Rheumatoid Arthritis

coleen

Hi, I’ve joined the forum as I have a son who is now 21 and has had RA since 13. He has now been put on Humira. I had some bumps/lumps appear on both elbows 2 years ago, I went to the Dr who said it was nothing! Sent me away with a tube of cream.! A few months ago I went back to the Drs and happened to see a trainee who was very thorough and sent me to have a biopsy done on one of the lumps. This has now come back and I am told it is a RA nodule and that I need to be referred to Rheumatology. I have some joint pain and occasionally one knee swells but I never thought it was RA after seeing the pain my son has been through it just didn’t seem anything like his. I just thought getting old! Has anyone else had the nodules appear before anything else? Or heard that this can be the case.
Thanking you for any advise.

dreamdaisy

Hello, it's nice to meet you but I am sorry you have had to find us. It would appear that auto-immune nonsense is running in your family as it did in mine (my parents dodged the genetic bullets which landed in me). I don't have RA, my kind is psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and mine began atypically; PsA traditionally starts in the smaller joints such as toes and fingers, mine began in my left knee. This was back in 1997 and my then GP did not recognise that I had some form of auto-immune inflammatory arthritis. Things are improving on that front though, as you have discovered. GPs know a little about a lot, they are not specialists but they are beginning to recognise more of the symptoms of auto-immune arthritis. Like your son I too take humira, I have done for eight years and I hope it is doing more for him than just controlling the disease.

It is good that you are being referred, rheumatologists know a lot about a little but even so auto-immune arthritis is a complicated and remains a misunderstood disease. Anyone's immune system can suddenly become over-excited regardless of age or genetic background. I see no reason why you should not begin with nodules (the elbows are a classic site for them) because auto-immune arthritis plays by its own rules, not the ones we think it should. Please let us know how you get on and I hope an RA-er or two spots your post, they may well have more relevant information. I wish you and your son well. DD

stickywicket

Hello from me, too, Coleen

I've had RA for far too many years and I have / have had rheumatic nodules (some disappeared eventually) but I've never heard of them being a first sign. However, I do think it's a good thing that you have been diagnosed, and will therefore get on the meds, quickly.

As for yours being nowhere near as bad as your son's - that doesn't surprise me too much. In my years on these forums I've realised that there is no 'identikit' picture of RA. Some get it much more aggressively than others. Also, some tolerate pain better than others. And, the more scared we are, the more we perceive the pain.

You'll be very well aware that it's not a good thing to have but it certainly is good that your doc was on to it so quickly. Good luck to both you and your son.