Hi All recently had bloods done for Rheumatoid arthritis. Had Rheumatoid Factor test done and ecr test. Both have come back negative. Now waiting to hear from gp about transfering me to see a rheumatologist. Have Oa for about 10 years and also Fibromyaglia. My arthirits had become worse and several of my fingers have become deformed over a short space of time.
Has anyone else have this test come back negative but yet diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis.
Hi all still waiting to hear back from my doctor what to do next after getting my negative Rheumatoid Factor result. He did ring on Friday but was going to speak to another doctor at surgery who knows more about arthritis. He is going to ring me Monday. Still feel I have rheumatoid as have deformities on both little fingers. They looked bent on the second joint down before the knuckle where RA can develop. I know I also have osteoarthritis as I have some swellings on my wedding finger on first finger called Hebeden nodes. I do hope they will refer me to see a rheumatologist as I have arthritis in lots of joints. Can anyone tell me if they have been through the same and how long it was before you saw a Rheumatologist. Thanks and take care all!
Hi smarty, if you haven't already, suggest you contact "Arthritis Care". Fantastic source of information &
support for all types of Arthritis. You won't get treated with disbelief, sceptisism or be patronised over your
concerns.
Best of luck,
Lizzie.
Thanks Lizzie will have a look at Arthritis Care site. Went to see gp today and had a fight on my hands. Was not going to refer me at all. Said it was OA and Fibro causing me pain. Even though I have swelling in both ankles, knees etc one of the signs of Rheumatoid Arthritis. It could be that it isn't Rheumatoid but I wanted the referral to rule it out. Did get him to refer me in the end when I said I couldn't carry on with only four hours sleep and pain and nearly in tears. Got to be one of the worst drs appointments I have ever had apart from one other doctor who I had to complain about. Who didn't take me seriously and wrote in my notes I have an obsession with my joints. Now have to wait to see rheumatologist.
Hi Smarty - This is my first visit to this site and your question intrigued me enough to register and reply. I was diagnosed in 2009 with RA, Fibromyalgia and OA the most difficult thing has been to determine what is RA and what is Fibro as I get swelling for both but the pain is very different. It has taken me 3 years to, I think, know the difference, such as now my hands, feet, ankles and knees look very swollen, they are very sore (on tramadol, naproxen and paracetamols for pain) but when you look at the actual joints they are not. So it could just be the OA that is causing the deformity you have spoken about but as you say better to get it checked out.
I don't know if you have seen the physio's with your hands, I went to a group about 8 months ago as my fear is like you that my hands become deformed. They showed us some exercises which stops them deforming, turning inwards and retaining their flexibility, if you do them reguarly of course. I have made sure I have kept them up. I also see them for my knees which have RA and OA.
So in for a penny in for a pound as for a referral to the physio as well - I am not sure where you live but our NHS trust have physio's who speciliase in arthritis physiotherapy which is extremely useful as they understand what you are going through and are very willing to tailor the sessions, including the groups sessions to your needs.
By the way I it was 4 weeks between referral and my appointment to see my RA consultant after that things moved very fast.
Good luck and I hope you get everything you need
M
Hi M thank you for your reply. It was very interesting what you have written will bear that in mind. Not sure if our trust have a special physio for athritis. I will be just be glad to find out what is going on. I do exercises for the osteoarthritis and try to do them everyday as they help with the pain and stiffness.
Once again thank you for replying and hope all goes well with you.
Hi,I'm 36 have 2 girls,11 & 15. I got ill after my 2nd daughters birth. I had sore arms legs & aching joints. I had blood test done but rheumo factor negative,so I was diagnosed with sero-negative RA, it's treated pretty much the same,I take an immunosurpressent called azathitprine (prob spelt wrong). Just after that I got diagnosed with Crohn's disease. 6yrs ago got diagnosed with fibromyalgia & last but not least 18 months ago lymphedema. Which I believe is down to scar tissue caused by RA.
So the just because you have a neg factor doesn't mean RA should be ruled out,look up sero-negative RA or sero-negative artholopathy ( again spelling ???) Read up on it & tell you doctor or consultant,be clues up before you go,its your health if they won't help you ,I've found it best to help yourself.
