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...
Brand new to the board as of this morning and thanks for having me here. I have been here reading about and seems like alot of good info and expierence with RA here on the board along with some nice people with alot in common. I to have been expierencing alot of migrating joint pain but havent been diagnosed with anything yet. So much that i have had to take a sick leave off work until i can hope to get straightened out. I am 39 about to turn 40. Have dealt with gout for years but has mostly always been confined to my lower foot and mostly the big toes. I take allopurinol 300m once daily and 0.6 crocrys twice daily for the gout. The first of june this year i was hit like a ton of bricks. Had horrible gout in my right foot and a sore groin on my left side and my right wrist all the same time. I had done nothing at all to injure anything so i didnt know what was going on. Then the pain would last 2 to 3 days and start getting better and i could feel it starting to hurt in my other wrist and other side of my groin. it has been everyday since the first of june until now moving around from place to place and lasting two to three days for each place. Now i have noticed the flares never really get completely better now like they did in the beginning. Its like they are almost constant but not as severe. Heres a list of places that have hurt. both wrists, individual fingers on both hands, thumbs, both hips, knees, shoulders, stiff neck, both feet. Finally my dr referred me to see a rheumy. Of course i have to wait in pain for two months to get in. lol. Seen the rheumy last thursday. We had a long conversation about my problems and he decided to do lab work and xray my hands and feet. He wrote me a new nsaid i had never tried before and said we will wait and see what the labs say. Well yesterday his assistant called me with the results. This is the labs that were taken.
metalicbolic panel, comprehensive
uric acid blood
ccp antibody
cbc platelets & aut diff
rheumatoid factor-quant
c-reactive protien
sed rate erythrocyte.
unfortunataly i do not have the results here with me but plan to get copies of these at my next visit. Here is what she said. All the labs were normal except the ra test was positive. She said they were two ra tests and one was positive and the other was negative. Im not sure which was positive and which was neg the ra factor or the ccp antibody. Doctor stated that he knows i have gout and the test revealed that the current meds for the gout was the right dose. This tells me that my uric acid levels was probably below 7.0. Also said he didnt want to say Ra right off the bat because its rare for people to have gout and Ra at the same time even though it does happen sometimes. He seems to think it might be the gout or a different form of gout thats causing the trouble. but im not completely buying it. He is the expert not me so im gonna ride it out and see if he can help me. I see him again in one month so maybe i can find out more by then. He wrote an nsaid etodolac 400mg to try until my next appointment but it dont seem to be doing much good. Sorry for being so long winded here on my first post. one other thing is does RA get into your guys shoulders alot? I probably have 6 or 7 locations this morning that are giving me pain. No offense to the older people but im 39 and felt like i was 90 this morning when i crawled out of bed. Thank you so much for listening and any input at all will be much appreciated.
metalicbolic panel, comprehensive
uric acid blood
ccp antibody
cbc platelets & aut diff
rheumatoid factor-quant
c-reactive protien
sed rate erythrocyte.
unfortunataly i do not have the results here with me but plan to get copies of these at my next visit. Here is what she said. All the labs were normal except the ra test was positive. She said they were two ra tests and one was positive and the other was negative. Im not sure which was positive and which was neg the ra factor or the ccp antibody. Doctor stated that he knows i have gout and the test revealed that the current meds for the gout was the right dose. This tells me that my uric acid levels was probably below 7.0. Also said he didnt want to say Ra right off the bat because its rare for people to have gout and Ra at the same time even though it does happen sometimes. He seems to think it might be the gout or a different form of gout thats causing the trouble. but im not completely buying it. He is the expert not me so im gonna ride it out and see if he can help me. I see him again in one month so maybe i can find out more by then. He wrote an nsaid etodolac 400mg to try until my next appointment but it dont seem to be doing much good. Sorry for being so long winded here on my first post. one other thing is does RA get into your guys shoulders alot? I probably have 6 or 7 locations this morning that are giving me pain. No offense to the older people but im 39 and felt like i was 90 this morning when i crawled out of bed. Thank you so much for listening and any input at all will be much appreciated.
