What diagnoses have you been given?

Which kinds of specialists have you seen so far?

Pretty much every doctor in the book. It took a lot to finally get me to feel somewhat better. I saw everyone from a neurologist to a psychologist. I ended up getting diagnosed with progressive RA. I also have Celiac, which I have had for about 6 years.
They actually thought I didn’t have Ra and took a blood test just as protocol and my results ended up being through the roof. No physical damage can be seen so far, but we are having problems determining what sports injuries are and what could actually be RA damage. My mom also has Ra, but has not had flair up in years and is taking no medication for it, besides Advil occasionally.

Can you be specific? Which tests? Which kind of specialists?

Are you sure your mother has RA and not OA?

What medications are you taking and have you seen a rheumatologist???? That is who you need to see.

I am not a doctor, BUT, the symptoms you are describing are NOT classic RA symptoms. Tenderness MIGHT be fibromyalgia. But you need to see a rheumatologist.

I have been seeing a rheumatologist for about 4 months now. I am on hydroxychloroquine..
And yes she her blood was positive. She broke her back about 5 years later ( it's been 12 years since), so most of the pain is hard to tell if it is part of her injury or other wise.
As for me I had X-rays and blood test ( not sure witch ones I'm still new to these blood tests). We can see damage in my knees and feet, but it's hard to tell what is sports damage. We are worried about my hands because they are starting to shift. They did some measurements of curves and widths of my fingers. I got back in to reasses how I am doing and if I should be put on something else.

I agree with WG, you could well have fibromyalgia along with RA. You do need to go to a rheumatologist. I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia by a pain med doctor. He put me on 900 mg Gabapentin, and I was great till last summer. In fact, I grew to believe I didn't have fibromyalgia. So with my family doctor's approval, I started cutting down on Gabapentin. It took a little over a week of eliminating 300 mg, and I woke up screaming in the night with unbearable muscle pain. I started back on it, but I am having all kinds of issues. I think I might have to switch meds.

The moral of this story, is that if something is working, leave it alone. I regret like anything I didn't leave well enough alone. I do hope you figure this part of the puzzle out. It is common to have more than one auto-immune disease at a time. I have 5. Fun! NOT!

Plaquenil as the starter drug? Ask for MTX.

http://www.webmd.com/fibromyalgia/guide/common-misdiagnoses-of-fibromyalgia

I'd definitely ask them to consider fibromyalgia as well. They're incredibly common together. Two other things to consider from my experience, is to see if your potassium and vitamin D are low. Both can increase pain and tenderness. According to my rheumatologist, these are both often low in RA patients.

I agree with April about the potassium and Vitamin D. Other minerals, like magnesium gel locally has really helped the bad muscle cramps. Restless Legs Syndrome I found is helped by iron, and mine is usually on the almost below normal or below the lowest level. So if I start to get RLS, I take iron. This all started after my foot reconstruction surgery. I had the worst charley horses in the world. It took years before someone had me try the magnesium gel on my feet, and I didn't wake up screaming from muscle cramps at night. I don't use it all the time, just if I get a cramp, maybe once a month.

And forget the Plaquenil. Ask for methotrexate. It is the gold standard for RA treatment, and can be used in conjunction with a biologic if you need it. I've never heard of anything getting relief from Plaquenil. I was on it once at the beginning, for a long and agonizing year, and 2 years ago, and it was literally like I was on nothing.

Oh, and if it is fibromyalgia, there are various drugs like Gabapentin and Lyrica that help the pain. You might have to take a lot of drugs, to get feeling better. Sorry about that!

As far as I know, I get my blood tested a lot because of another autoimmune disease I have, I am all good on vitamin in take. Of course I'm sure I can not absorb it that well because of damage to my intestine, but so far so good! I have been looking up fibromyalgia and I will definitely ask my doctor about it too!!

As for the medication I am taking, pretty much everyone starts out taking what I am taking. My joints are not falling off ( lol) and they rarely swell. There is also very little damage witch, I'm sure is why she started me on it. You don't just give someone hard core immune suppressants if they might feel better on a lower medication. This game of going on and off medication is not new to me, so I am very prepared to try a lot of drugs that might not make me feel better!

Just FYI to everyone suggesting that she demand something other than Plaquenil: with my insurance, there was no option at all. Plaquenil was the only thing that was going to be approved for the first two months, period. MTX was added at that point, and I will start Humira as soon as it arrives. I don't know what would have happened if I'd offered to pay for it out of pocket, but I had no options with my insurance coverage.

Yes katie, our health now rests in the hands of the bean counters at the insurance office. Our pain is their revenue loss prevention.