Severe finger pain - any tips? (Pun intended)

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MysteryCat99

New member
Joined
Mar 3, 2020
Messages
1
Reason
DX FIBRO
Diagnosis
01/2018
Country
UK
Hi all, I have been diagnosed with fibro since 2018. Over the last year and a half I have had bad joint pain in my top and middle finger joints on my thumbs index and middle fingers. When these joints hurt they can also swell up and turn quite red on the joint. It can get worse and better but generally my left index finger always hurts. I have been told I don't have any arthritis and have had xrays and blood tests and saw a rheumatologist who said it was fibro and nothing can be done and he doesn't want to put me on any long term pain medication because I am too young. It's pretty debilitating and when it's at it's worst I just want to cry. It affects me at work too as I work in a busy tea room. Does anyone have any similar experiences or any ideas on how to deal with the pain? I have tried direct heat, massage, and painkillers and nothing has worked for the hand pain. I am also diagnosed with hEDS and struggle mostly with muscle and joint pain and Allodynia. Thanks, Lou x
 
I may not understand exactly how you feel, but I hope you recover and get well soon.
 
I have experienced this but not as badly as you; my joints do not swell up that much. I do get "trigger finger" a lot, though. About the only thing that has ever helped is an Arnica lotion rubbed into my hands. It doesn't take all the pain or swelling away and doesn't always work at all, but sometimes it eases the pain. I combine it with heat from a heating pad.
 
Hi I have been diagnosed with Fibro since 2015. When the rheumatologist gave me the diagnosis I was in complete denial. It took about
3 years for it to hit me like a ton of bricks, more symptoms and more pain.I have just got X-rays done and I have really bad pain in fingers
my third finger has like a bump on at very top of my finger it looks deformed. my hands hurt a lot. The X-rays said it was Psoriatic arthritis or possible erosive osteoarthritis. So which one is it? they still have not told me. I also have allodynia.

Hi all, I have been diagnosed with fibro since 2018. Over the last year and a half I have had bad joint pain in my top and middle finger joints on my thumbs index and middle fingers. When these joints hurt they can also swell up and turn quite red on the joint. It can get worse and better but generally my left index finger always hurts. I have been told I don't have any arthritis and have had xrays and blood tests and saw a rheumatologist who said it was fibro and nothing can be done and he doesn't want to put me on any long term pain medication because I am too young. It's pretty debilitating and when it's at it's worst I just want to cry. It affects me at work too as I work in a busy tea room. Does anyone have any similar experiences or any ideas on how to deal with the pain? I have tried direct heat, massage, and painkillers and nothing has worked for the hand pain. I am also diagnosed with hEDS and struggle mostly with muscle and joint pain and Allodynia. Thanks, Lou x
 
Hi, it doesnt sound like the typical fibro hand pain, fingers locking up, half the hand goin numb, but more like arthritis but your rhumatologue says its not! Im surprised they didn't propose cortizone injections.
I had many for my fibro, and a knee problem. The knee injection didn't hurt but the ones i had in the wrist, hand, and nerves were very painful but did relieve the pain in the fingers for a while... It's worth trying at least once. As you say the joints are swollen. If they are hard its more likley arthritus related, if they are soft and puffy its not...
Avoid leaning on your elbows, as this can cause nerves to get squashed, and affect the fingers, tingling and numbness.
Ive got better with my hands over the last 5 years, but if i do anything strenuous with them, i will suffer the next day.
Ive also weaned myself off of painkillers because the side effects were causung other problems... I still suffer witg pain, a lot at times but only take a strong painkiller if i really have to. Its a mental thing, just learning to accept it, and not let pain be your center of attention..... Do things that are not strenuous but give you satisfaction, you need to have something in your daily program that makes you feel good and satisfied. It can be making flapjacks, a game of cards, doing some drawings, learning a new tune, anything, as long as it gives you a feel good feeling... Thus will improuve your mental state and that is the first step in getting over fibro, or dealing with it...
Good luck

Be safe and isolate from the corvid virus.
 
Hi all, I have been diagnosed with fibro since 2018. Over the last year and a half I have had bad joint pain in my top and middle finger joints on my thumbs index and middle fingers. When these joints hurt they can also swell up and turn quite red on the joint. It can get worse and better but generally my left index finger always hurts. I have been told I don't have any arthritis and have had xrays and blood tests and saw a rheumatologist who said it was fibro and nothing can be done and he doesn't want to put me on any long term pain medication because I am too young. It's pretty debilitating and when it's at it's worst I just want to cry. It affects me at work too as I work in a busy tea room. Does anyone have any similar experiences or any ideas on how to deal with the pain? I have tried direct heat, massage, and painkillers and nothing has worked for the hand pain. I am also diagnosed with hEDS and struggle mostly with muscle and joint pain and Allodynia. Thanks, Lou x
Did anyone mention GOUT? It's a type of arthritis. My husband suffers from it. His is generalized in his big toes but has had a flare up in his hands before. Look at your bloodwork and see if they tested you for your URIC ACID levels. High = Gout. You'll have to check what your levels should be at based on your height, weight age ect. Also, have you tried those compression gloves? They work wonders (atleast for me). Good luck!
 
Hi, I am new to here. I have had mild to severe wrist, hand and finger, ankle, foot and toe pain for 5 years. I went to a rheum who ran a ton of tests, told me he thought it was lupus, but everything came back neg. I asked about Fibro, He said no. I think I told myself it wasn't fibro for a long time because the rheum. told me " this didn't fit fibro symptoms" Finally this past year, after a really bad flare, i went back to my neurologist, because my migraines had come back after having almost none for 2 years, she diagnosed me with FM. She said she always thought I had FM. She had been seeing me previously for migraines as I have had those for close to 30 years. She said not much you can do about the hand /foot pain, which I already figured out, but find what you CAN do. I did start using compression gloves, especially at night, what a godsend!! you would thing the rheum would have at least rec those! Compression sox work ok during the day, but I can't sleep with them on.
I don't have swelling or redness by the way. Just cramping, electric zingers, aching, throbbing, etc. I have learned to find new ways of doing things and different ways to exercise, I can only walk a mile now. I can bike and I started swimming at a therapy/lap pool place right before the Covid stuff started happening. I used to do a ton of yoga. Yoga was my favorite thing, I even taught yoga for a couple years. I had to quit because everything hurt, especially my hands and feet.
I grieved about yoga for a long time and was even in denial , I kept going and each time, my hands and feet would hurt so bad, even during just basic stuff, like standing!!
Now I go float in a therapy pool and even swim in a lap pool. I can't wait to go back when all this covid stuff has settled down.
Hey thanks for reading. I have been very alone with all of this. Nobody to talk to.
 
Hi, I am new to here. I have had mild to severe wrist, hand and finger, ankle, foot and toe pain for 5 years. I went to a rheum who ran a ton of tests, told me he thought it was lupus, but everything came back neg. I asked about Fibro, He said no. I think I told myself it wasn't fibro for a long time because the rheum. told me " this didn't fit fibro symptoms" Finally this past year, after a really bad flare, i went back to my neurologist, because my migraines had come back after having almost none for 2 years, she diagnosed me with FM. She said she always thought I had FM. She had been seeing me previously for migraines as I have had those for close to 30 years. She said not much you can do about the hand /foot pain, which I already figured out, but find what you CAN do. I did start using compression gloves, especially at night, what a godsend!! you would thing the rheum would have at least rec those! Compression sox work ok during the day, but I can't sleep with them on.
I don't have swelling or redness by the way. Just cramping, electric zingers, aching, throbbing, etc. I have learned to find new ways of doing things and different ways to exercise, I can only walk a mile now. I can bike and I started swimming at a therapy/lap pool place right before the Covid stuff started happening. I used to do a ton of yoga. Yoga was my favorite thing, I even taught yoga for a couple years. I had to quit because everything hurt, especially my hands and feet.
I grieved about yoga for a long time and was even in denial , I kept going and each time, my hands and feet would hurt so bad, even during just basic stuff, like standing!!
Now I go float in a therapy pool and even swim in a lap pool. I can't wait to go back when all this covid stuff has settled down.
Hey thanks for reading. I have been very alone with all of this. Nobody to talk to.
Hello there. I totally know what you're talking about re: the compression socks. They sure do help with everything you said. It's very hard to try and describe the "feelings/ pain" (that we suffer from) to others. I can barely touch my skin because it feels like I'm "cutting" myself with a really sharp knife if I run my finger anywhere on my body. That's just one of the many symptoms. I too am going through this alone (even though I have a husband but there's nothing he can really do) so honestly, I am my own support system. Sites like these help because atleast they know what the hell it's like to have the damn "fibro monster" always attached to ya. I do stretches before I even dare to get outa bed. It seems to "loosen up" some stiffness. Well, I'm here to talk if you just need to vent about pain or need a "cheerleader" or just to get things off your chest and to calm your mind alittle. (I'm sure you know what I'm talking about). I believe if we email/ message eachother it's a private conversation just between us. I'm new as well so I'd have to figure it out. Either way, you're not alone anymore!
 
