new here and could use some insight

[Guest guest]

my daughter is 6. she has GI issues with motility and malabsorption. she has a g

tube for formula feeding because of her dietary restrictions. since the age of 3

she has been night waking with right knee and foot pain. DRs say growing pains

or just an odd symptom of her GI issues. recent blood tests show normal ANA and

RA factor. ESR also normal. say the rheum last week despite all being normal and

she said that her right leg is 2.5 cm shorter and her knee and foot felt quite

different than her other. she said it couls be possible she has RA. she is

waiting on some other tests she ran to make final decision. her x rays looked

normal. in the past year my daughter now complains of pain during the day. she

doesnt seem to limp or have any issues in the AM. just periods of pain for 1 to

3 hours and she is crying awfully bad. any thoughts? does normal bloodwork rule

out RA?

[Guest guest]

Hi ! Welcome to this group. I just found and joined it about a week ago. My

5 year old daughter was diagnosed with juvenile arthritis in May of last year.

For her it was a process of elimination testing for a myriad of other problems.

All of her labs were normal, but I'm hearing from some other mothers that that's

usually not the case. We're working on getting a second opinion for her now.

Another great source to check out is the Arthritis Foundation. They have a great

website to look at and you can also call and they'll put you in touch with the

mother of another child with arthritis to talk to. Hoping you have some answers

soon.

, mom (and Rotweiler for) is, 5, pauci vs psoriatic

>

> my daughter is 6. she has GI issues with motility and malabsorption. she has a

g tube for formula feeding because of her dietary restrictions. since the age of

3 she has been night waking with right knee and foot pain. DRs say growing pains

or just an odd symptom of her GI issues. recent blood tests show normal ANA and

RA factor. ESR also normal. say the rheum last week despite all being normal and

she said that her right leg is 2.5 cm shorter and her knee and foot felt quite

different than her other. she said it couls be possible she has RA. she is

waiting on some other tests she ran to make final decision. her x rays looked

normal. in the past year my daughter now complains of pain during the day. she

doesnt seem to limp or have any issues in the AM. just periods of pain for 1 to

3 hours and she is crying awfully bad. any thoughts? does normal bloodwork rule

out RA?

>

[Guest guest]

Hi, and welcome to the list, although we always hate to hear of another

child in pain.

To answer your question, no, normal blood work does not rule out JA (RA is

actually considered a different disease). Diagnosis is based on symptoms and the

dr physically examining the child. My son never had an elevated SED rate, is

rheumatoid factor negative, and ANA positive. He is also HLAB 27 negative (that

is a marker for spondylitis) yet was diagnosed pauci then changed to

spondylitis.

If your daughter has morning stiffness, that is the biggest indicator of JA. The

first time we were aware of my son having an issue was when he tried to run and

his ankle hurt so bad he could not. It seemed to come out the blue. Then he

began to notice morning stiffness and pain. He is affected in his tendons

mostly, not even in the joints. So as you can see, there are many forms of JA

and they do not always affect joints. Some kids have the fevers and rashes,

which give them a systemic juvenile arthritis diagnosis. Some have psoriatic

which can affect the skin as well. There is also uveitis which affects the eyes.

As stated, check out the Arthritis Foundation website for some good info.

Also the parents here have a ton of day to day, practical information. Feel free

to ask questions or just vent if you need to. We all understand and have been

where you are. Getting the right diagnosis can take a long time and is just the

start of your journey. But there is hope out there and treatments for this

disease get better all the time. It has changed so much in the 10 years I have

been on the list. Let us know how you're doing, Michele ( 23, spondy)

From: [mailto: ] On Behalf Of

Sent: Tuesday, February 08, 2011 7:28 PM

Subject: new here and could use some insight

my daughter is 6. she has GI issues with motility and malabsorption. she has a g

tube for formula feeding because of her dietary restrictions. since the age of 3

she has been night waking with right knee and foot pain. DRs say growing pains

or just an odd symptom of her GI issues. recent blood tests show normal ANA and

RA factor. ESR also normal. say the rheum last week despite all being normal and

she said that her right leg is 2.5 cm shorter and her knee and foot felt quite

different than her other. she said it couls be possible she has RA. she is

waiting on some other tests she ran to make final decision. her x rays looked

normal. in the past year my daughter now complains of pain during the day. she

doesnt seem to limp or have any issues in the AM. just periods of pain for 1 to

3 hours and she is crying awfully bad. any thoughts? does normal bloodwork rule

out RA?