How old are you? | Arthritis Information

and how old were you when you wee diagnosed? me i am 40, diagnosed at 40, but have had it atleast a couple years.

kel

45 and was just diagnosed but I think I have had it about a year.

Laker

I am 61 (soon to be 62). Diagnosed when I was 57 with PMR & Sero Negative RA. I'm 53 dx'd when I was 34?? Can't remember, but had it for a couple years before I finally went to the dr.

Deidre36 when dx, too young!40, diagnosed at 39. I am so sure I had it much earlier. I remember telling my sister that I thought I had fybromyalgia because I was always in pain. I totally remember my first flare though, that was at 39.Diagnosed yesterday. Age 57. I think I've had it a couple of years though.19 but had "something inflammatory" while in middle school.

BeckyI am 60 now and was diagnosed at 59.
Just when I thought I was going to slide through to a golden age.

My doctor said I probably had it for years, but I doubt it. I never had any inflamtion till last april 2006. Thats when it all started for me.
Age 50 Dx'd at 47 but am sure I had it for a while by then. My symptoms started at about 22 and formally diagnosed at 25. I am now 38. Turning 39 in a couple of months. It's been awhile!!

Dx at 39, I'm 65 now. I think I had it as a child already.

Kathy

My question is when do the distinguish JRA from RA. And does it really
matter? My current rheumatologist says that my diagnosis probably
should have been JRA. I was 19 but had the elevated sed rate and ANA
through elementary school and beyond. I am assuming the treatment is
the same. I just wish it could have been caught earlier. My main problem
I think was the fact that we moved from military base to base. Never saw
the same dr.'s and specialists were hard to find. Eventually military
insurance agreed to pay for an out of service physician if they could not
provide treatment. I did get in to see a RD at Walter Reed(don't they have
the best reputation now?) but we ended up moving before. By the time I
was through a waiting list again I was off to college.

That's the main problem with RA. There are so few dr. that can handle it.
You can read about the shortages at the dr.'s office. I definately feel that
I wouldn't have the chest and eye issues if it had been caught earlier. Oh
well--you all got me going on a rant! Really though, I am supposed to be
cleaning and any chance to procratinate is highly welcomed!

Have a great night all...

I have a load of laundry to tackle...or maybe curl up in and zzzzzz

beckyDx'd at 45. I had a hard time accepting the fact that I was 45; not too happy with that and then BOOM. Who cares about being 45, I'm not happy with being Dx'd.Dx'd at 39 now almost 41. I think I had it for awhile maybe a year with the inflammation and pain in feet. I had pericarditis and pleurisy twice about 10 years ago. Always have been a sick child with weird ailments and allergies.

From what little I am beginning to understand about JRA is that they say JRA because of the fact you can get it so young (Joon was born with it...Katie was 18 months old when she got her dx) and you really are a juvenile. The potential for damage can be higher because you have it longer. I would imagine the cut off age would be 18 to stop calling it JRA and just call it RA since you are not considered a juvenile at the age of 18.

Now they treat JRA pretty aggressively. I am on a supoprt forum for parents with JRA kids and one of the little girls needed FDA approval to take Enbrel because she is under the age of 4. The preferred meds of choice from what I have read is mtx injected (the pills are too hard on the kids tummies). NSAIDS, and Enbrel. They do prescribe pred for the kids but do try to avoid that as much as possible. The poor little ones get the puffy moon faces from it and just turn into little balloons from it. Kids taper down from the pred just like we do. And they have just as many problems doing the taper as we do.

I'm 36, and was diagnosed a few months ago. Symptoms started last year after my infected appendix burst. I was diagnosed at 51--had it for a little more than a year before that. It's been a long four years.I'm 40 and was just dx'd...but I think I've had it a while. I was diagnosed at 22 had symptoms since i was at least 15. I'm 44 now

62 - diagnosed about 10 yrs. ago. Had disease for at least 10-years prior to proper diagnosis.