Hi all, I have been diagnosed with fibro since 2018. Over the last year and a half I have had bad joint pain in my top and middle finger joints on my thumbs index and middle fingers. When these joints hurt they can also swell up and turn quite red on the joint. It can get worse and better but generally my left index finger always hurts. I have been told I don't have any arthritis and have had xrays and blood tests and saw a rheumatologist who said it was fibro and nothing can be done and he doesn't want to put me on any long term pain medication because I am too young. It's pretty debilitating and when it's at it's worst I just want to cry. It affects me at work too as I work in a busy tea room. Does anyone have any similar experiences or any ideas on how to deal with the pain? I have tried direct heat, massage, and painkillers and nothing has worked for the hand pain. I am also diagnosed with hEDS and struggle mostly with muscle and joint pain and Allodynia. Thanks, Lou x

Most Arthritis is the result of Hyperinsulinemia ( undiagnosed type2 Diabetes) but can be mineral and Vitamin deficiency.

I had such severe aching and pain in my finger and thumb joints that I could hardly grip anything without pain in my joints . I also had such severe aching in my ankles wrists forearms at night that I had to sleep in an armchair for 12 weeks . I got scarcely 2 hours of sleep a night until I started to supplement . Within 2 weeks all the aching and joint pain ceased completely. I rarely get pain in my fingers and thumbs now but occasionally I neglect to take my supplements for a few days and it starts to come back every time. i use Natures best products but there are several reputable suppliers and your local Pharmacy will probably stock some if not all. Avoid multivitamins because they have such miserly doses of everything that it would take dozens of tablets daily to reach anything like optimum daily dosage.

I take 4000iu VitD3 ,90ug K2 , and 375mg Magnesium every day. Why not try it for 2-3x weeks and see if you get complete relief as I did.
 
Did anyone mention GOUT? It's a type of arthritis. My husband suffers from it. His is generalized in his big toes but has had a flare up in his hands before. Look at your bloodwork and see if they tested you for your URIC ACID levels. High = Gout. You'll have to check what your levels should be at based on your height, weight age ect. Also, have you tried those compression gloves? They work wonders (atleast for me). Good luck!

Dorey........ Gout as a chronic condition is completely reversible just like type 2 Diabetes and can be achieved in as short a time as 3-4 weeks with absolutely no medication. Gout is caused by carbohydrate intolerance which leads to type 2 Diabetes due to constantly high Insulin.
If your Husbands gout is due to undiagnosed T2 or Hyperinsulinemia all he would have to do is to completely cut out all sugar and carbohydrates from his diet for 2 weeks and he would see a dramatic improvement .

There is no need to diet or to go hungry you just need to replace the carbohydrates with high density Fat and protein ie hard cheese Meat Fish Eggs Nuts etc with leafy vegetables as much as he wishes to eat that he does not feel hungry.

I snack on burgers, sausages, bacon, cheese, boiled eggs and nuts etc and never feel hungry and I'm still losing weight and all of my chronic conditions have cleared up .

See if you can convince him to try for just 2x weeks with no sugar ,honey, fruit or carbs like biscuits cake bread pastry etc and I guarantee he will start feeling a lot better and have considerably less pain but you have to be really strict if it is to work.
Later on you can start experimenting with reintroducing some carbs to his diet to achieve a balance between eating carbs and sugar and how much pain he is prepared to live with .
 
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