Rheumatoid Arthritis Support Group

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic, inflammatory, multisystem, autoimmune disorder. It is a disabling and painful condition which can lead to substantial loss of mobility due to pain and joint destruction. The disease is also systemic in that it often also affects many extra-articular tissues throughout the body including the skin, blood vessels, heart, lungs, and...

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Diagnosis in question

shanr
shanr
I've been having various tests for a couple of years due to swelling and pain in joints. In August, my rheumy decided we were dealing with RA - even though all blood work was fine, because of symptoms and my reaction the Plaquenil.

I went on Monday and she's no longer thinking it's RA and has ordered a new group of blood tests, xrayed my very swollen ankle (a new area to swell/hurt), and is saying "inflammatory arthritis". Currently I'm awaiting results of tests.

I have had an MRI on my hand and doubt an xray will show my swelling or anything...no test has beyond the MRI.

When I look up inflammatory arthritis all I see is RA. I'm very frustrated.

At what point do you get a second opinion? Is it this slow to figure out for everyone? How can I have so many symptoms and blood is fine? What is the difference in inflammatory arthritis and RA?

Thank you ~S
2leftfeet
2leftfeet
I do not know the difference between inflame arthritis and RA.

What I do know is that many on this board - including myself - were initially diagnosed with seronegative RA, meaning, we had good bloodwork showing nothing wrong. My Rheum listened to my symptoms, looked & felt my hands, feet, etc, and started treatment right away. First was methotrexate, moving on from there.

A 2nd opinion could not hurt.
altoclef
altoclef
All RA is inflammatory arthritis: not all inflammatory arthritis is RA. "Inflammatory" means that it is caused by inflammation, often autoimmune, rather than wear-and-tear like osteoarthritis.

Other forms of inflammatory arthritis include psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, reactive arthritis a.k.a. Reiter's syndrome, one that goes along with Crohn's disease, and I suppose lupus and UCTD are in there too.

Bottom line: what they call it is much less important than whether and how they treat it.
aggie83
aggie83
Some of the new medical coding requires specific symptoms, tests, and features for a physician to 'code' things in your record. All part of the Affordable Care Act changes. Treatment for most persistant inflammatory arthritis is the same, so if you are getting Plaquenil, that is often the first drug. I was also dx this way and at first I was very angry that they could not tell me with specificity what was wrong with me. In the end, I realized that preventing damage and reducing swelling and inflammation was more important than a label Two years after I was first stricken, I was dx with seronegative RA. If the plaquenil doesn't full contain symptoms within a couple of months, be sure to tell your doc so they can change or add meds as appropriate. Stay vigilant and keep a record of your symptoms daily so your doc has something to work with. Wishing you the best.