Anyone have arthritis?

[Staggering on]

45 minutes ago, NasalFloss said:

Was it wine o’clock there? Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.

 

Yes, and to add to that my ancient brain is a bit fuzzy at the best of times.😊🍷

[Chienmortbb]

6 hours ago, thebrig said:

I have arthritis in both thumbs and had a Trapeziectomy operation on my left thumb where they removed the small piece of bone that sits between the base of the thumb and the wrist, they put an artificial piece in there  but it was so painful afterwards that they took it out six months later, and instead used a piece of my tendon rolled up to act as a buffer in the joint.

 

I decided not to have the operation on my right thumb because it didn't seem to have been a success, and it took a number of years for the pain to subside, but now it is less painful and more flexible than my right thumb, so maybe I should have gone ahead with the op on my right thumb.

 

I also have arthritis in my fingers but I find it helps to keep playing as much as possible because the movement involved playing bass or guitar is great exercise for the fingers, and I find that when I don't play for a few days, the pain gets worse.

 

If you can, try to stay positive, because I am now seventy and I am still playing, albeit, with some discomfort and some restrictive movement.

 

Good luck.

70 too and would be gigging tonight but for the rhythm guitarist having Covid.

[2pods]

Diagnosed with Rheumatoid Fever at a young age. Was inconvenient but controlled with large doses of Enteric Aspirin and alcohol (well, I was young innit ? )

 

zoom to 25 years ago I was  diagnosed with (then little known) Fibromyalgia. I knew something wasn't right for about five years previous. Carried on with various Codeine based stuff, was OK but started recover from work/gigs slower than usual. 

 

Eventually, over the course of the next few years, it got harder and harder. Treatments had now progressed to using Antidepressants, Anti Epileptic drugs, and Dihydrocodeine. By this time I was panicking I wouldn't make a gig because of the pain and fatigue, which would make me worse.

 

After chucking my job, I tried to keep gigging, but eventually came to the conclusion that the whole situation was too much. Not gigged since. Messed about with recording etc. Even now I still really miss playing live.

 

Apart from the Fibro pain, fatigue, and brain fog, I know can no longer use my right arm much from shoulder to finger tip. I can't lift it above my shoulder, it's very weak and painful. I thought I'd broken it !

I remember having what I thought was a massive flare, with the same thing in both arms, but only my right has recovered.

Currently back at Rheumatology, via our practice's Physio, on Etoricoxib, Duloxetine, and Opioids.

 

Sorry for the huge rant, I just needed to get it off my chest

[Chienmortbb]

On 21/05/2022 at 12:10, Staggering on said:

Major error in my earlier post, it was late at night over here.🙄

I jumped on the OP's quote re ibuprofen and I was wrong about the medication my doctor suggested, it was Tylenol or acetaminophen NOT ibuprofen. The dosages were correct (4x500mg) but the product was wrong in my post, it must have been the wine and the time.

Sorry about that but it seems to have got a discussion going and I agree with the post re side effects of ibuprofen. I still take Tylenol when I start to have a flare up as I have had the last few days due to too much biking and boat polishing and the fact that I'm 76. 

Tylenol is basically paracetamol and generally considered ineffective against  arthritis, however my partner believes in it and says it helps. She recently had a real problem with sciatica and was diagnosed Gabapentin. That made her sciatica a lot better but almost took the pain of her arthritis. However I believe this is a class A drug so not a long term solution.

[Staggering on]

55 minutes ago, Chienmortbb said:

Tylenol is basically paracetamol and generally considered ineffective against  arthritis, however my partner believes in it and says it helps. She recently had a real problem with sciatica and was diagnosed Gabapentin. That made her sciatica a lot better but almost took the pain of her arthritis. However I believe this is a class A drug so not a long term solution.

 

Yes, not a cure or long term solution but some doctors here prescribe it on a long term basis at fairly high dosages and it reduces pain and sometimes the arthritis more or less disappears for some reason. It worked for me quite well and I no longer take the big dosage, just a couple a day once in a while.

[Stub Mandrel]

Bad thumbs, often aggravated by viruses. I found boswellia extract (frankinsence) much more effctive than ibuprofen.

 

But I've stopped using it after starting taking high strength chondroitin and glucosamine daily.

 

Bass playing seems to help out as well.

[Seashell2]

At the beginning of 2020, I had a noticable lump on the knuckle of my ring finger, left hand. And the little finger was getting very stiff and starting to turn inwards. Luckily, only slight pain and then only if I'd been playing for over an hour. 

 

GP sent me for an X ray and the results were phoned through to me at the beginning of the first lockdown. Arthritis, nothing much we can do.

 

Well, I hardly played bass at all during 2020, and by the end of the year the lump on my ring finger had totally disappeared!

