Re: NEW Member here......RA or Not

Posted July 22, 2008 · July 22, 2008

PHILL AND the group;

Welcome, I am a new be also. Love the group. Your pain sounds exactly like mine;

however, RA seems to be diff for everyone. Welcome to the group. I am on here

all the time as you will see. I cant get enough of our support group. I have RA

and Fibromyalgia.

Clora

From: philgreer3 <philgreer3@...>

Subject: [ ] NEW Member here......RA or Not

Date: Tuesday, July 22, 2008, 9:15 PM

Hi all,

I have been reading the post over the past few days and decided to

post. Glad I fonund this board.

In 2003 I broke out with a horrible rash all over and signicant joint

pain. It lasted off and on for about 2 weeks and cleared up. I

underwent lots of bloodwork and had a high RA Factor test. I have

tested above normal ever since. I will run a low grade fever and have

terrible joint pains mainly in both my knees. Sometimes it is very

hard to walk up and down stairs also. I also am very tired all the

time. Some mornings my knees just hurt and It takes me awhile to get

moving. I have been to a RA doctor numerous times and they say I most

likely have RA and will need to followed. I had 1 doctor start me on

Doxycyclin(spelling ) and it did not seem to do anything. My family

doctor has been very supportive through this. I curretnly take pain

medicine at night to help sleep. I am curious what you all think

about my symptons and would I look forward to your responses and

answering questions.

Thanks

Phil

Posted July 23, 2008 · July 23, 2008

Phil,

What kind of rash was it? Did anyone name it?

If it is RA, you need to be on an disease-modifyinig antirheumatic

drug (DMARD) that works for you.

Did you see a rheumatologist?

Not an MD

On Tue, Jul 22, 2008 at 8:15 PM, philgreer3 <philgreer3@...> wrote:

> Hi all,

>

> I have been reading the post over the past few days and decided to

> post. Glad I fonund this board.

>

> In 2003 I broke out with a horrible rash all over and signicant joint

> pain. It lasted off and on for about 2 weeks and cleared up. I

> underwent lots of bloodwork and had a high RA Factor test. I have

> tested above normal ever since. I will run a low grade fever and have

> terrible joint pains mainly in both my knees. Sometimes it is very

> hard to walk up and down stairs also. I also am very tired all the

> time. Some mornings my knees just hurt and It takes me awhile to get

> moving. I have been to a RA doctor numerous times and they say I most

> likely have RA and will need to followed. I had 1 doctor start me on

> Doxycyclin(spelling) and it did not seem to do anything. My family

> doctor has been very supportive through this. I curretnly take pain

> medicine at night to help sleep. I am curious what you all think

> about my symptons and would I look forward to your responses and

> answering questions.

>

> Thanks

>

> Phil

Posted July 24, 2008 · July 24, 2008

Phil, I think that it might be time to get a second opinion from

another rheumatologist. These diseases don't just need to be followed;

they need treatment. The current thinking is that they should be

treated aggressively from the beginning before joint damage can occur.

It does not take long for joints to be damaged.

Keep us updated.

Sue

On Tuesday, July 22, 2008, at 09:15 PM, philgreer3 wrote: