I noticed my thumb is now crooked

[LynnieLew]

I have Rheumatoid Arthritis.
I am only 32.
In the last 2 years I have been in treatment and managing my pain. Nothing really prepared me for today though.

While looking down at my hand I noticed my thumb is begining to “curl”.

There are so many things I am thankful for but to be hoenst I am a little scared about this. I intend on talking to my doctor but I am nervous nonetheless.

I just wanted to share my fears, because I know many of you are prayer warriors and many of your have become my friends.

 

[dwc]

LynnieLew, I don’t know anything about medicine but I understand being scared. You are in my prayers tonight. Please keep us updated.

 

[Pug]

LynnieLew,

I will pray for you. Pray for my right foot. I am having trouble walking right now.

 

[Lucania]

LynnieLew, I know what you are going through. DH came down with Psoriatic Arthritis & Rhuematoid Arthritis when he was about 27 years old. He is 53 now. He also has Osteo-Arthritis. MIL came down with RA when she was in her 30’s, she is now 76. It is a difficult, painful cross to bear and I will keep you in my prayers. Pug, I will pray for you, too.

 

[rachelleah]

I was diagnosed with RA at 17, and have been in remission for 5 years, but I’m expecting and pregnancy can throw any remission out of whack, so I know what you mean about scared. Also, I stare at my hands and feet a lot wondering when they’ll start “curving”. However, I am very grateful for the relatively easy case of RA that I’ve had. A girl one year behind me in high school was diagnosed at the same time and was having surgery to “uncurl” her fingers and hands just as I was going into remission. You’re in my prayers!

Rachel

 

[Pug]

I intend on talking to my doctor but I am nervous nonetheless.

Did talking to your doctor help you feel less scared?

I will talk to mine in under a month. We had talked over the phone about my foot. I am taking extra prednisone for a “flare up”. It isn’t helping much. The toes won’t lie flat.

 

[LSK]

I remember the first time I looked at my hands and saw how deformed they had become…this was before I had been properly diagnosed and all the tests kept showing negative for the rheumatoid factor. Finally I had to thrust my hands into the face of my PCP and say “then tell me right this minute, if I do not have any kind of arthritis according to my blood tests, why my hands look like THIS”.

oh.

So there were some more tests and finally I am being treated for RA. Hopefully the damage can be slowed down at least. HOWEVER, I have ugly hands. No doubt about it. I cannot wear any jewelry and sometimes I joke with my friends that the reason God has chosen a single life for me is so I don’t have to be embarrassed about not being able to wear a wedding ring…it’s a joke, honest.

Anyway, Linnie…welcome to a very special club. You are too young to remember the television show Get Smart but I have named us “Da Craw…no DA CRAW” Club…

Love ya -

 

[Wolseley]

Sweetie, you hang in there. I’ve been there—not with RA, but I developed hypertension at age 28 and GERD at 30. Both are sort of considered to be “older” conditions, but I got them very young (although I still think I got both of them due to a lot of stress from when I was in the military).

I have osteoarthritis now, and I’m only 46—my doctor told me usually it doesn’t start in this bad until someone is in their late 50’s, but I have it in both hands (my fingers are starting to get twisty, too), as well as my shoulders, my neck, my spine, both hips, my right knee, and both feet (too many years pounding pavement as a beat cop).

I’m not trying to minimize your situation by telling you about mine—just trying to let you know that some of us out here are kind of in the same boat with you. I’ll be praying for you; and I suggest you develop a devotion to some of the following saints, all of whom are patrons of arthritis sufferers: catholic-forum.com/saintS/pst00607.htm

 

[BlyssfulDreamer]

Have you injured your thumb? Maybe without even knowing it? The reason I ask is because several years ago…my thumb did pretty much the same thing. Then when I would try to straighten it…the darn thing would catch. The doctor said it was “trigger finger” and I had to have a couple of shots in the finger and after awhile it came out of it. There was no reason for it to have happened and I never will know why it did it…but the shots helped…although the thought of shots in the thumb might be a little scary, they really didn’t hurt very much at all.

Good luck…

:heart:Blyss

 

[jmcrae]

OH, Lyn, I will keep you in my prayers - what an awful feeling that must be!