newby to the forum

janerowe1961

hi i am also new to this forum, i have oa of the knees but lately have been having pain all over and terrible fatigue, im loathe to go to my doctor as my blood tests were fine and he said not much more he can do for me, i work part time but im struggling, what can i do?

barbara12

Hello janerowe1961
And a warm welcome from me, pain will cause fatigue has most of us know, so please go and see your GP to get something to ease the pain...let us know how you get on...x

[Deleted User]

Welcome to Arthritis Care Forums janerowe1961 from the moderation team

As mods we are here to help with any problems you may have on the message boards.

There are lots of lovely people here with a wide range of experiences with arthritis and the problems of living with the condition. Just join in wherever you like you will be made very welcome.

I look forward to seeing you posting on the boards.

Best wishes

Mod John

theresak

Hello and welcome. I have RA, with some OA thrown in as well, and I hope you find the forum helpful.

As Barbara says, you need some form of pain relief, so should see your GP.

Good luck,

Tezz x

dreamdaisy

Hello, I too think it's time to see your GP again. The blood test was probably to check for the presence of an auto-immune kind of arthritis but the results can vary. If they come back with a positive rheumatoid factor (known as sero-positive) then that is reasonably straightforward, you would be referred to a rheumatologist. if they came back without a positive RF (known as sero-negative) GPs tend to assume that it isn't an auto-immune arthritis, which is not correct. I have psoriatic arthritis, which is a sero-negative form; my rheumatologist deals with that and my GP with my osteoarthritis, because that is the kind GPs deal with.

You may not be offered much in the way of 'treatment' because there isn't any apart from pain relief, maybe and anti-inflammatory medication and possibly a referral to physio to learn some exercises to help your muscles. That is all that GPs can offer but

Are any of your joints hot to the touch or swollen? You say your knees are troublesome (mine too!) but are other joints beginning to hurt in a similar way? DD

prefabkid47

Hell janerowe1961
Welcome to the forum,but as we always say it's a pity you had to find us in the first place.
You will find us a friendly and supportive crowd here.We all speak from first hand experience on most aspects of OA,RA etc.
Post any time you wish.
Ron

janerowe1961

barbara12 wrote:

Hello janerowe1961
And a warm welcome from me, pain will cause fatigue has most of us know, so please go and see your GP to get something to ease the pain...let us know how you get on...x

thank you for your advice i have decided to give it another go and rung the doctor, appointment next week, thanks again for your reply x

janerowe1961

moderator wrote:

Welcome to Arthritis Care Forums janerowe1961 from the moderation team

As mods we are here to help with any problems you may have on the message boards.

There are lots of lovely people here with a wide range of experiences with arthritis and the problems of living with the condition. Just join in wherever you like you will be made very welcome.

I look forward to seeing you posting on the boards.

Best wishes
hi thanks for your welcome, i look forward to reading and joining in on many subjects x

Mod John

janerowe1961

dreamdaisy wrote:

Hello, I too think it's time to see your GP again. The blood test was probably to check for the presence of an auto-immune kind of arthritis but the results can vary. If they come back with a positive rheumatoid factor (known as sero-positive) then that is reasonably straightforward, you would be referred to a rheumatologist. if they came back without a positive RF (known as sero-negative) GPs tend to assume that it isn't an auto-immune arthritis, which is not correct. I have psoriatic arthritis, which is a sero-negative form; my rheumatologist deals with that and my GP with my osteoarthritis, because that is the kind GPs deal with.

You may not be offered much in the way of 'treatment' because there isn't any apart from pain relief, maybe and anti-inflammatory medication and possibly a referral to physio to learn some exercises to help your muscles. That is all that GPs can offer but

Are any of your joints hot to the touch or swollen? You say your knees are troublesome (mine too!) but are other joints beginning to hurt in a similar way? DD

thanks very much for your informative post, have just had physio and am doing my exercises now, my feet and shoulders are starting to hurt now but lately its just pain all overx

dreamdaisy

The exercises are important and should be done constantly from here-on-in. We need to keep our muscles in as good a shape as possible to better protect the joint, other gentle exercise will help that too, the lower the impact on the joints the better. I still do all my post-op exercises and that was done in 2002.

It could be that other parts are beginning to hurt because when we have one joint out-of-kilter we unconsciously alter the ways we move in an effort to reduce the discomfort. Unfortunately this causes other joints to be stressed in unusual ways leading to further aches and pains. I began with one affected joint but now it's around forty, arthritis is degenerative and progressive for the majority and this is how it's gone with me (I started in 1997 aged 37).

I think it is worth seeing your GP again, be clear but concise on all the trouble you are having. Does anyone in your family have a history of auto-immune conditions such as asthma, hayfever, eczema or psoriasis? If so that is another good reason to have your bloods tested again because these things run in families and can lead to other troubles. You can ask for a referral to rheumatology, that may rule more out rather than in and there's nothing wrong with that. Arthritis is a complicated condition and far too many people (including GPs) don't know enough about it. We know a fair bit, however, so don't be afraid to ask any questions, we will do our best to answer. DD

bubbadog

Hi welcome to the Arthritis family, your already getting a lot of advice! look forward to reading more of your posts.