What exactly does arthritis feel like?

Can arthritis be a sharp shooting pain sometimes and at other times more of an "achey" feeling? 

I personally feel like I've been run over by a cement roller on my "normal" bad days.
On my really bad days I feel like the inflamed joint is literally burning.
On some days I have the general impression that every thing hurts but if you asked does your right arm hurt I would say no, well then does your left arm hurt-again no. Nothing specific hurts but I hurt all over. I know there is no logic in that statement but that is how I feel some days.
Of course since my rhuemy did not take me off steroids on monday like I thought she would I still don't hurt at all. I feel fantastic.
Hope this helps.

Hey indigo... short answer to your question is yes.. it can feel like what you described.. it also feels differently for many people.. have you been diagnosed with anything?

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Moderator of Arthritis Forum

On my regular non-flare up days, the joints that are hurting feel like they are stuck in mid crack. Like when you crack your knuckles. And if I use that joint, it feels like its litterally going to break or snap. During a flare up with swelling, its totally differant. Its a constant burning, ripping pain it takes my breath away. If I even move the effected joint, the pain at times is so bad it makes me vomit, scream, cry like i just broke something.

The pain is extensive, often excruciating...movement is often impossible, although non-movement makes it worse. Do you know what it feels like to get a kink in your neck? Imagine what it would be like to be unable to get rid of that kink. To be unable to move your neck to get rid of the pain or ease the muscles. That is arthritis in a nutshell. Except that it can be anywhere...spine, neck, hips...etc.
It burns with a hot fiery poker which runs along the affected bones, while the muscles spasm in order to attempt to relieve the imbalance which occurs from the twisting of bone into unnatural shapes...anyway that has been my experience.
My son's is worse.

Hey indigo.. as you can see.. arthritis takes many forms when it comes to pain.. it effects us all differently.. and due to everyone having different pain tolerances, we feel it differently.. how are you doing?

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Moderator of Arthritis Forum

Thanks for your replies everyone! 

I still get the shooting pains and if I sit too long, when I try to move, I am stiff and it is painful.  It is hard to get moving again, to be honest.  I feel like my grandmother could probably get up and get moving quicker than I could!  Can anyone relate to feeling that way?

I have not been diagnosed with arthritis but my doctor does think I have the beginnings of Crohn's Disease and arthritis is one of the things that can happen with it.

Also on my dad's side, many relatives have RA.  My grandfather had it, a couple of my uncles are getting it, my cousin has had it since she was 3. 

It is weird--I went from being completely healthy most all of my life to having problems that started almost a year ago. 

 

indigo-
The stiffness upon rising after sleeping or after sitting for a while is so common there is a name for it-the gell phenomonon. I always describe it by saying my knees feel like a fire door that has been forced open to fast. I have to pause and let the preasure equalize before I can finish opening my knee.
For me the paquenil and sulindac help a lot with that aspect of the disease.
Sj

I'm glad i found this site because i've been thinking i must be losing my mind talking to doctors about my pain.    nothing specific hurts but i hurt ALL OVER my body; yes, someplaces more than others , but there is not a single spot on my body that doesn't hurt.   Try explaining that to a doctor

hi clam- dont know if your still on line but yes many of us have RA and no rafactor. you need to have other tests to confirm a dx. for me i had an elevated ana creative protein and sed rate. plus cbc was off and other things. anyway these test show the inflammation in your system and for me xrays finished the confirmation showing my synovium either inflammed or deteriated.

we are glad you found us too! there are all tupes of arthritis on this site and many peps just like you who take sometime months or even years to get properly diagnosed... do you have a rhuemmy?

keep us posted yally

hi clam- dont know if your still on line but yes many of us have RA and no rafactor. you need to have other tests to confirm a dx. for me i had an elevated ana creative protein and sed rate. plus cbc was off and other things. anyway these test show the inflammation in your system and for me xrays finished the confirmation showing my synovium either inflammed or deteriated.

we are glad you found us too! there are all tupes of arthritis on this site and many peps just like you who take sometime months or even years to get properly diagnosed... do you have a rhuemmy?

keep us posted yally

Mine is a lot like Morticia's.  I am actually relieved to see that the pain does move around throughout the day!  I thought I was nuts! (or more nuts than normal!)

HI YALINDA, yes i do have a rheummy now. i had graves' disease which was a thyroid disease and just had thyroidectomy in october '07. feeling great since that came out. years prior (10yrs ago) when i was first dx'd with arthritis, i had high sed rate but nothing showed up in the arthritis tests and definitely neg on the RA factor. now that i'm 10yrs older, the sed rate is higher than before, CRP is elevated and so i'm seeing same rhem doc i saw before next week for further tests.

i'm using neuprin 2tabs 2xdaily and that seems to help quite a bit. i am absolutely amazed on how that arthritis pain can be all over your body one day, and then next day just in hips and shoulders and one knee like mine is today. well i'm glad now to know this is not unusual. and now that the storm that hit arizona has finally hit, suddenly i have only minimal pain; last 3 days however i was absolutely miserable.

thanks everyone, have a great memorial day weekend. stay SAFE!

hi, clam!  I'm new to this site and found it by typing in Baromatric Pressure.  I have a lot of the same pain that you have and it seems to vary according to the weather.  I have days when I don't want to move and cannot explain this hurt to anyone but the feeling of being hit by a MAC truck seems to discribe it better than anything else.  The some days are specific areas that hurt.  Not a definite hurt but an achy, flu type of feeling.  I am going to a massage therapist who does a Deep Muscle Massage and it hurts like h... but after a few days I am up and going as strong as I can expect.  But I have to take muscle relaxers to get the best relief 1 hr before the massage.  NO ONE understands why one day I am fine (moving around,etc) and the next day I cannot move freely.  They think I am making this up.  I am so glad I found others that are experincing the same as me and in the same breath am sorry that others have my same pain.  I haven't spoken to a dr because I knew I can't explain this and felt sort of silly not being able to explain my pain.  I had a really bad fall in high school and a blamed this for my problems.  But, this additional pain just strarted about a year ago. confused!

Mine feels like a flu ache. Would that be normal?

I recently had meniscus surgery and my pain is worse (altho different) than before, they say I have moderate arthritis in my knee. If this is moderate, God help anyone who have severe. I asked the question was does arthritis pain feel like because I keep thinking this pain must be coming from a post surgery problem. Once I read your posts, I guess what I am feeling is arthritis. Sometimes it aches, but sometimes it a shooting pain and always I am unable to climb stairs without a great deal of pain (actually, more pain going down the stairs).
The main thing I can't figure out is, should I be stretching and bending more to help it, becasue as someone noted, the more you use it it seems to hurt, not help.

I've had arthritis since I was 7. It was in my feet then and slowly and totally took over most joints. Some joints feel hot and achy and
others if they get touched they would discintrigate. The barometric pressure is a definate factor is what I have as right now I have
a major flare with the storm front below us in VA and DC. It's effected me since forever. I also have fibro so it's kinda like double
your pleasure, double your pain?!? I've gotten off all dr drugs except darvacet when nothing else helps by using herbals. Last year I
said I've had enough and stopped going to the dr and went to the herbal shop and got a body builder who got me on some new
stuff. After 47 years of pain I said enough. I found my Dad was about 7 when he got it and my grandaughter showed signs at 9,
a nephew was diagnosed at 2 and another was a teenager. Unfortunately, this disease does not discriminate with the ages of
it's victims.

Hi Indigo,

I remember exactly when my pain started and it was a very sharp pain on the top of my foot.   Then it moved to my leg and I could hardly get out of bed one morning, thinking I had a blood clot or something.     For awhile it moved around and there are days I do feel achey all over but for the most part mine has affected me mostly in my knees, feet and hands.   Sometimes my shoulders ache too.    Since I've been on the Humira have had a lot less pain especially in my knees and ankles.    I had quite a bit of deformity in my right hand before I started on the Humira so that is really my worse spot.  Even that is tolerable with the Humira.     It's a strange disease for sure and I think a lot of things play into it - the weather and stress are two t hings that affect me the most.

Hope you find some medication that helps.

