For the past two or three weeks, I’ve been racking my brain but I just can’t figure this out.
I know that something other than MS is causing this inflammatory mischief in the body because it is so unlike my typical MS symptoms.
It actually feels like, and is presenting like a form of acute arthritis.

The joints in my hands and fingers are inflamed, swollen, painful and stiff. Over the last few days the inflammation has spread to both wrists and this morning the left side of my face/jaw is stiff and sore as well.
Digestion is also off although I’m still recovering from a rough patch of that so I don’t know if it is related.

Then the other day a 32 year old shoulder injury (fracture & dislocation) that hasn’t bothered me in years got woken up. The joint subluxated (nearly dislocated) when I put my weight on my elbow while getting out of bed. So now there is what feels like tendonitis/bursitis affecting that joint.

The joint symptoms are worse in the morning and I’ve been taking some aspirin (can’t tolerate much else), Epsom salt baths, and I have also been taking some anti-inflammatory type supplements (Serrapeptase, turmeric, anti-oxidants etc).

For a bit I thought that I had a handle on it because the joints seemed to be getting better, but for the last couple of days the symptoms have ramped up with a vengeance. That was preceded by two days of general body fatigue so I spent it mostly laying down and resting; which is unusual for me.
Apparently that wasn’t the thing to do because it allowed more inflammation and stiffness to settle in.

For the last few days I’ve been dropping things more but I don’t attribute that to the varying degrees of ongoing numbness because that has affected my hands for a long time.
Despite the numbness, I find myself trying to maneuver around not using one hand or another because of pain/dysfunction. Sounds odd to have both numbness and pain, but that is what is going on .

Now with the old shoulder injury added in, I’m really having trouble doing even everyday things because reaching behind me or moving the arm away from my body causes a sharp stab of pain in the joint and the muscles around the shoulder and upper back go into spasm. Moving it like that catches me off guard because otherwise the shoulder isn’t hurting; so I forget.
I’m being extra careful with it because the pain is reminiscent of when it was dislocated so many years ago, eventhough the joint itself seems to be stable now.

I tried a vegetable only diet for a few days and that did seem to settle things down so I think that it may be something that I’m consuming that is setting off some sort of an allergic/inflammatory reaction. I just haven’t been able to figure out what, because my food intake is fairly restricted to a plant based-blender diet as it is; and I haven’t changed or added anything that I can think of.
So today I’m going back to the vegetable only program and for the second time, will be methodically checking everything that I’ve been eating other than that.

Suggestions would be appreciated.

With love, Erika

Have you been to the doctor about this to see what he thinks? It almost sounds like some form of arthritis. I'd definitely see my GP or my Neuro. I hope you feel better.

Have you been tested for Lyme disease? I know that there are 2 tests for it, and one (I think it's the Western Blot test) seems to be more accurate than the other.
Lots of us on this site have been complaining of joint pain off and on this whole summer. Hope it's not a serious cause in your case, dear...keep us posted, and don't wait too long to see your doc if this keeps up

(((Erika))) It kind of sounds like an autoimmune response, whether it is from arthritis or something else. You weren't feeling well for a few days and then joint stuff started. It could be that you had some sort of virus that triggered the immune response of swollen, stiff, painful joints.

You may remember us talking about this on the Insights thread. I get a similar reaction. I have not been able to identify a trigger. I'll get a red spot by a joint (tendon area) and it itches. Then it starts to swell, gets painful, and stiff. I have it happening to most of my joints. This has been going on for a few years. I finally went to a rheumy this summer and she dx me with mild lupus. I'm not 100% on board with that dx and will be getting a second opinion. However, since I have flare ups and remissions, I do think there is some sort of autoimmune thing going on. It could be allergies or it could be lupus or something else.

Talk to your PCP and maybe get some testing done. It's important to get it done while you are having issues with your joints. If you get it done during a "remission" (for lack of a better term), then the tests may not show anything, which is typical in a number of autoimmune diseases.

I have not fully found anything that helps my joints when that happens. I wish I did. I do take the Epsom salt baths which help and use ice and/or heat on the joint/tendon. I don't take any meds for it and just smile and breath through it.

I hope you start feeling better soon.

Thanks Everyone.

Haven't been to the PCP (he's on holidays until Sept. and his locum & I don't see things the same way). The Neuro isn't due up here again until December, so he'd just tell me to see the PCP if I called him. Might try to to go and see another MD though.

Negative on the Lymes as of 2 or 3 years ago. That's when symptoms didn't go into remission and a lot of testing was done all over again...and then came the the Dx of SPMS.

