Diagnosed today.

leembushell30
leembushell30 Member Posts: 2
edited 28. Nov 2023, 14:05 in Living with arthritis

Good morning all,

So i've just received my blood test results for arthritis and The "normal" range (or negative test result) for rheumatoid factor is less than 14 IU/ml. Any result with values 14 IU/ml or above is considered abnormally high, elevated, or positive. Mine was 200? I have no real idea of what this 8s or what it means other than my GP stating "yours are off the scale".

I developed Osteoarthritis some years ago in my knees and had operations on realigning my Tibia's in both legs but now i have Rheumatoid Arthritis and no little about this type or what to do next really? I am now awaiting an appointment with a consultant but with Covid I am thinking this may take longer.


Any advice, suggestions etc would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers guys in advance.

Comments

  • Ellen
    Ellen Moderator Posts: 1,591

    Welcome to the Online Community @leembushell30

    I see your GP has diagnosed you with Rheumatoid Arthritis today. Even though you have had Osteoarthritis in the past this must have come as a bit of a shock.

    You say you know little or nothing about this type of arthritis or what will happen next. I see you going to see a Rheumatologist, but as you say this will take time. You have definitely come to the right place for support.

    Firstly here is some information about Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA)



    and this is information about the Inflammatory Arthritis pathway:

    I will leave our members to share their experience/suggestions with you now.

    Best wishes

    Ellen

  • frogmorton
    frogmorton Member Posts: 29,336

    Hi @leembushell30

    Welcome to the forum from me too. I bet you are in shock! When I was diagnosed it was nowhere near as simple oddly...in spite of being stuck in position with grossly swollen red joints my bloods came back normal!

    Luckily I had a very proactive GP who referred me anyway other symptoms fitted in too like exhaustion and a slightly raised temperature.

    I saw the rheumatologist within about 6 weeks of referral and that was long before COVID.

    They usually do more bloods a chest Xray...erm a physical exam of your joints and take your history. I was prescribed my first lot of medication and given a depot steroid injection which was fabulous! I felt much better while that lasted😁

    Keep asking questions it really helps. This all started for me 12 years ago and my life is still very good I'm on my feet - still taking the tablets! but doing really well most of the time. Yes there have been compromises, but my initial panic about my future turned out to be just that - panic and life is GOOD🙂

    Take care