To all-
what were your earliest symptoms for your respective diseases?
I am interested in hearing from everyone
thanks much
Hi doxigal,
I have RA and the earliest symptom was pins and needles in the little and ring fingers of my left hand. I had this for about 2 months before developing any pain anywhere. It then became pins and needles in all of my left hand. Apparently it showed that i had inflammation in my elbow, compressing the ulna nerve. Then i developed pain and swelling in my knuckles and it spread from there. NOw effects almost every joint in my body except my hips and shoulder. I'm hoping/praying it stays that way!
Prior to that I had been having really bad bouts of fatigue which would wipe me out for days. I'd go to bed on Saturday and sleep pretty much constantly til Wednesday. I fell asleep in an exam once - personally I think it helped! These didn't happen very often though.
I hope you get a diagnosis soon. The uncertainty and the unknown are the worst bits.
Scattered
My earliest symptom was extreme fatigue and just an overwhelming feeling that something was wrong. That went on for about a year along with lots of URI.
My first Ah-Ha symptom was bilateral hand pain. It went downhill from there.
Until my RA symptoms, everyone thought I was having symptoms and going to the dr for something that didn't exist. Sadly, I started to doubt myself and believe them. But, I knew in my heart something was wrong. I didn't know what, but I knew something wasn't right.
Lori
first it was a feeling of severe stiffness. It felt like I had to "crack" my joints to get them to move correctly, especially in my feetI was more or less fine until I had several unexplained miscarriages in a row. I than started fertility treatments and started having swelling in my hands, they said it was hormonal. I than started with the uvieitis. I went on to get pregnant and the swelling and pain got worse, was told it was because I was pregnant with twins.Let me see.....
My earliest symptom would have to be pins and needles in my smallest toe and fatigue. I would also have extreme pain in my chest and back joints. It even hurt to be hugged or patted. Then the pain camped out in all of my other joints and still refuses to leave!
Mine was in the second trimester of pregnancy with my 5th. My feet hurt SO bad. I had lost 6-8 pounds the first 2 months. Then, the third month, I gained 8, and my feet were killing me... sore, swollen, hot. I could barely walk. I was on a rotation seeing the MDs in the practice (rather than my midwife) and the one I saw that month told me that if I would "stop gaining so much weight, maybe my feet wouldn't hurt!"Serious fatique, Pain in hands, hips knees and feet. Fever, stop being able to walk...not a lot of swelling, just severe pain and stiffness and just the feeling of flu like symptoms.
But...I also had hair patches to fall out and kidney problems...I have a double whammy of RA and Bordeline Lupus...and in the early part of the dx's...it sucked.
Roblyn
My started a few years ago with my feet but I thought it was from working. I had my own house cleaning business and cleaned 10 houses every week (plus my own). Then a series of bad things happened to me and my family. We thought my sister was dead in Hurricane Katrina. They told us she drowned. My mom was already here from down south. My mom and sis live in MS. I live in IL. I was at a football game with my kids. My cell phone rang and my mom was hysterically crying about my sister. She got a phone call saying Deb (sis) didn't make it. So I jump in my van and head home only to hit a deer and total out my van. I was ok just airbag marks. I finally get home and find out that thank God it wasn't my sister Deb, she was on the phone.....well, anyway, I wake up the next morning with so much pain, swelling, and redness in my right hand. At first I thought it was from the airbag. I go to the doc she says I had cellulitis. Put me on antibiotics. It never went away so I went to another doc that ran blood tests and xrays and told me I had RA. My blood work was sky high positive and there was erosions on the xrays. I guess all the trauma made it flare???? It was the craziest thing. Now RA is everywhere but (knocking on wood) my jaw and knees.
Didn't mean to make this so long......whew!
CinDee
hello! I lost almost 30lbs over a couple months. I had severe fatigue, i was sleeping for 16hrs in a clip (that happened for about 3 months) and i always felt tired even when i was sleeping "normal". I also had a lot of stiffness and then my body just ached, this awful ache.