Good luck 
Being professionally ill as I am amber4 makes a very good point, GP's are like a general garage not a main dealer, they know a bit about lots of things but usually not a lot about one thing. You have to help them to get what you need.
So, you have to learn about your own illnesses, about the medications and the various ways to approach/control your condition or conditions.
I have a severe case of RA but I am negative, all that means is that it is showing up differently.
If for arguments sake you are having infusions then Rituximab is not very successful on sero-negative people, they'd probably try you on Toca-whateverit'scalled-amab.
There are of course a plethora of autoimmune illnesses which all look pretty similar, mostly use the same drugs and have very similar effects. What you basically need is to be as comfortable as possible and not worry too much about what they call it imo... that's just my opinion and millions of others are available!
Hello
i just returned from the GP. Neg on both! I have a mom with RA and many relatives. My hands are swollen and sore along with my knees and most of my joints. The Doctor suggested it was a reaction to my anti depressant. How depressing. He did agree to send me to a rheumatologist. The pain I feel is very real and has been life altering. I am a reg nurse and have not worked for three months. I just cannot do 12 hour or even 8 hour shifts. Most days can hardly walk up and down the stairs. I am very frustrated with the lack of a proper diagnosis. My mother went through this and is terribly disabled now. Feeling alone and a bit scared at the moment. It's nice to know I am not the only one and have a forum to discuss these issues. I wish you good health.
Hi I was in a similar situation as you as the bllod test showed a negative factor, apparently this can happen sometimes but does not mean you bdont have RA My specialist explained many other factors are taken into consideration these days.
good luck
I've had two negative Rheumatoid Factors, ANA, CRP, Sed rate. And so on. They are negative. I've had 6 fusions for OA. I thought, "this has to be more than OA." Sometimes we want a different answer than what the doctor is telling us. I have seen specialist after specialist. I've been struggling with OA for 10 years now. I was 26 at onset. I need two more right foot joints fused, my left foot is now going. I was told I have very little cartilage left in the left hip joint. I should get a replacement in the near future. Recently my hand pain got worse and I ended up with severe swelling in the middle knuckle. I was so frustrated. I begged for a hand specialist referral. The hand specialist said I have two joints thinning in my right hand. I have been doing my own research. False negative rheumatoid factors. BUT the other inflammation antibodies would be positive. Especially the ANA. CRP and sed rate.
I was also told by the hand doctor that he thinks I have Raynauds Phenomenon. Usually the is secondary or can be, to some type of auto-immune disorder.
I am left with my arms up in the air. It is nice to know that others are going through the same thing. I don't feel so alone anymore. I was also told fibromyalgia is what I have as well. All I can say is research. If you aren't getting answers, keep pushing. Doctors don't know everything. It took me pushing after my second fusion, the pain wasn't going away, I had developed RSD. I had to get spinal blocks to block sympathetic nerve chain. That actually helped. It has ever since.
I have a similar problem, I actually think our current tests for arthritis are inadequate for many people. I have negative blood test (rhumatoid factor and inflammation markers), but have recently developed symmetrical joint pain in my knees, wrists, hands, and elbows following a sports injury which was just to my knees. I am about to pay for a private referel because the NHS waiting lists are too long (3-4 months) and I can't work anymore. This is a bit difficult at the age of 28, so I do sympathise with you. I am hoping for medication, but I don't know how this will go seeing as my tests are negative. I just wish some one would diagnose me with something, I have been waiting 3 months already! The GP kept sending me away saying it's probably just a sprain.
Hey Smarty
I was diagnosed with RA two years ago yet I have negative bloods, they did a series of X-rays to determine what was going on and they showed bone degradation so my diagnosis was based on this, I had inflammation show in my blood but no RA factor.
If the X-rays show anything then you will be put on the same medication as someone with positive bloods, 20% of RA patients never have RA factor in their blood.
It took 3 different doctors before I was referred so stick to your guns, we know our bodies and we know when something isn't right. A GP is not specially trained in RA or OA they can't diagnose this.
It's so good to hear others having problems with a RA diagnosis. I have finger and finger joint pain history related to my thyroid condition and extra curvature of the spine. However I've had joint pain and swelling to hands for 4 months. All my RA results have come back negative and all xrays to hands wrists and hips show is slight degeneration to hips (apparently expected for my age 41).
