In reply to Ellie79:
Snap!
Over 18 months between first having the pain and it finally being diagnosed - put a big halt in my climbing (and also explained a few other joint problems I'd received treatment for in the past).
I'd had it braced up for a lot of that time and was in physio, which was just making it worse.
I wasn't told to quit climbing, although I'd barely done it in that time because it hurt and in lieu of having much of a clue of the cause I had thought it might be a climbing injury (I had been climbing 3-4 times a week when it started).
I was told, from what I remember, (my diagnosis was several years ago).
- Don't wear the brace, if you must then really restrict it, it will just make things worse and is probably a cause of why the pain is worse than it should be
- Listen to the pain, don't do things that hurt
- Work on strengthening joints, very slowly.
I've never fully got back into climbing, it's never not hurt and belaying hurts so indoors I only bother bouldering (I'll put up with the pain more outdoors where I like long routes, but I don't consider it worth it for indoor routes).
Things have got better, although it varies it's never got as painful as before my diagnosis when I was using a brace. At first I largely shifted to using my left hand to do things but then that started getting the same pain, still I use my left hand for a lot more things now than I used to t try and balance the load. I can put a lot more force through my wrist if it's completely straight - it hurts more to hold a pint than trying to do pull ups (which doesn't really cause a problem, sometimes I think it helps).
The thing I find best if it's playing up is ice, so I still kayak because I'm essentially floating on a giant ice pack and you'll often see me just dangling my hands in the water (although it usually hurts more afterwards than normal it's not too bad), similarly winter climbing if it starts to hurt then (if it's practical at the time) I'll remove my gloves and stick my wrist in the snow
The thing I find hardest is holding things - a pint of beer (if you're ever with me in a pub you'll notice me always trying to find somewhere to put it), a rope (belaying), a paddle (see above), a steering wheel (learnt to drive with my left hand instead and now have an automatic which makes it easier on both wrists and knees).
Small changes improve things: using a trackball mouse rather than a normal one (and a touchscreen when it was much worse (as I can use that easily with my left hand) although it's rarely bad enough to need that now) using a roller ball to write with rather than a ball point (ink flows more freely, less pressure required), keyboard with very easy to depress keys and probably a dozen other things I haven't even noticed.
Good luck, although I'm afraid it really, really sucks (and also sounds like a crap excuse for pain so a lot of people seem to not believe you when you can't do things with the explanation 'my wrist is floppy and that makes it hurt', maybe I need a better way of explaining things).