Number of Affected Joints in Early RA | Arthritis Information

 

 "Research indicates that almost all the joints that will be affected show symptoms of RA in the first year of the disease. This means that each joint may continue to get worse, but you probably won't have many more joints that will develop the symptoms of RA"

To those who have had RA longer than a year, have you found this to be true?  I was diagnosed 3 months ago and so far have had only 6 -7 painful joints.  I'd love to think that whatever I encounter over the next 9 months will be the extent of the joints involved. 

Not a year for me, but this is not good news.  I had sudden onset that hit every joint but my jaw.  Hope it goes well for you though, Nancy Oh, no, Linncn, how horrible.  I'm sorry.  Do you still have pain in all joints, or does it come an go? 

Kweenb, my shoulders bother me more than any other joint except my elbow - constant aching that never seems to go away, but at least not the immobilizing pain I had with my first flair.

Well, I guess this theory doesn't hold up according to actual people who have RA!

Nancy, I'm pretty well controlled with the meds, but I still have flairs involving a joint or two every few weeks.  It's way more tolerable when it's not your entire body at once

Kween~ I'm sorry to hear that.  Shoulders are one of the worst I think.  And for some reason they take so much longer to get back to normal.  I just got over a flair in my shoulder.  Talk about pain. Geez.

NancyR,

When my shoulders flare, it is so excrutiating I can hardly stand it.  It can bring me to tears quicker than anything.  I'm just thankful for prednisone!

[QUOTE=kweenb] Not true for me.  I have more joint involvement now than I did the first year.[/QUOTE]

Me too. As Gilda Radner so rightly declared, "It is always something."Since i was younger, it has always been in just my hands and wrists. Never any of my big joints, my knee hurt sometimes. BUt it's not until 10 or more years later that I am really having problems with my knee. So I would say that holds true for me. I've had RA for 10 yrs and I have started seeing more problems later on. My hips, lately, have been giving me trouble and have only been around for the last year or so. Knees are worse later on, but my hands have eased up a bit, along with elbows. I think the joints just go through phases with me. Mine started up about eight months ago with just my feet and ankles.  About three months ago pretty much every other joint joined the party.   I've had RA for just on twelve months now with the onset affecting angle,knees, hips, and hands.
I'm now starting to get it in the shoulders, neck, and collar bone.
The drugs seem to be holding it in as much as I'm still able to function without the crippling pain of the original onset.
I've had RA symptoms for about a year and a half - started with wrists & hands, only affected them for a while - 9 months odd - and then slowly more joints joined in, I can't remember the order, but now pretty much every joint is affected, although to greater and lesser extents.
Copyright ArthritisInsight.com