-Jessica
My first symptom was my feet. The balls of my feet started hurting more and more. My PCP sent me to a podiatrist, he fitted me with orthodics but they didn't really help. Then about four or five months later my ankles started swelling--continuously. Shortly after that, I noticed that I couldn't straighten out some of my fingers. Everything sort of snowballed from there...pain in knees, hips, shoulders. I was also suffering from immense fatigue, and like Jessica I lost 30lbs in a short period of time.Mine start date was when
UPDATE: Mayo Clinic called me back after reading my email. If my family doctor refers me there for Internal Medicine they will see me in May. Versus the rheumy calling in, I was denied since my fevers don't qualify for that I guess? Dunno, just waiting for family doc. to call and say he will refer. I have appt. with him on Monday anyway.
Please keep posting your early symptoms, if you'd like. Alot of things sound like ME
Thanks again.
Mine started in my thumbs. One day I couldn't move my thumbs without a LOT of pain. They were swollen and red all the way down my wrists. It just got worse and I went to the dr, which at the time I NEVER did. He put them both in splints and gave me pred, and indomethacin.. for a while they were the only place, then my hands started with swelling and numbness.Mine started with pins and needles in hands and feet. I also had one finger (middle) that was swollen and SORE. Also had muscle spasms in neck and legs (was working as a cashier at the time), fatigue and memory problems. I thought I had MS.My first symptom was pain in my left foot. I was standing at work, and I just thought maybe I twisted my ankle, so I tried to walk the pain out but it was still there. My doctor put me on prednisone for a "twisted ankle", but then about 2 weeks later it hit me hard, it went to the right foot, my neck and fingers/thumbs. My thumb really swelled up and I couldn't even move it. I had a RA test and the RF factor was 253. It started last February and I've improved a little, but I still can't walk or stand for any period of time. I wear orthotics that help, but "crocs" help also if I'm not walking too much. I mainly have problems with my ankles and knees. I'm on MTX and Prednisone, and my RA doctor has been reducing the prednisone, and hopefully I'll be completely off. The worse part of the day for me is when I wake up and have to walk, and late evening after a long day.
Sad to say I don't really know how or when it started. The RA monster has been present most of my life, I think.
I have had periods when I was not bothered by joint pain. I went through about 3 years when I felt I was in remission. The monster started back up in my feet.
I woke up in the middle of the night with both hands swollen, red, and major pins & needles. Along with that fun, was severe fatigue. Within a week I couldn't use my hands to turn on a faucet, open a jar, button a button or anything. My jaw was swollen along with my knees and the tops of my feet. It hurt so bad if I had to roll over in bed. I was walking like a 90 yr. old and just wanted to die. My hair was also falling out like crazy. I'm one of the lucky ones, lol, Lupus & Rheumatoid Arthritis.
It's been a couple of months on Prednisone and I'm moving around much better with less pain. My knuckles are still red all the time and puffy and without a lot of strength in my hands. But, I'm aggrivated, disappointed but glad I'm still here. Now I'm on MTX with the Prednisone, 2nd dose tomorrow. Last week was a horrible experience with this but I'm hopeful tomorrow will be fine.
This is a bizarre disease. It amazes me how a couple of days my jaw is the worse, then it's my knees, or my feet, or my elbows or hands. It moves around which at first made me think I was a nutcase. Now as I understand it, that's quite normal. Normal...haha.
My earlist sign was a swollen knee. I interviewed and started a new job with a swollen knee, and eventually couldn't go to work as it was so painful. The initial visit to a Rheumatolgist, showed nothing up, and I had 3 arthroscopies on that knee in the space of 18 months, each time the knee swelled up like a balloon. Eventually, as my other knee started to swell as well, my surgeon referred me back to the Rheumatologist, (a new one had taken over where the old one had retired, and maybe not before time,) and I was diagnosed pretty much straight away. it was a relief at the time to put a name to what was wrong with me. At least I could then research and try to look after myself as well.
Twenty years and 2 new knees later, I'm still battling, but the last 12 months have been good for me: the 18 months prior to that were hell! I'll take the good at the moment, and enjoy it while it lasts!
Swollen joint in little finger, fatigue and feeling like my shin bones were going to pop right out of my skin. It then spread to my hips knees and feet. My back has been the last thing to be affected. The fatigue and stiffness is the worst.
Ginni, well thank goodness those aren't symptoms I have. Seems like I have so many. I also have taken a b-12 supplement for quite some time. Thanks for the advice.As someone who is still undiagnosed, this has been very interesting. It proves that what the doctors are telling me is not always true. RA doesn't always start with bilateral inflammation of fingers or toes. Sometimes it follows that pattern, but certainly not always!
