arthritis?

lizzy100

hi,
Im really struggling at the moment. I'm 27 and for the last 4 weeks Iv been having really bad joint pain, affecting basically all the joints in my upper and lower limbs, but it seems to be migratory and vary. It affects my hips, shoulders, knees, wrists, ankles and hands and feet. I don't have lots of swelling but i have had some minor swelling in my hands with my ring getting stuck on, and also knees and ankles swelling. I also have IBD/ulcerative colitis which iv had for less that 2 years.
The joint pains so bad though that I cant write most of the time, and often cant walk very well, only hobble.
I've had to sets of bloods done-they just did CRP and ESR, and all these were normal. But i havent had anything else done. My gps refering me to rheumatolgy so have to see what they say. It sounds alot like peripheral arthritis to me (and apparently 25% of people with IBD get arthritis so would make sense, but with normal bloods? I dont know what else it could be though? In the mean time paracetamol and ibuprofen (which im not meant to take), aren't helping at all. any ideas? thanks

scozzie

Hi Lizzy, sorry you had to find us, you'll get a lot of good advice and support on here.

The rheumatologist is the best person to see, they see a lot of arthritis (bit of an understatement really ... lol) and should be able to give you more info. A word of warning, most rheumys are great and very supportive (which is my experience); others are less so (going by some reports in the forum) ... so here's hoping you get a good one.

With regard to your meds, who suggested the ibuprofen? I ask this as you say you're not meant to take them. Make sure you take them as instructed, with meals, and maybe see your doctor with regard to getting a stomach protector, like omeprosol (I think that's how it's spelt) prescribed which should help you tolerate them.

Another suggestion for the meds, as you'll probably be taking a lot of them in the future, ask about having them on prescription if it's gonna work out cheaper that way! I'm on two cocodomol 8/500 four times a day and ibuprofen 400 three times a day with an omeprosol once a day.

All the best
Scozzie

sbolam

hi, I have been trying for the last year to get referred to the hospital. but My gp is saying at the stage I am with my OA its a pointless exercise. I was taking Ibuprufen (sorry cant spell for toffee) and he had a hissy fit and gave me neproxin but was useless so not on diclofenic which work fantastic along with tramadol and 30/500 cocods.

I am sure at some point tho I will wear him down. when I first when to him I had a bucket load of blood taken and all came back normal. but with the way my knees crack creek, grate pop and so on he concluded OA.

hope it goes well for you and find out for sure what the issues are.

stephen.

lizzy100

Really ironically I'm a health care student and the joint pain started just as I was finishing studying rheummatology, and so id been sitting in on clinics with the rheumatoligsts, so I vaguely know who they are, most of them seem quite nice and seem to know what they are doing, so hopefully ill get one of them.

You arent really meant to take non steroidal anti-inflammatorys (Ibuprofen and such) with IBD because it can cause a flare up etc, but my IBDs pretty stable, and so my specialist nurse had said to try ibuprofen and paracet, but it hasnt done anything so really theres no point in taking it.

stephen-sorry you're having such trouble. I know its frustrating with OA that theres not much they can do. Have they spoken to you about weight loss and exercise? Hope they get the painkillers right for you. Depending where the pain is they can do steroid joint injections for the pain which does help alot of people. Have you tried being direct and askng for a referal, say u want the diagnosis confirmed? they should at least confirm the diagnsois with an xray or something i would have thought.

lizzy100

O I';ve just got some results through.

My rheumatoid factor is negative
but my ANA is positive. It just says positive 1;40 and speckled.
what does that mean? does that mean somethings finally shown up??

dreamdaisy

Right, for starters a negative RF does not mean that you do not have an inflammatory arthritis: my PsA comes under that heading but I was very lucky in that my ESR and CRP were always monstrously high so my diagnosis for a few years was just 'inflammatory arthritis'. As for the ANA - I used to know what that meant but for the time being my mind is a blank (I'm having a rather stressful day). I don't often advise googling but on this occasion it might be a worth-while exercise - use a reliable site tho please! DD

lizzy100

i did google it, but didnt really understand. all seemed abit vague still.

dreamdaisy

Ah - doesn't that accurately summarise life? I am sure that others who know more than me will be along, it's just that the forum tends to be a little quieter on the week-end. Bear with us please, lizzy100, I am sure people will be able to help - and soon. Take care. DD

Ldyalb

ANA stands for Anti Nuclear Antibody. It can be used to indicate the presence of some autoimmune diseases.

http://www.labtestsonline.org.uk/understanding/analytes/ana/tab/test

That site, labtestsonline.org.uk is very useful for looking up what the Docs are testing you for.

It is possible to be seronegative and have inflammatory arthritis. My GP said that with RA about 20-30% of people don't test positive for Rheumatoid Factor. In other people the RF only comes up positive when the disease has progressed further, but when it's in the earlier stages it's been negative.

lizzy100

thanks, yea id looked at those sites and still wasnt clear
I didnt think mine would be RF pos because I dont think it is rheumatoid. It would be seronegative. I just dont get if having speckled bits is normal. i dunno, cguess il have to wait for more tests if they think its worth doing anymore. just wondered if u think the ANA pos would be significant in terms of the joint paiin. :roll:

dreamdaisy

Every one is unique in their measures and what they mean but it can be hard to determine in the early days. I am 15 years in and know all too well that what I feel is not related to the test results and vice versa. We are arthritics but not doctors or rheumatologists - we will support and encourage as much as we can and I hope that is enough. DD

lizzy100

my results always seem to be normal and then noone takes me seriously.