Another Newbie with a couple of questions..

[Guest guest]

Hello all,

I love the internet! Finding support groups for this devastating illness is a

godsend for me

I'll start right off the bat with my first question- Did your RA start after a

stressful situation either physical or mental??

I think for me it started about 5 years ago when I had a significant weight

loss. After loosing 35lbs I felt really good but started having a lot of joint

pain (no hand pain at this point though) mostly knees and neck. I noticed a lump

that formed on my rt hand small finger which interfered with my ability to close

this hand. My family doc decided it should come off so I saw a plastic's guy and

he removed it for me. The tissue sample cam back as fibrotic tissue which the

plastic surgeon told me was unusual; unfortunately for me the lump came back

within 6 months. Besides the vague joint pain for the past 5 years I also

started having problems with high BP/heart rate, which I now take a beta blocker

for.

Two years ago I started having bad neck pain and found out I had two herniated

disks. I could not work for 10 months but posted into another job with less

hours and was much less physical (but mentally stressful). For some reason

shortly after I started this new job in Jan 09 I started getting very painful

hands - an aching that would last for days. My doc tested me for RA at that time

and it was negative. Over time my hands got stiffer and stiffer until I was

having trouble just tying my shoes or doing up buttons. During this time I

formed more rheumatoid nodules on my fingers (I now have 5) and had swollen

glands for about 6 months. Now I can't close my hands at all and they are

painful all the time. In July 2009 I started seeing a Rheumatologist and he

suspected a sero-negative RA, and I was diagnosed as such in March of this year.

At this time I am only taking Paquinil which has helped about 50% or so. Just

recently I started having foot pain on both my feet. The funny thing is (my hand

pain is symmetrical), that my foot pain is in the identical spot as most of the

pain in my hands (between my 4th and 5th fingers on both hands as well as

between my 4th and 5th toes on both feet. Is this weird? Do any of you have the

same thing?

I am terrified that I won't be able to work in the future, I am lucky though as

I have a very supportive husband.

I also hate taking anti-inflammatories as they bother my stomach. Does anyone

have any other suggestions for soothing hand pain? (I sometimes use warm water

and I have a hand wax that I use occasionally)

Sorry for the long winded writing, I felt like I needed to get that off my

chest.

Hopefully in the future I can provide support for others in the same situation!

Sherry

Age 42