Re: Hi everyone I am new My name is

[Guest guest]

<PRE>merry christmas karen and welcome. i'm kathy 43 and been on disability for

2

years in june. sure doesn't seem like it sometimes. i have inflamatory

spondyloathropy, reiters, fibromyalgia, glaucoma and diabetes. i am on

methotrexate. just started that a couple months ago. i've been on enbrel

remicade, prednisone. they seemed to help but not long enough and then the

side effects made it impossible to take them any longer. you'll find lots of

information and a lot of great people here. kathy in il

[Guest guest]

Dear ...welcome to our family...a dearer group of folks you will

never find. My name is Tess, 51, I live in NW Oregon, 4 grown children

and 2 grandbabies.

I look forward to getting to know you.

Merry Christmas & A Healthier 2003 For Us All!

Love...

Tess

[Guest guest]

Hey there karen...

Glad to see that you made it...

E-mail me with your e-mail addy in the message... I'm having probs sending

mail to you...

Pami

Private addy: 33157@...

Check out my " e-store " at

http://pamelataylorefreestores.com

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-- [ ] Hi everyone I am new My name is

Hi My name is , 37 I live in Florida, I was diagnosised with RA

as well as Degenerated Rhuemtiod Arthritis back in 97. All the

ligaments and tendons are gone in all my joints. I have it in my

feet, hands, legs, arms, shoulder, and fingers. I worked a fulltime

job less then a YR ago. My arth was bad but within the past 8 months

I have gotten so bad that I have had to stop working and will be on

disability as of Jan 03. I live alone and has made ever possible

method to live alone. I have alot of friends who help to take care

of me and fill in the holes where I can't

I am on Celebrex and Methotraxate and the Dr has talked about me

trying Remicade by Feb 03.

I am glad to meet all of you

Merry Christmas

[Guest guest]

gigik12@...

thanks for the call this afternoon it was a

real treat for me.

--- " alex33157@... "

<33157@...> wrote:

> Hey there karen...

> Glad to see that you made it...

> E-mail me with your e-mail addy in the message...

> I'm having probs sending

> mail to you...

> Pami

>

>

> Private addy: 33157@...

>

> Check out my " e-store " at

> http://pamelataylorefreestores.com

> Shipping is DIRECT from the warehouse to you...

> Credit Cards accepted.

>

> OWNER of the Genealogy Group:

> Northerns

> You don't have to be a to join - many other

> families are linked.

>

> ALL E-MAIL SCANNED BY AVG 6.0... NO BUGS HERE...

>

>

> WHERE I LIVE NOW...

>

> WHERE I USED TO LIVE...

>

> WHERE I WOULD LOVE TO LIVE...

> -- [ ] Hi everyone I am new My name

> is

>

>

>

> Hi My name is , 37 I live in Florida, I was

> diagnosised with RA

> as well as Degenerated Rhuemtiod Arthritis back in

> 97. All the

> ligaments and tendons are gone in all my joints. I

> have it in my

> feet, hands, legs, arms, shoulder, and fingers. I

> worked a fulltime

> job less then a YR ago. My arth was bad but within

> the past 8 months

> I have gotten so bad that I have had to stop working

> and will be on

> disability as of Jan 03. I live alone and has made

> ever possible

> method to live alone. I have alot of friends who

> help to take care

> of me and fill in the holes where I can't

>

> I am on Celebrex and Methotraxate and the Dr has

> talked about me

> trying Remicade by Feb 03.

>

> I am glad to meet all of you

>

> Merry Christmas

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

> From: " Betsy Greer " <BETSY@...>

> You say that your RA started with your hands and wrists, I'm

> wondering how long before it moved into the other joints? My hands are also

> the worst affected, the pain and stiffness gets better at times but never

> completely goes away. However, for the last couple of months I've been

> getting kind of minor soreness in several joints which get sore (nothing

> major, just sore) then after about a week or two it goes away and moves into

> another spot. I keep wondering if it's just in my head now, since the

> hand's stay but the other ones seem to jump around.

This is similar to the way my RA started last January. It moved from joint

to joint. I can't remember specifically what pattern it followed, but one

joint would hurt for a day or two, then another would take over. At first I

had only one swollen finger, then gradually the others joined in, all except

my left ring finger, which has never been swollen. (Was it protected by my

gold rings?)

