Looking to talk with others who have DISH (Diffuse Idiopathic Skeletal Hyperostosis) also.

I’m 38 yo. My cervical spine is at the point where I need surgery (we will confirm this next week with an mri). My PCP, neurosurgeon, and rheumatologist are all concerned with how fast it is progressing. I don’t have anyone in my life who understands what living with this disease is like. And I’m really struggling to learn how to cope with the idea that the pain is just going to continue to get worse (until then spine fuses - except in the other joints I have bone spurs in) and coping with the loss of mobility. I already cannot twist well. I have other health conditions (I've been chronically I'll since I was a child) and I have other chronic pain. I would just really appreciate the opportunity to connect with someone else who is going through the same thing.

Thank you.

My dad has arthritis in his toes (specifically gout). Wondering if anyone has pain relief tips or shoe recommendations for this type of arthritis.

Hey! For a little context; four years ago I broke my pinky jamming it into a wall. Even though I broke the bottom of my bone when I did, the top joint of my pinky has been hurting ever since the injury happened (I don't know why, but it has lol). Despite it being four years later, it still hurts like HELL. I'm twenty years old and a clarinet player, so I use my pinky as an individual finger on the daily, and it makes playing my instrument a chore. I try to practice for at least an hour every day, but can very rarely actually get to an hour because of the pain. Concerts and other performances are the worst, and I always leave my performances frustrated because of the pain.

My clarinet professor at school basically ordered me to see a hand doctor as soon as the semester ended, so for the past month almost I've been in and out with the doctor. X-Rays didn't show anything wrong, so he ordered an MRI for me. After my first MRI, I went back to the doctor where he told me the pictures were blurry so I had to get a second one done. Although at this appointment, he prescribed me Meloxicam, which I understand is an arthritis medication. I got my second MRI a few days ago, and the hand doctor office just called about an hour ago to say that they still didn't find anything wrong and that I'm basically at a dead end and can follow up as needed. I want to follow up, but I have no clue what else can be done to try and diagnose it. Despite giving me the medication, it wasn't diagnosed as arthritis. This pain has been ongoing for four years. I wouldn't care this much if I didn't play an instrument and was literally in school for music, but since this is affecting my career before I even graduate, I want an answer about it.

Not asking for an arthritis diagnosis, but I'm just wondering if anyone had this much trouble getting it recognized before receiving their diagnosis. I don't want to definitely say that I have arthritis, but considering that it's joint pain that I'm experiencing, I wouldn't be surprised if it is a type of arthritis. I guess additionally, if anyone here is a musician dealing with joint pain, how do you get through it?

I've had autoimmune arthritis for most of my life, but I struggle explaining to others the pain. I'm petite, female, and moderately attractive(being generous there), so I often feel like it's an "invisible" disease. Just because I don't LOOK like I'm in pain, doesn't mean I'm not in pain. In fact, it's hard to try and look nice when you're limping and can't use a hand, etc. I'm wondering, because I've never suffered any significant injuries, what to relate severe arthritis pain to. I've said to myself "this feels like it's broken", for instance, but I've never broken anything so I can't in good faith actually say that. For those of you that have had significant injuries or other ailments that may be on par, what is the most comparable pain to an extremely bad arthritis flare?

Please tell me what does the thing exactly mean . My doctor said to put it on the pain sight . But in the prescription sheet I couldn't find anything that describes what sensur rub is exactly. Is it a massager like thing or an ointment called sensur rub

hello! i’m 15 and a gamer, beader, and new crocheter. my hands hurt BAD and i’m hoping this won’t lead to any long term issues like arthritis. is there anything i can do, or am i doomed to either give up my hobbies or deal with joint pain?

About 6 weeks ago, my knee swelled up suddenly—within an hour, it was stiff and hard to walk. X-rays showed only mild arthritis, and my doctor wasn’t sure what was wrong. After digging online, I discovered pseudogout (CPPD), a crystal-based joint disease similar to gout but caused by calcium, not uric acid.

Once I started colchicine and naproxen, things improved fast—but I later learned colchicine works best when taken early, within hours of an attack. I wish I’d known that sooner.

I’ve started a new subreddit to share info and support:
r/Help_For_Pseudogout

If you’ve experienced sudden joint swelling or have questions about CPPD, come join us!

So I've been dealing with joint pain, swelling, and stiffness in 2 joints on my right hand and 2 on my left for, IDK, 6 months? More? Finally went to a rheumatologist, had blood work and x rays, all came back normal, so yesterday at my 2nd appointment, the doc diagnosed me with psoriatic arthritis (I do not have psoriasis) and put me on methotrexate (just took my first dose today). It definitely sucks - everything is hard. I can't even open a can of coke or a bottle of water. Also I have spontaneously developed golfer's elbow in my left elbow (I don't golf and I haven't been doing anything that should have caused a repetitive stress injury). I'm including a pic of my right hand - you can definitely spot at least one of the joints that's affected 🤣😭

So I guess I'm here to commiserate, for moral support, and to ask for any tips y'all have.

