Hi Monique - sometimes it can be hard to decide how painful a joint actually is because we adapt and our brain gets used to it - it's called habituation. With the DAS score, the nurse looks at each individual joint and presses them to see how painful it is. I find that quite often joints don't hurt when they are pressed, but they hurt like hell when they bear weight (esp feet, ankles, knees,etc). At first I kept undervalueing the pain so my DAS seemed really low, but then I realised that I was giving a false impression, so I started to be more pessimistic. Now I've done it a few times it's slightly easier to compare how I feel now versus a few months ago - but it's far from an exact science.
I find it more relevant to compare what I can do with the joint - especially my hands and feet and elbows. I compare how easy it is to do the hand exercises that the OT gave me, and also whether I can stand on my toes and balance - that has steadily improved over the past 6 months, and I keep track of whether I can fully straighten my arms (that seems to vary day by day, so it must be inflammation doing that)
If you've got underlying joint damage then there is always likely to be some pain, but hopefully you will gradually notice that the inflammation gets less and so the pain from that will diminish as the meds do their job. It's not straightforward and there'll be ups and downs along the way!!! Good luck -Sylvia xx
Be kinder than is necessary because everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle
