Rheumatoid Arthritis Support Group
Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic, inflammatory, multisystem, autoimmune disorder. It is a disabling and painful condition which can lead to substantial loss of mobility due to pain and joint destruction. The disease is also systemic in that it often also affects many extra-articular tissues throughout the body including the skin, blood vessels, heart, lungs, and...
So far, it does not appear that the injection in my back on the 15th followed by bilateral hip injections on the 29th have worked. Might be too soon but pain just seems to rotate from back to one hip or the other and back to the back.
The plan was an epidural based on if these prelininary injections helped. Next visit 10/20.
MEANWHILE my left arm!!! I have pain at the base of the L thumb and a bum L elbow for a very long time. At time the entire L arm hurts. Had one injection in the thumb/wrist area that did nothing. No one has ever suggested an elbow injection.
NOW - my L hand which was intermittently numb and tingliy (yes, like carpal tunnel) seems to be constantly so!!
With lumbar spine, I tried facet joke injections. The pain I was had was new, and it was all I could get (early 2020 covid rules for procedures), and it lasted at least a week. Many months down the road, I had an epidual, which was wonderful. By then I had sciatica and little sleep. It lasted 4 months, but I had other stuff going on to complicate things. I had another on April 20, and it's still working well. No complaints.
I've also had 2 epidurals in my neck, but that's a lot trickier. I think I'm going to ask for another, maybe in a few weeks. If you have cervical issues, that could explain some of the wonky stuff in your arm. I had the same kind of thing, mostly on my left arm, and I get daily headaches.
Good luck.
PS. When I was being assisted from the table after the 2nd lumbar epidural, my legs went numb for several seconds. After the standard waiting period, with juice and crackers, I walked out on my own (no driving, of course).
Now my biggest problem now is very heavy legs - like lead - that make walking near impossible. That too seems to be from the spinal stenosis.
I see PMG on the 20th - possibly will have epidural then - and neurologist for nerve testing on the 29th.