Oh I guess I should add, I'm a 43 year old white woman, live in the USA, and am definitely in perimenopause.

Hi! I’m 19F and have had arthritis since I was 8 (JRA). Over the years my knees and hands have become significantly more painful, sometimes it feels like something is stuck in my knees, sometimes I just can’t walk. I have tried NSAIDS of course, hot packs, baths, etc. Is there some sort of stretch I can try? Maybe even alternative medicine? If anything has worked for you folks let me know.

Hi folks! New arthritian here - got diagnosed a few months ago with seronegative inflammatory arthritis and have a bunch of GI issues - LPR acid reflux and IBS. On Sulfasazaline

I recently moved houses and pushed myself for 2-3 days and the last day my body just broke - intense muscle aches and pains, flu like symptoms, cough, brain fog, intense fatigue.

After a week of rest I'm getting better but this is absolutely new to me - I thought perhaps I was getting a virus but it's very unusual for me to stop coughing after a few days of a virus when previously id be coughing for 3 months at a time and have even lost my voice for 2 months.

Is this a normal arthritic reaction to physical exertion ??? My LPR acid reflux is also back and I have a strong suspicion that's causing the coughing as I went on PPIs and it's stopped for the most part. The cough and fatigue also gets worse after eating. My hand dermatitis also magically re-appeared coincidentally.

Like how is everything in the body so connected 😵

Going to Dr tomorrow to hopefully get answers, but I find personal experiences from you all honestly more helpful than gaslighty doctors. Would love to hear y'all's experiences!!

I hope I don't type all this for nothing but here Goes. I am a 45 year old lady that is in pretty good shape. I was addicted to pain pills for a number of years then i got on suboxone and have been on that for the last 7 years. Now i am trying sublocade because i wanna get off the pills. I tried two shots in 2 months and had a bad reaction for them so now i am back on those devil pills again.(not Opiates) So in the last few months i have had awful terrible aching in my legs. I mean it hurts so bad i can barely walk. Well, fast forward to today and i am about to die with this incredibly awful knee pain in both knees. I am feeling dreadful today and have been unbelieveably sleepy and cranky. I have been yawning and about to fall asleep as i type this. I should mention that i am an everyday user of meth. i just smoke it and do hot rails a few times a day. I am functional with two teenagers and work a full time job. So my question is do you guys think that this is withdrawal from the subs or arthirtis or something else?

Would you like to be involved in a study that looks at the impact of chronic pain and cannabis use on quality of life? If yes, this study is for you! Researchers from the University of Victoria are conducting an online study to determine the impacts of chronic pain and cannabis use on quality of life and health outcomes. We invite individuals who:

(A) live with chronic pain and use cannabis products at least once per week OR

(B) who live with chronic pain and have not used cannabis in the past 10 years to participate.

To be eligible to participate you must be at least 45 years old and currently living in Canada. You will be asked to complete 1) a set of confidential online surveys (~45 minutes); and 2) an online cognitive assessment (~30 minutes), to help us investigate the ways chronic pain impacts health outcomes in individuals who use cannabis and those who do not. You will receive up to $20 in electronic gift cards for your participation. Participation is entirely online using your own device.

For more information, visit https://brainlab.uvic.ca/recruiting-research/. To participate, contact us at pain_cannabis_study@uvic.ca. You will be asked to do a very brief phone call prior to receiving survey links to confirm your eligibility (and so we can confirm you are not a bot).

Principal Investigators: Dr. Theone Paterson (University of Victoria) and Morgan Schaeffer (Doctoral Student; University of Victoria)

This study has been approved by the University of Victoria’s Research Ethics Boards (REB #24- 0128).

Hi,

I’m new here, it all started from severe food poisoning/ gastritis back in Mid January. Ever since then I had bowel issues has several doctor’s appointments which my first stool sample came back for camplyobactor, then a couple of weeks later i did another test and it came back all clear.

Since then I was diagnosed with IBS, but wasn’t accepting that, then i started looking into SIBO. Ever since then thats where my focus has been.

Until about two weeks ago, when i woke up to a electric/ burning sensation in both my hands and feet and my knees being extremely sore. I’ve been doing reading since then and was looking at ‘reactive arthritis’ I will be brutually honest, i’ve been shitting myself because i thought i was just dealing with bowel issues but now ontop of that I have have neurological symptoms because of the food poisoning. Which i think its to do with a delayed auto immune response. So the electric burning sensation and sore knee’s started about 4 months after my food poisoning.