Finally it seemed to settle in my hands, shoulders, and knees.

Sue in NC

[Guest guest]

That does sound similar, and after the last couple of painful days, I'm

pretty convinced it's not in my head! My hip has been so sore for a couple

of days that I can't sit for very long.

What were your initial blood tests like? Positive or negative or a

combination of the two?

Betsy

Re: [ ] Hi everyone I am new My name is

> From: " Betsy Greer " <BETSY@...>

> You say that your RA started with your hands and wrists, I'm

> wondering how long before it moved into the other joints? My hands are

also

> the worst affected, the pain and stiffness gets better at times but

never

> completely goes away. However, for the last couple of months I've been

> getting kind of minor soreness in several joints which get sore (nothing

> major, just sore) then after about a week or two it goes away and moves

into

> another spot. I keep wondering if it's just in my head now, since the

> hand's stay but the other ones seem to jump around.

This is similar to the way my RA started last January. It moved from joint

to joint. I can't remember specifically what pattern it followed, but one

joint would hurt for a day or two, then another would take over. At first

I

had only one swollen finger, then gradually the others joined in, all

except

my left ring finger, which has never been swollen. (Was it protected by my

gold rings?)

Finally it seemed to settle in my hands, shoulders, and knees.

Sue in NC

[Guest guest]

> From: " Betsy Greer " <BETSY@...>

> That does sound similar, and after the last couple of painful days, I'm

> pretty convinced it's not in my head! My hip has been so sore for a couple

> of days that I can't sit for very long.

>

> What were your initial blood tests like? Positive or negative or a

> combination of the two?

At first my rheumy diagnosed me with frozen shoulders and diabetic limited

joint mobility syndrome and sent me to physical therapy, which was sheer

agony. The diabetic syndrome was supposed to be painless, though, and I was

having unbearable pain which had also spread to my knees. I kept calling him

about the pain, and when he finally realized, I think, that I might have RA,

he got me in to see him in two days and had bloodwork done.

My rheumatoid factor was 170 (normal < 20); sed rate was 105 (normal 0-30);

and C-Reactive Protein was 12.2 (normal 0.0-1.0). So in my case my diagnosis

was definite. I am lucky in that respect to be diagnosed correctly about six

months after the disease started.

Last month my sed rate was 12 and C-Reactive Protein was 0.

I hope you get a diagnosis and some help soon. Good luck.

Sue

[Guest guest]

I'm glad you got a pretty quick diagnosis so they could start proper

treatment, that in itself must have been somewhat of a relief, even though

the diagnosis is definitely not something anyone would wish for.

I'm kind of worried that because my blood tests are fairly " normal " that

they're not going to figure anything out and I'll just have to live with it

for who knows how long? Luckily, my internist is very sympathetic and is

determined to get me some kind of relief. Also, because my right hand thumb

joint is already enlarged, I'm worried that if I don't start some kind of

treatment that it's just going to get worse. I've already lost some use of

that hand because of it.

Oh well, enough whining for today, thanks for the post, any information is

helpful at this point!

Have a good day!

Betsy

Re: [ ] Hi everyone I am new My name is

> From: " Betsy Greer " <BETSY@...>

> That does sound similar, and after the last couple of painful days, I'm

> pretty convinced it's not in my head! My hip has been so sore for a

couple

> of days that I can't sit for very long.

>

> What were your initial blood tests like? Positive or negative or a

> combination of the two?

At first my rheumy diagnosed me with frozen shoulders and diabetic limited

joint mobility syndrome and sent me to physical therapy, which was sheer

agony. The diabetic syndrome was supposed to be painless, though, and I

was

having unbearable pain which had also spread to my knees. I kept calling

him

about the pain, and when he finally realized, I think, that I might have

RA,

he got me in to see him in two days and had bloodwork done.

My rheumatoid factor was 170 (normal < 20); sed rate was 105 (normal

0-30);

and C-Reactive Protein was 12.2 (normal 0.0-1.0). So in my case my

diagnosis

was definite. I am lucky in that respect to be diagnosed correctly about

six

months after the disease started.

Last month my sed rate was 12 and C-Reactive Protein was 0.

I hope you get a diagnosis and some help soon. Good luck.

Sue