Do you have visible swelling?
Do you have visible swelling even while taking all of your meds?
Is consistant swelling considered a "flare"?
I have very visible swelling, always have since I was DXed as a baby. I still have swelling even with being on Humira, 5mg of pred, and 800mg of IBU 3-4 times a day. I have consistant swelling in my right knee, but I also get slight swelling in my fingers, elbows, and now my ankles and the tops of my feet. All this swelling while on Humira. But it could be from Humira has not built up enough in my system yet and now I am off Humira again for a week.The rheumy said the swelling is more likely neuropathy but although my emg and needle conduction test showed that I do have neuropathy, the neurologosit said the swelling doesn't look like neuropathy either. So, we don't know what its being caused from!
Glad to see you posting again, Michele
I do not know what mine is from, the only think I can think of is RA. I do not have other DX's like everyone else. All I have is RA. All of my swelled joints are warm to the touch, but not on fire, never have been even when I was a little kid. It just seemed weird that everyday even with Humira and all that I would still have some joints swelled and painful to use. Hi Joonie, I have swelling in my knuckles, elbows and knees pretty much constantly regardless of what meds I'm on. Pred bring it down some but it never goes away completely and my knees always look like large red balloons. Also have swollen ankles atm, although dr isnt sure whether that RA or a side effect of pred. I just know they hurt! I remember when I was first given pred and being told that it would take the swelling and pain away. It takes the edge off and when tapering the dose i notice how much it was concealing but it has never done what the dr claimed it would and taken the swelling and pain away completely. Sorry to hear you're having such a bad time of it. Scattered I normally don't have much swelling at all. It happens every now and then. That is why at first my Rheumy was so hesitant to dx me with RA. But soon the joints showed damage on both side and progessed fast. I am RA FACTOR NEG, and she told me that those with it fare much better joint wise and swelling wise then those that are RA Factor Pos. Roblyn I have swelling all the time in my hands and feet all the time and some of my "bumps" on them are red and warm to touch. I have always had them since my dx Sept 05....actually longer with feet. I was on Humira and had 4 shots but now am off recovering from surgery. I hope you feel better soon, Joonie! Best Wishes CinDee I have some swelling pretty much all the time. nothorrible but noticible. I also have redness, and a red rashy look across my palms. Thanks everyone for replying. I just need to get my knee seen about I guess.
My arms when I go to lift something up they feel weak and then my elbow feels painful and then I go to feel my elbow and it is swelled and warm to the touch. It is just annoying! I try to pick something up and then I feel like it is a task and very hard task. Even to pick up a notebook or my 3lb laptop. Before I was dx'd with RA I noticed that I my shoes were tight, along with my wedding ring. I had both sized up a half. Since being on RA meds I notice during flares or bad days that my shoes fit very tight and my watch gets so tight on my wrist that I have to take it off. This swelling is only noticeable in this context, but is not overly noticeable to the eye. I think one can have swelling at the joint level enough to cause pain, but hardly visible. What bothers me most are the odd blood test they run. When I first was dx'd, my doc noticed (and wrote down on my chart) that my toes were inflamed and tender. The blood test came back positive for RA, but the tests that theoretically measure inflammation (sed rate, etc) came back normal. I pointed out the obvious conflict between what he had seen and what the blood test showed. I got very little response!
I hope the Humira helps soon!
My doc first put me on MTX, and that helped quite a bit. I still had visible swelling, it just wasn't anywhere near the extent it was before the MTX.
About six months ago, doc added Enbrel, and that's helped even more. I don't really have much problems with swelling now...except in my ankles if I've been on my feet for quite a while.
dordale
I've not really had a lot of visible swelling. I remember the docs and my mom pushing and feeling around for it, and you can see it when you poke and prod, but its not overpowering or anything. But I would complain about the pain, and my mom would sit me down, and poke and go "hmmm" and then next thing I knew, we were upping my meds. I wish I had told her to show me what the hell it was she was poking at, and seeing. Now that I'm all on my own, I haven't got a clue. LoL I know when I'm swollen, but no one else sees it. It's kinda frustrating, and I wonder if my new docs will believe me.
I am one of the ones that have very visible swelling, for almost two years now and my crp rate is only 1.8. Its actually usually a little lower but I am in a flare right now. My lab uses .8 as the high normal so mine is slightly elevated this time but its still not high enough to acct for all my swelling. I have asked this question over and over and never get a straight answer!!!!!
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