Hi Bigi. I agree with being grateful that I was diagnosed after my children were all out on their own. I was diagnosed in June, 2012, when I was almost 60.

My feet had been bothering me for a very long time, especially when I first woke up. but within a few HOURS, they felt better, so I blew it off. In Dec., 2011, I had fallen on my shoulder, went to orthopedist, who said it was a rotator cuff injury, so I was in PT for that. I mentioned my feet issues. She ordered PT for my feet. That did not help. The PT tried all sorts of things, and told me that she thought I should see a rheumatologist. She talked to the Orthopedist, the Orthopedist agreed, and referred me to the Rheumatologist.

So, in some ways, the Rotator Cuff injury was a good thing, because it got me to a Rheumatologist faster. Rotator cuff never really improved. I have had shots. I have had PT. Now, I am having surgery in a week. Thankfully, it is my left side, and I am right handed.

I was just dx'd last week, but I originally sought help in February for some weird pains I was having. I'm 44, with two kids ages 17 and 9. I've been waking up every day for four years feeling run over or hung over, and still can't find the truck or liquor that did the job!

Hello, Im 54 and recently diagnosed with RA and Sjorgens. I have had severe osteo for the past 15 years and this is a totally different type of disease so trying to learn how to manage it all. I start on Plaquenil today and hoping for the best.

36, diagnosed as a teenager but it was mild and slow to progress. This past winter I reached a breaking point that finally forced me to seek real treatment. Now it feels like all of a sudden, I really know what RA is like.

As a teen, with enough NSAID's I was able to play sports. I increased my NSAID's at 18-19 but remained quite active and fit in my early 20's then had another setback in my late 20's with more limiting foot pain. Early to mid 30's foot pain became very limiting. At 34 hand pain became very limiting, requiring accommodations at work and school. At 35 everything started to fall apart, rapidly. 36 now, almost all of my joints are affected, the pain can be disabling, tendons are not so good, most exertion causes flares.

For the entire 20 years I have been prone to low-grade fevers, fatigue and malaise without realizing what the cause was. My memory started to deteriorate and we now think that was the result of profound vitamin deficiencies. Also have mild cases of type 2 diabetes, psoriasis, eczema, allergies ... heck, half the time I'm not sure if I've listed them all. In short, my immune system is an annoying PITA :)

great discussion. I was diagnosed in 2011 at age 48. I think I have had RA for at least 8 years prior to that but the symptoms were so minor I didn't seek help (I get hoarse after talking alot - I found out RA affects the voice box). I reached a breaking point after I was diagnosed and spent a year trying to manage the disease with diet, exercise and supplements. My inflammation levels were very high. I finally went on DMARDS and biologics a year later and have been in remission most of the time since then with some flares (as I'm having now).
I don't run anymore and I am careful with how I treat my joints (don't do rock climbing etc). I hate that this disease has limited me and I feel how I am aging however I do what I can when I can.

I just turned 37 last week. I have 4 boys ages 18, 17, 14 and almost 12. I was very active and helped my husband with work. So whatever he needed help with to make the job go faster I would do it. I started feeling aches and pains last winter but couldn't narrow it down. My bones would just hurt then once spring and summer arrived it hit hard and fast. Then I realized it wasn't really my bones it was my joints and the low grade fevers went from every now and then to almost daily. I couldn't bear the pain and when I couldn't handle the steering wheel while driving or walk more than a few feet I knew I had to find out what was going on. I got my diagnosis of RA, OA (rheumatologist just added the OA) and chronic fatigue. I got my diagnosis at the end of September.

Jillie,
The brain fog can be so bad at times. Don't know if I'm coming or going, word recall......can be horrible. My kids were like "mom you ok?" so we had to sit them down and explain to the to remind me if they tell me something, text me reminders and if I'm talking to them and it sounds odd just go with it. lol

Hi everyone! I'm new here, just diagnosed this year. I'm 35 as of Monday. I have two little ones 5 and 4. RA sucks! This past year has been so hard with all the pain, I feel like I'm in constant pain. I'm so happy that I found this support group, so I know that I'm not alone out there. The pain began with my hands, now its my feet, and legs. I will be going for some nerve testing in a few weeks, and I'm currently on Sulfasalazine, with a prescription of prednisone on the side for when I need it. And I love to read!

Hi! I'm new here,I am 18 and I was diagnosed in June of this year with RA and Lupus but have been having severe flare ups and pains for around 2 years. My entire legs and knees get the worst of the pain when a flare up comes around. Just last week I found out I was pregnant though so medications have all been put to a stop.

I just turned 55 - diagnosed three weeks ago. I bought a new camper this past Spring and parked it on a campground on the river. I was spending about half my time there - swimming, jumping off piers, playing basketball, riding my bike all over the camp. I always had some pain in the knees, hip, and ankles after camping. As the summer wore on, the pain and fatigue became more severe and lasted longer and longer until I landed in my family doctors office at the end of July.

It's pretty much all been downhill from there.

I'm 54 and two and a half years since diagnosis. I've no clue how long before then RA was actually active. Years probably as I think back over all the wrist, elbow, shoulder, knee and hip pain that I had most of the time.

I've learned more about my body since than I ever cared to learn previously. I've also learned more humility than I ever cared to possess previously. I take more meds than I had ever taken. It is what it is, I am different than i was and so are y'all. I think my body is more like a late sixty than a mid fifty.

Odd but my own mortality just doesn't bother me anymore. Once upon a time I wanted to live to 150 but now I think I'll pass on that one.

I was diagnosed in 2000, but I had the disease for 2 years before that, and Palindromic for a couple of years before that. I had some stupid docs who didn't look at the severe swelling in 80 joints, just the sed rate. So I am looking at 18 years of RA.

I was 44 when I was diagnosed. My boys had left home to go to University, take jobs, and play hockey. But my daughter was only 10. I am so thankful for her in those early years. She used to dress me, brush my hair, and take care of me. I do regret she had so much dumped on her, because my husband didn't step up to the plate till 2009, after she had left home.

But it gave her a passion to help people. She has had numerous jobs helping people, and is now a social worker. I guess that is turning a negative into a plus.

I don't know what I would have done if I had gotten RA before that. We were so incredibly busy with hockey and figure skating. We had up to 20 ice slots a week. I know after I got RA, it was hard enough just to get my daughter to figure skating, and I tried to get her to quit more than once. She eventually became a figure skating coach which she used to put herself through university. So I am glad I took her to her skating sessions.

As for brain fog - that was my first symptom! And several years before I got joint pain. I was taking a French vocabulary course with 500 words to memorize, along with definitions. When studying for the final, I literally couldn't memorize a single word. I had been an A+ student before that.

I had a bad asthma attack, and had to go on 40 mg prednisone 2 days before the exam. I looked at the words, and memorized them all and aced the test. It took me a while to put it together years later when I was working on my Master's degree and had a med failure that it was RA brain fog. I couldn't have gotten my Master's without a biologic and no brain fog. Right now, I am starting to finally see through the fog and get organized again. Not sure where the last 10 months went. Somewhere in the fog, I guess!

Hello, dx in 1994 at age 42. Have an excellent pcp and rheumy. Was put on a biologic in 95 and have been on different ones since that time.

I'm currently 57, have been seeing a rheumatologist for 3 1/2 years. My symptoms go back to my college years. Not sure who the slow learner is, me or the fine collection of doctors I saw over the years.

I'm 62 and was diagnosed 2 years ago. Thankfully Plaquenil and methotrexate, plus occasional tramadol have stalled this disease for the time being.