in need of serious help! | Arthritis Information
hello,
my name is heather. i am 18.
for two years now i have been experiencing pain in my right wrist. when i first went to my family doctor where he diagnosed me with a ganglion cyst and he said it would go away... well for awhile i just dealt with my pain as it would come, then it got worse and i went back, during the first year and a half i had numerous pain killers prescribed to me and that was about it. i also had a lot of x-rays taken but the doctor never actually did anything or told me what i had. well about 6 months ago i began seeing a specialty hand doctor. well this guy took more x-rays, then he said that a cyst just didn't fit my symptoms. well he asked me to have an mri done, two weeks later when those results came back he said i had a fluid build up around my joint. he did not say what this fluid was but he said it was not a cyst. well then he wanted blood work, so i had blood work done. he also decided to put my wrist in a cast to immobilize it. well when the nurse came in to put on my cast she had started talking to me about RA but never said that the doctor was leaning towards it. then my doctor prescribed me to a 5 day set of steroids.
well today 3/13, was my follow up appointment. i had already started reading up on different wrist problems because i never received a defiant answer on what was wrong with my wrist. when i came across RA i noticed a good amount of symptoms i shared with other people.
my symptoms include:
>>stiffness in my right wrist.
>>muscle aches in my right arm.
>>weakness.
>>limited range of motion.
>>paleness in my hand.
>>numbness and tingling
>>and i have had swollen glands for awhile.
>>and on top of that i have experienced inflammation of my rib area. which my doctor at the time told me was some weird short term condition, ( i forget the name) but all he did was prescribe vicodin. well the intensity of those went down for awhile, and when that happens i try to ignore it. well today i found out RA can cause Pleurisy, and that sounds exactly like what my chest does.
so i talked to my doctor about them. well the first thing he told me today was that my blood work was fine, and that since my hand was not red or visibly inflamed i should not have RA. and he gave me a steroid shot and then decided to send me to a RA specialist... but like i said he said that i did NOT show signs of RA... which doesn't make any sense to me. my RA specialist appointment is not for another month...:(
if anyone can give me any helpful information or tell me if RA is way out of the question i would really appreciate it! Are your symptomes symetric? Or is all of your pain in just your right side? RA affects both sides, and fro what I know is rare to only affect one side. Do you have any of these symptoms in any other joints in your body?I remember the time I had fluid on my wrist. It also made my hand hurt so bad I couldn't even rub lotion on my hand. The doc sent me to a RA doc. He did test and said I did not have RA.
2 years later my reg doc did blood work and said yup I do. From what he told me is they can suspect RA but it may not show up in blood test for years. And some times it may never show up.
I wish you luck. I hope it isn't RA and they get it fixed.
no all the pain is on one side of my body Oh I have bad manners.
Hello
And welcome Heather.
duhcake..
how old were you when ALL your symptoms began... the chest problem.. the ganglion cyst... when was onset?
it was right before my 17th birthday and i made an error i'm 19**Duhcake,
Doesn't sound like rheumatoid type arthritis to me either. Maybe another type of arthritis but not likely. Sounds almost like tendonitis, but I'm just guessing just to pass some time but fortunately for you, doesn't sound like rheumatoid arthritis, now go celebrate....LEV
Tendonitis Symptoms
- Pain when the tendon is under pressure
In most cases this is the first tendonitis symptom to develop. Individuals may feel pain in the tendon when it's under pressure. This pressure could come from lifting weights, playing tennis, jumping, working with your hands or any type of manual job.
- Movement is restricted
Individuals may find it hard to move the affected area. For example if the tendonitis has developed in the bicep the individual may not be able to restrict the arm fully.
- Affected area is painful when moved or touched
In the first stages of tendonitis pain only usually occurs when the tendons are under pressure. As the tendonitis develops pain will start to occur throughout the day whether the tendon is under pressure or not. The pain will occur when you touch the tendon and move the joint.
- Burning sensation around the affect area
in some cases of tendonitis individuals have reported a "burning" sensation coming from the affected area. The burning is felt mostly after exercise or manual labor and in the morning or late at night.
- Affected area is swollen, red, warm or lumpy
The tendon sheaths may be visibly swollen from the accumulation of fluid and inflammation. This is a sign that tendonitis has become more serious.
I hope you get proper tessting. I have it in my left wrist but not my right and my left one gets horribly pale due to lack of blood flow.
I wish you well.
I'm palindromic RA and that type usually hits one joint at a time.
Hugs and welcome!
Pip
Actually i know a young girl that has RA only in her right hand only. Yes RA is symetric but does not always have to be. Not everyone is the same. Also you are young. I do not no the difference between JRA and RA I am guessing it would present differently but i am not sure. I am sure the doctors are waiting on test and keeping an eye on you. I am sorry you are not feeling well but i am glad this doctor is now paying attention.Hi Heather. Welcome.
I did have problems with my wrist, then index finger. They tried to blame the wrist on carpal tunnel syndrome and the finger on tendinitis. The wrist bothered me years before I was diagnosed with RA and the finger for a year. The pain in the wrist did subside for a while and didn't start again until my diagnosis with RA. This was all in one hand. I had problems with the other side only months before my diagnosis. You see, RA doesn't always start with both sides at the same time.
But the thing is, until you are told you have RA, you shouldn't get scared about it. There are other things that can cause you pain that might be easily solved.
You have come to a good place. There is a lot of great support and information here. Don't hesitate to post questions.
Oh, and make sure that you take a list of questions with you to your RA doc appointment. It would also be a really good idea to take someone to the appointment with you who could write down notes for you. I know I wish I had -- I couldn't remember everything he told me afterwards.
I hope you are feeling better soon. Take care,
- Joy
Welcome Heather!
There is a great bunch of knowledgeable people here. The dr. put you in a cast? did he take it off at the next appt? There are lots of tests they can do and many other answers as to why you have that pain. I hope they figure it out soon. It's the waiting that gets so frustrating. Hang in there and come visit us if you have questions.
again, welcome!
Deb
JRA can affect only one side of the body and often does. It really depends on the type you have. When it first shows up at least you usually only notice it in a couple joints. There is a type of JRA that only effects a few joints, and it generally comes later. More serious types tend to come earlier.
Copyright ArthritisInsight.com