Awaiting blood tests and worried

rella1965

Hi there

My name is Rella and I am 43, I had a blood test today to confirm RA. Am really worried! Mother of 3 kids and working full time.

I was diagnosed with arthritis in both hips back in the summer, Doc didnt say whether OA or ra, I just assumed OA, but thought it a bit strange that it was on both sides.

A month ago both my hands started hurting, and the pain travels all around my body, my ankles are swollen as of yesterday and the sides of my feet hurt (my pinkys are also very tender and sore).

I have dry eyes also. Assuming that it is RA, apart from that I feel strong in myself, more than usual in fact. I am waiting for the fatigue, loss of appetite bit, but does this always come?

Can anyone tell me what usually or generally happens next? Arg!

Wonkylegs

Hi & welcome to the forum - but also I'm really sorry that you need us!

I too have RA - am roughly your age too, but sadly I don't have a family to worry about, thanks to 'Arthur'!

It is a frightening time when you are first diagnosed. I hope that your GP has referred you to a rheumatologist - if not then do ask to be referred! They are the ones with expertise in manging arthritis

What I would say is to try not to worrry about what 'might' happen and concentrate on what actually is happening. Keeping a symptoms diary has helped some people here - it gives you something to show your consultant that your disease is active, and it is hard to remember everything when they are asking questions, so do write things down as you think aboutthem.

My other suggestion is to contact Arthritis Care helplines (if you haven't already done so) as they can send you lots of very useful info and will also talk you through any concerns you have. they all have arthritis so they know what it is like to have so many questions and not to know what to worry about first!

I hope you get some help in dealing with your symptoms soon - and that you get an appointment with a rheumatologist soon.

good luck and do keep posting!

magenta

Hello Rella,
Welcome to the forum. There will be lots of people replying to your post, trying to help you. My story is far too long to tell you everything and gps, consultants could never give me an answer. 23yrs later and I'm still waiting for answers! I'm telling you this because there are lots of people on here who have very different experiences once diagnosed with arthritis. I am seronegative ( at the moment!) so I don't have RF in my blood, which hasn't helped me with getting a diagnosis. Hopefully, after bloods come back, you get a better idea of what's happening with you regards RF etc. You should be referred to a rhuematologist and start some form of treatment. you'll probably feel 'in limbo' at the moment with tons of questions but ask away to drs and/or people here I do suffer from fatigue and although very hard at first, I'm now used to it and relish my afternoon naps when I can get them ( having 2 small kids makes that difficult ) At the beginning I also had loss of appetite all the time and never associated it with the arthritis but now I know it all goes hand in hand. Be positive, I know it sounds odd saying that but I try and it helps a little. I'm sorry, this has ended up being like a small novel :shock: I hope you get answers soon, keep your chin up
Magenta x

PS I used to work full-time but after the birth of my second child, I reduced my hours cos I couldn't work everyday anymore, had to give my body a break! X

frogmorton

Hi Rella
and welcome to the forum.
So sorry to hear of your health problems - all I can say is you are in great company here!!! Everyone is lovely and will be here if you need us while you find out what is going on and tretament and everything.
I have 3 kids too, but like Magenta cut my hours after the youngest one.
As has probably already been said the next step will be to see a rheumy and if he/she confims diag. then you will get some meds to help you. Have a look on the rest of the site and you will get lots of good info. Don't - whatever you do go on the net too much!!! It will scare the life out of you and there are lots of cons offering 'cures' which don't exist.
You look after yourself and come on here anytime - we will help all we can
Toni x

plmb48

hi rella welcome to the forum we on here can tell you how we all feel but you may be very different to some of us you will have all our symptons but how we all handle these differs person to person .when i was told i had R/A 28 years ago i went to the library and read all the medical jargon all about drugs they may give me so i had some notion of what may happen to my body,when i saw my reumatolygist for the first time i knew some of what they were saying to me and knew what i did and didnt want ,you will get all your questions answered here and if you want a rant we will listen ,only sorry this was not here wwhen i started with R/A good luck with your results .pauline

rella1965

Thanks to everyone who replied to me, I do feel very much in limbo, and when I have tried to talk to people in work and at home they just switch off, I am sure I have been guilty of it myself when a colleague starts moaning about aches and pains. I am starting to feel like a bit of a drama queen!

At least I know I can have a rant in this forum though. Will let you all know the results of the tests, it shouldnt be long.
Rella

katekelly

Hi Rella,

I'm Kate and I'm a similar age to you (44) I have 3 girls and was diagnosed with RA 13 years ago.

All the advice given to you is excellent. You need to be referred to a Rheumatologist as said before they are the specialists. A symptoms diary is really useful as the first appt. with the Rhuematologist can be a bit daunting. Take someone with you if you can to the first appt. as there is a lot of things that may be said and easily forgotten.

As for what happens next-well the one thing that has stuck with me that my Rhuematologist told me was that Arthritis whatever it's form is a very individual disease and varies from person to person. So sorry there is not really a lot that can be said about the next stage.

The one thing that there is though is life after diagnosis. I know it is very scarey when you are first diagnosed but honestly you can get through this. You will through time learn your own coping techniques and what works for one may not work for another (visualisation is great for me I'll tell you about that another time!!).

So honestly it's a horrible time but there are people on this site that know your pain and worries and by contacting them through the forums or by personal message you will find a great deal of support here.

Look after yourself

Kate xx