I think i have RA

Judith

Hi Everyone, I am waiting for a specialist appointment for my diagnosis but everything (according to my research) points towards me having RA. I am a relatively healthy 47 year old woman, who recently had what felt like an attack in the big toe joint whilst out on a walk. I initially thought i had gout but i don't eat red meat, i don't drink wine, nor do it have a rich diet. I cannot wear heals or even wedges any more due to the burning pain in my toe joint. I have bought Osteo tablets / cherry tablets and Turmerick for anti inflammatory purposes but nothing is helping. 3 months later i am having nagging pains in my wrists whilst in spin classes and two days ago i woke up with a swollen painful thumb that i cannot bend. I must also mention that over the last couple of years i have developed boney nodules on my forefinger joints. I am pretty unlucky as one grandmother had RA and the other had OA. I am due to see a specialist soon but am convinced i have the early stages of RA. Any of this sound familiar please. I am very worried. Any advice would be greatly appreciated

[Deleted User]

Hi Judith
Welcome to the forum,sorry to see you are so distressed, it is always difficult waiting to be diagnosed and trying to fathom yourself what is the cause of these nodules and the pain they cause especially with your family back ground .Everyone on this forum has Arthritis of some kind and each and everyone their own pain to deal with.We are all friendly and understanding and will try and make you feel part of the forum the most popular forums are Living with Arthritis and Chit Chat.
All the best Christine

dreamdaisy

I for one hope you dop not have RA, believe you me there are better auto-immune inflammatory things to have. Gout is on the auto-immune inflammatory spectrum and has nothing to do with over-indulging in a rich diet or drinking port like others drink tea: my husband is a teetotal-almost-veggie (through choice, not necessity) and his gout still happily flares from time-to-time because it can.

You have a relative with RA so that does enhance the likelihood that you may have something similar; I hesitate because arthritis is not about there only being RA and OA. GPs diagnose and deal with OA whereas trheumatologists are those-in-the-know about the auto-immune varieties (I presume you are seeing a rheumatologist soon?) If it is an auto-immune condition then all the turmeric in the world will still have no effect as that does not affect the activity of the immune system.

I was born with auto-immune nonsense, eczema, and then developed asthma aged seven (both on the auto-immune inflammatory spectrum) so the arrival of my first arthritis, which was eventually diagnosed as psoriatic, was no surprise. My immune system has always preferred to flounce about, having hissy fits over teeny-tiny little things such as vitamin C, dairy products, pollen, moulds and dust mites then, in 1997 when I was 37, it discovered a whole new area of mischief.

My psoriatic arthritis took some time to accurately diagnose because I did not have any psoriasis, it began in the wrong place and is a sero-negative form of the disease (i.e. rheumatoid factor is not present in my bloods). I have never understood the appeal of Dr Google and never will. I am not adequately medically qualified to read research and have had enough experience of poor health to realise that diagnosis is rarely a cut-and-dried thing but for someone new to stuff it seems so easy: ah yes, my symptoms match that so that is what I have. I hope your case is straightforward because the sooner one begins the meds the better the outcome can be.

Please let us know how you get on, most people post about their possible diagnosis on either the Say Hello board or the Living with Arthritis board on here so a read through those might help you gain further insight and knowledge. We all get it because we've all got it but we are merely expert patients, not doctors. DD

stickywicket

Hi Judith and welcome from me too. You, and your GP, are doing exactly the right thing by making an appointment with a rheumatologist. They are the ones who can decide what, if any, type of arthritis you have. We aren't as we're not medically trained at all just used to one form or another (in my case one form AND another :roll: ) of arthritis.

A family history of autoimmune problems can certainly predispose us to getting them though that's all it does. Gout is an autoimmune disease so, although the rich diet stuff might bring it on once someone has it, the cause is still our faulty, overactive immune systems.

My RA started in my fingers. I thought I had chilblains as they were red and sore at the joints. I was also permanently shattered. At 15

I associate boney nodules with OA not RA. My rheumatic nodules are quite different (says she, wiggling one about to remind herself how ). I currently have one on a knuckle and one on a kneecap. They are relatively hard but definitely wiggly and they don't hurt at all. Many of my finger joints are thickened and boney but that's OA.

I can't believe that 'osteo tablets' or 'cherry tablets' would do any good to anything. In fact I'd beware anything calling itself an 'osteo tablet'. Just get some anti-inflammatories from your GP. As for cherry tablets. That's a new one on me but I do love cherries. I'm sure they're a better way of getting them. Turmeric has some mild anti-inflammatory properties.

If you want to research on the net do it on reliable sites such as this (grey menu at the top) and NHS Choices. I think you're better just waiting and seeing what the rheumatologist says as they are the ones who can tell. Try not to worry as that makes all forms of arthritis worse.