how freaky is this? | Arthritis Information

 

My husband may have RA too.

wanttobeRAfree2008-08-28 08:12:23Oh wantobe, that is just horrible! Freaky? Absoluetly. I am so sorry for the both of you.Both me and my husband have fibromyalgia.  Mine dx'd with my RA dx.  His just this past year.  So you are not alone in double immune system diseases.  Its freaky but keep in mind that the rheumatoid factor can be elevated for many reasons and be elevated in people with no symptoms at all.  That  isn't a very high factor..so hopefully its not related buckeye2008-08-28 09:36:43

Buckeye- he is also very fatigued. He has had joint pain for years which we have always attributed to OA because that is what xrays and MRI's have pointed to. Always has tendonitis somewhere or another.

he may have been thinking autoimmune ear diseaseI never heard of that! Do you know anything about it?WTBF, there's a guy on this forum who has autoimmune ear disease and I can't remember who it is.  Hopefully, he'll read this and respond.  I agree that it's really an oddity.  But like Buckeye said the RF can be elevated for many other reasons.  Pip has a lot of info about Lyme disease.  Keep us posted on how he's doing.  Lindy

Thanks - I will Lindy. It's amazing. You go for what you think is a minor issue and end up having to schedule 3 specialist appointments!

Wannabe-
I lurk quite a bit but felt that I needed to reply to this one. I was diagnosed when my youngest (she is now 7) was a year old.
About 8 months later my husband started having the same sysmptoms - no one would take him seriously (other than our family doctor) I took a year to get him diagnosed. I know exactly where you are coming from. Just be thankful that they are looking into it quickly.
A year ago our oldest who is 10 was diagnosed as having JRA. So in 6 years three members of my immediate family were diagnosed.
We are holding our breath that our youngest never develops it.

In all reality it has brought my husband and I closer together - we get what each other is going through. Not only that, we see the same doctor and usually try to schedule our appointmets back to back. We make an afternoon of it doctor's, blood work and then luch out.
Although, you should see our house when we both have a bad week!!

Keep your chin up- it will work out!!

#1radpe2 thank you for responding! You know not long after I was dx'd my husband was grimacing when using his hands and his knees were really stiff and he was walking worse than I was. Like I mentioned he has been told for years he has OA and has films to prove it but I told him you should go to my doctor- you seem to be feeling worse than me! We had just assumed that my husbands came on as a result of stress - we had a not quite year old baby, one older child, a mortgage etc. I am the main bread winner in our household so he was really feeling the pressure - as far as he could tell at that time I was going to be done working reall soon!!My husband doesn't want to get checked, but he has some sort of arthritis in his knee and it isn't a happy arthritis either.  Causes him so much trouble sometimes.I had my appointment with my RD tonight and brought my husband's blood results with me and scheduled an appointment for him.  Of course it's 2 months into the future. We didn't go into great lengths about my husband because it wouldn't have been right to expect it but he did take a quick look at the applicable blood tests and based on those and the symptom of ringing in the ear he said he doubted the problem lies in his field. His ESR was normal and the RF factor at 26 was insignificant.Hi
I have heard that ringing in your ears is a sign of Lyme disease ,as is sensitivity to noise.
also sometimes you can have Lyme and test negative for it . even after you have tested positive once.. I know that there are different Lyme tests ... some more sensitive if that is the right word .. but you should ask that he be retested for Lyme
there is lots of stuff on the web but here is a good bit of information on the web MD site
http://arthritis.webmd.com/lyme-disease-test
if you just Google Lyme disease tests you get lots of information
hope you figure it out!
[QUOTE=#1radpe2]Wannabe-
I lurk quite a bit but felt that I needed to reply to this one. I was diagnosed when my youngest (she is now 7) was a year old.
About 8 months later my husband started having the same sysmptoms - no one would take him seriously (other than our family doctor) I took a year to get him diagnosed. I know exactly where you are coming from. Just be thankful that they are looking into it quickly.
A year ago our oldest who is 10 was diagnosed as having JRA. So in 6 years three members of my immediate family were diagnosed.
We are holding our breath that our youngest never develops it.

In all reality it has brought my husband and I closer together - we get what each other is going through. Not only that, we see the same doctor and usually try to schedule our appointmets back to back. We make an afternoon of it doctor's, blood work and then luch out.
Although, you should see our house when we both have a bad week!!

Keep your chin up- it will work out!!

[/QUOTE] I hope your husband gets a diagnosis soon. I too know someone who has ringing in the ears and lymes disease. Let us know what the doctor and tests say.. My best guess would be Lyme. I haven't googled it yet and I never heard of the ringing in the ears being a symptom but he has had all the other classic symptoms like fatigue, joint pain, etc forever. He never had a bulls eye rash but has had attached deer ticks over the years... I hope your husband some answers soon. That is so odd and freaky. I suppose stranger things have happened. My ears making ringing sounds off and on too. Thanks Cindee. He finished the anti-viral. Ears still ringing. He is still on the prednisone and now has 84 amoxicillian pills to take. If it's Lyme I hope it knocks it out. Could not get appts. for the other doctors and MRI until late Sept. and October. It's ridiculous how long you have to wait. You either get better on your own or die waiting!I have ringing.. tinnitus.. and have for almost as long as I can recall... I don't know what silence sounds like!!! and I've had JRA/ for 40 years since age 10....

Testing for Lyme is imprecise and it can be difficult to find a doctor to get proper treatment.

Oh my Herms- thank you! The second link is an organization very close in proximity to us! I am exhausted tonight but I saved it in my favorite places and will research it for him tomorrow. I really think he may have had this for years- (not that he has had anyone dx it as of yet) however if the dx is as difficult as I've heard it to be...
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