflammed bursa. I see my specialist next week but I've also been having physio, she was telling me that its very identical to frozen shoulder in symptoms. I've been struggling with it for abou 6 weeks now. Every time I think its getting better I sleep on it a funny way or lift something and I feel I'm back to the beginning. Its very frustrating, how were the injections? Have they helped at all?
No I don't have neck pain or head pain, purely in my shoulder, white hot searing pain if I try and use it to lift anything. My physio said it can take 2 years to settle??? Super frustrating news.
Hopefully your physio will get it mobilised for you, best wishes, golitho

No they found it with an ultrasound. I had my first shot of cortisone last Monday, it sort of ached all day but I've noticed no improvement at all. My rheumy said I'd probably need more than one shot. I was hoping for something. She said they could do a shot under US , maybe thats the wa to go. Get it in exactly where its needed.
Anyway, I'll ring her back next week and see what she says. How is your PT going?
Best wishes, golitho

Its certainly the most annoying condition isn't it? I keep feeling like its getting a little better and then whammo I do something like pick up a cup and I'm in agony again. My worst exercise is the crossing your body one, with your elbows bent, that feels like something is torn, just feels wrong. Anyway its good to know you're out there too and we can share some of this frustration at going nowhere fast. 2 years of healing sounds outrageous, I'm hoping we can prove them wrong!
I can't believe that such tiny amounts of calcium can cause such trouble, they get stuck in the narrow part where the tendon adheres to the bone, so thats why we get such pain. I hope the second cortisone shot works better. My bursa is inflammed too, so I wonder if its a bit of bursitis as well that adds to our pain?
I'll have to do more reading but I find it all a bit depressing,
hope you're going ok, golitho