I am just curious to see how long it took for you all to be DXed?? I see on some threads that it took months and months.
When I was younger they DXed me very quickly and my blood work was fine.
Recently I have gone back to a doctor and he started prescribing enbrel the first time I saw him. No blood work, no records, just the knowledge that I had given him from when I was little.
I can't help but think if I didn't have my deformed fingers I would have had to go through what some of you had to go through. I guess my ugly fingers and toes came in handy
At first I thought my DX was fairly quick ... 1 year from my knuckle being inflammed (followed by knees, wrists, feet, shoulders, etc.). On reflection, I realize I was undiagnosed for years. Even though my RA factor was positive years prior, all my aches and pains were always blamed on other things ... fallen arches, illiotibial band problems, repetitive stress syndrome, stress, tendinitis, etc. So, in reality, I think it took more than 5 years from symptom onset to get a diagnosis.
Mine was fast...as soon as my doctor had the results of my bloodwork.
Well, I turn 52 next month, so let's make it 49 years. But my first horrible attack was in 10/02 after my thyroid was removed, and was continuously seeking a diagnosis until 06/06, so almost four years. i got really sick on vacation-high fever swollen ankles trouble walking high sedrate.....my rheumy said it was viral and would go away..well it went a way for a few weeks and the came back and stayed voila JRA! So whole thing probably took a few months to get finalized but i was with a rheumy from the start
littlemermaid2008-02-12 18:29:50I was already seeing my rheumy for fibro when the RA came. It took about two months for me to figure out these were new symptoms, another couple months for my various appts, bloodwork, x-rays, bone scan and follow-up appts. Altogether, it was almost 9 months.I saw my first RD in August and will be seeing a new one in March...still no diagnosis. I believe that everyone is very different. Oh, and had my first positive RF/elevated sed rate, in July.I was dx in a matter of weeks. I awoke one morning with very painful, red, swollen, thumb and finger. I went to urgent care and the dr thought it was cellulitis. She put me on antibiotics and I took them faithfully for 10 days and still no relief. I went back and saw another dr. He took blood work and xrays of my hands and feet. I had a positive rf factor and noticable damage on right hand and left foot. He prescribed relafen and vicodin and referred me to a rheumy who I saw two months later and confirmed what I already knew after studying up on it.
In 1989 I was referred by my internist to Stanford Univ. Arthritis Clinic and due to normal labs I was told that I didn't have RA. I put up with pain in 1 finger and 1 foot for 10 years -never worsened, but didn't go away. Ten years later in 1999 I woke up and couldn't get out of bed. Finally, with help and a wheelchair I made it to the doctor and my RA factor was 900, SR was high and I was diagnosed. It took 10 years and mucho damage later for me to be diagnosed. Lindy
I was in constant pain for nearly two years before my family doctor sent me to the rheumatologist . She diagnosed me on the very first visit. Oh lord, I'd have to ask my mom for sure, but I think it took a while.
I remember her talking about taking me to Dr's over and over, and even to the ER a couple of times. I know she started taking me to the docs when we lived in WA. And I didn't get a DX until we lived in TX. So yeah, it took a good while, maybe a year? And actually, now that I time line it in my head, I think I may have 2yrs old by the time I was dxed....Hmmm I need to ask that!!
January to April
Symptoms started in Oct 06 (feet), mentioned it at my annual physical and my pcp thought it was morton's neuroma. Had more issues with hands and went back in Dec and RA factor was slightly elevated. Had another flair early January, went back again and he sent me to a RA doc. Diagnosed in Jan 07. So, from symptom to diagnosis, about 3 months.
Cathy
As soon as my RD got my blood test results, he called to tell me he believed I had RA and started me on Plaquenil.I had problems with my finger joints as a teenager but Dr told my mum it was an allergy???? I never had any other problems apart from some stomach aches that went undiagnosed. When I fell pregnant with my eldest daughter in 1988 I had gestational diabetes and was unusually tired all the time and my joints were swollen, it all went away when i had her, during labour I had two botched epidurals and sufferered from spinal tap and severe headaches and joint pain as well. I had no more problems until after I had my daughter in 1994 and my shins always hurt as did my feet but we lived in africa in extreme heat and humididty so I put it down to that.
