Ok, so the more I read on here the more questions I have. I have already spoke to my childrens dr. about my RA diagnosis. Is it often that your children will get RA. Im conserned about my daughter shes 10 she gets Growing Pains alot and I honestly never got them as a child so I dont fully understand unless its similar to my joint pain. She crys sometimes it hurts her so bad and there have been at least 3 occasions in the past year that she ran a fever for "no reason" took her the dr. and he said he couldnt explain it... So, im I overreacting? He said as soon as I see my Rheumy he would start checking her out for it if my condition is confirmed.
Linda
Kids can get ra too. JRA is what they call it and it is treated just about along the same lines as our ra. My 12 year old daughter has JRA. My 22 year old daughter has ra. I am not saying this to scare you at all!! It is unusual for that to happen in a family like that. It seems that ra is hereditary in my family. I care less what the researchers say because of the track record of almost everyone on my maternal side of the family having it.
That said...I do know of a couple mother/daughter and mother/son people with ra. Growing pains can be just that...growing pains. Fevers can pop out from nowhere. What you want to look at it is your child stiff in the morning? Do they fatigue easily? Are any of their joints swollen, hot, or red? Do they have flu like symptoms without apparently having the flu? If it is a yes to any of those questions, I would press your pediatrician for a more througho exam.
Just because you have ra does not necessarily mean your children will.
Neither of my 2 children have shown obvious symptoms as of now. It's a concern.....but you shouldn't be overly concerned to the point of being stressed out about it.
Although I will say that when I was younger I had horrible "Growing Pains" in my legs. The doctors just said "Growing Pains" and my parents left it at that. At age 13 my mother was hemming my pants and discovered that one of my legs was longer than the other. I had to have surgery to correct a problem that had it gone un-noticed would have been a horrible handicap for the rest of my life. After a certain point they would not have been able to correct the growth deformity. Since I've been dx'ed with RA I've researched all kinds of things. I've read that undignoised JRA in children can lead to growth problems such as one leg being longer than the other. Does that mean that I've had this far longer than the doctors know? I don't know.....but it sure makes me wonder.
If you looked at me from behind when I was 13 you would see that the line behind my knee were at different heights. Same with my knee caps from the front. As your daughter ages watch for this warning sign.
This dumb stuff is inherited so be on the lookout. sarahI grilled my son's pediatricin(that has got to be spelled wrong). He had hives and fevers as an infant. I, of course, over researched everything and was convinced there was something going on. The Dr. said that it is pretty rare to have it inheritied. Basically, he just said that if my son complained of aching joints he would probably test sooner than he would for other kids. He is just 3 now and acts fine. He did inherit my clumsiness though!
Becky
jojo-baby,
Questions and Answers about Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis
Hope this helps altho i am sure it will not put your mind at ease, just remember, the cure is just around the corner and with todays drugs, ra isn't so bad.
LEV