HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

myalgia a side effect of RA?

Support Forums
>
Rheumatoid Arthritis
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 4/30/2013 5:40 PM (GMT 0)
Hi everyone.  I've been diagnosed with RA for about 10 years.  Currently, I'm taking orencia and methotrexate.  One thing I've noticed the last several years is that even when my meds are working great (my joints are not tender or stiff), I have very sore and stiff muscles.  I wake up every morning with every muscle (at least it feels like every muscle) in my body very stiff and sore.  My joints will feel better after moving around a bit, but the muscle aches and cramps continue all of the time. 

Is this normal for RA?  Or can this be a mild case of myositis?  My mother had mixed connective tissue disease, with accompanying polymyositis, so I've always wondered about that.

Thanks for any info.

El

Posted 4/30/2013 7:17 PM (GMT 0)

Hi there. Sorry I don't have any answers for you, but I am sure someone one here will. Hope you get to feeling better soon.

 

Shannon

Posted 5/25/2013 4:37 PM (GMT 0)
Hi. Sorry your post got lost and you didn't get any replies. I have had severe pain in my muscles and tendons since even before I got diagnosed. I think this pain is worse than the joint pain. Out of desperation, I tried arthritis rub, not thinking it would help. I had such pain in my legs at night that I couldn't sleep. I got the arthritis rub that contains 10% Trolamine salycilate, and it does help! It doesn't last very long, just a few hours at most, but sometimes that is enough to allow you to get to sleep.

Ibuprofen, can also help, but be sure to have some toast or a glass of milk as it can be really bad on an empty stomach.

Hope you are feeling better, I know exactly the kind of pain you are feeling.
Posted 5/29/2013 7:11 PM (GMT 0)
Elcamino,

I was recently diagnosed with RA, and have found the myalgias (muscle pain) and tendonitis to be every bit as bad as the joint pain and swelling. My knees seem to be affected the most. At night it feels as if someone is driving nails into my legs (mostly thighs). Apparently at the time of diagnosis the tendons in my knees were close to rupture, which makes me feel like less of a whiner, I guess. I have found nothing short of Prednisone that brings any sort of relief at all. Narcotics do not work. Ibuprofen does not work, Heat and ice do not work. I have tried every over the counter remedy on the market to no avail.

Prednisone and methotrexate have helped substantially. I am to start biologics next month and hope this helps.

I never get cramps, however. Have you had your electrolytes checked? Alterations in calcium and potassium levels in particular can cause some of the symptoms you describe. I have bimonthly chemistry panels done (mainly because of the potential for methotrexate to case liver problems). Vitamin D also helps somewhat. Many people with RA have low vitamin D levels and can benefit from supplementation. My levels were critical. (I live in the Northwest where sun exposure is limited much of the year). I have experienced less of these symptoms since I started supplementation. Vitamin D should be taken with calcium, and I would have your Rheumatologist or GP monitor levels.

Dehydration also causes some of these symptoms and there is some credible research out there that indicates that RA pain is worsened by a dehydrated state. A muscle biopsy might be beneficial as well to rule out other autoimmune causes, especially with your family history.

I hope you find some answers soon, as this is indeed a miserable symptom of RA.
Posted 5/29/2013 7:16 PM (GMT 0)
Elcamino,

One more thing that I was thinking...aren't muscle spasms a recognized side effect of Orencia? I don't take this medication myself and don't pretend to know a whole lot about it (I work in the ICU and don't administer these medications either). I thought I remembered reading this while researching some of the treatments for RA....

Maybe your Rheumatologist can provide you with some in depth information?
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply