One upmanship.

I got, because I am an old, white guy, Dupuytren's Contracture. Top that.

Meanwhile, is there a book I ought to read about it, or should I just forget about it until it causes trouble?

Robert

Sorry about that, Robert. Can you still type or do you have to pick out the letters on one finger?

My husband has a fairly advanced case of Dupuytren's and has the use of only three fingers on one hand. He types and has composed music so he can still play piano. Now my hands are showing beginning signs of the same thing.

Is yours just beginning or has it already advanced considerably?

I just skimmed a wiki article on this and it stated it happens frequently to men who are descended from the Vikings! so, you could just enjoy that association perhaps.

Meanwhile, as a suffer of Rheumatoid Arthritis, I can empathize with you. It is the sh..ts to get older. As they say, it is not for sissies.

The doctor who looked Korean but whose name, Shin, struck me as Chinese, did an aha! take when I told him I was celtic-teutonic. Eastern and northern Europeans are subject to this, he said.

I have a couple of lumps on the palm of my right left hand between the roots of my little finger and ring finger; they look pretty much as in the illustration in the brochure he gave me. It hurts briefly a few times a week, but there is no restriction in movement.

The doctor said that I should call him if any restriction in movement develops. Surgery will fix it, he said, but not necessarily permanently.

I had never heard of it, but, look, I got three responses. So I'm thinking there's more information somewhere, and I'm going looking for it.

Oh yeah. I have arthritis (probably, but maybe a torn meniscus) in my right knee, but Tylenol, physical therapy, and inertness keep that pain in check.

Robert

I hesitate to make recommendations because the medical school I went to didn't give me a diploma (NOT) - NO med school, no diploma

that said, I might try acupuncture if you can find a reputable one near you

I really got a lot of relief when I had a very bad hip with arthritis

Maggie

How bad is your RA? I have mild RA which medication keeps more or less in remission and consider myself lucky as my mother's was much worse! Our family seems to specialize in atypical forms of chronic illnesses.

Tricia

I am on the cusp of very mild symptoms and remission. I take Enbrel which I think has been very effective, and I still take some Methotrexate. I am off all my other medications. For a while, I was taking a bunch! What a drag. But the pain was worse so I soldiered on.

I don't know any one in my family with RA but truth be told I really don't know much about my mother's side but even less about my father' side.

I was diagnosed about 10 years ago and the first 2-3 years were the pits.

The hip arthritis was probably started when I fell off horses as a kid, and was probably osteo, but made worse by the RA. Ah, life!

Maggie1944 sayz, "Ah,life!"

Well, Maggie, consider the alternative!

BTW, I'm taking Methotrexate for my psoriasis. Did it make you sick while you were getting used to taking it?

no, I have had no difficulties with Methotrexate. A friend, a naturpath doc, was so upset when she heard I was taking it...but no problems.

Oh, I get a little heartburn now and then. And cramps in my legs. But I have no idea on what I should blame these minor bothers.

Each time my methotrexate prescription is increased (we're still working out the dosage required to clear my psoriasis) I get sick. I started taking 10 pills once a week, on Monday. By Tuesday evening I began to feel upset, by Wednesday morning I was pretty sick, by Thursday I was just about back to normal. This lasted for about six weeks. After a couple of months with no problems we increased the dosage to 15 pills a week and I went through the same experience. I'm not getting sick now, but I just wondered if that was your experience, also.

so what kind of sick? upset stomach? bowels? achey?

I use Pepcid Complete and it helps with the tummy.

I have to use Prilosec (10 mg OTC) to keep the acid acceptable and avoid heartburn. Otherwise the acid reflux is so bad my body doesn't let me swallow. Anyone over 60 with no health issues is really lucky.

I didn't use anything. It was a flu kind of weakness with an upset stomach. I just put up with it.

so if you are still plagued with not handling the methotrexate well please consider trying the Pepcid or some other stomach remedy. Really can help.

Thanks, I will.

I have moderate to severe carpal tunnel syndrome in my hands so, when I hold a book (among other activities like driving), my hands and fingers go numb. I just got the right hand fixed -- also including moving a badly compressed radial nerve in my elbow -- and I'm amazed with the results, even though I'm still healing. I'm going to have the left hand and elbow done in March since I've already met my medical deductibles. I hate being disabled but, really, I'm pretty fortunate.

