Muscle pain

Hi everyone. Hope all of you are well. I have been having a lot of muscle pain lately. It is in both my arms and legs. My legs feel like when you stretch to touch your toes...that burn you feel in your calves? Except its all the time and they feel tired. My arms ache and when I wash my hair it hurts my arms. Something about that position hurts, especially the area between my shoulders and elbows, and they also feel tired.. I don't know how else to explain it. Its been going on now for a week with varying degrees of severity. Has anyone else experienced this? I'm assuming it has to do with lupus.. and if you have, what helps? Tylenol doesn't seem to do anything for it. Thank you!

My rhuem had me on gabapentin(sp?) a while ago but I stopped taking it after a few months . It didn't seem to do much, if anything ,and I'm all about as little meds as possible. Thanks for the reply! I'll try ebsom salt baths.

Hi Breanna, sorry you are having such a rough time. I think it is beyond frustrating to experience things with our bodies that are not easily recognized as something specific by our Drs. I have a mixed bag of things including psoriatic arthritis, Raynaud's, Sjogrens, and UCTD which has some features of lupus but not enough for a true Lupus dx. I get what you are talking about...My legs get stiff and fatigued to where walking becomes soldier-like. Seems to happen more when I try and rush. Frustrating and so uncomfortable! If I ride an exercise bike for a little while I then have trouble going down the stairs due to the stiffness. I guess the stiffness wears out the muscles and the fatigue sets in. I have it in my arms and holding them up to type becomes a chore.

I wonder if this stuff has to do with the Sjogren's. I think that is not well understood and even my Rheums seem to think of it as dry eyes/nose/mouth but when I research it there is so much more to it with symptoms similar to what you describe. I don't know, of course, but I suspect that may have a role when the Drs don't really know what you are describing with symptoms.

I am a big fan of Gabapentin! I love it, lol. But I have a lot of nerve issues and I think it is a nerve medicine. My husband takes a low dose at night for restless leg syndrome and he loves it too. My neurosurgeon put me on it when I was considering surgery for my arthritic neck and I still had the surgery but I continue the gabapentin for the relief it gives me in other ways. My mother took it and found no benefit and side effects, so everyone is different.

I hope you find some relief, soon. So frustrating, I know.

I think Rheumatology is not necessarily the cream of the crop go into, unfortunately. Seems kind of easy compared to many specialties in my opinion. But, that said, going to one has definitely been better than not going. I have hoped for significant blood results to pinpoint something but there are many things just as real that don't have blood tests, such as Psoriatic Arthritis. Nice to meet you!

Breanna, I am not sure how long you have been searching for betterment or how old you are. I just turned 59 and I have always had 'joint' issues but realized about 5 yrs ago (when the knee replacement Dr asked me why I had so many problems) it was something more. I have been to 4 Rheums and I get pretty much the same story so at this point I am experimenting with whatever they suggest. I take Plaquenil and Methotrexate and then whatever pamphlet (!) med they have. I think at this point I have realistic expectations as age and disease progression work against improvement but I am trying to enjoy life anyway and exercise more and clean out my closets lol. Fatigue makes me not want to do much so I do all I can when I can. Have a good day!

Oh Breanna. Poor baby but I do know what you mean about inspiration. I have 3 kids too and one has severe autism which may be associated with autoimmune diseases. His small triumphs mean everything to me. I'm happy your daughter is doing well 😊. Kids can teach!

So so true!😘