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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medicmom5 04/29/2014

Just recently diagnosed but like my profile says, have suffered for 20 years, the last 6 years escalating quickly. I was looking at an MRI report from several years ago and several things jumped off the page that I now know should have alerted all Drs. involved that it was RA !!!! All they could come up with is "you have a really pissed off foot". Really? I spent a total of 10 weeks either in a boot and half of that in a stinking cast and was very little better after all of that. I still have a fair amount of pain and numbness too and makes me wonder if at least the DMARDS would have been started then maybe I wouldn't have had to suffer and stopped whatever destruction is in there :-(

lynnedavidson3 04/29/2014

You are perturbed? You have every right to be really angry. All your symptoms were/are real. What kind of crappy doc would ignore all these symptoms?
I am so sorry you were treated this way. It is not right. You deserve to be treated for your disease, now. Body parts do not get pissed off.
I hope you feel better soon, mentally and physically. Methotrexate should help, unfortunately it will take awhile.
Lynne

altoclef 04/29/2014

But the brain's a body part, and it gets pissed off at this level of idiocy.

medicmom5 04/30/2014

Of course I started off at the foot Dr. and he did mention that he wondered if I had RA but did not offer to check bloodwork again as I was negative when checked several years back. Then on to a "fancy" orthopedist at a university hospital who made the statement that I had a "very pissed off foot" and put me in a cast. Then back to the rheumatologist who just shrugged his shoulders and said I have osteoarthritis. I kept telling people my foot felt like it was either broken or going to explode, seriously! When reviewing the MRI report, it says I had bone marrow edema and tendon sheath swelling and fluid (tenosynovitis) which according to an article I read yesterday should be a tip off for rheumatoid disease!

You are right, I AM more than perturbed, I AM angry! But, anger gets us nowhere and causes more stress so all I do is look forward but part of me wants to shove this in someones face and say "what took so long for help?" Not really sure who to blame, I was very assertive with each Dr. in describing how my foot was feeling and all they wanted to do was immobilize it which did nothing but make my calf atrophy and it isn't and never will be the same size as the other one now.

lionprincess00 04/30/2014

I am so sorry. When I injured my wrist and got my mri last august, I too saw on my disc tenosynovitis and joint effusions, several reactive bone marrow edema spots and cystic changes (don't know what cystic changes meant), soft tissue edema, and of course the torn tfcc. I researched and when I saw the surgeon asked about ra. She looked and said get to a rheumatologist. I was one of the lucky ones. Write a letter to each doc. I probably would. What negligence:( I'm sorry.

medicmom5 04/30/2014

I am sure that a middle aged woman in the 1950's with RA was looked as having "hysteria" and was given some valium to help her calm down! SAD!!!!

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