First Symptoms to Diagnosis | Arthritis Information

Hello All,

 

Couple of questions:

 

1) Curious how long it took from your first symptom to a diagnosis?

 

2) At diagnosis, did you meet all the clinical criteria? If not, what symptoms solidified the diagnosis for your doc?

 

Thanks,

TechZit

 

1999 bedridden with pain, all labs finally elevated, diagnosis made

 

That was nearly four years ago.  I finally had my first rheumatologist visit yesterday.  It took all that time to eventually win my SSDI case and go through the waiting period to get Medicare. 

 

A long, hard ride, but I'm still in the saddle ----- even though the reins keep falling out of my hands!I'm not sure what seronegative means. If it means normal RA factor, that was my results on the first diagnosis. My CRP was elevated and that's what they used to make the diagnosis. My symptoms came on like overnight. Right shoulder hurt a little one day at work. Could not raise it over my head the next day. One of the PAs on duty thought it was a rotator cuff injury and gave me a short of cortisone. That worked for a few days, they ankles, wrists and balls of my feet started hurting. My PCP sent me to an RA who had a cancelation the next day and then was leaving on vacation. He put me on prednisone immediately and that calmed things down until he got back from vacation. I guess I was one of the lucky ones who got a very quick diagnosis. I'm not on Medrol and Plaquenil and the RA would like to get me on something stronger and maybe off the Medrol, but I have too many other medical issues right now so he doesn't want to add to the mix right now. I have Kaiser insurance which has been a godsend! I'd be in the poor house without it!Sorry about the typos in the previous post. Hope you can tell what I mean. I'm on Medrol and Plaquenil. There are a few others but I think you get the point.Shug- do you have "The Chair" stories like me and Linncn too? I think we discussed that on here once before.For those of you familiar with my posts, I'm the guy who still does not have a formal diagnosis and has not started treatment. I've had a mild rf factor (33) in February and have very minor joint pain. (CRP,SED, CCP all normal). I don't have any place that I can pinpoint as "painful". My RD assures me that I'm not missing my window of opportunity to start treatment but sometimes I wonder.  I've read it takes an avg of 9 months to finalize a diagnosis and I'm going on 6 months and am curious to see how the next few months unfold. My symptoms were over a 3 month period, started with feet, would move to hand/shoulders periodically, but feet were constant.   Went to my doctor at month 2, tests showed slightly elevated Sed and RF, normal CRP.  Went back one month later after a very painful episode (helped that my hands were still swollen when I went in)   Tested again, RF higher than last time and CCP was positive, so sealed the deal.    While not happy to have this, thankful that from symptom to dx was short and I could get started on treatment.   [QUOTE=wanttobeRAfree]Shug- do you have "The Chair" stories like me and Linncn too? I think we discussed that on here once before.[/QUOTE]
My diagnoses came after more than a year of living in pain. After being ridiculed by doctors and  husband of  making it up an basically trying to self diagnose etc., etc. Finally went to an urgent care because my knees were so painful and had been 2 days this way. The urgent Care  Doc told me I had Osteo arthritis in my knees. He took ex-rays and recommended my to my pcp. Once I went back to my pcp we repeated a blood test he had ordered before and sure enough I had a rf count that was extreemly elevated. The first time it had come back  negative.  So from start of systoms to diagnoses about 1-1/2 to 2 years to actually see an RD and get proper meds.

Techzit, My situation seems very similar to yours. I have a mildly inflated RA factor but the other tests are normal. I felt for years that something was wrong with me but didn't consider RA until the elevated blood test. I had symptoms of stiffness and increasing muscularskelatal pain over the years that would go away for a day or two but then reappear for a few weeks,over and over again. A never ending cycle that was slowly getting worse over the years. I will see the RA doctor for the third time next month but am still waiting for a definite diagnosis. If I do have this illness I want to start treatment ASAP. I am taking meloxicam for the pain and vitamin D for my low levels. I have been seeing the rheumatologist for 6 months also and am also very curious to see how everything unfolds! My wife thinks I'm crazy at times but I have told her for years that something was wrong with me and that whatever it was would shorten my life. From what I have read, RA does shorten lives for those affected.

3yrstogo2009-08-22 14:05:28Shug- "The Bed" for me was a terrifying place. If I laid down in it all my joints froze up. My husband had to yank me up with by the scruff of my nightgown to get me out. That was done with me screaming in agony!  Nothing would bend.  The chair was "the bad place" but "the bed" was hell. However-by the grace of God I was restored.  Wow! The bed hasn't become that awful for me yet. Thank God. I hope  it  never does. The chair however is not a good  place to go when me knees and feet are flaring. next to  impossible to get  up. There have been times when I was alone and just about couldn't  do it.  [QUOTE=Spelunker] [QUOTE=Linncn]Geez WTB~  you practically told my story ;)[/quote] Mine as well. [quote]I'm also sero negative and a big factor in my dx was a really high wbc in my synovial fluid they took from my cantaloupe...I mean my knee.[/QUOTE]
And that is the rest of the story! [/QUOTE] Mine started in my shoulders. I never thought about having a disease nor did my doc. There would be days that I would wake and couldn't move them. I was sent for an MRI only to be told that they thought it was something else. From there it went to the hands, ankles, etc, each with a trip to the doc to see if I had broken something. Finally, they did a blood test (approx. 3 months later) and I was sero positive, and a positive CRP. *sigh*...so I guess three months.
I hope they diagnose you soon. I know how irritating it can be to not have an answer.
about 10 years.... since I have a "rare/orphan" disease (thankfully in remission at moment) it took a long, long time
I was DX in 2007. In 1993 I had a year long shoulder ache that I thought was from helping my husband carry a triple dresser up 12 steps and around a corner to a bedroom. It was strange because it started like 4 days later but that's what I blamed it on. Now I wonder....
I mean I took advil round the clock- had a heating pad on it every night. It was like a tooth ache which is the same type of pain I get in my shoulders if I get it now. I also had a bad thumb I had to buy a compression glove for at one point. It felt like I sprained it but I couldn't remember doing anything to injure myself. But then when RA hit- woo E! There was no mistaking it!

edited to remove extra letters
wanttobeRAfree2009-08-23 18:07:59Mine also hit like a steam train and was officially DX within 6 weeks from onset of symptoms.

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