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Posted 7/14/2010 7:45 PM (GMT 0)
I think what I am feeling in my legs is stiffness but the feeling I have is like a heaviness...does that sound right? Sometimes I have a numbness on the tops of my hands that I think of as stiffness....am I interpreting right?
Posted 8/17/2010 4:43 PM (GMT 0)
Stiffness is a difficulty in moving, which may or may not be painful. Numbness like in Carpal Tunnel isn't really stiffness per se. I do have a similar "numbness" above my wrist, which is stiff.... I guess it's all very subjective and it's hard to explain what you're feeling.

Numbness in the true sense would often be accompanied by tingling, I think.
Posted 8/17/2010 5:38 PM (GMT 0)
You know I've been thinking about another question about stiffness.

During onset I did have pretty bad stiffness when I got out of bed for 4 hrs. I didn't even walk properly because my feet and legs didn't move right.

However- with my "controlled" RA - it's rather mild. I think I have just adapted and I found new ways to move so I don't really think about it. I do have a degree of stiffness in my hands and ankles all day every day- but my RD seems to blow that off. When I say I really don't have first thing in the morning stiffness- it's like a buzzer goes off AANNNTTTT! You are fine. You are in remission. You have no disease activity.
Posted 8/17/2010 5:47 PM (GMT 0)

wearyRAsufferer said...
AANNNTTTT! You are fine. You are in remission. You have no disease activity.

This made me smile, this is extremely familiar, more so in the case of my Sister, who is having a hard time convincing them she's suffering. (Or at least getting them to admit that they know.) My file says "severe psoriatic arthritis", yet I'm not much worse than her, who is being told she has it very mildly.

The nature of the stiffness changes, but it doesn't disappear. Morning stiffness is a rarity for me now, but that doesn't mean movement/activity is by any means normal for me. I empathize with you, for example, if I needed to run up the stairs, I could physically do it, but it would hurt.

I don't walk with a limp despite being in pain, because limping doesn't ease the pain, but I sometimes wonder if I should get a cain, just so people don't assume there's nothing wrong with me.

"How can you have missed work yesterday, you look fine? Arthritis? So you're a bit stiff? You're not limping? My 78 year old gran has arthritis and says pilates does it wonders! So what like, do you have acupuncture? How come you can walk?"
Posted 8/17/2010 5:54 PM (GMT 0)
:) I find when I wear Handeez gloves people give me a little more respect too. Although they do make my hands feel better- for me it's a hygeine thing. You are touching things all day and you are unable to wash your hands with soap & water like you do when they are free. Even washing them every night in the machine is not enough for me. I am a real stickler about hand washing all day long....
Posted 8/17/2010 6:28 PM (GMT 0)
That's hardly a bad thing considering that we're immunosuppressed!
Posted 8/18/2010 2:07 AM (GMT 0)
Yes- I believe hand washing prevents most illnesses. Pre RA I was the healthiest woman in town. Everyone around me had colds and flu. I took care of them and would not catch a thing. When RA overnight took me out at the knees I was shocked , depressed, humbled.
Even now on all the immuno-suppressants- I catch nothing!
I attribute that to my thorough hand washing and I never touch my face, nose, eyes. Especially if I am around people who are ill.
Posted 8/18/2010 2:10 PM (GMT 0)
I sat down to read a book one evening, perfectly fine and healthy, by the time I put the book down, I couldn't move. A week later, I was in the full throws of what at the time was diagnosed as rheumatoid arthritis. One of my sisters developped it on a shopping trip, and the other developped it about a week after joining the gym. All in the range of 19-26.

The progression is medically amazing, how it can just begin like that...
Posted 8/18/2010 5:42 PM (GMT 0)
I have heard from a lot of others on these forums that it happens that quickly- yet my doctors were scratching their heads about me. They said it is very infrequent that it comes on like this.
In a way I'm glad it did because I got on DMARDS almost immediately and I think that's why I do as well as I do and have no permanent damage.
Posted 8/18/2010 8:55 PM (GMT 0)
Same here, many people take 6 months or more to get onto MTX or similar, with just steroid/NSAID treatment.
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