Teresa 54

be careful with the Lyrica, it was making me so drousy that I was falling asleep driving, and while sitting at my desk. I nearly lost my job because I couldn't remember anything, it took my short term memory away.
I take a 1/4 of a sleeping pill that is prescribed, a good nights sleep helps the fibromyalgia fantastically. mine was caused from Rhumatoid Arthritis. When my hands are really bad, I baby them, use Biofreeze, helps a little. I make sure I wear my quilting gloves and keep my hands stretched out, not pulled in. warm water helps. I am on Actemra - the newest of the arthritis drugs - it us heavy duty and I get side effects. This is the last drug available to me, the others have all plateaued out.
please ex cuse the spelling.

sheron

Try to find you a wax machine. You dip you hands in warm wax and cover with golves for a little while and it helps to warm you hands. I was a nail tec and had a lot of people would come in just to dip their hands. They use to have a small version at walmart, but you can find them at Sally's.
Hope your hands get better I have the same problem.

catrancher

If you're hard core into pain relief, I can recommend this. I have arthritis in almost every joint in my body. I see a pain specialist who prescribes a cream that I have to fill at a compounding pharmacy. If you can get all of that accomplished, this is what works wonders for me:

Ketoprofen/Piroxicam/Tetracaine 20/2/2% Lipod

It's a miracle cream. Works in about 5 minutes. It's relatively expensive, but not unaffordable, and you only have to use a tiny bit. A tube lasts a long time. It probably is not covered by insurance.

Alondra

Just keep moving. Cut out as much sugar as you can (and that includes simple starches like white potatoes, white rice, and pastas, unless they're whole wheat or whole rice pastas, because they're converted to sugar in your body, and sugar exacerbates arthritis - and that also includes alcohol) and supplement with Vitamin D3 and B vitamins. And run that all by your doctor before you start! That's just what seems to work for a lot of people. I've noticed that some days are worse than others, and it's usually when I've OD'd on sugar. I refuse to take steroids or Prednisone or other drugs that do more harm than good. I have not found glucosamine/chondroitin helpful - in fact, quite the contrary. Alas! it sounded like it might be the magic bullet... but no.... Go to http://www.mercola.com and type "arthritis" in the query box, and see what Dr. Mercola has to say - he also tells you the down-side to the various drugs commonly prescribed for arthritis, and has a good explanation of both rheumatoid and osteoarthritis. He's usually right on with his information to help us make the best decision for ourselves.

Good luck, and just keep on quilting, but above all, don't stop quilting just because your fingers hurt. Do what you can when you can. Remember, some days will be better than others.

Alondra

Please... before you do this, read about NSAIDs. They are NOT, as many people believe, harmless. All of the drugs mentioned above destroy the liver, and you can't live without your liver. First try diet and lifestyle changes; then, if the pain is really unbearable, start with the least harmful drugs you can find.

Alondra

This sounds hokey, but try emu oil. It does help joint pain, it has no odor, and it doesn't irritate the skin. The blue ice preparations you see advertised on infomercials is also helpful, but they smell sort of strong.

One other thing I forgot to mention in my prior epistle is that cutting out omega-6 oils and increasing omega-3 oils is very helpful, not only for arthritis, but for any inflammation (and they know now that inflammation is at the bottom of almost all sicknesses).

Alondra

>>You will find the Dr. Scholl's device (which looks similar to an oval-shaped crock pot) at most Wal-Marts or other pharmacies. Runs $30 to $40 and comes with an initial supply of wax to which I add an extra cake or so to make sure it goes well onto my wrists as well. Replacement wax runs $6-7 and if you keep it covered when not in use, you should only need to replace the wax bath once or twice a year.

Teresa 54

I have tried the wax dips, it really works but only for about 1 hour. I stopped going to the nail salon for manicures- to painful, but they let me do the dips for free.

Teresa 54

oh, I started taking tumerick pills from GNC store 4 months ago, haven't seen any changes in inflamation, but to make you laugh, when ever I use a pumise stone on my feet, my skin that falls off is orange!

Alondra

Cinnamon is also supposed to be very helpful for arthritis. My aunt swears by a daily cup of tea she makes with 1 tsp cinnamon and some honey and lemon juice.