shoulder and collar bone pain

[Guest guest]

I've had 3 falls in the last 8 months. At first, my knees were extremely sore

and painful along the sides of each and in the back. If I try to bend my knees,

it feels as if the back of my knee is literaly going to " blow out " . The Enbrel

helps this pain for about 4 days, then the pain begins again until the next

injection. But, since falling, I now have this pain ( burning, hot, pain almost

like the pain from shingles) where my collar bone and ribs meet in front below

my neck. I'm having trouble sleeping, pain medicine helps very little,

Lidocaine patches are useless. I am so miserable. I have so much trouble

getting up from a sitting position that I have to use my arms to pull myself up

and this makes the pain even WORSE. I am a traveling nurse and get in and out of

my car several times a day, carrying a bag and a computer. Driving several

miles a day doesn't help either. It is the constant motion of turning, backing,

carrying and all that other stuff. Lifting, pulling....oh, well, I could add a

long list of things that make the pain worse. Anyone have this problem and WHAT

are you doing about it. I have a few months to go before age 65 and a

semi-retirement. I feel like I'm about to shut down. Pain has become such a

part of my daily life that I just don't know what to do. About the only thing

my Dr. will give me is Darvocet and I believe they are takin that off the

market. It doesn't help much anyway. Anyone get any relief from any pain meds if

you have this problem. Sorry about the length of this post.

[Guest guest]

The problems you're describing are enthesitis. There are entheses connecting

the ribs to the breast bone. There are 30 entheses in each of your knees. My

dad had such horrible enthesitis his knees eventually bent backwards (kind of

like a chicken) because he lost all the entheses holding those joints together.

" The Enbrel helps this pain for about 4 days " - this is what tells me it's

enthesitis. Enbrel stops my enthesitis (I inherited this almost exactly from my

dad) but nowadays I must take a higher than standard dose of Enbrel to keep my

body responding all the time. I started eight years ago on 25 mg. twice

weekly. Now I do 25 mg. every 60 hr. I have absolutely no problem injecting

that often and it helps keep the strength of Enbrel constant in my body.

Enbrel is the best pain medicine I take because it stops the cause.

Janette in Indiana

[Guest guest]

Have you went to an orthopedic to make sure you didn't damage anything when you

fell? I wouldn't just assume that it's all from the arthritis.

Celeste

[Guest guest]

Going to an orthopedist is a good idea.  I had a total shoulder replacement a

few months back and know what it means to have poorly working arm, so I suggest

getting this resolved before the damage (if there is damage) gets worse.

RA

North Jersey

[Guest guest]

I also find that my Humira helps my enthesis significantly. Before starting

Humira, my elbow was contracted up to almost almost a 90 degree angle and now I

can extend my arm almost totally straight. I have also had improvement in one

of my shoulders.

Is enthesis unique to psoriatic arthritis? I ask, because my arthritis was

misdiagnosed for years as bursitis, tendonitis, etc. It's a major presenting

factor in my disease.

Dena, Pacific NW

[Guest guest]

I sent your question " Is enthesis unique to psoriatic arthritis? " to my

daughter, the grad student researcher. She says: Enthesitis is most strongly

associated with spondyloarthritidies: psoriatic, AS, Rieter's. I remember my

dad saying he had bursitis. He died in 98 without ever getting a PsA diagnosis.

[Guest guest]

I have seen my family Dr. but have not gone to an orthopedic physician. I

started prednisone and that helped a little. The pain is a little better. I

only missed one day of work. But, the pain is still there. My knees are only

better for about 4 days after Enbrel. Thanks for all your comments. I found

the information on Entheses interesting but couldn't find what they give for the

inflammation.