Rheumatoid Arthritis Diagnosis

Linda122

Hi,

I've recently been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis in my hands and feet after years of osteoarthritis in my knees. I will be honest, I didn't know the difference between the two and my friends said it was just an age thing/wear and tear as I'm 61yrs old.

I was telling a friend about my medication (methotrexate and hydroxychloroquine) and she was shocked because her son was given methotrexate for cancer. This week I saw my rheumatology consultant and when I asked about the chance of recovery, she said there was hope of "remission" - I thought remission was a cancer term! Is rheumatoid arthritis a type of cancer???

stickywicket

No, no, no! Definitely not a cancer, @Linda122 . It's an autoimmune disease, unlike osteoarthritis. Autoimmune diseases are caused by overactive immune systems. The system gets so hyper it starts to attack our own bodies instead of foreign germs etc. It's a systemic disease ie it affects the whole body not just odd joints.

Disease Modifying Anti Rheumatic Drugs (DMARDS) such as methotrexate and hydroxychlotoquine, are the way to hold it back. I've been on those two meds for over 20 years and they have made a huge differene.

As for cancer - it's true that methotrexate is one of the drugs used in chemotherapy BUT in much higher quantities than we get for arthritis.. RA is a very powerful disease and it needs strong meds to hold back its worst effects.

I hope you'll find it helps you as much as it has me.

noddingtonpete

Hi @Linda122 have a read through the following articles and if you have any further questions do get back in touch

https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/conditions/rheumatoid-arthritis/

https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/treatments/drugs/methotrexate/

Kind regards

Peter (moderator)