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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jennylynn 08/31/2016

im 44. Just a few months ago my knuckles swelled in my right hand, then it moved to the tips of my fingers, up to my shoulder and now some of my toes are swollen and very stiff when I wake up. Two weeks ago my thumb knuckle swelled up, it's all on my right side. Saw Doctor all blood tests came back normal, but nothing about this is normal. Seeing a rhematalogist in two weeks but looks like RA to me. I'm scared and frustrated about what this could be. I do remember last year out of the blue both my wrists became very weak and I didn't have much strength in them. It finally got better after 7 months. What else could this be? For those with RA is this what you first experienced?

CountryGal22 08/31/2016

Hello JennyLynn so sorry to read about your swelling, stiffness, and weakness :( I have the stiffness, weakness, but been lucky on not having a lot of swelling in my fingers. I did have a lot of swelling in my muscles and not sure which one of my physical problems that's from and I do have lots of pain from many physical problems. It's always hard waiting for those appointments that we hope will give us some answers and safe remedies. Good Luck and I sure hope the Rheumatologist you go will be a good one! Look up the reviews on them. I always do look up the reviews on all the doctors I go to LOL.

californialynn 08/31/2016

Psoriatic Arthritis.

jennylynn 08/31/2016

Thank you for your kind words. I will look up my Rhematologist's reviews! What works for your stiffness?

jennylynn 08/31/2016

Do you think that's what I have? Psoriatic?

MarleneJ 08/31/2016

When my joints are flared, I can lose use of them because they are so weak. So that can be a symptom. I hope you get a solid diagnosis and help soon!

californialynn 09/01/2016

I'm not a doctor, so I couldn't say. I am saying that "sausage fingers" is a red flag for Psoriatic Arthritis, but is also seen in some cases of RA.

Many people with PsA test positive for HLA-B27. But it's not a conclusive test [there is no blood test for PsA that I'm aware of]. If you test positive for HLA-B27 it might warrant more consideration to a PsA diagnosis.

Again - both diseases are treated with the same meds.

And in case you were wondering, about 1 in 5 cases of PsA don't have Psoriasis. However....remember that your scalp and nails are also skin. In my case, I've never had psoriasis on my body. I did, in the very beginning, have a dastardly case of dandruff for a few months. And to this day, if you look at one of my fingernails, it has ridges in it the run in the same direction of the length of the finger. These are signs of PsA, too. And yes, it's just as painful as RA.

WarriorGal 09/01/2016

I'm not a doc withe but I THINK psoriatic arthritis has a skin rash. If you don't have that sounds like RA to me! It is a manageable disease and many of us, such as myself, even experience years of remission with proper treatment. There are many treatment options today. You ned a good rheumatologist who treats aggressively and who you like!

Wishing you the BEST! We are here to support it.

californialynn 09/02/2016

Not true about the skin rash for PsA. I think you're confusing that with Lupus.

californialynn 09/06/2016

Bump

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