Does anyone know much about joint/muscle aches?

[Ilmb]

I have a bad back from a car accident years ago plus bad pregnancies years ago but I see a great chiropractor for this. I get a lot of muscle/joint problems which I don’t think has anything to do with my back issues. I get bad pain in the palm of my hand on the finger joint if you touch it. So one day no problem then randomly just going to change gear or brushing over it will be agony. Then it goes again. Gp said it’s tenndonitus and nothing will help. Iv been recently havkng problems with my finger, when I screw it up it’s agony. Then randomly I will get muscle aches. For example today my bicep on one arm was really sore (like if you’ve been to the gym for the first time and the next day burn you get) and Sunday I had that with my calfs but I haven’t done anything for this to happen.

I walk about 12,000 steps a day, not amazingly fit but keep active. I’m 36 so I thought I had a little while before I started falling apart! I take vitamin d and magnesium and multi vitamins already.

Can anyone advise at all or suggestions of what could be the problem?!

Tia

Could it be an auto-immune disease? Eg lupus or fibromyalgia cause those kind of random seeming pains.

It does sound like tendonitis, an NSAID should help with the swelling and pain. Most of the time once you've treated it that's it, but some people get it recurring, like me.

It may be worth asking a pharmacist for the best painkillers for it as the best used to be prescription only but I think they may now be OTC

I can’t take anything anti inflammatory so only leaves co codanol OTC. I don’t want to get anything stronger really as I cope with the pain I just don’t understand why I get such random aches with no explanation and then it disappears? I get the hand thing is tendonitis, but why do I have so many different types of problems, tendons, then muscular oh and also have arthritis in my little finger

How do you test for auto immune things? Would I Not be so severe I couldn’t get up etc if I had something auto immune?

No you wouldn't. You would need to see a Rheumatologist via GP

Maybe 12000 steps a day is too much?

Really single?? I don’t get any other excercise... I can’t go to the gym so walking is the only excercise I get and Iv put on weight for some unknown reason over the last 6 months so I don’t want to lower my movement.

Come to think of it I ended up with tendonitis planter or whatever it’s called ob my right foot a couple of months ago.... it’s ok now except some days it starts to ache and Uf I rest it it’s fine again the next day. I wonder if that’s linked?

12,000 steps a day isn’t too much unless you’ve always done 4000 and then go to 12000. Anyway it wouldn’t affect the fingers.

My friend has tendonitis in his quad muscle and tendons can take months to sort out. He has seen a physio who has told him to do light self massage and some other stuff so not sure the gp is right that nothing can be done. I guess a physio would look at fingers? But it does sound if you have weird random muscle aches elsewhere it might be an autoimmune thing. Vitamin d deficiency can also cause weird muscle aches, dd was in agony when her levels were low.

I have psoriatic Arthritis and tendon problems are a huge part of that. I'm closely monitored by my rheumatologist.

Yes Iv always done that many, well increased about a year ago but not significantly.

Gp said (convo about my hand problem) that there was only steroid injections but he wouldn’t recommend as they don’t always work..

I seem to have joint problems aswell as muscular problems not one or the other.

I’m a lot older than you, 51 but have for approx 3 months have been getting joint and muscle aches in my legs and hands. I think mine might be due to peri menopause. Mine was relieved when I took ibuprofen but I see you can’t take that. Might be worth asking when your mum started menopause to see if it runs early in your family.

nic that’s a sore point for my mother, she says she started at 41 but got pregnancy accidentally with my baby brother! Which then delayed the menopause.... I have no idea when/if she’s through it, we aren’t very close? She doesn’t like talking about stuff like that.

How do you know if your peri menopausal? Just symptoms? I’m on progesterone only pill so I don’t have periods so can’t use them as any indicator..

I haven’t had any tests at the doctors but I’ve had these, my periods started to miss a month, but first I had sweats at night in bed, I’d feel hot , then clammy. Now my periods have stopped but not for 12 months . I started to hav muscle pains at the front of my thighs and down th outer sides which made going to sleep difficult. I then noticed pains in my hands which were really sharp. I did some googling and I think the drop in hormones can give people swelling and do something to the pain receptors. As I’m so much older I think mine is the peri menopause but I also had an indication because my periods became erratic and have now stopped. Someone will come along and be more knowledgeable I hope.

For auto immune issues you’d need to see a rheumatologist - the GPs don’t run the full tests that a rheumatologist can do.

For peri menopause the GP can do a blood test but I’m not sure if being on the pill would affect that.

Would gp have to refer me presumably? What sort of tests would they do?

I have similar sounding joint pains/tendonitis in various places that have come and gone over the years. Mine is down to hypermobility, which made a lot of sense when it was diagnosed (flat feet, 'tricks' with bending joints more than they should go, SPD in pregnancy). It might be worth seeing if you can use ibuprofen gel directly on your hand, other things that help with tendonitis are resting (easier said than done but lifting things with 2 hands rather than one, or using your whole forearms, )

I get joint and muscle pains, especially at night. It's an unpleasant condition called polymialgia rheumatica, which can be controlled by medication. A bit like fibromyalgia but not so debilitating. They do a blood test to diagnose it. It's a possibility OP, although your symptoms don't sound quite the same. Do you get very tired?

I do get tired but life is quite hectic and stressful so I always put it down to that.

Something else that happens is my legs often feel heavy. I don’t know if that’s related or not.

I really think you should see a Rheumatologist

I have an appointment in a week so I will ask about it then. I just thought I would be fobbed off again... but now that it’s worse and is affected things in a wierd way and not say just my joints or just my muscles it’s odd. I wonder how long a wait is to see a rheumatologist will be...

I'd definitely request to have your vit d bloods done. You can feel truly awful when that's low.

I can swing between fatigue and feeling truly wretched with my disease. I'm due my monthly injection this week and I feel awful

What do you have whirly if you don’t mind saying?

I will definitely discuss at my appointment next week. Have woken up this morning and my calf muscles are sore. I know it will go soon though. So strange

Something else Iv just thought of, I often get little small very round bruises about the size of a 1p on my wrists or near the ankle when I haven’t bashed myself but when I asked gp about that in the past they weren’t interested, just said ‘it’s a bruise’ I wonder if it’s related