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...
Good evening my name is Chris I am a 47 year old man. Several years ago I was found on xray to have osteoarthritis in my neck . last year my hands started swelling and would become very painful if I used them to run a saw as an example. The pain came on within a few minutes using a saw and was extream but would stop after a few minutes of rest. I could then saw to my hearts content with little pain. After a regular office visit and inflimation indicators in my blood work my Dr said it was probably just more osteoarthritis and put me on a med that was basically high dose Aleve. At least I could not take naproxen while taking it. Started getting a burning sensation over left eye Dr stopped the med and I just take Aleve. Fast forward to now. My hips get very sore if I become lazy but get slightly less sore if I get up. For the past several I have had to loosen all my shoes as my toes would make it difficult to walk if I had a tight pair of socks on. My shoulders and wrists are just recently getting sore but very sore. Then a few weeks ago both my hands began getting very sore. Nothing new. Then the middle nuckles on my two middle fingers on my right hand grew these lumps like dull points. They didn't hurt really until I knocked on a door then they got a New name ,pain buttons. Now they are starting on left hand . now I have grown concerned as they are on my toes hence having to loosen shoes.there are dull points on the inside of my wrist both if them . ok that said . osteoarthritis generally doesn't effect both hands and such does it. Does ra go from ache hands to deformed joints in a years time. Does ra go from not that bad to incredible pain in many joints large and small in a matter of weeks. I only ask as I was at my wife's school and a coworker friend of hers noticed me rubbing my hands because the pressure from the steering wheel on my palms hurts. She then noticed my knuckles and advised my to go back to my Dr . she has had ra for over 20 years and she said both of my hands and wrists at the same time as well as other things that my wife has told her sounds more like ra than oa. I see my gp for a regular visit in a couple of weeks . I don't like drs or tests and try not to bring up anything if not necessary . if this sounds like just osteoarthritis then nothing he can really do so just deal with it. If this sounds like ra then I'll probably have to mention it to him. If the pain gets much worse especially my right hand both wrist or my hips . hips really bad today after a lazy rainy day cuddling in bed with my wife all day yesterday. I will have to mention it. Sorry for being so long and confusing . thanks all
Almost everyone's onset of RA is different. Some woke up out of the blue in a whole new world of pain, others had it creep quietly up for weeks, months, or years. Yes, a year of untreated RA could lead to deformities. Yes, trouble with symmetrical joints can be a red flag for RA.
Now, for the lecture. You will "probably have to mention it" to your doctor? No, sorry, not the best way to handle it. Write down everything you have told us here. What makes it better, what makes it worse. What hurts, how much, what has nodules and when they appeared. Ask for a referral to a rheumatologist. Most family practice/internal medicine/general practice doctors can get lab tests ordered and get the ball rolling, but you do need a specialist to diagnose you and start treatment.
I understand. I went for ten years without seeing a doctor after my third kid was born, and it was fabulous. Wish I could still get away with that, but I just can't, at least not if I want to have any quality of life. RA and its evil little cousins (I actually have PsA) are usually progressive, meaning that they won't just turn around and walk the other way. There is little to gain and a whole lot to lose by being reluctant to tell your doctor what is happening with this one.
The fact that myy hands hurt like he'll after a few moments of using them but then the pain goes away and generally stays away while I use them does that sound like ra.I am not doing well with the thought of 2 chronic debilitating illnesses . Truth be told just the thought if the process that I'm about to embark upon is really pissing me off. I take almost 30 pills a day as it is so what is a few more.my Dr always questions my weight loss (60# in 7 months ) a year ago and now I struggle constantly to not lose more weight. Lol if he only knew I am never hungry cause I fill up on pills. At 5'9" I started at 212# and now I fight like help to stay in the 160# range. Who knows. Thanks again all.
My RA started kind of the same way. I first noticed it after turning wrenches on my VW TDI projects. Never said anything to my regular doc for over a year.
Then as it was getting worse little by little I finally said something. She ran a blanket type arthritis blood test which all came back negative. At that point she said I needed to see a Rheumagologist.
I went another year trying to ignore the pain. What finally got me one day then - I was off work for a weeks vacation and changed out the struts/springs/shocks on once of my project car - a pretty labor intensive job. I ended up spending the rest of my week off on the porch not being able to use my arms/hands at all.
So I finally decided I better go see a Rheumatologist. Living in a remote area the closest one is ~100 miles away and the earliest appointment I could get was 6 months away.
That all took place around 5 years ago. Since then 3.5 years ago I got so bad I had to stop working at age 55. I am now to the point of spending 90% of my days in a chair. I can actively (very slowly) do something for one hour a day and am then exhausted. 3-4 naps a day and constant pain and immobility.
Get yourself checked out by a Rheumatologist now! I waited and hemmed/hawed for almost 2 years before going - I've never been sick in my life. As it turns out the disease was progressing during those 2 years. By the time I went to the doc my RA had progressed to the point of basically no return. Had I listened to my regular doc and went when she said I think the outcome would have been much better as they could have caught it a lot earlier.
Do it now!
i had a poor woman's diagnosis - moderate dose prednisone and wham magic! the disease dissipated - that's a dx for some
I also had MRI's of both my wrists and the rheumatologist diagnosed from the radiologists interpretation of my wrist erosions - that's a dx for some
then there are the standard bearer blood markers that I flunked also - that's a dx for some
but any of the above usually gets you a ticket to RA
here's a cliche - the time is going to pass irrespective....and they give " bridge" meds if you have to suffer a long diagnostic period: there are about what 20 nsaids? you've only been on a couple - maybe you'll hit it off with a different one than the ones you have had, plus you get pred (don't get addicted, pred sucks and it masks the disease) pretty quick from some rheumies.
and if the diagnosis is whoooooooooooooooooosh then you get your first dmards. why don't you check out a book on RA from the (gasp showing my age) library so that you know the standard names of all the disease modifying anti rheumatic drugs (dmards) before the rheumie brings them up. mtx is no big deal but it sounds like a huge deal when first broached. read up and you'll be ahead.
I have about 12 different wrist wraps, resting splints, thumb stabilizers in the house. i wear them to bed sometimes and I wore them to work sometimes. i liked the ones at cvs better than the ones that the occupational therapist dispensed. over at amazon i have these weird gloves that have either hot packs or ice packs that slip in for at night also. they help.
it's probable to have oseo and ra at the same time.
if you have multiple kids to keep up with like I did (I was diagnosed in mid 40's) and they go go go go go go then you are going to have to also. glad you are getting help.
welcome
depot
My husband has a gene, that he got from his mom, and passed onto one of our sons, that any time a knuckle or part of his hand gets knocked, as in working with tools, on cars, etc, he gets a big OA bump. As you said, nothing you can do about that. And of course we cannot see these bumps, so you may well be right about your thoughts about what they are.
I also started getting bumps suddenly on my top joints of my fingers, after 18 years of RA. My rheumatologist said they are OA bumps, and I agree with him, since they are not hot, red and swollen. And although RA is not supposed to hit those top joints, But I have had it, when I was not medicated. So probably OA secondary to the RA.
But the rest of what you have said, especially with the hips and wrists trouble me. I do hope you pay attention to what your wife and others have said - this is something you need to see your doctor,, and a specialist about. It is not going away on its own, so it seems probable there is something auto-immune going on it there.
I will pray that you get a diagnosis and on meds as soon as possible, if it is RA or any other auto-immune disease.