Good thread - thanks for starting it! Very informative!
I got up one morning and thought, my hands hurt. After about a month I went to the doctor figuring I had some sort of arthritis, he took blood and my RA factor came back at 400. After reading some of these other posts where your factor is in the 200's and can hardly move, I feel very blessed. My feet are sore, some fatigue and hands are a little stiff but no big deal. Can you be in remission with an RA factor of 400?My right knee and hand started giving me a lot of pain but only intermittently then both feet started no swelling. Later both hands, knees and ankles still no swelling. Finally went to a rheumy after redness and puffiness started who Dx'd Fibro and I just knew that Fibro did not swell or turn red. Finally a great PCP Dx'd RA and found that and OA on x-rays and it was still another year before major swelling began. At this time swelling is somewhat contolled with MTX and Enbrel and as of a year ago I was still sero-negative.
I won't have the RA factor labs done again since I am taking MTX and Enbrel they will probably still be negative. They were useless in my Dx anyway.
I don't remember when being tired almost all of the the time started, but I'm sure it was close to two years ago. I now believe the term I had coined for waking up with swelling and pain (Mystery Injuries) was not due to my work at the time, which was farmwork. I think it was RA. I would put that at a year or more. The obvious Somethings wrong moment hit me when I woke up in the dead of night with my whole left arm from the shoulder down both pins and needles, quite swollen, and in severe pain. There were some more instances like that that were migratory to begin with, but eventually matched up perfectly on both sides. I was diagnosed on the spot with both arms swollen. The deformation was as though they were broken. The Doctor kind of looked shocked. Probably that I hadn't come in before that. 3-4 months ago. It's gotten worse since then. Still waiting on meds to work, or not.Hello Everyone....wow I read all your stories. God bless each and everyone of you!! I got some questions...first, I just had an EMG done of my right hand because I would wake up during the night and in the morning with my hand tingling, burning, and just like it was asleep. This is my right hand and I thought just because I slept on that side that is what it is. Then my left one started doing the same thing but not as bad. The right hand, the thumb and the I guess you could say the muscle or whatever it is by the thumb is very swollen. I am right handed too! Well the EMG came back ok. The dr said maybe its arthritis because of when I had surgury from the rotator cuff. Hmm dont know. My shoulder is killing me too! And when I bend my fingers, especially on my right hand, the hurt like h***.
Then I am having problems with my knees. Had xrays done and came back ok. I know I have something wrong because when I was younger I was in a car accident and didnt do anything until the pain got worse. Went to the dr and said I had hair line fractures in both of my knee caps. Also said that I would arthritis when I get older. Well I guess I do.
Then on my left leg, along with the sciatica, my calve swells alot. My feet hurt too. I dont know if its from the sciatica problem or the osteoarthritis in my hip. I have it moderate in the left hip and mild on my right.
Then I feel so tired all the time, like I can not accomplish anything. Just want to lay around all the time. Its like someone drain my of all my energy and I am like a snail moving slowly.
Does this sound like osteoarthritis? I did make an appointment on my own, without my family dr doing it, to see a Rhy. Dr. Actually I am changing my family dr too,
Wow, sorry so long, but I have to get this out of my system before go deeper into a depression.
Thanks Everyone
Lisa
Lisa, keep going. DON'T give up. Last year about this time I gave up b/c I didn't like what a specialist had to say. If I would have kept persisting, maybe I would have a dx by now. Please keep going!!
I am a little late here in responding, but the symptoms which caused me to seek treatment were an episode of sciatica. It was then through x rays that I found I had arthritis in my back and neck. I have also had problems with both of my big toes, especially the right one. Through a podiatrist about four or five months ago I found that it was arthritis which was causing the joint to degenerate and form bone spurs. I have not been to a rheumy yet and do believe I am still in the early stages because though I have pain in various joints of my body (it does seem to be popping up in other places now, like my elbow joints and fingers) I am not disabled by it yet.
What are your symptoms?
Nancy
Yes, Lisa! Please look into it, sure sounds like how I presented...It took an actual Rhuematologist to get a DX for it. When he did it was apparent I should have seen a specialist earlier. I don't pretend to know alot, but I would have definitely see a specialist sooner, had I know anything about R.A. or any of the imitating diseases. I really hope your doing well.
Peace.