Thursday, July 03, 2008

What I Don't Know About Arthritis . . . Can Ruin My Nights

I have had a few miserable nights lately due to arthritis pain. I wake up in the middle of the night with really horrible pain in my joints, especially my hands and feet. Last night it was worst in my fingers. It hurts to the point that I can't get back to sleep.

It makes me wonder if I'm doing something wrong in the evenings, or there isn't something I could be doing to make my nights better. So I did some Internet research today and found this site. It describes some over the counter remedies I can try to help with the pain I am experiencing in the night (from something as simple as a hot bath before bed to using something like Biofreeze on my painful hands in the middle of the night. I have used it after exercise but never thought to try it for pain in the night.

Another thing I found in another article was that taking red pepper capsules or ginger root capsules might be helpful, but I want to talk to my Dr. before I try either of those without talking to someone who has tried either of them.

Another suggestion was acupuncture, but I haven't got a clue where to find an acupuncturist in Destin, so I think I will table that for a while as well.

So, maybe I will take a nice hot bath before I go to bed tonight, and keep my tube of Biofreeze on the nightstand. If I wake up in the middle of the night with hands that hurt like blazes I will try spreading some Biofreeze on them. What can it hurt?

Maybe I will even get back to sleep a little easier.

Pax

1 comment:

Suzanne said...

I'm so sorry you hurt. I didn't realize you get like that. Does something you eat affect it more, by any chance? I was just wondering.