Yes on the shoulder pain for me... I have pinched nerve in my neck from the RA and it is sending the pain to my left shoulder and on down to my hand. And others have pain in their shoulders from the RA. It seems that RA can affect all our joints. It sounds as if you could have RA but then joint pain can be caused by other things too. It does take our doctors some time to figure it all out for us. So glad you have been to see your rheumy and hoping that he can help you to get to feeling better real soon. I am sure others on the site will be stepping in here and giving you a shout... Take care and keep us posted as you find out what the pain is from.
If either your anti-CCP or your RF test was positive, that's a red flag. A big one, especially at the beginning. It's common for labs to all be negative early on, and go to positive with time. So is the fact that you seem to have a lot of symmetry in your affected joints- both hands, both hips, etc. RA does like to be symmetrical. Does gout?
I don't think that there's any law against having both gout and RA. My guess would be that the percentage of gout sufferers with RA mirrors the percentage of the general population with RA. Be careful that your doctor doesn't write it all off as gout and close his mind to other possibilities. If your uric acid levels were good, what are the chances of having gout in all those joints? Low? Really low?
Shoulders? Yes. I had a MRI on one of mine this spring which showed five, count 'em five, separate flavors of inflammation.
You've been given good advice already. I just wanted to add something about the groin pain. If it's inner thigh near the bend, that's actually the hip joint. So your hips may be affected as well. Its in those joints for me too as well as edema in my inner groin adductor muscles on the right side of my upper thigh. The pain is definitely different.
For me, the joints hurt when I'm leaning forward while sitting. They also stiffen up while I'm sleeping. My "outer" hips hurt too which is probably tendonitis or bursitis & so does my low back which is either lumbar/sacral pain or my SI joints(I've spontaneously fused at L5-S1). Once you live with the different pains long enough you'll learn the difference between joint/bone or muscle/tendon.
As far as not being able to have both gout & RA or it being rare...I have psoriatic arthritis & RA which is extremely rare being seropositive. It was ignored for a long time because it was "impossible". My advice is to go with your gut. If your gout is controlled the RA symptoms may be coming to the forefront. That's what happened with me. It wasn't til Humira failed that the PsA symptoms/pain came through. I'm just thankful I finally found a rheumy who thought outside of the box & was willing to listen to my symptoms. More importantly actually believe what I was telling her.
Take care,
Emerald
I've had every joint affected but this hips in my twelve year war. Have been seronegative the entire time. Was positive on sed rate during a super all body flare. So labs do not necessarily tell the entire story.
Start keeping a daily journal of your symptoms - as well as what you eat/drink. You may notice a pattern develop. A lot of patients have trigger foods/drinks and can reduce symptoms by eliminating the triggers from their diet.
Good luck!
I feel worse than my 75 year old mom, you know (i really do, she's in excellent health). I get it. We all do.
Every single test of mine is negative, and I was diagnosed almost a yr ago. Sally should chime in, but xrays do NOT show RA damage until you've had years of erosions taking place. They are virtually obsolete in the diagnosis of RA.
My shoulders are horrible right now. Saw my rheumy yesterday, and she called it rotator cuff tendonitis. Shot the left with a steroid shot, and it is about 80% better this morning. RA I have read normally hits the larger joints later on in the disease, but that's a load of bull for me. Q year in and since going off all my meds 3 months ago, my shoulders are the worst joints right now. They all hurt, but my shoulders have become worthless.
Sorry you needed to find us, but welcome! Keep after your doctor for an accurate diagnosis. If you get worse, don't hesitate to call and demand an appointment sooner.
Not knowing is tough.
I agree, even if having both is rare doesn't mean your not one of those rare cases.
Doctors who think outside the box are important in many cases & yours may be one of them.
Blood work is part of the diagnostic process, it should not be the one & only deciding factor. There seems to be a lot of complaints of doctors relying solely on blood work.
Yes my shoulders can really bother me.
One thing my doctor pointed out is RA is bi lateral. Effecting both sides. Much like your stating.
Many of us here do not have the classic symptoms.
Some hurt with no swelling. While others have swelling but not the red warm joints.
You'll find doctors that look for the patient to have every classic symptom yet there are so many that don't.
Hang in there. Follow your instincts.
Wishing you the best of luck with this doctor.
Sammy
I'm like Emerald22 in that I have to lean back in my chair a bit to be comfortable as well (can't lean forward without pain).
Also, be careful about sleeping on your shoulders (i.e., on your side). I love to do that, but I always regret it.