Hi,
My wife was recently dignosed as having reactive arthritis for the
past 30 years or so. She is HLA-B27 positive, but (at least in the last
few years) she has not had an appreciable sedimentation rate or
C-reactive protein level. He rheumatologist maintains that reactive
arthritis can be present (certainly in its chronic form) with negative
sedimentation rate and CRP. The diagnosis was based on the fact that my
wife has inflammed joints in her hands and wrists (by X-ray and
examination), the absence of osteoarthrits (osteophytes) and the fact
that she is HLA-B27 positive. I, on the other hand, am not that sure.
Dr.'s sometimes feel compelled to a diagnosis when there may not be
one.
My wife is in her mid 50's, has pain flares (especially in the last
few months) of many joints - which she describes as "hot" and achy. She
has had a lifelong spinal condition leading to degenretive disc disease
which is felt due to scoliosis that she had as a teenager.
Has anyone heard of someone having reactive arthritis but not
showing any elevated sedimentaion rate or c-reactive protein? Any help
would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Hi Jon
I have reactive arthritis, but am HLA-B27 negative. My c-reactive protein and sed rates are both very elevated though (I have 4 weekly blood tests, as I am on methotrexate and sulphasalazine.)
There is a listserv for people with ReA, located via www.risg.org. If you sign up and ask that group the same question, you might get the information you need.
All the best,
Hi Jon!
Believe me it is more than just possible to have reactive arthritis without having all the telltale positive test results. I am HLA-B27+ & my sed rates at one time were skyrocketing but that has never been the case since. I have negative everything else but the symptoms have only gotten worse-pain swelling & deformation despite those test results. Since some people, such as myself, do not fit into any of the specific categories it is difficult to get an absolute diagnoses. However, all of these diseases are treated with similar drugs and everyone reacts differently to treatment. Bottomline-it does not really matter which one a person has. What is important is that your wife get the meds she needs so it does not progress. It took me 13 yrs to get diagnosed & 11 more to find a good Rheumy. Good Luck & God Bless to you & your wife.
I've had reactive arthritis for the past 25 years and no one has ever said I had any inflammation indicators ever. I have sacroiliac arthritis and it is moving up my spine (degenerative disk disease). I have also developed scoliosis. Hello there . i would seek a scond opinion. i recently was diagnosed with reactive artritis and it took 4 doctors to diagnose me. my symptoms varied and my blood tests resaults change all the time. The difference in my c reactive proteins and esr test can change in to weeks dramatically. The symptoms i had sound different to your wifes. I was very ill and i never experienced it in my hands . More in my knees,ankles,back,scapula and blurred vision. i would be happy to exchange emails and offer some examples of my results. The reason my doctors had a hard time coming to a diagnoses was because of my bolld tests and my range of symptoms at the time.