Say Hey - Bluedogs2 here. I have had the exact same thing happen - yes sir - I soaked my hands in hot water as hot as I could stand it for about 5 minutes and then cold wrapped them with ice packs and cold towels until the ice packs warmed to room temp and then back into the warm water and so forth until I could move them a bit. Some Tylenol may help as well - 2 every 6 hours is what I did.

This stuff is scary sometimes, but hang in there. There are things we can do to help. Just be as calm as possible ...

Oh and kudo's to the Mrs.Iretz. MBDs2 helps me all the time, God bless her

Peace
Bluedogs2

Hi Iretz, are you on medication for the RA? If your not you should be or it very well will get much worse. Hopefully the right med combo with help a lot I have been so fortunate in the past but right now I'm starting new meds that are not working yet. So I'm in your boat wondering if they will work and when and how much worse it will get. Blessings to you rest well

Ask you rheumy about steroids, it will at least get you out of the pickle you are in right now. Are you on RA meds yet? I wish you only the very best, but call you doctor asap, you need medical help right now. We have all been there and it is no darn fun, I am lucky enough to have a great husband and daughter around to help me when the beast strikes. Glad to hear your wife is helping you out. Wishing you a quick recovery. Trish

Thank you Bluedog2. I try to stay calm, but sometimes it is really overwhelming especially when you think about the impact on your life it's going to have.

Kimberley, I was on the lowest dose of mtx for a month and was having all kinds of bad side effects and just couldn't tolerate it. I'm now 1 week into taking sulfasalazine, but from what I read it could take 2-3 months to be able to tell if it will have a positive effect or not. That's a loong wait.

I do have prednisone and have been taking it the last few days. Took 25mg yesterday, so waking up to the problems today was unexpected.

iretz..that is freaky ..dont balme you for feeling that way ..hopefully today is better ...we can all relate for sure ...my entire arm did that for a bout a week , left one ..so glad it wsnt the right one since I m right handed ..but it passed after teh small doses or prednisone ..hang in there ..this stuf is sooooooo sooooo stange !

I can relate to freaking out in the morning like that!

My job was hauling US Mail in a tractor trailer to a hub in Columbus Oh. I would arrive in Columbus around midnight, then take my 10 hours off to sleep before I picked up my loaded return trailer at 10am in the morning.

For the last 6 months of my working and RA getting worse, the major joint flares would hit me in the middle of the night. Not much sleep then for the rest of the night. I would be awake with a then immobilized shoulder, wrist, knee or ankle and wondering how in the world am I going to get home. My only way to get home was to pick up my loaded trailer and drive 400 miles. Talk about freaking out!

I somehow managed to do it, but those were the longest 400 miles - it felt like it took me days to get home. And of course the fatigue was getting really bad also. As this scenario became more frequent, I finally had to give it up and walk (hobble) away.

Iretz- So sorry you have to go through this! I had a similar thing happen earlier this week but just with my right hand. I wrapped it in a heating pad for a while and that helped. After that I could move my fingers but not my wrist. I put a wrist splint on and took some Tramadol for the pain. I wore the splint for about 24 hours and then the stiffness, immobility and pain were nearly gone.

I am new to this but RD is definately a strange disease and totally unpredictable. I find that it helps me to remember that things like a sudden immobility in a joint tends to pass with a little time.

I hope you feel better soon! Gentle {{{{HUGS}}}}