To actually cry over this fucking shoulder pain?

[TheOGWanKenobi]

This is really fucking me off to the point of tears, and I usually have a high pain threshold.

A couple of years back I dislocated my shoulder and have partially dislocated it a few times since then. I've had physio etc and usually do my exercises religiously. I've had some recurrent shoulder pain, investigations were delayed due to lockdown etc. It turns out the pain is actually due to a calcium build up, not previous injuries. I am waiting for an appointment to have barbotage (calcium broken up and sucked out) and they will do a steroid/anaesthetic injection as well.

I'm used to the injections as I also have connective tissue disease so have had them in different joints and they work well for me, so I'm hopeful the shoulder treatment will solve it, but there will be a long wait for this. I currently am prescribed nortriptyline/naproxen/codeine and tramadol anyway to manage the pain of connective tissue disease, I take them the codeine/tramadol on a "when needed" basis and try to use it as little as possible. However they aren't even touching the shoulder pain even at max dose. It really really fucking hurts and I can't do my shoulder exercises as I can't move the bastard thing.

The GP won't do anything other than refer me back to physiotherapy (which I have already had! plus it's a telephone appointment ) They won't prescribe oramorph or morphine patch as (just to add to my woes) I also have epilepsy. I've recently added Keppra to my meds as my seizures weren't controlled (they were the cause of the shoulder injury) I said I would take the increased seizure risk as the pain is 24/7 and even a small dose for a short period may help me "get on top of it". But they won't prescribe it. I have left messages for neurology to see if they agree it's too risky and rheumatology to see if they have any other advice.

Fuck me it hurts. I've cried today and I am usually really hardcore I live with chronic pain, I have given birth without epidurals and when I had my last tattoo I didn't even "feel" it. I've put my dislocated shoulder back in myself (I know now you're not meant to do that). So I'm not a wimp but this shoulder pain is too much! I've tried gel, heat, patches etc etc. Freeze gel and ice is the only thing that makes a small dent in the pain but it's still so bad.

I think I just want a vent and lots of sympathy but if anyone has any experience or advice it would also be great! I know I have "complicated" health making things difficult but the thought of having this level of pain until I get an appointment is bringing me down a lot.

I have similar. I have rheumatoid arthritis amongst other painful conditions and sometimes for no real reason (eg, may have just not lifted my foot up fully when turning around, etc,) my lower back (discs collapsing, etc) goes into spasm and is agony. My GP eventually prescribed diazepam (Valium) 2mg for me and bc I really only use it as a last resort will give me 28 tablets at a time, which may last me a year. or just a few months, depending on whether or not my back 'goes'. I think bc my GP sees I don't abuse them he's happy to keep prescribing them as I know a lot won't due to their addictive nature.

Put simply, this drug relaxes the muscles, which when you live with chronic pain as I do, is a Godsend and just gives me that day or 2 of relief so the muscles can 'un-spasm' and relax which means they hurt less.

Might be worth a try as the pain you're living with probably means your muscles are constantly tense which really doesn't help.
My friend had debilitating shoulder pain which physio didn't touch... an osteopath worked wonders for her though, so may be worth a try?!

I don't have the shoulder issue you have but I do have connective tissue disease and chronic pain.. I've always found physio useless and the osteopath a godsend. Whilst they would not be able to resolve the main issue you have as you obviously need a specific treatment for that, but I often find that everything around the damaged area then becomes tight and even more 'solid' from accommodating the pain you are feeling and the osteopath can relieve some of the pain that is being caused by the rest of your body trying to protect you from the injury (if that makes sense) I sympathise with the lack of pain relief though, I have bursitis in my hips and knees and 'popped' ribs which is agonising and limiting.

Thank you all, but I'm sorry that you can all empathise because you know what it's like and have suffered too! I do take paracetamol with my tramadol, but not with my codeine as I have the one with paracetamol already in. I didn't even think of diazepam, my regular GP would prescribe it I am sure as she has done before for spasms. In fact I wish I had spoken to her instead of the other GP as I think she would have been more pro active and wouldn't have left me in this much pain!

I totally understand the "rest of your body" thing, the problem I also have is that I ignore stuff and try to do much which doesn't help. The last time I dislocated my shoulder it was in a sling and I had a couple of cracked ribs on that side too so I physically couldn't do anything. But this time it "just" hurts so I try and do too much. (I won't tell you what I have been doing today as people will think I'm fucking stupid and I bring it on myself )

I am going to rest up tomorrow, take a shit load of painkillers and use the cold gel. On Monday I have my telephone physio appt and on Tuesday my usual GP is in so I just have to make it through until then.

