Trying to work it all out

Ericka21

Hi,

I have had ongoing and progressive piano for a number of months. I have been back and forth to the GP and various consultants. I last visited a Rheumatology specialist in March although he was not sure what was going on and did yet more tests.

Last week I have had a further telephone appointment with him. Based on the increase I pain, swelling around some joints, stiffness, poor sleep, fatigue/exhaustion and a slightly raised inflammatory marker in my blood tests, he has now decided to treat me as having Arthritis. He has called it seronegative arthritis.

I have been put on Etorcoxib and Hydroxicloroquine? I think I have spelled them right! I am hoping it all starts to get a bit better soon. Or at least some relief.

I am not sure what to expect. I am trying to keep as active as I can. I used to run but can't manage this at the moment.

Thanks for listening/reading

Ericka

Anna

Hi @Ericka21 and welcome to the online community!

After several months of pain, you’ve finally been diagnosed with seronegative arthritis. In some ways, I can imagine it’s a relief to be given a diagnosis. I had the same symptoms as you ( many years ago!) and when I was given the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis, I was glad to be able to put a name to the collection of pains I was experiencing, and to begin treatment. Again like you, I now take hydroxychloroquine and etoricoxib. It took a while to sort out the right dose and for the medication to begin to work ( about three months) but the combination works really well for me, and I hope it soon will for you too.

The forum is a friendly place and I’m sure other members will welcome you - it’s a great place to share experiences and have a rant or a laugh! Meanwhile, you might want to read Melissa’s story from the Versus Arthritis website:

https://www.versusarthritis.org/news/2020/july/it-was-a-relief-to-know-why-i-was-in-pain-for-so-long/

It might be hard to think that you’ll one day be back to running again, but it can be possible.

Versus Arthritis has just launched a new campaign about keeping as active as possible with arthritis. It only started this week, so there’s more to come. You might find it helps you to keep moving as it takes into account pain and immobility

https://action.versusarthritis.org/page/64082/-/1

All the very best,

Anna : )