Hello! Newly looked at and unconvinced

LizLola

I've had problems with my hands for a long time - I've had a bit of pain and inability to twist and hold things. I was told I had osteoarthritis in my distal finger joints some years ago. I've also had Dupuytren's Contracture on both little fingers and two operations to straighten them.

My proximal joints have ben getting sore, and two of my joints (one proximal, one distal) seem to leak fluid which goes up and down at various times, one gets a very sore lump on the joint. sometimes just a small part of a finger might go red and swell up and get a lump - sometimes these lumps go down.

One of my forefingers seems to be twisting so the nail is turning inwards towards the next finger.

I've had x rays done recently, not heard back about those, and have just had a ultrasound which saw inflammation in the sorest finger atm.

But my sorest toe - there was nothing!

I am due to see the rheumatologist in March.

Can you NOT have inflammatory arthritis if they have seen inflammation? It was only one finger...

Thank you,

L

[Deleted User]

Hi Liz Lola,

Welcome to the forum. Thank you for joining us and I hope we are able to help you with your topic.
Im so sorry to read about the problems you are having with your fingers and your joints. Im hoping that when you go and see your Rheumatologist they might be able to shed some light onto why your joints are the way they are.

They should also have your x-ray and Ultrasound results as well.

I have attached the link for the
Helplines Phone Number. tel:0800 5200 520.

Please have a look around the other forums and have a chat with other people.
Take Care
AJ_X

stickywicket

Now, don't take my word for this. The rheumatologist is by far your best bet. But my understanding is that all forms of arthritis cause inflammation but, with osteo, the inflammation is confined to the joint(s) involved whereas with an inflammatory form of arthritis, the inflammation is throughout the body which is why it can affect other organs besides joints.

I also believe (sorry, I don't have time to check it out) that Dupuytrens is nothing to do with inflammatory arthritis. My husband has the former but not the latter. Indeed, do you know it means you are descended from Vikings They often had it.

dreamdaisy

I am only a practising arthritic rather than a doctor but I have the good fortune to practise in both types of arthritis, an auto-immune and osteo so know a little about it.

As I understand things Dupuytren's has a link to both genetics and a misbehaving immune system but its inflammation may not be connected to an AIA (auto-immune arthritis). This could be why you are seeing a rheumatologist because they are the ones who know a lot about a little and may be more able to interpret blood tests.

I can avoid my OA inflammation by not over-stressing my joints but should I aggravate matters the inflammation is localised and disperses with rest and Voltarol. The inflammation that was caused by my psoriatic arthritis was, initially, localised but never dispersed. It is now controlled by medication and I have no influence on when the disease decides to have a snap at me (I am emerging from a flare which began back in the first week of January). I am tired now, hope to be back later. DD

LizLola

Thank you, moderator!

LizLola

stickywicket wrote:

Now, don't take my word for this. The rheumatologist is by far your best bet. But my understanding is that all forms of arthritis cause inflammation but, with osteo, the inflammation is confined to the joint(s) involved whereas with an inflammatory form of arthritis, the inflammation is throughout the body which is why it can affect other organs besides joints.

I also believe (sorry, I don't have time to check it out) that Dupuytrens is nothing to do with inflammatory arthritis. My husband has the former but not the latter. Indeed, do you know it means you are descended from Vikings They often had it.

Hello! Thank you. Good - presumably that means I might not/probably don't have the more worrying inflammatory kind, but osteoarthritis. I did know about the viking link... and a DNA test showed 4% Norwegian - the rest of me is mostly Irish and Welsh! I was hoping for something much more exotic.

I am also diabetic type one and have asthma and eczema and allergies so autoimmune was my worry!

LizLola

dreamdaisy wrote:

I am only a practising arthritic rather than a doctor but I have the good fortune to practise in both types of arthritis, an auto-immune and osteo so know a little about it.

As I understand things Dupuytren's has a link to both genetics and a misbehaving immune system but its inflammation may not be connected to an AIA (auto-immune arthritis). This could be why you are seeing a rheumatologist because they are the ones who know a lot about a little and may be more able to interpret blood tests.

I can avoid my OA inflammation by not over-stressing my joints but should I aggravate matters the inflammation is localised and disperses with rest and Voltarol. The inflammation that was caused by my psoriatic arthritis was, initially, localised but never dispersed. It is now controlled by medication and I have no influence on when the disease decides to have a snap at me (I am emerging from a flare which began back in the first week of January). I am tired now, hope to be back later. DD

Hello, thank you. As mentioned to my former responder, I also have type one diabetes, asthma, eczema and allergies, so was worried about another autoimmune problem an if it's not I shall be very happy. My worries were exacerbated by having very dry eyes and fluid leaking out of two of my finger joints. My blood tests however were fine. BUT when my eczema was diagnosed, it was a very rare type diagnosed by the country's foremost expert ( a fluke!) and as it was made worse by milk, the allergy hospital here was going to try and cure me by testing me with tiny amounts. But they did say f I hadn't been diagnosed by the expert, they wouldn't have known by my blood tests which showed no markers at all.So presumably blood does not tell all!

stickywicket

That's a lot of autoimmune stuff you have going on so I wouldn't rule out an autoimmune type of arthritis. Some of them give negative results in the tests that GPs do but your rheumatologist will have other tools at his / her disposal. I'm sure you'd rather it not be autoimmune (Wouldn't we all :roll: ) but at least knowledge is power and, if it turns out it is, something can be done about it. Good luck and do let's know how you get on.