I, too, have always lived a high stress life. Raising five kids basically on my own since my husband worked intense hours during the early years of our marriage and still does occasionally. I also was working on and off. Trying to be the "perfect" mom. I homeschooled some.
People were always saying " I don't know how you are doing this.'
I did actually cry when I found out I was pg with my 5th. I was not up to another baby at that time. But where would I be without him now? Major stress.

Crap...I just remembered after someone's post here that I also had a series of allergy shots a few months before I had my tetnus shot. That's a lot of immune stimulation. :(

Read my post in
"What line of work is everyone in" by flipstrips

Chuck

For me it was a series of events: a death of a son from a care accident, stress due to to miscarriages, a son born on the anniversary date of the death of son, Tetanus shot. All happened within five years of each other.

{{{hugs}}}

Oops...! That didn't sound right. It was during a five year period altogether.

{{{hugs}}}

I have no idea what may have triggered my RA. All of my relatives on my mother's side have had some form of arthritis with many of them with RA. So I guess I always thought it was just genetic... although the pain became ALOT worse after I was diagnosed with a herniated disc in my neck and I had surgery for that... maybe there is a connection...

I am uncertain that I had a "trigger". I do know that in the last several years, I did not have a flu shot.

I am interested in the connection between mycoplasma pneumonia and RA. Although I did have this diagnosis... it was 25 years ago.

I did smoke for a long time, however had quit a year earlier. Smoking also has a connection, it is thought.

I did have a upper respiratory infection a month prior.

I guess I just won the RA lottery.

daizy

Thanks for all your answers. Most people seem to feel there was a definite trigger, either physical or emotional stress. Very interesting!!!

As far as I know, there is no history of RA in my family, I had no pain or swelling until a few days after the SF Vaccination and was always on the go. Yet, 10 weeks later, when I was dx, my RA factor( 582) was high as was my CCP (177). Does that mean RA was lying dormant but doing damage? Now that I've got my head around having RA, a bit more, I have so many questions for my next Rheumy visit.

I just wish someone could wave a magic wand and everyone would be back to their pre RA selves.

Angel, as for your question regarding was it lying dormant? You have to have the genetic trait to express a disease like RA. However, everyone with the gene will not always have the disease. With auto immune there is generally a trigger and bam... disease. Pregnancy is a common trigger and women have a much higher rate of autoimmune disease than men.
So to medical babble..... I tend to do that. :)
Ciao

I believe I got mine from getting a MRSA staph infection back in '06. I was in the hospital for 5 days getting serious antibiotics IVs - which got rid of the MRSA but took away all the good bacteria too. Then PRESTO CHANGO!! You have RA!!

For me originally I would say it happened about 5 years ago when I lost 35 lbs, I started getting rheumatoid nodules on my fingers. The real trigger for me though it seems was last January when I started a new job, I was very stressed and then got a flu/gastro virus a month later. My hands started to ache and become stiff periodically. I have been seeing a Rheumy since last July, and I just got the final diagnosis a couple of weeks ago...so I guess I am a newby as well.

I believe RA was triggered for me due to stress. My daughter was seriously ill for over 2 years, and when she was finally stable and all was well for our family it hit me. But I am also thinking it could have had something to do with hormones. I have read many times that changes in hormones can trigger (some of the other remarks regarding pregnancies could also support that). Since I am in my late 40's, I'm thinking it could have been from premenopausal hormone changes.

Hi all, have just joined this site :-)) - mine started 2 years ago I believe after a mild pneumonia and toxic antibiotics.... I then became allergic to dairy and all symptoms disappeared once I changed my diet - I believe stress is the recent trigger this time around... although I do have a family history. I know of so many people who have become ill after vaccines and believe anybody who has immune system issues should think very carefully about getting any vaccinations but thats just my humble opinion....!!!!

Yes, I had a flu shot a few years ago, within 1 day my whole body blew up with inflamation, I went to the ER they found that the mercury in the shot and whatever else triggered the attack. At that time I was in remission. I was not happy, and have never gotten another one.

I was always sick as a child while my siblings remained normal for the most part. I was hospitalized several times as a baby and again as a child for Pneumonia, appendisitis, tonsillitis, etc...My twin and my older sister never had any hospitilizations for any reason, yet I was always sick.
In 1980, I became suddenly ill with Rocky Mouintain Spotted Fever of all things! Mind you....I live in Massachusetts ! This is a disease found mostly out in the Rockies in Colorado! Anyway, I almost died and spent many months recovering. My legs were affected as if I had had Polio and I had to practice trying to learn walking again. I recovered only briefly, but then became ill with what the doctors back then called Fibromyalgia . This was in 1980 or 1981. I took pain killers for years while trying to raise my children, and eventually I developed ulcers from over medicating with OTC drugs, trying to live with this pain. I was eventually diagnosed as having Polymyalgia Rheumatica along with Rheumatoid Arthritis only recently.....BOTH such painful diseases!.
My point is this.... I wasn't really sick until I had a major illness, a near death type of illness, the (the Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever). The Rheumatoid was probably already there waiting to come out and was already in my genes, seeing that I had been so sick as a baby. The REAL trigger for me was the Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, which almost killed me and set me off like wildfire. My whole life changed after that.
I think that we sufferers of Rheumatoid all have the genes, we just need the trigger. I don't think that a simple Flu shot is a cause. Flu vaccine does not contain a live virus. There has to be another virus involved to trigger our already inherant genetic predisposition..