For people who have the steroid/anaesthetic injections, it always interests me how peoples' experiences of this vary. My rheum consultant usually does mine and the worst part is before the jab when she feels around the joint to see where the worst pain is, but a few days after they are done, I get amazing relief. I've had one done with someone else who didn't do the painful "feeling around" first and the effects were nowhere near as good.

Has anyone else had the barbotage procedure done as I've never had that before?

With hindsight and rereading my posts, I think I was more upset yesterday not only because it really fucking hurts, but because it was my epilepsy which was preventing me getting better pain relief. My seizures have been uncontrolled recently and a big problem and I've had to change meds etc, so for it to have a knock on effect on yet another thing was a bit final straw for me. So frustrating.

Lots of sympathy from me, OP. I had calcific tendonitis in one shoulder 9 years ago, the steroid injection worked well.

Now have problems with the other shoulder - three physio appointments have eased it, but still effects my sleep, so I'm having an injection next week. Washing my hair is so fucking hard!!

Sympathy from me OP, my friend had similar and she really, really struggled and found it incredibly tough. Hope you manage to get your appointments soon, she's a new woman now.

I feel your pain op, I've had it 3 times in total. Utterly horrific pain, frozen shoulder pain is in the top 10 most painful condition to suffer from. Physio never helped me either, only after my op. I don't want to upset you more but be prepared for the barbotage not to work, I've had it twice and never again, they did it without pain relief and I ended up passing out and it did nothing to help. I've ended up being operated on every time.
Can you ask for a referral to the pain management clinic?
Really hope you get sorted soon.

I broke my shoulder in 3 places in September and had to have surgery to have plate and screws in. It was horrendous. It's still stiff and I've not got the full range of movement.

It was awful. I was so dependent on my husband for everything, and was sleep deprived as no matter how tired I was I couldn't sleep as I couldn't get comfortable. It crossed my mind to go to a local area famous for drug dealing for (best option) cannabis or (worst option) heroin. I didn't though, I could at a push maybe roll a spliff, would have no idea how to prepare a shot of heroin!

You have my sympathy x

Eeek lots of people with shoulder problems here! Sympathies

I'll see what physio/neuro say tomorrow. I've been under pain management before who did some stuff for my spine but it all seems to be under rheum now (they're great though). I'm reliant on DH for quite a lot of stuff anyway so him washing my hair is business as usual (I have a shaved head and Mohawk strip thing in the middle so he shaves it for me anyway as he gets it nice and neat with straight lines, when I do it they're all wobbly ) I'm wearing button up pyjama tops/cardigans as it's too tricky to pull anything over my head though even with DH's assistance.

God I was sorely tempted with the drug dealing area too (especially as that is actually the road that I live on so I wouldn't have to go far) but unfortunately I don't have an off switch with stuff like that and didn't want to bugger up my new epilepsy meds). Bloody tempting though.

I think if I knew when the jabs and barbotage would be carried out it would be easier - at least there would be an end in sight then (well hopefully). Bloody government should have funded the NHS properly instead of just encouraging clapping on the doorstep and then trying to blame the public for not seeking help and causing a backlog (but that's a whole other rant thread...

@Spidey66 would it be really invasive and nosy to ask how you broke your shoulder as that sounds awful? (Please feel free to ignore me if so) I was convinced it was my previous dislocations causing my pain so having the pain diagnosed as having something else entirely threw me a bit. It just seems such a coincidence especially with it being the same shoulder (but I have seen the deposits on scans so know it's there!)

[quote TheOGWanKenobi]@Spidey66 would it be really invasive and nosy to ask how you broke your shoulder as that sounds awful? (Please feel free to ignore me if so) I was convinced it was my previous dislocations causing my pain so having the pain diagnosed as having something else entirely threw me a bit. It just seems such a coincidence especially with it being the same shoulder (but I have seen the deposits on scans so know it's there!)[/quote]
That's fine...I fell off my bike and into a hedge. Not my finest moment!

Bar a greenstick fracture as a child, and a broken little toe in the 90s, this is my first "proper" break. As I'm now in my 50s, I've been referred for a bone density scan to rule out ot confirm if there is osteoporosis, which obviously is common 8n women of my age, but it was a nasty fall so possibly I was just unlucky.

That made me wince, just reading that spidey! Are you still having physio or anything to try and regain more movement? I think sometimes that the frustration of just not being able to do stuff can be as depressing as the pain.