 

Since the beginning of this year I  have been playing loads. Ring finger still fine, but pinky getting very stiff and curling inwards. Impossible to play using one finger one fret. Have to slide whole hand up to reach, or find myself using ring finger instead of pinky sometimes. So this pretty much rules out anything that has to be played very fast.

 

But since I'm not known as a fast and flashy player, I'm still in demand as a steady plonker! Luckily pain levels have remained low. So hope it doesn't get worse. Fingers crossed (which I can still do, haha)🤞🤞

Edited May 23, 2022 by Seashell2

[NancyJohnson]

Issues with both trapeziums, some weirdness with the middle finger on my right hand which may be an offshoot of one of the (difficult) five surgeries I've had on my hands.

 

I take turmeric and gloucosemine phosphate if things get painful.

 

Oh, one other thing, there's no such thing as being double-jointed.  You just have the ability of hyperextension in the joint.

[Bassfinger]

I don't have arthritis, but I have a nacked hip that gives me symptoms akin to arthritis (bone demineralisation, gives me an incredible deep ache). I was surprised how well ibuprofen action takles the pain with that, although I don't overdo it.

[Skinny]

Keep banging on your doctors door if you have swelling and or pain in joints. It's hard to tell if playing bass causes problems. Your should not have pain unless there was a previous injury, operation or if you are young. I am sure we are all at our ideal weight too insuring we don't put excess weight on our joints😊 and eat well, avoid alcohol and others. Your body can turn on itself and attack the joints with age. I ignored pain in my right hand and wrist for a decade naivley thinking it was repetitive strain until it spread to my whole body and could only shuffle around like a octogenarian. Rheumatoid arthritis is not common in men but eventually I was diagnosed with it way too late at 42 and my immune system had attacked my right wrist and it has caused severe osteoarthritis of it and it is slowly fusing together. The rest of me is OK though now as I take a cocktail of meds to stop my immune system attacking my joints and the wrist is good enough to strum with even though it is a inch bigger in circumference than my other. I am nearly 60 now and can do a great impression of a healthy person apart from the wrist now the meds have stopped the immune system chewing at the rest of me. I am not saying any swelling of the joint can be rheumatoid arthritis though, not for a minute. See your gp. Happy days, my condition honestly doesn't bother me. There are far worse things to have.

[NasalFloss]

On 23/05/2022 at 23:14, NancyJohnson said:

 

Oh, one other thing, there's no such thing as being double-jointed.  You just have the ability of hyperextension in the joint.

I just thought that more people could relate to the term ‘double jointed’, rather than hypermobility. I’m not sure why the term ‘double jointed ‘ exists tbh.

 

Thanks for all the info and sharing your stories; it’s nice to know that there are other people in the same situation.

 

To update, I contacted the GP again and they have decided to prescribe me cocodamol, so let’s see how that works.

[Dov65]

Try some fingerless compression gloves too, I wear one on the left hand think they were 20 quid the pair 

[Gareth Hughes]

Diagnosed with basal joint arthritis in my left thumb. Tried Glucosamine Sulphate for a while years ago, didn’t seem to help. Back and forth to doctor over several years, physio, wrong advice from physio, etc. Nothing helped. Got to the point of me jokingly saying to the doctor ‘if you took my thumb off I’d thank you for it’. 
Thought I’d give the Glucosamine a go again and this time it worked. No pain at all, maybe some slight stiffness. Only notice some pain if I forget to take it some day, then I’ll feel it that night/next morning.

Edited May 26, 2022 by Gareth Hughes

[Jonesy]

5 hours ago, NasalFloss said:

To update, I contacted the GP again and they have decided to prescribe me cocodamol, so let’s see how that works.

 

That's what works for me, so hopefully it does the trick for you too. If it does and you're ever caught short then you can pick up solpadeine or boots own version of it over the counter too. Anything that is a mix of paracetamol and codeine will do the trick, I find the effervescent ones most effective as they act quicker.

 

I was just scrolling through FB and found a for sale post where some bloke was selling a snakepick and said it's the only type of plectrum he can use since getting arthritis. I've never used one, but it might be worth a look if it works for him? And if you play with a pick?

[casapete]

18 minutes ago, Jonesy said:

I was just scrolling through FB and found a for sale post where some bloke was selling a snakepick and said it's the only type of plectrum he can use since getting arthritis. I've never used one, but it might be worth a look if it works for him? And if you play with a pick?

I suffered from arthritis in my right hand a while ago - I play fingerstyle. I'm useless with a standard guitar plectrum ( on bass as well 

as guitar!) but found these which are great. Made by Ozark, they are specifically designed for bass use, longer than a guitar pick

with a stepped design. Much easier to keep hold of, and saw me through until my fingers became useable.