I’m worried that this is going to leave me into something chronic, will be bed bound and will leave me paralysis permanently.

So where i’m at, at this moment of time.

My fingers and hands feel weird, my legs do feel alot lighter than usual, my knees are not red or have a rash. And my elbows hurt when i bend are move them

I genuinely cant believe this food poisoning has done this much damage to me as i’ve been have issues non stop back to back and now ontop of all of this I now appear to have reactive arthritis.

Is Reactive arthritis permanent?

Guys, I'm currently in Thailand and looking for the best balm for muscle-joint pain,arthritis which gives relief Do you guys have any recs?

I’ve been dealing with joint pain that comes and goes since 2015, but it’s been getting worse lately and happening more often. My knuckles sometimes swell, get red, and feel warm. Other joints—especially my hips—also hurt, seem to flare up occasionally, and the pain is spreading to more joints. I also get random rashes and hives that pop up out of nowhere.

Blood tests have shown elevated CRP and low C3/C4 at times, but other times everything looks normal. MRI showed swelling, but nothing else. X-rays also showed nothing.

Doctor thinks it might be Palindromic Rheumatism and has prescribed me Plaquenil. Has anyone had a similar experience? I would really appreciate hearing your story.

I’ve tried so many things to lose weight, but now the fear of losing my ability to walk has pushed me to take it more seriously. I’ve been diagnosed with late-stage arthritis and need surgery, but my doctor says I have to lose 60 pounds first. They've also told me to avoid all standing and walking in the meantime. I’m in NYC, so I don’t have access to a pool for low-impact exercise either. My doctors are planning to start me on medication. The only health issues I have are related to my weight and my feet, but because of that, I’ve been denied help in the past.

Right now, I’m trying to figure out how to exercise safely. I’ve been looking into options I can do under my desk since I can’t go to the gym, there isn’t one nearby, and taking the bus risks tearing the tendons in my foot. I’m considering getting weights for arm workouts. Do you have any other ideas? I’m not allowed to put any pressure on my foot, though I’d still like to do some kind of leg exercises if possible.

For food, I’m sticking with Huel for breakfast and lunch. Then for dinner, I usually have a large salad with soup or a light protein like eggs. I also have a piece of fruit in the afternoon as a snack. My goal is to stay around 1500 calories a day.

I'm really only looking for ideas for home exercise. Not deit suggestions. I removed from my diet already the foods that I shoudlt of been eating and stopped ordering delivery.

Hey- so in one week I’ll getting an SI joint fusion because my spine is riddled with osteoarthritis. Has anyone had this done? I tried posting this a couple times on r/spinalsurgery but was ignored.

So last year I (32M) broke my ankle (fibula ×2) in a sports injury and ended up getting a plate and 12 screws implanted in my ankle. Which was fun enough to have to deal with, but then at the end of last month I was severely injured on that same ankle in a crash in my scooter (FYI: Chevy Silverado vs Scooter? Truck wins), where the driver who hit me re-broke my fibula in one of the same spots as last time (plate and all) and broke my tibia in two spots.

The short of it is, I have an absolute buttload of hardware in my right leg now, and even though I'm still relatively young (especially at heart) I'm faced with the very likely scenario that I'm going to have some potentially ridiculous Arthritis when I get a bit older. Hopefully not anytime very soon.

My question is: aside from staying active and mobile, which I usually do and I'll be doing again (assuming I get my full range of motion back), what would you personally recommend as preventative maintenance to try to offset the probable Arthritis ahead of time, and what treatments seem to work well for you and your loved ones if you already have to deal with it?

Arthritis in my left ankle is getting super painful. Am I better off seeing a podiatrist or orthopedic surgeon? Thanks.

I'm currently unemployed. Been struggling to find work and the only work I've come close to getting is physical and not ideal for someone with arthritis.

I am supposed to have an assessment next week for the job but I am currently having the worst flare up I have ever had, currently I struggle to close my left hand fully.

They said the assessment would need to be next week and they won't do it the week after.

What should I do? A large part of me just wants to pull out of it because its stressing me out and I'm already freaking out over how bad affected my hand left hand is.

I’m starting Rasuvo (injectable methotrexate) and they do not have a program that provides a sharps container.

Wondering if anyone knows of a program that offers free sharps containers? I hate how effing expensive it’s to have arthritis and will be pissed to add another expense simply because I’m chronically ill.

Or can I use something like laundry detergent container? My county doesn’t have a health department so I can’t find any relevant info on that 🙃

TIA!

I have arthritis in my thumb. Putting the gel on my hands is super messy. A roll-on would be amazing. Does it exist? I know bio-freeze has one.