Alicat

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psoriatic arthritis, peripheal artery disease

Hi...I don't know if I have arthritis or not, but a few people told me the symptoms I have may be of arthritis. I'm glad I found this site, maybe someone can help me with a clarification. Sometimes it feels like I have knots in my back and all of a sudden that part will start hurting as if something sharp is hitting me in the back. Pretty much a sharp pain in the back and then I'l sort of feel a burning sensation down my left arm, sometime as if it maybe numb but it's not. And then the pain going down begings to format into something sharper. It really scares me, because from whatever knowledge I have of symptoms like that, I think heart attack or stroke. And then I freak out. I don't feel weakness but it is very uncomfortable from the back through to the arm. I think when im in the A/C or my arms are exposed to wind, I feel it more. But my first reaction is heart attack. I have felt this a few times, sometimes im told it's arthritis and other times im told it's anxiety. But I get scared and think Heart problems, cause it sounds kind of similar. Am I just crazy or has someone else felt this too. And if not do you guys think what I feel is arthritis. It kinda worsens with computer use or lack of sleep. It's just frustrating, cause I am always been very healthy and am now encountering the weirdest pains and it's all so frustrating for me to battle and figure out. I usually take tylenol and sometimes massage my back and arms with vicks. But other days I cry in panick that could I be having a heart attack and my family thinks I over react. Those sharp pains that start in the back and then shoot down ur arm is very scary. Any help????

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Post Edited (Kathryn Obraien) : 5/23/2011 7:11:28 AM (GMT-6)

Mine started out that way, aching a lot of the time. I also had shooting pains, that were gone quickly. My doctors would scratch their heads and try to look sympathetic. I had a few swollen joints that didn't hurt real bad. It got worse, quite fast. Now, as someone else mentioned, the aching is constant and usually feels like you either have the flu or were hit by a truck. I actually think the malaise is worse than the joint pain. At least with the joint pain you can try to go easy on the joint, but the achiness all over seems to never stop.

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April Rose

At times my toes get the feeling like someone stomped on them a minute ago.
My elbows will have a constant ache that gets worse if something touches them.
My hands will puffy up at the knuckles and they hurt if something touches them. At times I can't hold a pen and write neatly.
I have attacks of knee pain and back pain.
Then the crippling fatigue that brings shaking and trembling muscles with no warning whatsoever.
Let's not forget the dull headaches and sore neck from swollen glands. :(
I never know when it's going to hit me with one or more of these aggrevations.

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Joy

Hurtful, I started out similar to what you are describing. Ill admit that heartattack never crossed my mind. I grew up with a disabled mother, so I instantly thought heredity. After my diagnosis, I began Methotrexate. I was not getting any relief. It was about month 4 when I got an upper respitory infection. I had family staying with me for a week due to it being Labor Day. The first night that I was home alone, I woke up with this intense chest pain that led me to call my mother in law immediately. While she was on her way to pick me up and take me to the ER, more symptoms became apparent. I was sweating profusely, freezing, running a low fever, shaking, couldnt sit, couldnt lay, couldnt pace or stand. I found the most comfort laying on the bathroom floor rocking back and forth. I felt like i needed to keep moving, but moving hurt worse. I was so short of breathe that when I called my mother in law, all I could say was "cant breathe...something wrong...come get me". I was scared sh**less. I thought about calling 911, but she was already on the way. Right before she arrived, I stood up to make my way to the front door to unlock it. On may way back to the bathroom, I vomited all over. I immediately began feeling better. We did not go to the ER because I thought I was crazy and I thought they would think I was crazy. She slept on my couch and I watched TV all night in my room. I couldnt sleep. Went to the Dr. the next morning and after many tests, found out it was my stomach. Either an ulcer or something along those lines. Needless to say, I am now on Nexium and was immediatly taken off of the Indocin that was believed to cause this event. I wouldnt wish that night to occur to anyone...even my absolute worst enemy. That night, I thought I was having a heart attack. It stills seem so vivid.

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Ulcerative Colitis 1988, had colon removed and now jpouch
Now sufer from sacroiliitis and inflammation of piriformis muscle causing sciatica like pain during flare ups. Joints very bad...take celebrex when needed.