Guest guest Posted July 14, 2003 Report Share Posted July 14, 2003 I'm sorry that you are having so much trouble and I hope you get to feeling better soon. There are 7 criteria given by the American College of Rheumatology for diagnosing RA and you must meet 4 of the 7 to get a diagnosis. Some doctors are reluctant to give a diagnosis very early because it could affect the ability to get insurance. http://www.arthritisinsight.com/medical/disease/ra/ra.html Dry eyes and dry mouth are not strictly speaking caused by RA but often accompany it. It is called Sjogren's Syndrome. On another message board we had a poll of how many had which of the criteria for RA and 4 of the first 42 who responded did not have morning stiffness that got better after one to a few hours. I can't help with the fatigue. Although it often accompanies RA it is not one of the criteria for diagnosing RA and thus could be a separate disease such as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. I don't have it and I don't have any ideas on how to treat it. If you are likely to have RA you should be on a Disease Modifying Anti-Rheumatic Drug (DMARD). http://www.arthritisinsight.com/medical/meds/ Keep us posted on how you are doing. Good luck and God bless. ----- Original Message ----- From: quinlan42 Rheumatoid Arthritis Sent: Friday, July 11, 2003 11:53 AM Subject: Awaiting Diagnosis My rheumatologist strongly suspects RA and after everything I have read about it, I would be shocked if he diagnosis' something else. Do many experience the dry eyes and mouth and marked fatigue? along with the symmetrical pain and inflammation in numerous areas. One other question i have about it is i have pain and stiffness most of the day not just in the morning and therefore i cannot evaluate the morning stiffness criteria. Is this usual.My dr. currently has me on 30mg of Prednisone, (dont like it much) and i have been experiencing leg cramps and night sweats. I will say that the pain and swelling has improved but the fatigue is still a problem. Any suggestions! Thanks for your help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 22, 2003 Report Share Posted July 22, 2003 Hello Barbara, This is in VA. Extreme fatigue is one of the hardest parts of living with arthritis (for me anyway). Personally, only Remicade has helped with my fatigue -- luckily it is still working after 3 years! Take care, ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ My rheumatologist strongly suspects RA and after everything I have >read about it, I would be shocked if he diagnosis' something else. Do >many experience the dry eyes and mouth and marked fatigue? along with >the symmetrical pain and inflammation in numerous areas. One other >question i have about it is i have pain and stiffness most of the day >not just in the morning and therefore i cannot evaluate the morning >stiffness criteria. Is this usual. > > My dr. currently has me on 30mg of Prednisone, (dont like it much) >and i have been experiencing leg cramps and night sweats. I will say >that the pain and swelling has improved but the fatigue is still a >problem. Any suggestions! Thanks for your help > Add photos to your messages with MSN 8. Get 2 months FREE*. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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