Need Advice | Arthritis Information

I posted this on the PA board, but since everyone seems to be hanging out here today, I'm reposting it here. I need some educated and objective opinions:

I need a bit of advice from those of you with PA. I feel like my body is falling apart. Severe OA in my hips, degenerative disk with constant lower back pain, now my knees are hurting, toes and fingers are swollen, but not around specific joints, just all over. I don't have any redness or heat around my joints, just stiffness, swelling and occasional pain, particularly in my toes. My lower body is sore all the time and when I walk I feel like I am wading in wet cement!

For some time I have had a dry, itcy patch of skin on my areola. I put lotion on it and softens a bit, but comes back. My nails do have vertical ridges on them, but they have for years. Now in the last few days my big toe nail has popped up from the outside edge of the nail bed and appears to be completely detached on that side of the nail!!!! What the heck?

I saw a rheumy a while back who did not feel I had RA. She ran blood work and my RA and sed rates were normal. She felt I just have OA, but now that I'm starting to have other symptoms, I wonder.

Can you shed any light?

You have something more than OA, that is for sure. Some of it sounds like schelodorma (sp?) or even psociatric arthritis which can have joint symptoms before skin problems. I think your doc is looking too much at the bloodwork and not enough at you. My Ra and sed rates were normal the last time they ran them and there's no doubt that I have RA. So, if that's all she's going on it is not enough.

You could have lupus or mixed connective tissue disease. My joints never turn red, but they do swell. Some just hurt. Even as bad as my hand is functionally, it looks fine.

Go back and get a better diagnosis. You have a lot going on to be just thrown in "Oh, it's just OA pile." Not that OA is any picnic as I well know. But OA can start because of the inflammation in your joints begins to break down the cartiledge. That's what is happening with me. OA in both knees and two places in the back. In the knees, I also have RA, bursitis, torn ligaments, torn menicus.

There is a reason for your pain. Tell your doctor, "You got some explan'n to do, Lucy!"

Deanna39024.5229282407Not sure I can offer too much advice but when I was going through the diagnosis process my Dr was frustrated that my blood results weren't conclusive BUT he said that in fome forms of PA some of the inflammatory markers don't go as high as in RA so it's hard to diagnose. I have problems with the junction between my tendons/ligament and muscles/bones rather than with the joints so it can be deceptive! Persevere and I hope you get some answers... KTOh, forgot to say, you can have PA with no psoriasis or just a small patch... KTIt almost sounds as if the scaley patch is more like eczema...it is not crusting is it? I really think you should go back and look at RA as a possibility. Although...the meds in PA, AS and RA are all pretty much the same...so you should just be treated anyways. It certainly sounds like there is alot more than OA going on. You cant go on bloodwork alone...I was negative for months before getting a positive. I dont remember....what meds are you on again? Also what is going on with the weather, and your activity level lately??Thanks guys for the advice. I honestly don't know the difference between eczema and psoriasis. The patch is somewhat raised, very itchy, and the skin in that area is a bit darker.

From what I've learned during my time here with you wonderful folk, I don't think this is RA, since the pain in my fingers is in the joints is in the middle of my fingers, not closest to my hand, and there is no symmetry to it. My pain seems to jump around - sometimes it's one toe aching like a toothache, sometimes it's my elbow or wrist or my breastbone, or ankle!!! The backs, sides of knees just recently started hurting when I walk.

It made me feel like I'm just going nuts and imagining it, but then when my toenail came loose I really started wondering. I didn't injure my toe, wasn't having any kind of problems and looked down one day and the left half of my toenail is completely loose from the nailbed and white. How bizarre is that?

The only medication I am on is 800mg. of Ibuprofen 4 times a day, other than my thyroid and blood pressure medication. The more active I am the more I swell and hurt. I can't tell that the weather makes any difference.
Just thought I'd share the latest. I have a raging urinary tract infection, so I went in to my GP and while I was there I showed him my nail, my rash and told him about my other issues. He wants me to see my gyno about the rash on my areola, since it may need to be biopsied to rule out inflammatory breast cancer (UGH). He also gave me a referral to see a rheumy on Dec. 8th. I see the gyno on Nov. 17th and we'll see what she says. Hopefully she'll just think its eczema!

I hope it is just eczema, but gosh what a pain that is too. I have both ezcema and psoriasis. I was literally born with ezcema and very winter battle with it. Be careful what lotions you are putting on your spots. Most lotions main ingredient is alcohol, which makes it worse. I have found the best thing for e and p is hydrocortisone cream. No need to buy the expensive stuff, I usually buy the Dollar General brand. I have also found that gas heat makes it worse too, so if you have gas instead of electric, I highly recommend a humidifier. I hope all goes well with your appt's.

Hillhoney, that's upsetting news. I certainly hope they rule out the worse things. Maybe it will turn out to be one of those stupid things we all seem to get but they worry about because we have RA and takes such strong meds.

I feel for you.

Thanks you guys, you're great for listening to my issues. I really appreciate it.

I'm trying not to get worried, since I've had similar things happen before. My gyno found a lump in my breast back when I was only 22 that I had to see a surgeon about. That turned out to be fibrocystic breast disease, aggravated by caffeine in diet pills I was taking at the time (Remember those old Dexatrim pills?). Anyway, that lump always grew larger with every pregnancy, and then would shrink again. Last year something showed up in my mammogram in the other breast and I had to go in for a second test, and it turned out okay then also. That one really got me nervous, since my mother had just been through breast cancer a couple years before.

This time I've decided not to worry about things I cannot control. I'll just take this train wherever it goes. Thanks again for the kindness you all give every day.

Karen

IBC is really rare - I sure hope that itchy stuff is just itchy stuff.

When people get infections, viral or bacterial, it can really make joints, your back, muscles/ liagments ache like crazy. You don't have to have RA to have that happen.

Those UTI things can be very sneaky and hang on for years. You can be symptom free but the pesky thing is just biding it's time before cranking up again. Chronic infections really can make you ache as the body clumsily tries to shake off the damn thing. I am hoping that when you get rid of the UTI for real that all that weird stuff that is immune related will go with it.

Please don't just take a course of anti-biotics and assume the UTI is gone because the majority of the local symptoms go away. Ask the Dr for a follow-up test of some kind to really make sure you are cured of it.

There ARE multiple kinds of arthritis that are caused by infection. I am sure you have OA plus some kind of immune system thing going on. It would be great if you didn't have an auto-immune disease but a treatable infection that you can be cured of.

I have never tested positive for RA - only sometimes a raised sed rate. Even 30 years ago my 1st rhuemy checked me for many kinds of infection (tooth, gum, flu, bronchitis, strep, mono, skin rashes... many questions about stuff in the last in the 5 years leading up to seeing her)