Any chance to cure it? Remission? How quickly can it get really bad? Of course she is going to a rheumatologist but during the months she will be waiting for an appointment I would like a little insight as to what the typical prognosis can be.
Her GP did the rest for RA factor and it was positive. She also did the blood tests for Lupus and others that can give a false positive for RA. Those were all negative.

i went and saw a Rheumatologist because my regular doctor didn’t come up with anything,
i have pretttty bad joints; my knee first happened, and now it’s alllll over my body,
i have pretttty bad digestive problems too, like, every time i eat, i have to go to the bathroom, which basically doesn’t allow me to gain that much weight. im pretty small, 5′3" 115 lbs. im still healthy, but they’re fairly worried that from going to the bathroom so frequently im losing nutrients,
i got tested for Lupus, Celiac Disease, Chrones Disease, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Juvenile Arthritis, and they couldn’t come up with anything other than those that link the two;
any help?

hi. i’m 15 year old female. for the past about 6 months i have had a lot of joint pain. at first it was in my knees and they were very swollen. i got one drained and it never came back. after that my wrists and feet started to bother me. after my fingers began to swell up. my joints all swell up. the swelling will lat for a few days and then go away. i have been put on naproxen but it hasn’t helped. what do you think this is? i’ve gone to many doctors and gotten blood tests and it seems to be fine. i think it may be a possibility that i have juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, but rhe rheumatologist doesnt seem to be sure and apparently it takes a while to diagnose. what do you think? also, if it is rheumatoid arthritis will i still be able to play volleyball and basketball?

Maybe it’s not the most romantic gift idea but while my hubby waits to see the rheumatologist, are there any appliances that I can buy that will give him some relief from the pain in his hands and feet? I was wondering about those parafin wax things – I’ve heard that a dip in the hot wax can relieve some arthritis pain, but does it really? What about a therapeutic foot bath? Will the hot water and vibration help him at all? Am I even barking up the right tree? Thanks.
His GP diagnosed the RA. He’s made an appointment to see the rheumatologist but hasn’t seen one yet. I think his appointment is in two weeks or so. I just want to know if there are any therapeutic devices that I can buy that might relieve some of his pain in the meantime.

I am 27 years old and it was discovered that I have Juvenile (then Rheumatoid) now Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA) when I was 10 years old. It was realized due to the fact there was significant inflammation in my right eye. They did all sorts of tests on me and decided there was no cause for my disorder (funny the disorder came to be re-named idiopathic, which means "cause unknown"). I had some joint problems and a limited range of movement in my knees and hips, and the biggie was my eye. I had cataract surgery when I was 12 years old. I had had injections in my eye prior to that as well as oral steroids to try to combat the inflammations in my eye and other body parts. I struggled with my eye for a long time afterwards, and my bad joints have now just become a fact of life for me. But I have recently started having headaches behind and above my right eye, the same one that I had problems with. My left eye is unaffected, by the way. I decided to go to the ophthalmologist who had tracked my progress previously (it had been 5 years since I had seen an eye doctor due to the fact that I had no insurance). I figured that my headaches and further blurred vision was due to the proteins that stuck to my lens (called senechae..sp?) that was due to the inflammation. Unfortunately, the doc looked at my eye and said there is very little coverage of my lens with the senechae and that I had a "cupped optical nerve". GLAUCOMA! It was caused by the "pressure" in my eye being continuously too high. Now I am really worried that I won’t ever be able to see again! I have seen a retinal specialist who has referred me to a glaucoma specialist, and also a rheumatologist to be placed on medication for my jointal arthritis. I am so terrified that they will find something wrong with me that no medicine can really help. Each visit with a specialist is going to cost me from 0 to 0, along with travel expenses because one one of the specialists is in my state. I have medicaid, but it does not cover my out of state expenses since the specialists don’t accept out of state medicaid. This is getting ridiculously expensive and scary. I just wish I had some support in all of this. So, has anyone else out there been through this? None of my friends understand it and my mom is the only one who comprehends what is going on because she has been there with me every step of the way. My husband is supportive in it, but he barely understands the common cold, much less a complex rare arthritic disorder… He is there with me, but I have no idea how to explain it all to him. One must understand the workings and parts of the eye before they can comprehend this disorder and what it is doing to me, and he did not excel in his health courses in school. I just want a friend who understands for support, who I can discuss this with. I need the hope and strength of a companion with a similar disorder or even the same one. Please contact me at therin_acean@yahoo.com if you would like to talk. This was written on 10-21-09 but I would respond years from now if I got a letter. Thank you for reading this. God Bless You!

I’ve been tentatively diagnosed with some form of inflammatory arthritis. It started in my foot, and moved to my knee. I’ve had 2 MRIs, a bone scan, and Xrays and they are saying arthritis.
I’ve also had alot of bloodwork and everything looks normal except for my sed rate which is significantly elevated.

I am seeing a rheumatologist. At my 1st appointment she put me on 10mg of prednisone a day. She acted like I would feel a difference right away. After a week with no relief I went back to see a physician’s assistant. She doubled my dose of prednisone so now I am on 20mg a day. She said it should make me feel at least 50% better. The problem is that my knee is incredibly swollen and sore in the morning and evening. She didnt say that the prednisone would take care of all the swelling, but it sounded like it should help with the swelling and with the pain.
Its 1.5 weeks later and my knee is still huge and sore. The soreness I can deal with, aleve helps. I want a normal sized knee!

I’ve just been diagnosed with RA. I’m 2 weeks shy of 16 1/2. The Rheumatologist said there’s a small chance that this is just juvenile arthritis which goes away by the time you’re 17. But the fact that it’s this bad this close to me being 17, then most likely this is full-blown adult Rheumatoid Arthritis. I was wondering if there’s any forums for teens or articles about teens or anything that I could read to get some feedback from other RA teens. Please and thank you.

I’ve just been diagnosed with PsA and my rheumatologist wants to put me on mtx or enbrel/humira. i think im going to try everything i can before i turn to enbrel/humira because of the cancer thing. if i were to be on those i would have lots of anxiety about developing cancer. anyways just wanting to know if anyone has taken the methotrexate and got good results. also did it help your spine??? my doc said that it wouldnt help the spine…. is there any other meds that have helped?? thanks in advance!!

I have had severe joint pain and fatigue(along with other symptoms) for two years now. i feel like NO ONE is listening to me. I think i have an auto immune disorder that no one has diagnosed yet. I have high WBC counts, very high C-reactive protein levels, and very high sed rates. my ANA was negative, lyme disease neg, celiac disease neg, sjorgens syndrome neg, rheumatoid arthritis neg….I do have a strong family history of psoriasis and arthritis though. does anyone know about psoriatic arthritis? or have any other ideas about other auto immune disorders that i might have? i saw a rheumatologist and was treated horribly. i am never going back. i feel like the doctors are missing something. i would be eternally grateful if someone in the medical field could help me with this. thank you

i am suffering from psoriatic arthritis and my rheumatologist wants to put me on one of these meds. the cancer and tuberculosis thing terrifies me. is it rare to develop one of these side effects???? im wondering if i should just try thr methotrexate… anyone have any ideas??