Janis

Adult Onset Still's Disease, possible lupus (new rheumy hinting broadly), degenerative disk disease, in denial about fibro, ehler-danlos

Rocky-

Age 16 seems to be the magic cut off line between adult and juvenile. JRA has 3 different forms that each tend to manifest diffferently in an adult

Polyarticular most closely mimics the adult form. However patients with this form of JRA tend to be seronegative. Also the joint damage pattern is a bit different. Like the adult version this form hits girls harder

pauciarticular jra is most likely to remit of all the forms but if it continues onto adulthood tends to become one of the spondylapthy type arthritis. This patient also tends to have the HLA-B27 genetic factor. Under the age of 7 it seems to hit girls more above 7 it hits boys.

Systemic is the rarest form and involves spiking fevers, rashes and lots of internal involvement. It remits in about 50% of cases. Adult onset Stills Disease most resembles this form.

i was 3years old when i was dignosed and i am 13 now..........i have jra/ploy.....

Ashley...you and Danielle are sooooo close in age!!! She is 12!!! You girls really need to talk with each other. Don't be shy...she's a neat kid. And I'm not saying that cuz I'm her momma either lol.

Danielle has poly jra too! At least that is what family doc says. We will see what our rheumy (she sees mine) says in May.

im 35, diagnosed at 33I'm 45...diagnosed when I was 30

105

oh, you mean actual age, well 54.

When I was 43 or so I was diagnosed with "synovitis." Within a couple years they were calling it RA, but still were only treating it with aspirin.

I finally got a definitive diagnoses and DMARD therapy Feb 2004.

I'm 48 (almost 49 but don't tell anyone). I was diagnosed at 47 but had it long before as I had my knees replaced at 42 and 43. I would say I had it from 39, the night my knee blew up like a football and my life changed forever.I'm 52, was diagnosed when I was 51 but I think I've had it for a few years.

Am 62 and was diagnosed when I was 52 but I had symptoms for several years prior to diagnosis and I ignored them and contributed the aches and pains to "aging"

Stan and I want to dance on our 50th wedding anniversary, I'll be 98 and he'll be 101. That's our goal!

I was 32 but had swollen knuckles since i was 17 and fatigue so it could have been that but no one dx me.I am 42 (43 soon) now.

I am 46....Dx'd with RA at 26.

Developed aggressive RA from cracking my knuckles as a child!

Just kidding!!!I'm 42, diagnosed at 42, about 2-3 months ago. I have had symptoms since I was about 26 or so. My first thing was carpal tunnel. Then TMJ. Then shoulder pain. Then hips. Then knees. Then my neck/shoulder area after a skiing accident where I broke part of my neck bones.

I am 21, diagnosed with "synovitis" in Right knee at 20 and had subsequent "synovectomy" to get all the orange junk out. My Rheumatologist gave me some 8 word diagnosis at 21, but the term Sero-negative is in there for now :) Knee feels good though, just ran 5.5 miles with a backpack on behind my new apartment.

-JON
I am 36, will be 37 August 1st. I was first dx with sero negative ra in January of 06 but had been having symptoms for about a year before that. I'm 33 y/o and diagnosed at 33.I am 46, diagnosed when I was 45 but I think I started into this when I was
39. Went from doctor to specialist. I think they thought I was a complainer
so they just gave me medication to shut me up.
I am 27 and was diagnosed when I was 23, but started having symptoms when I was 20.
I am 21 years old now, I was diagnosed when I was 18 years old.

I'm 47. Was diagnosed at 44.

I started with Raynaud Syndrome at 8 but then it stopped and i started again at 18 but after seeing1000000 doctors ove of them told me i had a conective tissue disease...but when i was 22 they found out it was RA....

I am 29 now....
I am 56 years old. Some days I feel I'm 90.

Dxed with RA in '83 at the age of 31, but I've had aching joints since I was 20.

In '99, a rheumie said I had Fibro, not RA... then 7 years later, I'm in a full blown RA flare!
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