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Posted 6/20/2010 6:07 PM (GMT 0)
I am starting to not want to go to bed anymore. I have been waking up so stiff that I can barely move. Once I start moving, it gets better, but it's to get moving that is so painful. What causes this to happen? And what causes the fingers to hurt and swell when I barely do anything, like cleaning? I am new to RA and haven't read up on it enough yet. If anyone can give me a quick lesson, I'd appreciate it. I just started Plaquenil about a week ago and haven't noticed any difference yet besides it making me feel really tired and flu-like. My doctor made me go down on the dosage to 200mg once a day, right before bed. I sure hope that this is enough because this stiffness and pain is horrible. I know it takes a while to get into my system. I just wished it worked faster.
Posted 6/20/2010 8:41 PM (GMT 0)
I'm about as new to it as you are but ill just tell you what i was told by my rheumotologist and pharmacist. I was told the plaquinel would take 6 to 8 weeks to start noticing a difference. I get like that too in the mornings its very discouraging to say the least when a gal cant even move her arms or legs without dehabilitating pain and shes expected to get up and function for the day! Usually if i can get my toddlers to just hang out in bed with me for a while i just slowly try to stretch out and move around in bed for maybe a half hour and it seems to get the blood and joints moving to help take the edge off. some days are worse than others and i have yet to make a connection as to why that would be.....i know if i take a pain pill one day, the next morning after the pain and stiffness is like 20x worse than it would be if i hadnt taken a painkiller, but i dont like taking them consecutively so i just deal with it and it goes back to the normal amount of pain usually by that evening lol But i'm also on celebrex to take away pain/swelling until these newer meds kick in then hopefully i can stop the celebrex. Id be bedridden without celebrex, maybe you could try something like that until your medications start working. Dr offered to give me prednisone for a couple months till the plaquinel and methotrexate kicks in but, i opted not to add yet another drug to have to worry about. i hope this helps i wish i could give you more!
Posted 6/21/2010 2:33 AM (GMT 0)
I'm not a docotor and I'm a bit soggy in my memory but I think the morning stiffness is due to leaking synovial fluid around the joints. The length of time it takes for the stiffness to disappear is a good indication of how well your disease is being treated. If more than an hour you need help!

Sorry going through a little low patch myself right now and don't feel up to saying any more, hope this helps, golitho

Posted 6/21/2010 4:05 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks for the replies:)

golitho- That's exactly what I experience...stiffness after several hours. Sometimes, it doesn't take as long to feel better after I wake up, but most of the time, it takes hours which is really frustrating. The pain I experience when first trying to move, when I wake up, is horrible. I'm hoping the meds lessen that pain when it starts working.
Posted 6/21/2010 6:48 PM (GMT 0)
I'm sorry your having such trouble.  I agree with golitho, its the fluid.  I have had JRA for 35 years and morning are always the worse.  However once your meds kick in it should help.  I always have found that if I get up a half hour before everyone else in my house, and get a hot shower, that makes me function alot faster with more mobility.  The heat always helped my arthritis.  When I went to Kessler Institute, they always had me in whirlpools with the water so hot i'd sweat lol.  But it did work.  If your too stiff to get out of the bed and make it to a shower/bath, you could always try a heating pad.  I know that hot water is 10 x better, in my case anyway, but i also know that when I'm TOO stiff, if I put the heating pad on my ankles just for a few minutes, I'm able to make it to my shower for relief.  Hope this kinda helped....sorry for my rambling lol.  My prayers are with you.  Niki
Posted 6/21/2010 7:06 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks Niki:) I appreciate you replying. Any information I can get helps.

It's not really my ankles that hurt. It's my entire body, especially my shoulders, neck, wrists, arms, legs and hips. LOL! I sound like an old lady. Sometimes, my hip is so bad that i wobble when I walk. So, I would need about 10 heating pads, hehe:) I agree that a warm bath does help. I have a jacuzzi tub, but it's to be able to feel good enough to get in.

Btw, I am sorry that you've had this your whole life. My gosh, I don't know how you do it.

Posted 6/21/2010 8:19 PM (GMT 0)
Well, the good thing about having it this long is, I learned to deal very young in life with pain.  I dont know life without pain so its not like I'm missing it.  As in your case and many others, you are just now experiencing pain and it stinks cause you havnt had it your whole life.  Yeah, getting to the jacuzzi is a prob, but be glad you have such a great thing.  Do some motion exercises - slowly. Til your mobile enough to get there.  Thats what i did.  You can ask your doc about what kind of "morning exercises" you can do to get functional.  Niki
Posted 6/21/2010 8:33 PM (GMT 0)
Niki,

