I have heard and read that lupus pain is usually on both sides of the body....both elbows, both knees, etc. But lately, I'm having pain on the left side of my back and left shoulder and arm. Does this mean that it's likely not lupus related? My malar rash started flaring up too, which made me wonder if if it's the lupus, except that it seems odd to just be on one side?
One-sided pain
1 - 6 of 6 Posts
Hi there 
My understanding of the pain on "both" sides is that yes, it is on both sides, as in not ONLY one side but that it doesn't have to be present at the SAME time on both sides...
I often have pain in one knee one day (or a few) then it might be the other knee, or hip or wrist or whatever... things come and go quite a lot for me apart from a general feeling of stiffness and muscle ache all over.
I think we had another thread about this some time back. I'll see if I can find it.
Katharine
My understanding of the pain on "both" sides is that yes, it is on both sides, as in not ONLY one side but that it doesn't have to be present at the SAME time on both sides...
I often have pain in one knee one day (or a few) then it might be the other knee, or hip or wrist or whatever... things come and go quite a lot for me apart from a general feeling of stiffness and muscle ache all over.
I think we had another thread about this some time back. I'll see if I can find it.
Katharine
I'm not sure your age or medical history... but pain on the left side that extends into the arm and shoulder can be a sign of heart trouble. If this is new and sudden onset then I think it's in your best interest to go to a doctor and get checked out. It's probably unlikely to be related to your heart, but better to be safe than sorry.
Good luck and please write back with an update when you know something...
Good luck and please write back with an update when you know something...
Thanks for the link...that was a helpful thread and very interesting. I do have mostly symmetrical joint pain, but this particular one is left only, so I'm not sure what to think about it. My doctors don't seem sure either. At first it just felt like knotted up muscles in my upper back, but muscle relaxers have done nothing for it. Then the pain got worse, and I wonder if it could be nerve pain or a pinched nerve or something.
I did think of the heart possibility, but it really doesn't seem like that kind of pain since the shoulder joint seems inflamed and sore/painful to the touch. Also, i haven't had any other heart symptoms like lightheadedness, nausea, claminess, etc. My rheum. did do a chest x-ray to make sure it wasn't my lungs. For now I'm just on pain pills, but if it doesn't subside soon, I'd like to figure out what is causing it and try to treat the the cause instead of just easing the symptoms. Sometimes it does feel like something is going to explode under my arm, but the doc didn't feel any nodules or anything.
I did think of the heart possibility, but it really doesn't seem like that kind of pain since the shoulder joint seems inflamed and sore/painful to the touch. Also, i haven't had any other heart symptoms like lightheadedness, nausea, claminess, etc. My rheum. did do a chest x-ray to make sure it wasn't my lungs. For now I'm just on pain pills, but if it doesn't subside soon, I'd like to figure out what is causing it and try to treat the the cause instead of just easing the symptoms. Sometimes it does feel like something is going to explode under my arm, but the doc didn't feel any nodules or anything.
1 - 6 of 6 Posts
