Hello, I知 new to the forums and I have to say that I知 glad
I found them. I have not been diagnosed
with RA, but symptoms would point to that.
Pain in the knuckles, wrists, elbows, hips, knees and ankles and always
both the left and the right at the same time.
I can稚 sit for longer than an hour without starting to stiffen up and I
feel like a creaky old board in the morning.
Sound like one too.
I am seeing a specialist on Monday. I致e had blood work and X-Rays already
done. All came back fine. I知 not sure what to expect or how I値l be
able to tell if the specialist is any good or not. Are there questions that a good specialist
will normally ask? Do they do tests of
some kind? I guess I知 a little nervous about seeing the specialist. I don稚 think I値l like either answer he値l
give me. I hate taking medication and I
hate the thought of living with this kind of pain all my life. If I don稚, then why the heck has my body
decided to revolt? I知 sure everyone has
been through these kinds of feelings so I知 sure I知 in good company. Hi, You sound exactly like I'm feeling at the moment. I've seen a rheum and she doesn't think it's RA so what the frog is it? My bloods were coming back clear too at first but now my sed rate is raised to 55. It seems my bloood is a bit slow to catch up. The rheum has ordered loads of blood test, an xray which I had and was all clear, and I'm having a bone scan soon. I'm in the UK so this was all on the NHS, not sure what would happen in US. I understand how you feel about either answer you get. I am worried that it is going to be soemthing wrong, but I'm also worried its not going to be diagnosed because then I'm on my own with it! I can't give any advice because I don't know anything about this. I'm pretty much at the same point as you, but wanted to let you know that you are not alone and wish you luck. Love Carys -x- Well, your symptoms sound like RA. You can have normal blood work and still have RA. It's called sero-negative. That's what I have, as well as many others on this board. He may give you more tests. My doctor ran every test in the world on me before diagnosing me with RA. He said, even though everything came normal, you have the symptoms of RA and started treating for it. And the meds have helped tremendously over the last two years. It's just a way life葉aking meds that is. If he diagnoses you with RA, he'll start you out on a DMARD, possibly prednisone. If you need something for pain, ask him for it. The pred. helped my pain a lot though and I didn't need anything else. Be sure and tell him every symptom you have, how it started, etc. Write down a list of your questions so you don't forget to ask him anything. Good luck.
Susan Hi there and welcome. My blood work is always negative and my x-rays were only on the mildly positive side of things...but I still was dx'd with RA. There is more to it than a high Rhuematoid factor or grossly postive x-rays. A good clinician can see the other symptoms and test for other conditions to rule them out. By process of elimination a positive diagnosis can be made. Swollen painful joints, esp. if they are red or hot and occuring in a bilateral pattern are classic symptoms. Also morning stiffness that lasts for more than 2 hours is a give-away. The best advice I can give you is to do some research on the following: 1) Serum or sero negative RA 2) Joint Pain (as a symptom, ie what are the various causes) 3) The effects of RA that is untreated, look at time frames By educating yourself in these areas, you will be able to ask the questions that your doc may not otherwise address. Such as: 1) My labs are negative, but I have done research and found that there are many people with sero negative RA...what other things are you taking into consideration when making a diagnosis? 2) If you dont think it is RA, could it be _______? Or ________? Why or why not? 3) If there is uncertainty about whether or not it is RA, but we dont know what else it could be, what treatments can I take now....to prevent possible damage if it is some form of arthritis? Print stuff out, write stuff down. Prepare yourself for a doctor who thinks there is nothing wrong with you and that may be hard to talk to. Not to scare you, but if you are very much prepared to go in there and show that you are intellegent and informed and will not be sent away with out some answers then you will get the most out of you visit. Some docs are wonderful and kind and get right to the point. Others have been known to tip-toe around if they dont have a cut and dry answer infront of their faces...or worse. Just be prepared...and if you have a friend or relative that will go with you just to sit and listen to what the doc has to say (basically like an extra pair of ears) that would be great. Hope this helps.
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