Is there a blood test that they can do on my son to see if he is more prone to get JRA?
I think I have heard on that there is a blood test that can be done on boys to see if they are prone to getting JRA.
My son has been waking up in the early hours of the morning and complaining that his knee hurts or his elbow hurts or his foot hurts. I know he is in pain, because he falls to sleep and that body part that he says hurts jerks. You know the jerk when you are in pain that you get. He does that and then he wakes up again telling me it hurts and then falls back to sleep. And jerks again.
That is another thing that has been weighing on my mind heavily. It has been going on for almost 3 months now, but I did not tell hubby about it until a week ago. I finally told him because I did feel warmth and his left knee did have inflammation in it this time.
I am afraid my son might have JRA, and all because of me
Anyways... I am going to take son to his Ped and I just wanted to go armed with a name of a test that they could use to help them determine if he has it or not. And not just do the wait and see approach. Or they think he is doing it because I kinda complain that I hurt. And that he is just mocking me. But why would he mock me when he wakes up thru the night? He never complains thru the day, unless he has been out running around most of the day then he says one of his feet hurts.
Anyways... if anyone knows of a test they can run that would be greatly appreciated.
I have been kind of worried about my son for years. He has always complained about knees..toes and shoulders.
Docs will look at how long his joints have been flaring. I guess six weeks is the magic number. They will do the standard testing with Sed rate...rhumatiod factor etc. You can also ask them to to do a HLA-B27 this is the genetic marker. I suspect the genetic testing is expensive.
Thanks for the connectoins, and please take care of you and your son. shel
the rheumatoid factor tends to be negative in jra. there hasn't been a lot of testing on the anti ccp in jra but it does tend to be positive in kids who are sero positive.
there is only 1 prediatric rheumatologist in alabama over at UAB. With your history I would try and get your so ninto see him. Your normal prediatrician could miss a tough diagnosis
I have wondered about this with Neve too, Joonie, just because if she is going to have it, I don't want her to suffer as I have.Joonie good luck and I hope it's just what the doctors call growing pains.
It's odd because my son will complain from time to time his knees or legs hurt. Usually he has something else going on. I always thought that was the reason, makes you wonder.
He hasn't complained since his sinus trouble "might" be under control now. We will tell when the cold gets here. *knocking on wood* after 6 years we finally got something fixed.
< =text/>_popupControl(); This is what I found regarding a genetic test for kids to see if they carry the gene for JRA. http://health.yahoo.com/topic/arthritis/resources/article/he althwise/hw94852
As buckeye said, most kids DO NOT show a rheumatoid factor.
I would imagine that the genetic testing is going to be on the expensive side so make sure it is covered by insurance.
Watch him and see if he is stiff in the mornings, if he has any swelling at all, how he acts after running around and playing for awhile, any fatigue, and any personality and behavioral changes. Both my PCP and RD firmly believe that there is a genetic connection in families. My family is proof of that. There are a few moms/kids on the board I belong to for parents with JRA kiddoes where mom and their child both have RA.
The places that you describe where your son says he is hurting are also places where kids tend to complain about growing pains too. So it could also be something as simple as that. Let's hope it is.
Joonie, what a worry, but it shows what a great Mom you are by noticing. Let us know how it turns out. CathyI agree with Liz, take a good look at how he acts throughout the day. If he's fatigued, or babys something that hurts, it would be worth the check. But he is at that age where the can get some NASTY growing pains. And boys tend to get them worse than girls. So where you may not have noticed it with your daughter, your son may just have the short end of that stick. I want to say that when Olivia had her growing pains (daughter of a friend of mine) she was about 2 1/2 and they did not stop until she was a few months into 3. Poor kid. I'd check her every day for swelling, but she never had any. Her knees would get red and warm though, but that was typically after she had been sleeping with her legs curled up, or had been running. She also woke up in the night a lot, but the poor kid would have night terrors WITH the pains. She'd wake up crying that a monster was eating her feet. LOL It's not funny, but it is....Anyway, yeah, just keep an eye on his behavior and fatigue and watch for swelling, that's gonna be your biggest sign.Joonie, I'm sorry that you are stressing over this. Best thing to do is speak to the people who can help.
