Rheumatoid Arthritis

[AmandaLeigh]

I have been having a lot of joint pain and swelling the past 3 months. This is something that has happened periodically for the past 10+ years. Most of my doctors have acted like I was crazy (as if I was looking for an excuse from school/work) to the point that I quit going to the doctor. I just moved and got a new doctor. I was able to get in to see him right when my symptoms started. He thinks I might have Rhuematoid Artritis. My blood tests are borderline, but my symptoms match pretty well. I am going to see a rheumatologist in 1.5 weeks. Are there any questions I should ask or be prepared to answer? What if he doesn't agree with my PCP?

Any advice on Dr's or general experiences would be appreciated.

[rubyslippers]

My mom has Rheumatoid Arthritis. It flares and then enters remission. It took her 4 years to get a positive blood test but she had symptoms the entire time. She's currently on meds to relieve the inflamation and has had stomach issues ever since going on medication. She found the most relief from Viox which is no longer available. I would suggest finding out what treatment path the Dr. would like to persue and then doing a bit of research on your own. My mom has lost 40 lbs in the last year and begun to do weight bearing exercise (many reps small weights) and that has made things bearable. Good luck.

[AmandaLeigh]

I don't think loosing weight would be an option for me, as I weigh less than 100lbs right now. Increasing exercise and lifting weights is something I will definately have to ask the doctor about, especially since I've been saying that I want to get more toned.

[carrie9142]

RA is trickier to diagnose. Most auto-immune diseases are, since symptoms can vary so much by individual and there is not always a definitive test.

I have had joint pain for awhile, and actually did get a positive ANA result. Which basically means that my blood showed inflammation. Yeah, I knew that. So I had to go see a rheumatologist. Mine wasn't great, truthfully, but that was more due to her personality. I should have realized since she is great friends with my FIL ;) That should have been my first clue!

She took a very detailed medical history going back years. Had me strip down and smushed on my joints...hard! She watched me walk, watched me sit. Then we did more bloodwork, and a buttload of X-rays. The xrays and bloodwork were normal. She told me I had fibromyalgia. Of course, my other dr told me definitively that I did not. Personally, I think FM is a garbage can diagnosis of 'you are a thin young woman who has chronic pain with no discernable cause. Let's call it...fibromyalgia!'

My only advice would be that you do your own research and listen to your body. We have to trust our doctors, but the only person who knows what is going on is you. If you don't feel like your pain is managed or they haven't found the right diagnosis, speak up! Good luck :) Let us know what you find out.

[camberne]

I was diagnosed with RA when I was 10 years old (27 years ago in May)... and had two surgeries on my left knee at that point. We're coming up on my worst time of the year - April & May are when I tend to have my worse flare-ups. My pain comes in two varieties for the most part - "cramps" in my joints when my joints are not liking what I'm doing (like the stitches you get in your side when you're running, but in your joints - tends to be quite inconvenient, like during sex), and then the shooting pains with the flare-ups.

I wear knee and ankle braces during flare-ups (my RA is in my knees, hips and ankles) and have started wearing them during my ballroom dancing lessons. If you can tolerate aspirin, Norwich Aspirin was always my favorite for taking the pains away. Celebrex was my wonder drug, and now they don't want to prescribe it... but I still have a few bottles left for my flares. Naprosyn doesn't work as well in my experience.

I don't know really of any questions to ask. Maybe about the glucosomine, which is supposed to be really good for building cartilidge back up. I haven't noticed any difference, but my husband says that it works for him (he doesn't have RA, but has joint pain from walking on concrete floors all day).

[AmandaLeigh]

Thanks for the input on some things to expect the doctor. I know even if the Rheumatologist tells me that nothing is wrong, that something is not right. I know its not normal for rings that used to be too large to get stuck on my fingers. I can barely grip pens or pencils and cannot lift anything heavy. My ankles and knees are pretty sore too, especially when I first get up - I walk like an old woman for the first hour or so. The doctor was recommended by my primary care physician, so I hope he is as good as him. My pcp has already stated that if the rheumatologist can't find anything that he will keep looking for a cause of all the pain.

[carrie9142]

I am in no way a doctor, but your symptoms sound like pretty classic RA.

I take Glucosamine for my joints as well. Don't know if it helps or not. I also take Tramadol (rx painkiller) and Gabapentin (rx for nerve pain) but my issue isn't really joint related.

[camberne]

I didn't think about it, but I was dx when I had my huge first flare-up, my left knee was literally twice as big as the other one. They thought, at first, that it might just be water on the knee and extracted pus from my knee and did analysis on it... then I went into surgery later that night to open it up, pack it and drain it. If you have noticable swelling, maybe they can extract a sample to test? I don't know if that is any different than the blood tests that they do, though.

Do you take anything at all for it at this point? Sometimes I won't take anything for the pain and then will decide to after a couple of days, and I then wonder why I waited so long (I hate pills) because it just makes life so much nicer without the discomfort!!

Best luck to you at the doctor!!

[AmandaLeigh]

My FH sister (she is a pain management specialist) recommended alternating betwee tylenol and motrin for pain. It doesn't take the pain away, just dulls it a little bit. I am really hoping that my appointment yeilds something to help the pain, if nothing else.

[AmandaLeigh]

Well, I saw the rheumatologist yesterday, and he is pretty certain that I don't have RA, although he is running some extra labs to be certain. He thinks that it is most likely some sort of virus because I have the same symptoms (fever, swollen glands) before my joints swell. He is running a couple of viral screens to, but said that he would most likely refer me to an infectious disease specialist at the National Institute of Health.

[camberne]

Wow, I hope that he's right! Not that it's good to have a viral infection, but RA isn't the most fun thing to live with!! Of course, if it's a recurrent viral infection, you could still have the same kind of flare ups as we do... and that would still suck!

Keep us posted... I'm really interested to hear what they turn up.

[carrie9142]

You know, my mom actually went through something similar when I was young. All her joints were swollen and painful, I think she had a fever, etc. Her doctors actually thought she had lupus for awhile. And then it just kind of went away after a few weeks. We still aren't really sure what was wrong with her, but they did think maybe it was some kind of weird virus. I hope your's resolves itself, if it really isn't something AI.

Also, and this is unsolicited advice ;), but if you feel like you need stronger pain relief than Advil-ask your doctor! I know some people don't like taking pills, or worry about looking like a drug seeker, or whatever. But, I believe pain relief is something every patient deserves. I suffered for almost a year before I would take any rx painkillers. For no reason! Just b/c I thought it would go away. No more!