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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Fibromyalgia and RA

deleted_user
deleted_user
Does anyone know the symptoms of fibro? I have moderate RA and I am sssooo tired all the time. I take mtx and arava.

I have heard that fibro and RA usually go hand in hand. Any comments? I want to talk to my dr about it but she says it's just RA.

Thanks
deleted_user
deleted_user
Well I can tell you that RA makes you very tired and fatigued. Most auto immune diseases mirror one another with similar type symptoms. If your doctor says you do not have fibromyalgia then I would probably believe her. I have had RA for almost 11 years and I do not have fibro and my hairdresser suffers from fibro and doesn't have RA. Can't hurt to read up on both by researching on the web, but if it were me I would take my doctors word if she was adamant I didn't have it. Quite honestly RA is enough to handle. Not sure how long you have been on meds so it is hard to judge if they are working. Also do you excercise??? I know a little cardio gets my blood flowing, oils up my joints and gives me energy.Sure hope you feel less lethargic soon. Call your doctor and see if maybe you are anemic.
deleted_user
deleted_user
I have RA & Fibro the fibro was found 8 months after the RA. I also suffer from two other auto immune diseases. What I found was once the joint pain was getting under control I still had extreme pain that was more in the muscle & to certain touch thats when the Dr. told me I also had fibro. I started Lyrica for the fibro I do remicade for the RA the lyrica did nothing but put on 15 pounds in two weeks I now use vicotine to control the fibro pain & it works. Good luck
deleted_user
deleted_user
I would be very leary about getting involved with vicodine for pain. That is a narcotic and addictive. Besides the few times I used vicodine ( after surgeries) I was completely a zombie. Not a good thing to be with 2 ids at home and a job at the school district!
deleted_user
deleted_user
I have both yay me....
sometimes it is hard to tell wich one is flaring but the worse it gets the easier it is to tell..
ask the dr about the 18 point test it's a great indicator
JillyT
JillyT
I have both FM and RA. Sometimes it's hard to tell them apart because when my RA flares it activates the FM and they have a party on my body! There is a test of your trigger points that the rheumy doc can do to determine if you have FM.

Don't forget that fatigue comes along with RA and also with the meds we take to control it. So if your doc says you don't have it, you probably don't. If you want to know more about it, a good book is Fibromyalgia for Dummies, it's a great book and easy to read. Feel better...hugs jilly
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