Don't assume anything is normal. I made a comment to my dr about how well the gabapentin works with the pain in my hands. She instantly ordered an MRI and they found that I had bone spurs on my spine and I also had stenosis - where the column where the nerves go through is closing. I ended up having a cortisone epidural in my neck. The pain is already back. I can have up to teo more cortisone injections and then the next stop is surgery to open up the hol in the center so my nerves are no linger pinched.

All of this because I thought something was normal. Don't assume - check with your doctor.

You have to be very careful with steroids. They are a wonder drugs with horrible side effects. Like the response before me, she will never be off steroids. They destroy your adrenal glands. Look up adrenal insufficiency. If you go off of steroids after being on them for a long time, your body does not make the hormones your body needs to handle stress. My doctors found this out when I went into surgery. My blood pressure bottomed out and they could not raise it. It caused my heart to stop. This lasted for 30 minutes. I now need stress dose steroids before every surgery.

You might need gabapentin for the numbness in your hands. I have damage to my neck and that has caused nerve damage. Nerve damage feels like tingling numbness. When it is bad it feels like electricity. Ask your dr

Hope this helps

So many issues from RA! It is a wretched disease! I know we all have things it has affected. I have days that I hurt so much but can't even define where it hurts. The mess we take help with flares but do so much to the rest of our bodies. It does sometimes make you feel like quitting the mess, saying I quit, and just laying down. But that's when that one little inner voice speaks up and reminds you that you are NOT a quitter. Hope you all have a good day that is pain free and restful.

Hand , wrist, ankle, foot pains. Bone spurs in my fingers. Damaged ligaments in my finger that I couldn't bend. The fatigue is horrible. I felt like I aged 10 yrs in just months. It took 6 Drs & 7 months before I was diagnosed seronegative for RA. It's been almost 5 yrs since my symptoms started, I'm still getting used to this new me. I am better, although some days are tough. The flares still come & go. Take care of yourself, & never feel guilty, just give in to the flare & rest.

I have a couple of fingers on both hands that are partially numb, and spots on my elbows. My PCP says it's nerve damage related to joint destruction.... I've been to a neurologist and he checked me over and said that I have numerous numb places on my body and he feels like all of them are a side-effect of RA, complications, etc. Seems there is no end to the problems RA can cause.