Hi everyone, I was diagnosed about four months ago with ra although I think Ive had it awhile before the dx. This week I noticed my pinky finger at the second joint is bulging to the right and the third finger of my right hand is leaning and pressing into the fourth finger. Im on prednisone mtx naproxen and humira is coming on board this week. Does anyone know how fast this process can happen as far as deformity in the hands, Im nervous because I also have graves disease and within a year it changed my looks dramaticly the disease affected my eyes and I had to have five surgeries to make enough room because my eyes were bulging so badly. Im afraid of the physical changes that may happen. Has anyone had this happen in their hands?Yep, my fingers and my toes. My toes are the worse. I just try not to dwell on it. Not much help am I. My hand deformities are subtle, swan necks, fingers not straight. Now my toes - they have turned into a geometric puzzle. I used to love my feet. I am sorry you are having to go through this and Graves on top of it. Thanks for your replys Roxy and Linda this site has helped me out so much, just getting input from other people who have been dealing with ra and who understand is a comfort. My mom had ra and passed away when she was 56, I took care of her the last four years of her life, I thought I understood what she was going through,I realize now the kind of pain she endured, physicaly and emotionaly, especially when you start to see physical changes along with the terrible pain. Im hoping the humira works well for me and does stop my fingers from changing any more.I have some pretty ugly feet and i think im getting a little bit of deformity there hands are always red and swollen so idont know. i wish you luck w ith the humiraWow -that must have been so hard with you and your
mom. 2 of my aunts died as result of ra, but they
lived in alabama and my family was out west, so I
didn't see them much, but saw the severe
deformaties and now I can understand their pain.
My hands are getting pretty ugly-lots of redness,
puffiness and things not moving correctly and I've
noticed a couple of the joints getting larger. My feet
on are the way too..
My hands are crooked and I can no longer make a fist. I must hold a drinking glass with two hands. In the begining my doctor had me sleep in resting braces at night. The braces were to keep the finger straight, but over time they still started to drift to one side. My doctor says now I should have surgery to straighten them.
It took a period of over ten years for them to get to the point they are now. We have a lot better drugs now and hopefuly there is a drug that will stop your RA in its tracks.
Good luck
Judy
Thats excactly what my third finger on my right hand is doing Judy its drifting toward my fourth finger if I try to straighten it out I can feel tension and it wont stay straight on its own, but my pinky finger is is just plain ugly now its bulged at the middle joint and very crooked.