I took a day off from my Ketoprofen yesterday to see if going back on it again today would trigger another inflated-lip episode. I was super anxious that going off the Ketoprofen would make my hands swell up to the size of regulation footballs, but nope. No extra swelling or drastically reduced range of motion than when I'm on the Ketoprofen. It even took the same amount of time to make a fist in the morning. I had a bunch more pain, sure, but the swelling in my hands didn't go up. The swollen lip remained mostly the same all day.
Today, I woke up with my lip only slightly swollen. Just barely different from the other side. I started taking the Ketoprofen again--my normal twice a day dose--and no lip swelling. And the pain is way down. Pretty cool.
I'm no expert, but I take this to mean:
1. I am likely not allergic to the Ketoprofen and the swelling
a. was/is due to pollen *keeping fingers crossed for this one* OR
b. is a new region swelling up like my hands. (boo, I vote no on this option)
2. The Ketoprofen definitely reduces the joint pain in my hands
a. I was miserable without it, flinching and guarding my hands all the time
3. The Ketoprofen doesn't do much for the swelling or my hand mobility. I feel I can have two reactions to this.
a. Oh shit. *insert crazed stress-filled rant here* OR
b. Oh-kay. So keep up with your hand stretches and be happy the meds work for the pain. You don't really NEED to be able to touch your fingers to your forearm, do you?
4. I vote for the second reaction. Here goes.
Hand stiffness using middle finger has measure
Time: 10:22 PM
L
Can touch forearm? no, about an inch off
Angle of extension of the center joint of finger: 50º
Angle of extension of the last joint of finger: 120º
R
Can touch forearm? 4 inches off. Yowch!
Angle of extension of the center joint of finger: 35º
Angle of extension of the last joint of finger: 100º
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