Sero Positive vs Sero Negative | Arthritis Information

 

Can we do a poll to see how many are positive and how many are negative and how you would rate the severity of your RA? Also what you experience with RA.

Seronegative here.  Negative RF and anti-ccp.  And about every other test except ESD and CRP. Sero negative and i have often wondered if i have RA or not. I have little swelling but suffer with symetrical pain esp in my hands and feet, I have one swollen knuckle since my teens . My xrays show damage. I also suffer with extreme fatigue. I have been on biologics and other meds with no relief and my RA is getting worseSero-positive (RF 330; Anti-CCP 238; ANA 1:1280 speckled & homogeneous; Sed 34; CRP 13) kweenb2008-12-17 15:40:49Sero-positive (stats below) RA - RH positive at about 140 originally, also SSA and SSB were off the charts (don't remember the numbers exactly, they are sjogrens markers normally). I have a positive RF, anti-ccp is 100. I had been tested for RF several times before and was not positive. The noticable difference between now and then. My symtems used to come and go. Now they are consistant. My medicine is helping me, at the moment. My swelling is down from what it had been.I have positive RF and anti-CCP.  I started out with awful pain, one hand or shoulder at a time periodically.  Moved to swelling, pain on both sides after a few months.    Not sure how I'd rate my severity.  I was on enbrel after 4 months of mtx and it seems to work pretty well for the most part - still working, so that's a plus.  Had I waited longer before moving onto enbrel, it's hard to say if I'd still be working and coping.   Glad I didn't have to find out.   Interesting post.  Thanks for starting this thread.  Sero=negative   I can't remember any of my labs but have them in the files upstairs... I do recall my ANA 1:160  --  read that 40% of positive ANAs have Sjogrens.. IDK if that's so .... all subsequent tests came back negative..    Seronegative, anti-CCP negative, normal HLA-B27, negative ANA, my ESR as of last week was 4, and CRP was negative so labs as of now reflect not much disease activity.  I wish someone would tell my RA that because I'm stiff as a board and hurting pretty badly.  I presented with only the left elbow being VERY stiff, swollen, and red.  I also had a really high fever and within days developed a spotty looking rash on the backside of my arms near the armpits and on the inside of my thighs.  This is to date one of the signs that I'm getting ready to flare, first the rash and a fever, then the swelling and pain starts big time.  Since being put on the monster dose of pred, the rash, fever, and a lot of the inflammation is history but the pain is still there by the bucketload along with the stiffness.  Having read the posts of many folks here, I would consider my JRA/RA to be pretty mild.  Mild to moderate if I was really in a pinch to describe it.  I've had it for 23 years and my fingers are still pretty normal, a fact that I directly attribute to playing guitar for 17 of those 23 years.  The other joints that are bad are my left ankle and my right wrist.  I've also lost some ROM in my neck when turning to the left but not bad.   Ok, so my hips were the worst since they have been replaced but I don't count them now since they aren't my "factory" parts anymore.  I'm just trying to get a handle on whether or not us sero- negatives fit the RA profile listening to everyone's descriptions.

Or does it seem like sero positives have more frequent and debilitating pain?

Are they on stronger meds?

So far I don't see much difference between the two. Just very different blood work.
That's about all I've seen too.  I was told once by a doctor that seronegative people have a higher tendency toward some of the joint deformity that is often seen in RA patients.  I don't know how true this is but it seems like that with me.  I've had JRA/RA 23 years and my fingers and toes all still look pretty normal to me.  My ROM is actually decent for having this so long as well.  Like I said though I view mine as being mild to moderate RA, my family see's it as being severe but if they read some of the posts here they would see it my way.  Symptoms started and I went to Stanford RA clinic, all labs were negative but spotty pain in ankle, toes, 2 fingers, and knee.  Skip ahead 14 years and I was hit with a debilitating severe onset of RA with RF over 1,000, postive CPR and sed.  Was either housebound or bedridden for much of the next 6 months.  Went into denial when I started to feel better and stopped meds, didn't see the RD until I was hit 4 years later with the flare from hell and once again I was bedridden and/or housebound.    RF still high, labs all positive, damage to ankle, wrists, fingers, toes, elbow, spine and cardiac and pulmonary complications attributed to RA.  Now 4 years later and many med cocktails I'm in clinical remission.  I started this journey with neg. labs, then high positive labs, and now back to neg. labs, no inflammation or swelling per MRI.  I guess I've been both sero neg. and pos. since 1985.  Lindy1985 was the same year mine was diagnosed.  I was dx with JRA at age 8 after a high fever and swollen painfull ankles, from there it went to affecting most of my joints although primarily affects my extremeties neck and back tend to stay out of it...I had a high sed rate when I was first dx, but ever since that first year or so I have had normal blood work, seronegative as well as not a whole lot of inflamation. My rheumatolgist has mentioned to me many times that she has found her seronegative patients to be trickier and more difficult to treat....IE me I havnt really responded to any meds...just enbrel a tiny bit. I do sometimes think i am misdiagnosed, because along with meds not working my blood work doesnt show ANYTHING!something I was told... I'm sero-negative.. everything negative, but have erosions in hands and feet. My SED rate fluctuates a lot, and I have no idea what the current numbers are. I don't know! I was just DX 6 weeks ago, by a Rheumy in Cleveland Clinic. I go back next month. I will ask inflamedOnline2008-12-18 05:57:51Poss here. Don't remember #'s. [QUOTE=RAJay] Fatigue was so bad I had to take a nap after taking a shower.  [/QUOTE] Sero +  classified as severe by RD and GP.  Pain 24/7, rapid fatigue, immobility, life quality badly affected.  Lots of co-morbidities due to cocktail of drugs, mainly form 9 years of pred.

Have made a career out of visiting DRS.  Extremely sensitive to all drug treatments, intolerant mainly due to allergies, so pred is my mainstay.  RA SUCKS - Janie.
[QUOTE=babs10]something I was told... [/QUOTE] oh Pam.. I'm sorry for your boy......  Thanks Babs,