- Joined
- 20-Jun-2003
- Messages
- 2,172
- Age
- 51
- Gender
- Female
I've been taking this new medication for my arthritis. It works pretty well on the pain I experience in my feet-- I can actually walk and be on my feet all day, for the most part with only minimal pain.
However, over the past couple of weeks, I've noticed that my right hand has been experiencing pins and needles-like feeling, and general numbness. And depending on how i have my arm resting, the sensation intensifies (note, while sitting on a cramped subway chair). I've also lost the ability to make a fist, or to even close my palm to grip things-- muscle weakness.
And yesterday, I ran out of my medication. So I had to default to four doses of 800 mg of Ibuprofen to make it through my work day. It was tolerable. I had a mild migraine too-- this may or may not be related.
This morning, I woke up with another side effect of my medication: Thunderclap headaches. For anybody who hasn't ever gotten the misfortune of experiencing one of these, it's difficult to describe. Imagine your entire head, from the inner center of your brain EXPLODING with radiating, dull and fuzzy, and sharp, and edgy pain, constantly throbbing every few seconds. Shutting your eyes only makes it worse. The only thing that make the pain diminish is to GET UP and MOVE, to increase your activity level. Or maybe it was the super hot shower that relieved the intensity.
But my body as a whole. Oh. My. God. My feet are throbbing in pain. I can barely put any weight on them. My right knee-- the one that I slammed on the concrete two weeks in a row a few years ago slipping on some ice in a parking lot... that aches with agony. I can barely lift my legs at all. My right arm, is mostly numb. Constant pins and needles, and I absolutely can NOT close my fist this morning. So making the bed is out of the question.
Meanwhile, my left hand is pretty useless because of a work injury that damaged my thumb. That's right, I've got a sore thumb that sticks out, and ANY touching it causes incapacitating pain that stops me dead in my tracks. This wound is a week old now. It's still healing, I'd say is probably about 50% healed by now, but it still hurts to the touch.
So I messaged my Rheumatologist about the numbness yesterday. I had already set up an appointment with my Primary Care Practitioner earlier in the week, but that's slated for November 12. It's October 28 today. That's a LONG time to be partially functional. And today, I'm considering calling out from work, because the pain is too much. And I can't do that because I won't be able to afford rent. I'll be like $80 short. So I HAVE to go to work and be in absolute agony until at least 19:00 (7 pm) tonight, when I can take my boots off, strip out of this uncomfortable uniform, and sit-- but only for like five minutes, because then I gotta make dinner!
Anyway, so those are the side effects I'm experiencing with Indomethacin ER 75 mg at twice a day. Been on this medication for two months now, and this is where I'm at. The good news, if you can call it that, is that I should have my refill today, but the question I have to ask myself is, "Do I really want to continue with the numbness in my right hand all the time, and the damn headaches?"
Do you take any medication that has bizarre side effects?
However, over the past couple of weeks, I've noticed that my right hand has been experiencing pins and needles-like feeling, and general numbness. And depending on how i have my arm resting, the sensation intensifies (note, while sitting on a cramped subway chair). I've also lost the ability to make a fist, or to even close my palm to grip things-- muscle weakness.
And yesterday, I ran out of my medication. So I had to default to four doses of 800 mg of Ibuprofen to make it through my work day. It was tolerable. I had a mild migraine too-- this may or may not be related.
This morning, I woke up with another side effect of my medication: Thunderclap headaches. For anybody who hasn't ever gotten the misfortune of experiencing one of these, it's difficult to describe. Imagine your entire head, from the inner center of your brain EXPLODING with radiating, dull and fuzzy, and sharp, and edgy pain, constantly throbbing every few seconds. Shutting your eyes only makes it worse. The only thing that make the pain diminish is to GET UP and MOVE, to increase your activity level. Or maybe it was the super hot shower that relieved the intensity.
But my body as a whole. Oh. My. God. My feet are throbbing in pain. I can barely put any weight on them. My right knee-- the one that I slammed on the concrete two weeks in a row a few years ago slipping on some ice in a parking lot... that aches with agony. I can barely lift my legs at all. My right arm, is mostly numb. Constant pins and needles, and I absolutely can NOT close my fist this morning. So making the bed is out of the question.
Meanwhile, my left hand is pretty useless because of a work injury that damaged my thumb. That's right, I've got a sore thumb that sticks out, and ANY touching it causes incapacitating pain that stops me dead in my tracks. This wound is a week old now. It's still healing, I'd say is probably about 50% healed by now, but it still hurts to the touch.
So I messaged my Rheumatologist about the numbness yesterday. I had already set up an appointment with my Primary Care Practitioner earlier in the week, but that's slated for November 12. It's October 28 today. That's a LONG time to be partially functional. And today, I'm considering calling out from work, because the pain is too much. And I can't do that because I won't be able to afford rent. I'll be like $80 short. So I HAVE to go to work and be in absolute agony until at least 19:00 (7 pm) tonight, when I can take my boots off, strip out of this uncomfortable uniform, and sit-- but only for like five minutes, because then I gotta make dinner!
Anyway, so those are the side effects I'm experiencing with Indomethacin ER 75 mg at twice a day. Been on this medication for two months now, and this is where I'm at. The good news, if you can call it that, is that I should have my refill today, but the question I have to ask myself is, "Do I really want to continue with the numbness in my right hand all the time, and the damn headaches?"
Do you take any medication that has bizarre side effects?