Been back to GP again today with photos of my swollen hand. I also have swelling to my ankles and feet all of which are painful and in the last month my knees have become painful and walking bare foot is sore on the balls of my feet as they are swollen too. I was told I didn't have enough swelling to justify seeing specialist again and my ankles and feet symptoms were ignored and I felt it wasn't worth telling him about my knees too.
im so frustrated! I have an 'very active autoimmune gene' according to the specialist and he said he would see me again if nec, but GP didn't see it that way. i just want a reason for this daily joint swelling and pain, and for the extreme tiredness.
Hi chris
just wanted to say that I have negative rheumatoid factor. I was diagnosed with sero negative RA in January but was started on methotrexate straight away as it was obvious I had it - massive swollen hands and joints, pain, swollen knees etc. however it took 4 months of doctors visits and finally going to a&e before they would do anything. I am also 28 and was deemed too young for that - they blamed everything - stress, weight gain, weight loss, for the swelling. I'm now on 20mg methotrexate injections and folic acid. Unfortunately it isn't working so I'm going up to max dose. They also give me a steroid injection every 6 weeks as that's I tend to have a flare after 6 weeks of each injection
Marie, I am confused too. I went to my Gp and told her about my horrific joint and overall pajn as well as a total lack of energy or ambition. My right hand has several bent fingers and awful pain . My RA test came back a factor 7 . My doctor is one of those who is mostly negative. She does not believe fibromyalsia is real and will not even believe that menopause causes any problems to health. Also my basic bloodwork came back fine so she acts as if I am making up my symptoms and wants to put me on anti anxiety pills like Zoloft.
. I have taken to taking turmeric powder in the morning with a little water . I put black pepper and an omega oil blend to better absorbsion. I felt better from that for a few days but this pain is really overbearing. I really don't know what direction to go next ?
This is interesting and very helpful for me. I was diagnosed in 2006 with Lupus and a year later RA through an ultrasound. I had been told that my ANA was positive and was how I was diagnosed with Lupus. I had a huge issue occur with my rheumatologist office so I requested for my primary care doctor to refer me to another rheumatologist. My doctors office could not find any blood work that showed my having a positive rhuematoid factor so they tested me last week to send the blood work to the new rheumatologist. Found out today that the test result show that I am negative. Then I called my old rhuematologist office back and have been told that they can't find where there were any such blood work ordered in 2006 when I was diagnosed! 😳 This is so scary, I would be happy if the wZy I felt matched up to the negative results.
Thank you for posting! This was very helpful. I tell you these test results are complicated. I guess that is why it is good to go to a doctor that know that they are doing. I have a negative factor but I have inflammation and the X-rays. I was diagnosed with Lupus also but it may look like they misdiagnosed that because I was told that was through that positive test only.
As I posted in a thread that I started, all my tests for RA and lupus came back negative the week before last, but my primary care doctor has decided to go ahead and refer me to a rheumatologist because she can't figure out what else it could be that is causing my symptoms. I do also have symptoms that match fibromyalgia and restless leg so wondering what the rheumatologist is going to say since I have negative tests.
All I know is I have real pain so something has to be causing it. It's not just all in my head.
Yes. I have 3 sisters who have tested positive for RA and my tests have all come back negative. I was diagnosed in 2012 with RA cuz my symptoms all pointed to it. I have some fingers that slant and have joint damage. I have pain in both knees, elbows, wrists and hands. My new RA doctor said he doesn't believe I have RA but have Fibromyalgia, Osteoarthritis and a rare disease called Chondrocalcinosis. I just saw a Pain Mgmt Doctor and he says he believes I don't have Fibromyalgia. I'm so confused!! I believe I have Seronegative RA. My RA Doctor put me on 300 mg Gabapentin for Fibromyalgia pain and it has helped a lot. I don't wake up every morning with a lot of stiffness and pain. It has helped me to sleep through the night without pain. I was on all the normal drugs for RA and nothing helped the severe pain I was in. I'm also on Hydrocodone daily too for the pain. That's all the drugs I'm on. So, as you can see, I'm very confused.