I'm amazed by all you readers taking methotrexate. My youngest daughter took it as part of her chemo regimen for childhood cancer (a 16-year surviver!) but the dosages were followed by the administration of a rescue drug. It made her very very sick but so did the other two drugs she took. I'm not surprised taking 15 pills at one time would make one fell bad.

The amount of methotrexate I take is relatively small and I am constantly trying to reduce it. I will take one pill less in a week and watch to see what happens with the RA symptoms. If I just hurt too much, or am too stiff, or worry about joint damage, then I take that one pill back into the once a week dose. I recognize it is a powerful drug and watch carefully for side effects.

I don't really believe that there is anyone over 60 who doesn't have physical problems.

If nothing else, one has less energy and doing several things at more or less the same time is more difficult.

Message 20 -- I'm almost 62 and, although I weigh more each creeping year, I still feel young and agile and have no physical problems -- other than needing contact lenses to read. And my level of maturity is still at around age 12; I doubt that will change. Of course, I LOOK older, dammit, but I feel fortunate to still be in decent condition. All that hard work picking my ancestors must have helped.

Congratulations kageeh. Here's hoping that good luck continues for you and wishin' it was me. I am 63 and have two replaced hips, one surgically shortened foot due to a bunion, arthritis in my hands so they are weaker than they were, and rheumatoid arthritis which has various symptoms which come and go. But, you know, I still feel quite young and pretty much do any thing I feel like doing. The only think I truly will not do and I miss thinking I can do it is horseback riding.

Any way, good luck at staying active. It is much better than the alternative.

#21
Yes, I've noticed that I can no longer juggle 4 or 5 books at the same time. In fact, it's getting harder to keep up with 2 or 3. (especially with the TV set going & the computer turned on)

Actually, I have always found juggling to be beyond me. LOL

I will announce a talent. I find groups that haven't posted this year, don't notice that little fact, and join. Top that.

I am very impressed. My talent is watching TV news while I read LibraryThing threads. Very rare experience.

Never in my wildest dreams as a 30-something did I ever think I'd be interested in hearing about much less talking about this kind of stuff.

July is my birthday month. I'll be 62. I got arthritis in my feet which really sucks because I love(d) walking and hiking. Now my knees and ankles and hips and thumbs are starting up. I'm starting to do the Etta James Walk in the mornings and after I sit for awhile. Oh, yeah, and my jaws ache (TMJ). I really hate getting old, tho I admit that I prefer it to the alternative.

*grumble grumble*

Getting back to OP: how's your Dupuytren's Contracture coming along? I was told it usually develops very slowly, mine certainly did, it was about twenty years from me first asking a doctor what the lumps were and my fingers curling to the point where it was too annoying and I had the surgery. The operation is no big deal, it took maybe an hour. I couldn't see very well what was going on, but it seems pretty fiddly, I gather the difficulty is in dissecting the nerves out of the malformed cartilage without damaging them.

Thanks for asking. I have more bumps, but no less flexibility. I can feel an occasional twinge, but it is not severe enough to constitute pain.

I saw in my recentest Edward R. Hamilton catalog a book on Dupuytren's disease and am not sure that it is the same thing. I will likely recheck the price, and if it is cheap enough I'll get it on spec.

Robert

I think the names contracture,syndrome, and disease are all used pretty interchangably.

# 30: rdurick
I never had any pain, just the diminishing mobility as the fingers gradually curled. Maybe you're demanding more of your hand than I did of mine. Anyway, if you get to needing the surgery, go for it, it's nearly always OK.

Hey, you guys want to talk about what psyche meds do to your bowels?
Hmmmmmmmmm?????
Nah????? Gosh, didn't think so.

What kind of psyche meds?

clonazepam, cymbalta, and zolpidem.

Hmm, I haven't had to take anything like those. Yet. But I don't need to in order to have issues of the kind you mention in your post. Just need to eat a slice of pepperoni pizza or have some guacamole & chips & a margarita. Stuff like that just kills me anymore.