It all resurfaced in 1997 when i could hardly walk as i felt I had broken glass in my feet and my shins hurt again. I saw my G.P. who said it was stress. after a year I eventually saw another G.P. who done bloods and sent me straight to a rheumy, he then diagnosed me with RA
10-years or more.On my first appointment with my RD. She dx'ed me before any labs were even back. I'm one of the lucky ones considering my I'm seronegative. Most like me aren't as luck to get a dx and begin treatment right away.I had my yearly TFT done in Dec 06 and asked if they could do an arthritis check. Hands, elbows and right toes very sore from Jul 06. DX as sero positive in Jun 07. So quite quick.
I got diagnosed pretty much as soon as I presented my symptoms to my GP
(I had gone to the drop in clinic a couple of times with swollen wrists
but they just gave me antiinflammatories). Then I waited 3 months to be
"officially" diagnosed by an RD, so 3 months.
After being 'investigated' for about 18 months and discharged as not having RA but a 'reactive arthritis' I was fine for about 10 years. Does anybody actually read entire posts btw?
2005, saw GP who sent me for blood tests, got positive result, referred to Rheumatologist, put on mtx. Bob's your uncle. About 8 weeks.
Tinker2008-02-13 14:06:07"Does anybody actually read entire post btw"? If it's a subject that interest me I do. Often I will scan and skip when folks copy and past long drawn out post. I'll have to admit to loosing interest in some of that stuff quite often. All too often people will try to post research to make a point and I don't think I'm alone in saying I rarely make it all the way through that stuff.
But if everyone has a fairly short response on a subject I'll read everyones comments.
It took about three months from my first symptoms (wrists) till my dx, and another month before the meds really started working.Cheers Lovie I re typed my post a couple of times so "does anybody read..etc" was part thinking aloud and part tinkerishness.
I'm afraid I don't read through very long posts with research c&p'd in. Sorreeee! I haven't had time to respond yet today. But I find it interesting that everyones DX time is so different. I am seronegative like Suzzane and I just find it odd that I was Dxed so quickly and others have had to wait so long. It just doesn't seem right. I wish this disease could be more concrete and not so hard to understand.Hi Christina
You hit the nail on the head, nothing is concrete about RA, except we are all agreed that it HURTS! It's hard to believe that so little is known, hence so many different schools of thought on every aspect - it would be cool if we could all agree on that too!
It all depends on the doctor and their school of thought. I was fortunate that my first RD felt like RA has many aspects not just positive blood work. Sadly not all doctors feel that way. That's really sad because early treatment is key in this disease. Doctors that pussy-foot around not coming to a dx waist a lot of time for their patience. So often a year or more can make a big difference in how someone will manage.
I have joint damage; but all the doctors I've seen agree that had I not been on a continuous treatment plan all these years (14) things would be far worse for me. In my case the DMARDS & Biologics I have been prescribed all these years have indeed "Slowed" the progression of RA. That's the main goal of these medications. Pain management is important of course; but these medications are proven to slow down the damage that can be done by this disease.
Lovie, how is the puppy doing???She's SO sweet. I'm totally in love!
I posted new pictures of her at the doggie website if you haven't seen them yet. I finally broke down and let the groomer give her a poodle face. She looks like a different dog. LOL
aww! I wish I could see her. I can't get on the poodle website because it is blocked where I work.
Before:
After:
I wasn't crazy about the haircut at first....but it's growing on me. It's SO much easier to keep her face clean this way. I think she likes it better too. No hair in her eyes. lol
oh my goodness! SHe got so big aleady! Still a tiny dog though.
She doesn't look like a different dog. In fact if you had those pics side by side I probably wouldn't even notice. She is very cute. I love her coloring so much.
Maggie is stinky right now. Her face is still long so of course there is a bunch of stuff in her hair!
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