New to this board & to RA

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone! Im new to the RA community (unfortunately) and wanted to

share my story with you all, since you all can relate to what Ive

been going through. Im 27 years old and live in Austin, Texas with

my fiance. We're supposed to be getting married next spring, but the

wedding planning is on hold while I try to stabilize my RA.

Here is a little history on my experience with RA:

Last fall my mom and I opened a business (a doll store!) and ever

since the grand opening, my feet would just kill me! They hurt so bad

that the only time they didnt hurt was when I was laying in bed. From

the moment I got out of bed in the morning, til the moment I went

back to bed at night, they would hurt. Every step I took I was aware

of. If the ground wasnt level, it hurt. Going down stairs was next to

impossible, and I live on the 3rd floor! I just kept telling myself

that the floor must be too hard at work or that I was working too

much on my feet. And I just kept going.

Then I started noticing my hands were getting weak. I was having

trouble gripping things, opening soda bottles, was clumsy, etc. I

also started noticing some small nodes in the palm of my hand, which

appeared to be making my fingers curl in slightly, so I couldnt

straighten them out. They, too, ached so badly! I would cry myself to

sleep most nights because of the pain. Another thing I noticed about

my hands was that when my fiance and I went ring shopping, I was

having to try on rings much larger than my normal size because my

knuckles were so swollen.

I started to see a doctor in January of this year, who diagnosed me

incorrectly (but that caused me A LOT of stress) because I was told I

would be deformed and would need surgery after surgery and that there

was nothing else that could be done.

Well, I decided that I needed to see a hand specialist. While I was

waiting to be seen by him, I was put on a whole slew of medications

from Naproxen and Relafen to Vioxx and Celebrex. Nothing was helping.

I felt like I was losing my mind! I also had xrays done, nerve tests,

etc. while waiting to see the specialist.

When I was finally able to see the hand specialist, he confirmed that

I was misdiagnosed and even told me why I didnt have what I was told.

I was impressed! This guy was wonderful! Then he told me that he

thought I had arthritis. And gave me several names of top

Rheumatologists here in town. He even personally called and made my

appointment with the one he thought was best! Needless to say, this

guy was my lifesaver!!!

I saw the Rheumatologist 2 weeks later, did blood tests and had my

exam and was put on Prednisone while we waited to see how the tests

came back. On 8-8-02 was diagnosed with Sero-Negative Rheumatoid

Arthritis, which they suspect was viral-induced from a Strep Virus I

had last fall (right before all this started). But since it had been

soo long since then, they werent able to determine if it is or not.

I started on Plaquenil and exactly 2 weeks later stopped taking it

because I developed an allergic reaction to it and broke out in a

rash. Ugh! I went to see the Rheumatologist again (to confirm this)

and have now doubled my Prednisone til the rash is gone and then will

start on Methotrexate.

Ive done a lot of reading on it and am a little upset about having to

take it because as I said (way above) Im about to be married and this

will mean I will have to wait to have children at least 2 years. But

I know that its in my best interest to get this under control and

into remission.

The Prednisone is helping (and much better now that Im on the double

dose). My fingers are straightening back out and Im able to walk with

a bounce in my step again and I can even go down stairs normally (but

slowly) instead of one-at-a-time. I still cant make a fist and my

hands still ache and are stiff through out the day, but at least Im

functioning on my own!

Anyway, Im sure you'll see me around here plenty. Any advice any of

you may have is always welcome and appreciated! Thanks for listening!!

Meg