Guest guest Posted April 23, 2010 Report Share Posted April 23, 2010 Hi , I'm sorry to hear this, you must be very frustrated. Hip pain makes me think of lupus and the back degeneration reminds me of AS. Has your rhem ruled these out? Kate F ________________________________ From: cynthiadew1 <cynthiadew1@...> Sent: Fri, April 23, 2010 7:16:59 PM Subject: [ ] Pain in hip joints I am hoping that someone on the list can help me. I am at a loss at what is going on, and so are my various doctors. The nuero-ortho surgern, the hip specialist, my rheumy, and even my PCP's nurse practioner (who is wonderful, and has helped me find some of the best specialist available.) I realize that I have multiple physical problems, and most likely several auto-immune diseases, including RA and PsA. I have have Cervical(Dec 08) and Lumbar(Oct 09) surgeries. Both very successful. I had a major amount of bone spurs on my spine that were cleaned up, and fusion done. I probably had the hip pain earlier, but with the pain from the facet joint arthrits, and stenosis I could tell where the pain was coming from. I thought all the pain was from sciatica. My Neuro/ortho surgeon ordered MRIs of my lumbar spine and both hips. The spine looks very good, the surgery has improved the quality of my life immeasurably. The hip MRI's should lambal tears, swelling, bone spurs, some cartiledge damage, etc, etc. According to the hip specialist, the left hip will be a candidate for hip surgery in a few years, but it's not 'there' yet. He is also not convinced that the pain is coming from the hip joints. He thinks the pain is from somewhere in the spine. Or possibility a systemic infection. My Rheumy thinks I have some sort of soft tissue rheumatic disease, and he will be working with me on figuring this all out. All I can think for my rheumy is it was so easier when I was just a garden variety RA patient, even if I didn't also respond very long to the anti-THF's. In the meantime, I have constant pain in my hips. I can feel the swelling in my hips. The pain goes down to my knees, and ankles, it's awful. My doctor know I am in pain and are doing pain management, so that is kind of okay, the med really don't make the pain go away. The hip surgeon said he does do occassionial hip replacement on RA patients because of constant swelling/pain and sudden onset. I would like to add, the majority of the pain started in January. As of December after my lumbar spinal surgery, I was off all pain meds, and doing very well. Since January, I have been in the Mother of All RA Flares. In the many years I have had RA, these have months have been whoppers! Any thoughts? suggestions? Thank you, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 24, 2010 Report Share Posted April 24, 2010 Hi - I can relate to your hip pain. My MRI's didn't show anything that would make me a surgical candidate (according to ortho) even though the pain radiates down my leg at times. Pain management has been helpful and I can now say that the pain is located not only on the right side of my spine (sacrum), but on that top portion of my pelvic bone (ilium). I can feel the knots that are there. I am bringing this to the attention of my pain management doctor on my next visit. I had to Google " names of the pelvic bone " in order to be able to be more specific so I can show exactly where my pain is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelvis Go down to the " Bony Pelvis " section and there is a diagram with a listing of all the bones that make up the pelvis. I certainly understand how you feel with the constant pain. I have that as well. I wish you all the best. Don't give up on your doctors. Holler until you get the answer and relief you need. If they can't help you, find another doctor. We shouldn't have to suffer all this time..... Doreen I am hoping that someone on the list can help me. I am at a loss at what is going on, and so are my various doctors. The nuero-ortho surgern, the hip specialist, my rheumy, and even my PCP's nurse practioner (who is wonderful, and has helped me find some of the best specialist available.) I realize that I have multiple physical problems, and most likely several auto-immune diseases, including RA and PsA. I have have Cervical(Dec 08) and Lumbar(Oct 09) surgeries. Both very successful. I had a major amount of bone spurs on my spine that were cleaned up, and fusion done. I probably had the hip pain earlier, but with the pain from the facet joint arthrits, and stenosis I could tell where the pain was coming from. I thought all the pain was from sciatica. My Neuro/ortho surgeon ordered MRIs of my lumbar spine and both hips. The spine looks very good, the surgery has improved the quality of my life immeasurably. The hip MRI's should lambal tears, swelling, bone spurs, some cartiledge damage, etc, etc. According to the hip specialist, the left hip will be a candidate for hip surgery in a few years, but it's not 'there' yet. He is also not convinced that the pain is coming from the hip joints. He thinks the pain is from somewhere in the spine. Or possibility a systemic infection. My Rheumy thinks I have some sort of soft tissue rheumatic disease, and he will be working with me on figuring this all out. All I can think for my rheumy is it was so easier when I was just a garden variety RA patient, even if I didn't also respond very long to the anti-THF's. In the meantime, I have constant pain in my hips. I can feel the swelling in my hips. The pain goes down to my knees, and ankles, it's awful. My doctor know I am in pain and are doing pain management, so that is kind of okay, the med really don't make the pain go away. The hip surgeon said he does do occassionial hip replacement on RA patients because of constant swelling/pain and sudden onset. I would like to add, the majority of the pain started in January. As of December after my lumbar spinal surgery, I was off all pain meds, and doing very well. Since January, I have been in the Mother of All RA Flares. In the many years I have had RA, these have months have been whoppers! Any thoughts? suggestions? Thank you, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.