A different less serious view it could be growing/hormonal. I know its very old fashioned and people say that there's no such thing but even as a toddler my son suffered with sore knees and hips when he was building up to a growth spurt. He complains of pain in moving, sleeping and I've just asked him what it feels like and he says its a burning dull ache, he says that sometimes its hot, sometimes its not. He's 17 1/2, 5ft 11" and growing.
Keep us posted, praying that its not serious.
Joonie. My son Michael suffered with sore knees , feet and hands as a toddler . This lasted into his teens. The doctors said it was growing pains. He had redness and stiffness too. He is now 16 and 6ft 2, The doctor says now it could have been such big growth spurts.He was tested for RA . He has been DX with a blood disorder so you arent worrying for nothing. My eldest daughter is 19 and is often sore, stiff and fatigued.She has seen the G.P. and all her tests were neg. but he is going to monitor her and she is on a referral to the Rheumy.Nicole my 13 year old wakes up crying in the night at least 4 days out of 7 with pain in her legs and knees, she has been like this since toddler too, she has osgood- schlatters disease and will grow out of it. So there are many things it could be but i would say keep an eye on him, speak to the doctor if you are really worried but its probably growing pains.
Hello Everyone,
Thank you for your replies & information.
I have been watching him for morning stiffness, but nothing as of yet. I was going to wait until he had morning stiffness to start to get really worried about it, but his knee the other morning was swelled, mushy, and warm. So... that got me really worried.
He tends to have days he is more mean than others, but I am not sure if that has anything to do with possible JRA. And he does have days where he sleeps just as much as I do. But I just figured he was growing.
Like I said, I will take him to his ped's they know I have J/RA. So... they will see what they can come up with, hopefully. PLUS, they would have to refer him to the Ped RD at UAB if need be.
I HATE going to UAB... but ya gotta do what ya gotta do.
He has not complained about pain since the morning his knee was swelled. It happened about the time it started cooling off, and he slept until 1pm and probably would have slept longer if his Granny had not come over.
I just hope it is growing pains. He is fixing to be 3 yrs old in 9 days.
I will ask his ped if they can run the gene marker for it. And see if BC/BS will cover it. I am sure they will, but check to make sure.
Thanks again everyone for the replies.
SOUNDS LIKE YOUR DOING A GOOD JOB MOM.
Yeah, I use to watch my daughter when she was smaller and I still do. I recently took her to the ped's to take a look at how she stands, as she complains of her feet hurting her, and her feet kinda did a weird inward collapse. It just looked weird to me. Anyways... her ped said it was because she had no arches. and that is why her feet do like they do and probably hurt because she does not have arch support. I have been looking for arch supports to put in her shoes, but have yet to find any in kid size and the adult size are too big for her shoes.
I still watch my daughter and ask her if anything hurts and she always replies no.
Hi Joonie. I hope and pray that your little guy is ok. We mom's carry so much guilt whenever something happens to our kids but this is something you have no control over, so please try not blame yourself if he does have JRA. You know that you are the absolute best mommy he could have wished for.
About a month ago my 20 year old, Luke, went to a concert in Portland. It was one of his favorite bands, from somewhere in Russia or near there. Anyway, he was stomping up and down half the night and the next morning he couldn't walk. The balls of his feet hurt so bad he felt like they were broken. He took a few days off of work and iced his feet, took ibuprofen and tried to keep his feet elevated as much as possible. He lives on the other side of the country from me, and of course he didn't tell me about this for another week so I wouldn't worry. Well, the pain lasted for about 4 weeks, in fact, he still has some pain now. He asked his friends who went to the concert with him, and who were stomping their feet as much as he was
Give your son an extra hug for me Joonie. If Luke was here with me I'd be hugging him lots.
Oh Joonie,
I'm so sorry to hear that you're having the stress of son possibly having JRA. I hope it is just growing pains like has been said here. I didn't know there was a link between mothers/sons and fathers/daughters with RA. I had hoped and was told that RA wasn't hereditary but on this board I see so many links that argues otherwise. As a mother I can imagine the stress that you're going through because of this possibility. However, there are so many more things now that they can do if he does have JRA that they couldn't do when we had it as children. You and your little one will be in my prayers.
Hugs,
Steph