I realize that "De Nile" is more than a river in Africa, but I'm really hoping that it isn't another form of auto-immune stuff. So far that has hit the endocrine system (pituitary & thyroid), the digestive system (regional enteritis & liver) and of course the nervous system (MS & TM).
Crumb...I've adapted fairly well to the rest of it but I really do need the joints in my hands and arms to work in some capacity or I'll be completely out of a career. I did work this last week for three days which involved doing massage therapy and a fair amount of computer work, so that may have set the hand joints off.
This coming week is scheduled to be a repeat performance, so time will tell...but I really can't afford to take more time off either way.

Like I said, it does feel like some sort of arthritis but the virus theory is one that I hadn't thought of. Hmmmm....will be checking into possibilities with that while plodding on with the vegetable only diet.
Will keep you posted on how things go with that as it seemed to help before.

Trish, it seem like you and I have similar symptoms, course and limitations on the meds that we can take.
Hope that your digestive stuff has settled down .

On the bright side, it is sunny here, but it has only been going to a nice 72 degree high. Ahhhhh...love it.

With love, Erika

Erika, I feel that the inflammation switch is located in the diet. I also think that it may take a longer time to turn off the switch and change the course of inflammation, just as it took awhile for the symptoms of the inflammation to manifest. I just read this http://www.theverge.com/2013/8/21/45...e-your-stomach
and while its not about inflammation directly, its just another pointer in the direction of how our diet is key to our wellness. I struggle with eating better, I am a sugar fiend and know that I need more greens. I wish I had better willpower to eat better. I am certain it could do no harm!!!
best to you

I have had more joint pain this summer, and I believe my trigger may have been the forest fire smoke we had in June and early July, which drove me out of town, but I was unable to justify spending more than two weeks away, so had to come back, just like last year, when there was still some smoke. This year my eyes did not get the full whammy they got last year from smoke, but I have had diffuse joint pain and even have started with a PT to rearrange the joints and sacrum in my low back, which were very out of place in spite of nightly exercise. Oddly I too have had a red spot near a join on my finger, and the end of the same finger also got too sore to use, but this is receding. In fact is close to gone, but it did last five weeks. I have thought it might be a sun lesion because I had gotten careless about wearing thick gloves to drive (I am sun sensitive from Poprhyria). So lots of possibilities and mysteries.

One thing for others to consider, beyond food, is the air and enviroment. My air and environment here in the desert is usually clear, and the West Coast pains are not evident. But no place is perfect, and the horrible smoke season gets me every time. I wish I could move to the coast even if it would make more joint pain for me, due to environment. I am OK if staying at a Motel near the sea, but slightly inland (a few miles)there is intense pollution in Encinitas from cars and from flower growing with pesticides and herbicides. I got so sick there before, in that beautiful place, that I couldn't take a walk. That's where I had my big MS struggle too...the getting used to symptoms and how to handle them.

Interesting article Missj. Thanks for the link. Certainly something to consider but I do take probiotics with lactobaccilis and also consume a large amount of raw or lightly steamed vegetation.
Evenso, digestion has been off for the last three weeks which is when the joint thing started, and was really hooped for a couple of months in the spring, due to autonomic neuropathy.
Surgery seems to have helped some, but it has been a rather slow recovery and adjustment, as the stomach remains slow to empty and doesn't handle too much solid food in one sitting very well.

Thanks Mariel, the environment is another possibility. It has been warmer than usual here for the whole summer so maybe that has had an effect on something in the air.
I'll ask around if anyone around here knows if there has been a change in air quality. It is a mill town so maybe pollution from that isn't getting cleared what with the change in climate?
So far so good on the forest fire dept around here, so it isn't smoke.

With love, Erika

Mills can be a big source of pollution. My fist major porphyria reaction at age 11, in the summer, was after picking berries near a pulp mill in Oregon. I lost part of my vision and could not control my hands well the rest of the summer, and could not complete an art project because I could not use the pencils right. And was very tired. My father was disappointed that I could not finish the project. No one realized I was actually sick, although it was low level sick, nothing extreme. I recovered from this and didn't have a major attack until I went to college and once again was surrounded by pollution...i.e. formaldehyde in the Bio lab, herbicides behind the dorm, mold in the dorm and mold retardant on the carpets. Erika, I have porphyria too so I am probably somewhat more sensitive to these things than others, but they can affect anyone. I am still sad that I was such a disappointment to my parents, as I'd been good at "everything", including dancing and running, until I got so sick at 17. I know I'm not supposed to feel that way but we cannot control all our feelings.

It's amazing how a person can be above average like, say, Annette Funicello, and then suddenly they are undermined and they are no longer what they were. This is what neuro diseases do to people.

"It's amazing how a person can be above average like, say, Annette Funicello, and then suddenly they are undermined and they are no longer what they were. This is what neuro diseases do to people."

And that's a tragedy; but what I find truly amazing is how it often opens doors to becoming a better person and friend to those who need one.

Like you Mariel You've had some major challenges in your life and yet here you are, compassionately taking the time to help others with theirs.
Thanks. It means more than I can say .

With love, Erika