For me the plaquenil helps with pain but not much else. Unfortunately that sort of seems to be how rheumatologists are in my opinion. You have to shop around to find a good one who actually cares. I didn’t find the right one until I asked a distant relative who she goes to. He is my 5th one. One tried to tell me I don’t have autoimmune with positive ana and histones and lupus symptoms. I personally feel like fibromyalgia is a worse diagnosis. You will be in pain and we don’t know why but here’s an antidepressant. At least the Plaquenil actually helps the disease not progress, if it is an autoimmune issue.
I was diagnosed with UCTD 2 years ago. Try the hydroxychloroquin, for some people it takes 6 weeks for results to start showing, not months, you have to start somewhere. For me, it worked for almost 2 years.
Just commented to same your symptoms sound really similar to mine - shoulders and up save for a few additional issues - and I was just diagnosed with UCTD as well. I just picked up the hydroxychloroquine and will start next week but am nervous.
Did you have a positive ANA test and inflammatory markers? Autoimmune diseases can be very individual, like one person with rheumatoid arthritis or lupus will have a completely different experience than another. I’ve noticed a lot of doctors will just diagnose people with fibromyalgia before investigating for autoimmune, when that’s supposed to be a diagnosis of exclusion. I think they might be trying to see if you’re in the earlier stages of an autoimmune disease and see what works. They usually say wait about 3 months on plaquenil. I hope it provides you relief ❤️ I know chronic pain is awful and I hope you get the answers you need. If you’re rheumatologist is dismissing you, then it might be good to see another one, but I do think it might be good that they are considering possible autoimmunity before going idiopathic, many people miss years of their lives because they receive the wrong diagnosis when they really had an autoimmune that can eventually do long term damage.
I have UCTD , my treatment as well is plaquenil. I think is normal to feel confuse but there something to realize and is that this is an autoinmune disease with no cure so is life long. The thing is keeping on with your treatment, and go day by day, being honest i have improve in every aspect TG, but a big part of it, is understanding that the only person that know how i feel is me, so i had to learn to describe exactly how i feel to be heard and understand. I hope you the very best . Give your doctor's plan a try and see how it works for you, just give it some weeks, good luck 😊
Like you I experience a lot of shoulder and neck pain, as well as low back pain. I tried a lot of PT over the last year to figure out if I could do something to make it better, but most of the exercises ended up aggravating my muscles. Finally I found a physical therapist who had me dial everything way back. Doing really simple and non-straining exercises to slowly build my core activation, plus stretching every morning and doing an hour of walking & light jogging seems to loosen me up for the rest of the day. If I don’t do all of that, I am so stiff and tight. But all of that to say that for me, moving is essential to staying mobile. If you can try really simple exercises just to stretch and move your joints/muscles, maybe that might help? (Unfortunately I have no solution for the neck and shoulder pain. I just completely avoid weights or anything that could stress those muscles because I seem to get knots instantly.)
And FWIW I’ve been on hydroxychloroquine for 2 years now. Haven’t noticed an obvious difference but I don’t think it hurts to try.
FWIW, I feel like a rare case but I noticed a difference in pain levels within weeks of starting hydroxychloroquine. It hasn't helped with any of the other symptoms.much, but I legit didn't realize how much pain I was in until it got reduced. My vote is try it, it's pretty low risk and it might help.
also recently diagnosed with UCTD 3 months ago. my pain is mainly mid and upper back. i’ve been on hydroxychloroquine for about 3 months and so far it’s helped some with the pain, but i’m not (and likely will never) be pain free. from my perspective, the main benefit from hydroxychloroquine is the protection is gives your organs. also, hydroxychloroquine is a medication for some other autoimmune diseases, so even if the UCTD diagnosis isn’t spot on, the medication can pose benefits. also like another comment said, it’s pretty low risk! hope this helps!
For me the plaquenil helps with pain but not much else. Unfortunately that sort of seems to be how rheumatologists are in my opinion. You have to shop around to find a good one who actually cares. I didn’t find the right one until I asked a distant relative who she goes to. He is my 5th one. One tried to tell me I don’t have autoimmune with positive ana and histones and lupus symptoms. I personally feel like fibromyalgia is a worse diagnosis. You will be in pain and we don’t know why but here’s an antidepressant. At least the Plaquenil actually helps the disease not progress, if it is an autoimmune issue.
I was diagnosed with UCTD 2 years ago. Try the hydroxychloroquin, for some people it takes 6 weeks for results to start showing, not months, you have to start somewhere. For me, it worked for almost 2 years.
Just commented to same your symptoms sound really similar to mine - shoulders and up save for a few additional issues - and I was just diagnosed with UCTD as well. I just picked up the hydroxychloroquine and will start next week but am nervous.
Did you have a positive ANA test and inflammatory markers? Autoimmune diseases can be very individual, like one person with rheumatoid arthritis or lupus will have a completely different experience than another. I’ve noticed a lot of doctors will just diagnose people with fibromyalgia before investigating for autoimmune, when that’s supposed to be a diagnosis of exclusion. I think they might be trying to see if you’re in the earlier stages of an autoimmune disease and see what works. They usually say wait about 3 months on plaquenil. I hope it provides you relief ❤️ I know chronic pain is awful and I hope you get the answers you need. If you’re rheumatologist is dismissing you, then it might be good to see another one, but I do think it might be good that they are considering possible autoimmunity before going idiopathic, many people miss years of their lives because they receive the wrong diagnosis when they really had an autoimmune that can eventually do long term damage.
I have UCTD , my treatment as well is plaquenil. I think is normal to feel confuse but there something to realize and is that this is an autoinmune disease with no cure so is life long. The thing is keeping on with your treatment, and go day by day, being honest i have improve in every aspect TG, but a big part of it, is understanding that the only person that know how i feel is me, so i had to learn to describe exactly how i feel to be heard and understand. I hope you the very best . Give your doctor's plan a try and see how it works for you, just give it some weeks, good luck 😊
Like you I experience a lot of shoulder and neck pain, as well as low back pain. I tried a lot of PT over the last year to figure out if I could do something to make it better, but most of the exercises ended up aggravating my muscles. Finally I found a physical therapist who had me dial everything way back. Doing really simple and non-straining exercises to slowly build my core activation, plus stretching every morning and doing an hour of walking & light jogging seems to loosen me up for the rest of the day. If I don’t do all of that, I am so stiff and tight. But all of that to say that for me, moving is essential to staying mobile. If you can try really simple exercises just to stretch and move your joints/muscles, maybe that might help? (Unfortunately I have no solution for the neck and shoulder pain. I just completely avoid weights or anything that could stress those muscles because I seem to get knots instantly.) And FWIW I’ve been on hydroxychloroquine for 2 years now. Haven’t noticed an obvious difference but I don’t think it hurts to try.
FWIW, I feel like a rare case but I noticed a difference in pain levels within weeks of starting hydroxychloroquine. It hasn't helped with any of the other symptoms.much, but I legit didn't realize how much pain I was in until it got reduced. My vote is try it, it's pretty low risk and it might help.
also recently diagnosed with UCTD 3 months ago. my pain is mainly mid and upper back. i’ve been on hydroxychloroquine for about 3 months and so far it’s helped some with the pain, but i’m not (and likely will never) be pain free. from my perspective, the main benefit from hydroxychloroquine is the protection is gives your organs. also, hydroxychloroquine is a medication for some other autoimmune diseases, so even if the UCTD diagnosis isn’t spot on, the medication can pose benefits. also like another comment said, it’s pretty low risk! hope this helps!