Hi, Im lark and I have a question??
First, Ive been having problems for about 12 years, and have been to many doctors. When I fianlly found a doctor who gave me a rf test it came back positive at 198 with negative being less than 20 (I think). This was many years ago. In spite of that and symptoms of severe joint pain, I still did not get a dx. so, I just went on with my life and took over the counter advil. Then about 5 years ago I moved to another city and went to a new doctor. It was then that i was dx's with heptitis c. As a teen I had be attacked and it was thought that hepatitis was a result of that. New blood tests showed rf in the 300's. My doctors told me that a elevated rheumatoid factor and joint pain is very common with hepatitis c but they also told me that I could have ra AND hcv. They wouldnt give me treatment for the hcv because it could make the ra worse, and they wouldnt give me tx for ra because it could make the hcv worse.
Now I have started having some problems with my hands, on both index fingers at the joint closest to the finger nail and both thumbs close to the hand. They are swollen, red and hot and very painful. What do you guys think? I read here that joints close to the nail are probable oa, not ra. I also have low grade fever and fatigue.
I have no health insurance right now, and have not been to see the doc for this new development, although Ill have to go soon if this doesnt clear up on its own.
Thanks for any help or advice,
Lark
Lark,
What a quandry! You could try going to a county hospital or teaching hospital where you may be able to get some care even without insurance. You also could try to see if you can get on your state insurance. Since you have both of these illnesses, that in itself might qualify you.
A teaching hospital or somewhere like the Mayo Clinic, etc. may be able to give you some information. If you can't afford to see this doctor because of a lack of insurance, and he has already seen you, you might be able to call and ask what to do. Explain that you don't have insurance. Hopefully, they will help you any way.
The one thing you shouldn't do is go untreated. You cannot be the only person that has this combination. That's why I'm thinking a teaching hospital or major research center might know best how to treat you.
If nothing else, the ER has to treat you. But you really need ongoing treatment.
I'm really sorry to hear that you have to deal with such a burden.
What is the rf test you are talking about? I have an unusual story as well. Back in 2001, I was dx with Hep C, they genotyped it as genotype 1 and my viral load was less than 10,000. I wasn't having any symptoms and refused the interferon treatment.
Fast forward several years. I had several miscarriages (5 total) and part of the work-up for that was having the hep c level check. They couldn't find the virus at all. I went to an infectious disease guy, had the blood retested three different times and no virus detected. Was told that less than 20% of people with hep c have spontaneous remission.
Since than, I have had swollen joints, pain, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, the list goes on. My RA antibody is negative as is my ANA. They think it may still be RA or possibly crohn's.
I'm on a long list of medications, placquenil, steroids and most recently humira injections weekly and things are improving, slowly. They monitor my liver enzymes about every 6 weeks and they are just very slightly elevated from all the drugs but nothing to be concerned over.
You are right in the oa is usually pain closer to the finger tips, my pain is closer to my hands and they are very swollen but rarely turn red. My feet, knees, wrists and hips are also affected. I also have inflammation in my eyes and chest.
Hi
In the past I have had finger pain, swelling in my joint closest to the fingernail. I know RA was the cause of it as I now have deformities from that pain & swelling. Most of my deformities are located in the joint right before the fingernail. The deformities I have in both fingers & thumbs is called boutonniere. I would post a website with pics, but they also have other demformities that were not too pleasant. So, I decided to leave it up to ya'll to decide if you would like to be subjected to those pics or not by giving you the name of what I have and letting ya'll google it.
Hope everyone has a good day.