The physio from my GP rang me and agreed there wasn't much point in seeing me to discuss exercises I already know how to do, but can't atm due to the pain! He also said it's about quality of life whilst waiting for barbotage and I need to get the best painkillers I can. So I'll see if neuro ring back, if not I'll try and get hold of my usual GP as she is much more helpful and pro active. I'm going to try hard to have a rest day today (I am starting well by eating pancakes in bed) I've also had to increase my dose of new epilepsy meds (titrating upwards slowly) today so I'll probably be either throwing them up or asleep by oooh 09.27

You have massive sympathy from me. I tore two ligaments in my shoulder about ten years ago, and the pain has resurfaced after a bout of Covid - apparently quite common. Yesterday I spent most of the afternoon just holding my shoulder and yelping in pain. And that's just inflammation of an old, healed injury. I can barely imagine how much pain you must be in.

I'm still under physio-appointment this afternoon-it's getting there but slowly.

My goal is to restart swimming. My best stroke is front crawl, which I can't do effectively at present but hopefully soon.

So far my main frustration is I have found it difficult to put my arm behind my back which sounds petty but you try and wipe your bottom without your arm behind your back . I am starting to get there though!

Massive sympathy to you all, I had a rotator cuff injury, so understand what you're going through.

I've skimmed the thread somewhat, so don't know if this has been mentioned, but I found Acupuncture helped. I had a private physio (pre covid) and she pushed me into Acupuncture even knowing my hatred of needles, and it was BLISS. It wasn't a total cure but would give me some relief for a while.

Sympathy here-I damaged both my shoulders when I tripped while running for a bus, and still get pain 15 years later. Have you tried a topical preparation? I find the 12 hour Voltarol gel (the one marketed for joint pain) to be very helpful.www.voltarol.co.uk/products/12-hour-gel/#:~:text=Voltarol%2012%20Hour%20Joint%20Pain%20Relief%20Gel%20can%20be%20applied,relief%20of%20pain%20and%20inflammation.

I sympathize. Calcium deposits are a LOT more painful than a frozen shoulder. I've had both. If you're prepared (and can afford) to go private, you can have a needling procedure. It's quite painful, but it does fix the problem pretty quickly (within weeks). I had it done twice as they didn't get all the calcium the first time, and although I've since had a frozen shoulder, the calcium hasn't returned. This was 6 years ago.

Otherwise, it could be 2 years until it the pain goes. My sister has it now and is trying the physio route with Morphine patches. She is still in a lot of pain.

I forgot to mention that I dislocated my shoulder about 20 years ago, which was probably what caused the calcium deposits to start. It's only when the calcium starts being re-absorbed that it gets painful.

Just looked at all your comments OP. Needling is the same as Barbotage. They do it under a local anesthetic. The first time I had it, they got the spot right. The second time they didn't. It was worth 20 minutes of pain for the relief afterward.

Acupuncture completely sorted my frozen shoulder. I was very sceptical but couldn't believe how good it was. Try and see a physio or medic who offers it though.

Hello, another one in sympathy with you. I have hEDS, and generalised arthritis “secondary to hypermobility”. I sat on the side of a swimming pool in 2020 and pushed myself in forwards. I now have bicep tendon attenuation and longitudal split with medial subluxation. I also have a parelebral cyst and SLAP tear plus subacramial bursitis. I had to give up using my manual wheelchair when I hurt myself. I now use an electric wheelchair. I have “just” as in last week been referred for surgery. I’m so so sore. Sorry to read all your troubles. I’m clinging on to my job with my fingertips 😞

Oh should have said, I’ve had physio and injections but no lasting improvement. All feels like sticky plasters

I had operations for my frozen shoulders (once one of them was fixed, the other one froze). I did have health insurance though, I don't know if you can get it on the NHS. I also had bone spurs which were removed.

Bloody painful. Sorry to all who are suffering.

Calcific tendonitis is legendarily painful. According to my specialist it's even worse than rotator cuffs & frozen shoulders.

I had it a few years ago. Naproxen wasn't touching the pain and I did spend one night awake and sobbing in agony. I had mine blasted out and its been OK since.

So no real advice, just sympathy, and permission to howl like a banshee if it helps. (Not that you need permission, obviously.)

So many shoulder sufferers here! Shit isn't it.

I've emailed the orthopaedic dept to ask if there is any idea on waiting list times. My increased epilepsy meds are making me incredibly sleepy and tired which is actually helping a little, I slept last night!