That does make sense about not missing anything. I wish I knew how to deal with the pain a little better. After a year and a half, I have enough. Those motion and morning exercises sound good. I will ask my doctor the next time I see him. Too bad I couldn't do them during the night in my sleep so I wouldn't wake up so stiff, lol.
Posted 6/21/2010 9:22 PM (GMT 0)
I don't have any ideas for you, but wanted to post and tell you I am exactly the same way! I wake up in the morning and sometimes just lay there listening to my alarm clock go off (it's across the room to motivate me to get out of bed and not hit snooze lol) because I just dread trying to move because I know how bad it's going to hurt! Wish I could just wake up in a hot tub LOL! and, CMRB, I remember what it was like with this morning stiffness (more like morning excruciating pain) and having toddlers to deal with and being a single mother, too...my two daughters are 6 and 7 now, but there was a time they were demanding babies and I felt like crying if they would wake up before me because it would take me about a half hour to 'thaw out' and feel like I could move very much. but you know babies - they want you NOW!
CajunGrl, I'm just glad to know that this is something that others go through, too. I wasn't sure it was my RA, but was pretty sure... I thought my hips and other joints hurt so bad in the morning because I'm overweight, but then again, I lost 100 lbs years ago, so I used to be much heavier, and before my diagnosis I didn't have this problem. So it's got to be the RA.... I am going to watch this post, because I'm hoping someone has tips on what we could do to make it easier somehow. I tried taking tylenol right before bed, but that never worked, I'm sure because it's worn off by the time the night is over. The heating pad is a good idea, and I have one plugged in by my bed and ready to go at any time. But it's still not good enough.

Jenny
(PS: on Plaquinel and Methadone for pain management)
Posted 6/22/2010 3:39 AM (GMT 0)
Was just in bed and got up to get a drink, and had another "thought" that worked well for me.  When I started to flare again, I went out (on advice from my aunt) and got the sleep foam beds.  the one that they show on TV over and over and over lol.  The one where it leaves your handprint and you can jump on the bed while there is a glass of wine (by the way tried that...doesnt work too well...thank goodness i used water lol)  I have to say that its ALOT more comfortable on my joints.  I sink right into it and there is no "pressure" on my already achy bones.  So when i get up in the morning, not "as much" pain as when I had a regular mattress.  Maybe worth a try if you can afford them....dang things so expensive, but well worth it if it works for you.  Again, just personal experience on things I have tried.  GB - Niki
Posted 6/22/2010 11:26 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks Jenny:) I appreciate you posting. Hopefully we can figure out something to at least lesson the pain and stiffness some.


Niki- Thanks for coming back and posting. I've never thought about getting a sleep foam bed. That sounds like a great idea. Although my bed seems comfortable, I still think it causes me to be stiff when I wake up, plus staying in pretty much the same position all night doesn't help.
Posted 6/24/2010 1:09 AM (GMT 0)
Plaqunil is subtlr-and slow.

However, if it works for you you will get up one morning and make it halfway through your shower before noticing that you just lifted your arms above your head only half an hour after getting up, and then you will think about it and realize you don't remember your foot hurting when you got up, and you knee actually straightened.

The first thing I noticed-I forgot to take my NSAIDS one morning. Prior to the plaq kicking in I was calculating-how early do I need to take my morning dose so I could move at work-how late to take it so I made it all the way through the day. Then one day I left for work without taking it. It shocked me.

Plaq is not usually enough on it's own. You probably need NSAIDS and maybe Methotrexate or a TNF inhibitor but the only thing I ever found that worked on the stiffness-I've been hit by a bus feeling-is the plaq.

Good luck finding the right combination of meds for you.
Posted 6/24/2010 4:39 AM (GMT 0)
Thanks so much sjkly. I really hope that the Plaquenil works for me. That hit by a bus feeling is what I need to get rid of. I cannot take NSAIDS too much because it tears my stomach up really bad. I've had ulcers before too so I have to be careful, but I do notice that when I have to take them, like for a headache, that it lessens my pain some.
Posted 6/27/2010 6:24 AM (GMT 0)
Fibromyalgia could also contribute to morning stiffness. It is one of the symptoms. Taking a muscle relaxer at bedtime could help immensely.

Feel better.
Posted 6/29/2010 7:03 AM (GMT 0)
Thanks donnaeil. I didn't know that Fibro caused morning stiffness. I need to research and learn more about all of this. I know alot about Lyme Disease, but not Fibro or RA yet.
Posted 6/29/2010 11:02 PM (GMT 0)
 

  We purchased a pillow-top mattress a few years ago and that made a huge difference in m hip pain in the morning and even while sleeping. Of course sometimes it feels so nice I don't want to get up. :)

 I hope your meds kick in soon and you feel better.

Posted 6/30/2010 10:41 PM (GMT 0)
sjf,

Thanks:)

I have a pillow top right now and it is pretty comfortable but I still wake up stiff sometimes. These past few days have been alot better but I think it's because it's been a little cooler with all the rain we've been having.
Posted 7/1/2010 1:15 AM (GMT 0)
I'd say you need something stronger than the plaquenil too, definately tell your rheumy the length of time its taking you to get moving. Methotrexate is the answer for so many and combined with a biological med its even better. So don't despair there are meds out there to get you moving again, just keep telling your rheumy what is working and whats not.

Heat and gentle exercise helps but meds pack more punch! Best wishes, golitho
Posted 7/2/2010 12:21 AM (GMT 0)
golitho,

Thanks so much! That's what I love about this website. Everyone helps out. I would have never known that I could take two meds like that. I will look it up right now and see what it does and how it helps. Do you know if it supresses the immune system?
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