u/Motor-Bug-9774

Hi,

Anyone here have rheumatoid and dequervaine tendonitis? How was your treatment? Did you get the tendon release surgery? How did you respond to it?

I'm spiralling/conflicted.....

I developed Dequervaine this January after doing heavy cleaning. It occurred spontaneously and both wrist swelled up. I was then diagnosed with rheumatoid after not responding to conservative treatment. Now the RA meds (hydroxychloroquine and metroxate) are helping so much that I feel I'm back to 85% better, and getting my strength back. I just have some stiffness in the dequervaine area.

I was recommended for surgery by the orthopedic surgeon, but my rheumatologist and PCP advised against it for now since I am responding well to the RA meds. My rheumatologist and PCP said do the surgery if it's unbearable because I'll always have rheumatoid in my wrist even after the surgery.

Idk what to do now. My surgeon is ready to do the surgery whenever I say yes. Please help me make sense of this.

Hi again!!

So I til today I was thinking to schedule my surgery. I called and left a message to schedule.

But then... I feel like my 2nd cortisone shot finally kicked in after 4 weeks. I feel less pain, got my strength back (can pick up my daughter, open a water bottle, cut veggies, stir). Not back to how I was before DQ, but good enough to get my life back. I have slight pain afterwards, but manageable.

I can move my wrist and thumb. BUT there is tightness and little pain around where the DQ is but not around the tendon sheath. There is no inflammation around the tendon sheath. I didn't the Finkelstein test and there is no pain, just stiffness/tightness.

What should I do?? I'm spiralling again. Please help!!

I want the surgery but fear is setting in.

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I got the second shot 7 days ago and it is still painful. I am praying that I feel some relief. I was almost pain-free when I went for my send shot.

I was told the 2nd shot will help me left hand while it might not help with my right (dominant hand). I think they are right.

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I can get the surgery scheduled after July 8. I am scared it'll worsen my pain, I'm scared it will go wrong and disable me or developing carpal tunnel or other issues. I'm scared it'll be worse while I feel like I'm recovering slowly. I'm screaming in fear and spiralling.. anxiety medicine is not helping.

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Sorry for the vent.

Hi everyone,

I've posted before and now I'm spiralling so I apologize for this long message. Please help me!!!

I'm a mom of a toddler dealing with bilateral DQ for about 6 months. I had my first cortisone injection 3 months ago and am scheduled for a second next week.

I'm about 85% better than before the first injection, but I still can't comfortably drive, lift weights, pick up my daughter normally. I can move my thumb and wrist little bit without pain. Sudden movement shoots up pain. I have been massaging and exercising it.

I am going crazy deciding to go with surgery and hope this is FIXED. or would it fix me or would it make my pain worse since I'm slowly getting better. I just want my life back. I heard mixed responses saying "avoid surgery if you can get better with a shot" or get the surgery and be done.

My biggest concern is ending up in more pain or making things worse when I feel like I'm slowly improving. Right now, I'm leaning toward getting the second injection and giving it another 4–6 weeks before deciding on surgery. If you were in a similar situation, how did you decide when it was time to move forward with surgery?

What made you decide it was time?

Were you still improving when you chose surgery?

Did you try one or two injections first?

Do you wish you'd done it sooner?

How long was recovery before returning to normal activities?

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for some advice and personal experiences from those who have had surgery for De Quervain's tenosynovitis.

I'm a mom of a toddler, and I've been dealing with this for about six months now. I have to start my college next summer because I deferred it due to my DQ. The good news is that I am much better than I was before my first cortisone injection three months ago. I have more movement and can do more daily activities, but I'm still not back to normal.

I still have pain throughout the day (usually with unexpected movements), and I cannot comfortably drive or put pressure on my thumb. While I've improved significantly, I'm wondering whether surgery is something I should seriously consider.

I'm scheduled for a second cortisone injection next week, and I'm debating whether to move forward with that and wait another few weeks to see if it helps before scheduling surgery.

For those who ended up having surgery:

What made you decide it was time for surgery?

Did you try one or two cortisone injections first?

Do you wish you had the surgery sooner, or are you glad you waited?

What was the surgery experience like?

What type of anesthesia did you have?

How much preparation was involved beforehand?

How difficult was recovery, especially if you have young children?

How long did it take before you felt relief and could return to normal activities?

I'd especially love to hear from other parents who had to manage recovery while caring for young kids.

At this point, I'm torn because I am improving, but progress feels slow. Part of me thinks I should get the second injection and give it 4–6 weeks before making a decision, but I'd really appreciate hearing how others approached this decision.

Thank you for sharing your experiences!

I am so disappointed. I had very little for over a week and I felt like I'm finally improving and "pain free" without naproxen..but today, it got so cold outside and I'm in so much pain. I don't know of the cold caused this pain but I was fine when it was warm outside. 😭😭😭😭

Hi,

I'm 30yrs old and was diagnosed with carpal tunnel 10 yrs ago by my then PCP.

I went to my PCP complaining about wrist pain when I type for long and it's only on my dominant hand. They quickly diagnosed me with carpal tunnel and told me to wear a brace as needed. I used a brace for 10 years. Flare ups felt like a burning sensation and the brace helped.

Now 10 yrs later, I was diagnosed with dequervaine and rheumatoid arthritis, and my orthopedic surgeon had me tested for carpal tunnel so they can do my dequervaine and carpal tunnel surgery together.....guess what!!!! I never had carpal tunnel. And I didn't know there was a test for carpal tunnel. The doctor said " good news - you don't have carpal tunnel. Bad news - we don't know why you've had pain for 10 years." WHAT!!!!???!??? Now I can barely use my had because of wrist pain and dequervaine. What as I supposed to do????

I finally got my MRI done and results came back confirming DQ. But my Ortho didn't say anything about wrist sprain. I forgot to ask as well. I felt relieved and made up my mind to have surgery instead of the second shot in 6 weeks. Also getting tested for carpal tunnel.

Any of you have wrist pain, immobility, along with DQ?