trying to understand "burnt out rheumatoid arthritis"

greenflamingo

Hello
I wonder if you could help. My father in law is a permanent resident in a nursing home being totally crippled and immobile with R.A.

His GP says he has "severe multi joint R.A." which is in a burnt out stage (he is 80 years old) he has suffered from this for over 20 years.

He also has pulmonary fibrosis, COPD, and Chronic Heart Failure with Artrial Fibrillation, severe weight loss, skin ulcers etc. He was a heavy smoker for many years.

He says he has no pain and refuses to take painkillers but will no longer leave his room (via a hoist and slide sheet) to get into his wheelchair.

If the R.A. is burnt out does this mean he no longer suffers from any flare ups and the condition is stable?

We are wondering if anyone could tell us whether the R.A. has caused the Pulm Fibrosis and COPD?

helpline_team

Hello there welcome to chat to Helplines,

If a GP is saying that your father's RA is burnt out (and the rheumatology letters with your father's notes back that up) then you'd expect that your father would not get RA flare ups. However any joint damage caused by the RA could still be very painful.

I can well imagine it must be very concerning if you can see your father in pain and not wanting to take pain killers - does he seem distressed may be a key question.

We'd not be able to say whether the RA or other factors (such as the smoking) were linked to the lung problems as we are not medically qualified.

If you'd like any more support with this please do come back to us here, or by phone.

I hope that is helpful

Guy