Hi all
I am awaiting an X-Ray as Dr suspects RA, I have family history of it. But can I ask, in your opinion, is RA always Symmetrical and I would like to hear about your first expreiences of the disease.
I have stiffness and intermittent 'pain' in my elbow. When it is bad it's like it seeps into the rest of my body and everything is an effort, very odd.
Have happy Sundays all.
Hi
My pain started in my right side then slowly progressed into my left although my right is the side still most affected.
I haven't found it particularly both sides. For example my left elbow hurts but my right one doesn't. My right knee hurts but my left one doesn't.
I will say though that both my feet hurt equally.
Feels like I'm walking on a stoney beach every single step.
Emma
Xx
Hi Emma
Thank you. It sounds so very painful. I am counting my lucky stars.
Wishing that you find your path to remission soon
emma what ever you do do nt have a operation on feet if your toes are bad aswell i had both feet 1half years ago they was lovely and straight and tendons but there worst than before know house bouse cant where shoes in constant pain coursing my ra be worst in legs kneee think about if you get offered surgery
I forgot to say that my elbow is unable to extend fully and sometimes brushing my hair and other similar activities are not possible.
Hi Emma. My RA generally attacks one side of my body at a time. Most recently it started in my left shoulder, then the left wrist and hand, and then the knee. The only part of my body that hurts on both sides is my hips, but then I'm not sure if that's RA or just osteoarthritis. If you have a family history of RA, it's best to find out as early as possible and start treatment.
Best wishes to you.
Thank you, yeah I'm Ok with a diagnosis of RA but like you mentioned I would want to start treatment asap. My Dr said that is what he suspects but because I think I can track it to an event at Xmas he wants to X-Ray for a fracture. My bloods are normal which I would expect as I am not that bad, just localised to my elbow.
Have a lovely day
hi tammy and emma you can get RA should joint called impengement cartledge get trapped in the joints and get inflammed you can get wrists and knee legs hand fingers i had it since i was 7 my shoulders need replacing but consultant wont do them cos my RA is tissues and joints wouldnt work so i have hyrocortisone injection try put iced pack on shoulder as long as its RA reduces inflammation but with osteo you need heat
With my experience as someone who also has the RA negative factor gene, the pain can be symmetrical but does mot alwats show up this way..when i am in a flair, pain is in multiple places, both hands or wrists, both feet or ankes--often one side worse than the other..with the RA flair triggeeing pain in just one knee..isometimes causing a barthalamas cyst behind that knee..fluid buuldup in a sack behind that knee.
if its in the knees and its RA it called baker cyst if the burst your knee swell up and i couldnt walk hole of my legs affected if it ostep slightly different
Mine is symemetrical. I have it in all joins ...EXCEPT...my back and keep my fingers crossed it doesn't go there. Have had it for 23 years. And , yes , when it's flaring it affects all my body.
Hi, im sorry i meant to type bakers cyst..not barlthin cyst..
It does sound like you also have fibromyalga with the all over pain when you are especially in a flair..i stopped the all over fibro pain bt researching everything that cintributes to inflammation or stress within the body which are many things that RA does not handle well,,,and make sure i take magnesium. glycinate, calcium and D3, with a good multi vitamin..very careful with gluten, no milk, sub almond milk..sleep 10 to 12 hrs nightly..eat homemade nutritious soups, bone and veg broth..small amts of kifir grain milk as a probiitic..this all really helps keep pain and flairs to a minimum.. I started out confined to bed and in a wheel chair and cane for about 2 yrs.. I do not take sulfa drugs, methotrexate or biologics.. I do take plaquenil, a prescribed anti inflammatory and tramadol..damage was done while in high inflammatory state..i have been free of fibro pain due to being very proactive with these changes for 4 yrs now..
I have had RA for over four years and it has changed. It used to flare up in my joints so they felt fractured. Sometimes on one side only, sometimes both. At the start it would mostly affect one side and a few days later it would switch to the other. Once it affected my left ankle for ages and the tendon was very swollen. My tendons are often worse affected than my joints and I used to keep wondering if my rheumatologist had diagnosed me correctly but I sought a second opinion and this confirmed the original diagnosis. I'm sure they can differentiate because they see so many people with rheumatic diseases but mine does seem to be a very different type now than it was.
These days I get no visible swelling at all - it affects the nerves and tendons around the joints rather than the joints themselves I think. When it flares it is everywhere but most of all in my peripheries as neuropathic pain. No one has ever called it Fibromyalgia to me although I often expect them to. However my ESR usually rises according to how stiff and flu like I feel. RA is a systemic disease so I often feel it's unnecessary to give it another name but I know of a lot of people who were diagnosed with Fibro first or who go on to get diagnosed with it secondary to their RA. Fibro wouldn't cause a rise in inflammatory markers so I stick with blaming RA for many of my symptoms because it's a very insidious disease.
I have recently started Imuran having failed to tolerate other DMARDs.
TumTum
Mine was my shoulder. It started in my right shoulder and stayed there until it began to flare in my wrists and became symmetrical ever since.
So I think you know what you're chasing. Not much fun though.
I wish you all the best with it.
I was also diagnosed with fibro as my rheumatologist has it and he knew exactly what I was going through. He prescribed amytryptaline for it and it has gone into remission.
Does the heat bother any of you with RA ? It does me. I was diagnossed with it when we were in Arizona. Tried the hot tubs and after getting out , all my joints felt like they were seizing up. I can not have hot showers. We have very hot summers here (Kelowna, B.C. Canada) and I have to have the air conditioner on.
Take care all,
Lois
Thank you for the info , Cheria. I am doing very similar to you , but do drink a lot of milk as I have small bones & take calcium as well.
Lois
Not noticed the heat bothering the joints. Though humid heat has always bothered me anyway, so I use the AC too.
I live in the tropics so I'm much more scared of the cold!