Your grandmother was diagnosed what, 50 or 60 years ago? At that time there wasn't much to be done, other than rot out the patient's stomach with megadoses of aspirin and ruin bone, adrenal function, and other systems with gigantic doses of prednisone.

Any rheumatologist who has been in practice for a few decades will tell you that we live in a whole new world. There are several types of therapies available, and the biologic drugs in particular (Humira, Enbrel, etc.) have made for far better outcomes than your grandmother's generation could hope for. Don't assume you will end up like she did.


With any medical test the two things that will bite you are false negatives, a test that says you're fine when you are not, and false positives, where the test says you are sick when you are actually as healthy as the proverbial horse. My uneducated guess is that the 87% figure is how likely it is that you do indeed have RA. It could also refer to the chance of showers that day, or the percentage of people at the lab who skipped breakfast!

Have you seen a rheumatologist? If not, do you have an appointment pending?

She was 50 when diagnosed and lived to 87 but was an invalid for the last 15 years of her life. I have been reading about all of the new things available and that gives me hope. I have been having joint issues for over 18 years and have already had 12 knee surgeries and 1 shoulder surgery. They have been saying osteo but I went to a new Dr and he ordered the RA test because I have most of the symptoms and pain meds are no longer doing me a lot of good. I have a referal to t a Rheumatologist just waiting for them to call. I am trying to get as much information before I go so I can be prepared with questions. Thank you so much for responding. I appreciate having others to discuss this with that have knowledge of what the constant daily pain is like. I never tell anyone about my pain because it is just something I have come to accept. The recent changes I have are what concerns me. I am starting to have trouble griping things with both of my hands, intermittent finger swelling and nodules, I have an off and on low fever and some days I am so tired I can hardly make myself do things, but have been managing because I didn't want anyone to think I was just being a whiner. Also if my Hubby knows Im in pain or not feeling well he gets really anxious and tends to not want me to do anything so I have become very good at hiding my pain, fatigue, and fever. I also don't let anyone but my Dr. know how much pain meds I have to take to just keep functioning. I have had to up my advil to three times a day, continue to take my others as needed. I also have to deal with some allergies to certain drugs which has made it difficult for them to even treat the osteo pain. This is all quite overwhelming at the moment but I will get it figured out. Just knowing for sure what it is will be a big relief. Thank you

My grandmother had horribly crippling RA - she died in the early 60's. As Altoclef said, not much could be done back then.

I have Osteo arthritis, bursitis, tendonitis, and Osteopenia, in addition to the RA.

My Rheum treated me aggressively.I am on methotrexate, and a biologic. Because of this, the majority of the time, I feel pretty good. Most of the time, I do not take anything for pain. I do, occasionally, take a Celebrex, but not often. I am having problems with my grip, I make adjustments for that.

Hopefully, your Rheum will be aggressive in his treatment, and not do a 'wait & see'. You probably won't find the drug combination that works right away - I know mine took a while to get the right drug. Good luck.

Hi OrchidIsland and welcome. You are in the right place and have already received a plethora of great information to start off with from the good folks here. It is disheartening to receive the diagnosis of RA, but good to get a diagnosis after all this time to know exactly what it is you are dealing with and know that there is treatment out there to deal with RA. I don't know much about the numbers and percentage, but hopefully when you get to a Rheumatologist he or she can explain that part. I was fortunate to be able to be diagnosed with RA by symptoms alone and to be seen by a Rheumatologist quickly.I can imagine that it can be frightening to see what your grandma went through years ago, but as the thers have mentioned things have changed now and have changed considerably so there is hope. We all have to take one day at a time and kind of wait and see. In dealing with RA you learn to have hope and patience. That is the only way to deal with this disease. Worrying about the future is of little use, but planning for the future would be beneficial. I wish you the best and hope things turn around for you once you get into the hands of a good Rheumatologist.

Welcome, welcome. I too had various pains for year and wasn't diagnosed till I was 66. I was actually happy to get a diagnosis be c side it answered so many questions. My RD factor was 918, so there was no guessing. My rheumy put me on Methtrexate right away which stops the progression of the disease, this last month he added a biologic to keep flares from popping thru. He told me 3years ago, at diagnosis, that of all the times in history it wasn't too bad a deal because of the great meds available. Just don't let it freak you out you will do well. Trish