Just curious to know what was your first symptom of RA?
Mine was an aching left shoulder that gradually got worse. I thought
that maybe I had walked into a door and couldn't remember doing
it!! After that, came pain in my wrists, hips and right knee,
followed by pain all over until I was finally diagnosed and got some
drugs!
My first symptoms occurred while I was on vacation outside the country. I would wake up each morning with a different joint bothering me - a shoulder one day, a knee the next day, the other should the next day etc. Because I was having a great time, I didn't pay a lot of attention to it and put it down to 'sleeping wrong' or 'not being in my own bed' but it did cause discomfort for most of the day. Then overnight it would go away and then I would wake up with a new part of my body hurting. This went on for about a week before I was due to come back to the U.S. and it was just a gradual worsening of the situation from there that forced me to go to the doctor. i remember going to work one morning and thought I had jammed by right index finger. 2 weeks later, my feet felt like they where broken. I was a cook for Cracker Barrel, on my feet for 10 hours daily. So you can imagine what I was feeling!Stiff, weak hands. Then just acheyness in multiple joints. That went on for years. Then one day I was walking along and I got a sudden pain in my foot like my toes were broken. Then it went to the other foot the next day. I figured it was time to go to the doctor. It was kind of downhill from there.
I actually had a horrible time with that joint at my big toe....on both sides; but one was worse. A GP told me it was bunions and would have to be removed.
But what finally sent me to an RD was my hands. I started having horrible pains in my hands. It would wake me from a deep sleep. I'd move my fingers during sleep and it felt as if every bone in my hands were breaking. That steadily got worse.
My first RD dx'ed me with RA before even seeing my lab results. She also said "No, those aren't bunions. It's all RA related and once it's under control that will be too. She was right.
my first symptom was a sore, stiff neck while i was away camping with a friend and her family. We all though i was ill, possibly meningistis (sp??) Then the dr though it was a mechanical problem. Soon after i got a sore ankle. After a bad bout of chicken pox everything else flaired up and i was diagnosed with RA :( My first symptoms were morning stiffness in my feet and hands. Mostly the feet though, and once I got moving, it would go away. I always thought maybe I was just overworked and tired.
My first symptom was fatigue. I complained for about six months about fatigue and my glands under my jaw hurt really bad. Then one day I woke up with my right wrist hurting. That lasted for a few days, then one of my elbows for a few days, then shoulders, hip, etc. etc. It finally settled in my wrists and knuckles. Every now and then I'll flare somewhere else.
My first symptom was I couldn't see. I went into work one day and everything was blurry. They thought I had giant temporal artertis (something only 70-year olds get). They put me on 60 mg prednisone immediately and did a bilateral temporal biopsy. Everything was extremely blurry during that time. The biopsy came out okay, but they believe I have vasculits which is inflammation of the blood vessels. I have one next to my left eye that's giving me problems right now. They are testing my sed rate. It's like a little time bomb that just might go off.
Second set of systems sent me to the ER twice with heart problems. I had pericarditis.
After that it was my hands and has slowly creeped into every other joint.
I hate RA. It's like a dance with death. Only I can't dance.
mine was my right wrist. thought it was carpal tunnel. wore a brace for about a year, helped only a little. then it progessed to the other hand, then both hands, then everything got really bad.
my first symptom was a sore shoulder. My doctor thought it was something I had done at the gym while working out. Later though, the other shoulder started ....then I had bloodwork done and found out I had RA.Hands, feet, and fatigue.... Morning stiffness that lasted ALL day !!! Wow, isn't that interesting how everyone is different.
Mine started with fatigue. I was so tired all the time. I saw my primary several times for this. He always did a cbc & tsh test & only thing that was wrong was my thyroid was still under active, which I 've been on Synthroid for 36 yrs. Then my hands started hurting me, then my feet, shoulders, knees. I started with 2 large knots on my hand and others starting on the other hand. I went back to my Dr. & HE noticed my hands and said I just might have RA. Blood work agreed. I saw a RD in March & will be finding another RD now.
Good luck to you,
Trisha
Shannon, I was beyond scared. I was freaked. And, it didn't help that the doctors seemed as scared. My GP got this really strange look on his face when I described my symptoms. I think I remember describing it like this cold pain that cut my brain in two.
They started me out on Prednisone, no choice. That probably saved my life right there. And, MTX at 25 mg, no choice. But even with all that, it took a long time to get all the multiple diagnosis.
In many ways, it is so much better now. But there are still days when I don't want to believe that I have any of this. I just keep hoping it will all go away. And, I wonder what that would be like.
I think we all have days like that... wishing it would just disappear. IFor me it was sudden pain and swelling in both thumbs at about where they join the wrist about 11 years ago or so. My PCP put me in metal splints on both thumbs and told me it was "synovitis."
Slowly both hands started hurtuing and swlling, then 2 years ago it hit like a truck, in all the joints, toes, knees, hips, fingers, wrists, elbows, shoulders and jaw.
Until 2 years ago I was only on aspirin, then indomethacin..
Mine were my hands. I went to bed and everything was fine. Woke up the next morning with extremely swollen painful hands. Went to PCP that afternoon and he thought it was arthritis. Called a friend who was a rheumy, got me an appt for the next week and started me on prednisone. Got the diagnosis the following week and shortly after that the rest of my joints decided they didn't want to be left out.
I had symptoms for years but always thought it was due to previous injuries ( a fall while skiing and constantly lifting heavy trays while waiting tables). It wasn't until my right hand got really bad and I was having a hard time writing that sent me to the internist. He did blood work and sure enough..I had a low positive RA factor.
My first sympton was sore feet, couldn't barely walk on them, I just assumed it was being in boots and on concrete 12 hours a day, because after a few days off work, seem to improve.
Phil