For six months my wife, age 56, has had swollen joints on the fingers of her left hand; the thumb is not involved. (She is right handed.) This condition came upon her suddenly with no previous episodes. Her fingers do not hurt unless she hits her hand or puts pressure on the fingers. Her fingers have lost most of their flexibility. The doctors believe it is osteoarthritis, but her hand has not responded to any treatment to reduce the swelling and inflammation. Since January, she has taken four different NSAIDs and two prescriptions of Prednisone for inflammation, has had two shots in the joints of her fingers, and ten weeks of occupational therapy. Nothing is working. She has had blood tests to rule out rheumatoid arthritis, Lyme disease, gout, and infection (SEDrate). The doctors would welcome another opinion as they do not know what to do at this point. Where do we go from here? Boston, NYC, and Hartford are accessible to us. Are there other links you would suggest?
Hosea,
Take a look at the forum on Rheumatoid arthritis. You will find a lot of answers there. It sounds like that is what your wife has it even if it isn't showing up in the blood work.
Has she been to a rheumatologist or just a general practioner? The rheumatologist is the one that can treat her best. It is not uncommon for people to have this disease for a long time before it shows up in the blood work.
As far as links: www.arthritis.org is the Arthritis Foundation. http://health.nih.gov/result.asp/565 is the National Institute of Health. www.about.com has general information.
Let us know how things turn out. She needs better doctors.
Hi Hosea,