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Heat or cold for new morning pain?

What do you guys do when you wake up to a new and painful joint thing? I have my usuals, and can get that all to settle down within an hour or so.

But then I'll wake up with something new that I blame on whatever (helping move 4 sheets of paneling, not heavy but a weird large size...or some other lame thing I did which my new body can't take)
Two weeks ago it was heel pain, which hasn't left yet. Couldn't come up with any reason for that one. lol. Two days ago, my lower back/hips hurt every time I tried to turn over in bed. Who knows.

Today, I woke up and my neck is SO stiff and sore. I did nothing weird yesterday. I'm used to the one most people get...sleep wrong and it hurts to turn your head to one side for a couple days.

This is different. It hurts at the base of my neck most, but radiating out. Looking sideways and up is only slightly limited, but I can't look down at all.

I have a rock concert tonight. Hour drive into the city. I need to feel better. I made SURE I went to bed early, got enough sleep, but not too much. Planned nothing strenuous for today, planned healthy meals for fatigue. Got my good shoes with inserts ready.

Then I wake up and dang if something new doesn't hurt. How best can I deal with this? Heat? Cold? I will take an OTC anti inflammatory, but am afraid to take my Meloxicam, b/c I usually take that at night, so not sure if it makes me tired.

I'm so confused by how RA works (if I indeed have that or something like). Are you just more prone to hurting if you do something that wouldn't bother most people? Like if I slept on my pillow wrong? Or carrying Walmart bags, instead of using a cart?

Or is it the RA disease itself causing pain (like hip pain one night, then right elbow worse, then neck pain the next?) and it doesn't matter what I do? I always try to find a reason for what hurts....sometimes I can't find one.

Until I get a true diagnosis, I feel like I am at the mercy of some unknown force....never sure how I will feel or what I can commit to.

But for right now, how can I make this better?

  1. Sorry you are having these issues mamadee. RA can absolutely rear it's head in unexpected ways. You mention neck issues - in this article one of our contributors discusses when she gets those random neck pains: https://rheumatoidarthritis.net/living/creepy-creaking-neck/. Also, you mention activities that didn't seem to cause problems before now leading to pain. I, obviously, can't say if RA is the cause or for that matter what might be the cause, however, this article offers thoughts from our community on what to do about an activity hangover: https://rheumatoidarthritis.net/living/how-do-you-overcome-an-ra-activity-hangover/. Hope this information is helpful and that you enjoy the concert. Best, Richard (RheumatoidArthritis.net Team)

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