Dr Chui or anybody else - RA

[Guest guest]

Hi,

Are there different types of RA or is it just one type that hits some people

harder than others?

I ask this because although I am still sero-negative and consequently

undiagnosed I appear to have 80% of the same signs and symptoms as everybody

else but that 20% is missing. What is the missing 20%? I don't have and never

have had the massive swellings spoken of by most. In fact the only visible

swollen joints are my hands. Also, although I've had some days when the pain

has disabled me it has subsided within days to a tolerable level (taking that

tolerable must be different in different people) and all in all I'm managing to

do everything I need to do taking nothing but Mobic and anti-oxidant tabs.

Finally, I do tend to strain ligaments easily and get pain in ligaments which

I've not seen spoken of by others.

One more question, has anybody worked out a cycle to the flares. I keep a daily

diary and record a pain factor which i graph and there does appear to be a

pattern. I've only been graphing it since 30th June but at one tme the maximum

(disabling)flares were coming at 20 days.

Mike

[Guest guest]

From Mado:

I am having some very different symptons in my hands and wrists lately. It is

more like a burning sensation and tender to the touch although the fingers are

rather stiff. Are those symptons part of RA? Anyone having this burning

sensation?

rheumatic Dr Chui or anybody else - RA

Hi,

Are there different types of RA or is it just one type that hits some people

harder than others?

I ask this because although I am still sero-negative and consequently

undiagnosed I appear to have 80% of the same signs and symptoms as everybody

else but that 20% is missing. What is the missing 20%? I don't have and never

have had the massive swellings spoken of by most. In fact the only visible

swollen joints are my hands. Also, although I've had some days when the pain

has disabled me it has subsided within days to a tolerable level (taking that

tolerable must be different in different people) and all in all I'm managing to

do everything I need to do taking nothing but Mobic and anti-oxidant tabs.

Finally, I do tend to strain ligaments easily and get pain in ligaments which

I've not seen spoken of by others.

One more question, has anybody worked out a cycle to the flares. I keep a

daily diary and record a pain factor which i graph and there does appear to be a

pattern. I've only been graphing it since 30th June but at one tme the maximum

(disabling)flares were coming at 20 days.

Mike

[Guest guest]

Hi, Mike.

I came down with arthritis in 1988, and carried the diagnosis of " arthritis,

unspecified, " for 2 years. I was and continue to be sero-negative, and my

blood work showed some abnormalities, but not a lot. I had significant

swelling in my ankles at first, some which came and went in my hands, and

finally after a few years, the worst symptoms settled around my shoulders,

elbows and wrists. I don't have much visible swelling now, but my doctor

says there is swelling in the soft tissues of my shoulders which he can

detect when he takes my arms through a series of movements.

From what I know, being sero-negative (if you have to have arthritis!) is a

very good thing--we are less likely to experience the joint erosions

associated with rheumatoid factor, and some of the other systemic

manifestations of the disease.

I was thought a likely mild lupus or sero-negative RA for the first year or

so, but eventually began to develop a type of heel and hip pain which are

characteristic of reactive arthritis. In the spondyloarthropathies, there

can be prominent pain at the attachment sites of tendons, ligaments and

muscles near joints. It took me a number of months to develop these symptoms

in addition to joint swelling, and over the years the joint swelling became

less prominent, leaving me with the attachment pain , tendonitis and

bursitis as my major symptoms

There is a genetic type which is associated with the spondyloarthropathies,

and a test for HLA B-27 is done as an aid in making those diagnoses, but it

is not a perfect indicator, either. It is more strongly associated with this

group of arthritic diseases in men than it is in women, and more so in some

diseases than others. This group in general is also more common in men, and

I hope your rheumatologist has considered these possibilities for you. (I do

know a fellow who is sero-negative like you, but his rheumatologist has

ruled out these diagnoses for him.)

The reason I bring up this group of inflammatory arthritides is your mention

of ligament trouble. Sounds a lot like me.

The diseases in this group include ankylosing spondylitis, which features

prominent spinal inflammation with the possibility of peripheral joint

inflammation; reactive arthritis, including Reiter's syndrome, which is more

prominent in the peripheral joints but often includes a lesser degree of

spinal involvement. Inflammation of the sacroiliac joints is common in both

AS and ReA. The arthritis of inflammatory bowel disease and psoriatic

arthritis can act like a spondyloarthropathy or more like RA, as I

understand it, just depending upon the individual.

I have probably left out some important points, I am an artist, not a health

care professional, but since I went quite a while without a diagnosis, I

just kept studying all the possibilities my doctor mentioned as time went

along. In mild or moderate disease, I think they are treated very much the

same as mild RA.

Do you know the generic name of Mobic? We don't recognize that brand name in

the US.

If this sounds like you, there is more information on these diseases

available on the web. The

Arthritis Foundation is a good starting point--http://www.arthritis.org.

Jean

----------

From: " Mike Guinney " <mguinney@...>

<rheumaticonelist>

Subject: rheumatic Dr Chui or anybody else - RA

Date: Mon, Sep 13, 1999, 9:13 AM

Hi,

Are there different types of RA or is it just one type that hits some people

harder than others?

I ask this because although I am still sero-negative and consequently

undiagnosed I appear to have 80% of the same signs and symptoms as everybody

else but that 20% is missing. What is the missing 20%? I don't have and

never have had the massive swellings spoken of by most. In fact the only

visible swollen joints are my hands. Also, although I've had some days when

the pain has disabled me it has subsided within days to a tolerable level

(taking that tolerable must be different in different people) and all in all

I'm managing to do everything I need to do taking nothing but Mobic and

anti-oxidant tabs. Finally, I do tend to strain ligaments easily and get

pain in ligaments which I've not seen spoken of by others.

One more question, has anybody worked out a cycle to the flares. I keep a

daily diary and record a pain factor which i graph and there does appear to

be a pattern. I've only been graphing it since 30th June but at one tme the

maximum (disabling)flares were coming at 20 days.

Mike

[Guest guest]

Hi Mike,

My joint pain sounds similar to yours. I've had it 27 years. It totally

cleared up the year I got so sick with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. I have no

joint deformity but joint damage does show up on xrays. My joints are easily

stressed and get red and sore if I overuse them - otherwise no inflamation. I

am low positive, I think, on ANA tests. One doctor wrote that I may have

chemical lupus , whatever that is. I have had a rash on my face like lupus -

gone now. I also have mild psoriasis. Needless to say, I have no diagnosis

either. My doctor hopes the human growth horomone I am on will help my joints

to heal in about a year.

a C.

rheumatic Dr Chui or anybody else - RA

Hi,

Are there different types of RA or is it just one type that hits some people

harder than others?

I ask this because although I am still sero-negative and consequently

undiagnosed I appear to have 80% of the same signs and symptoms as everybody

else but that 20% is missing. What is the missing 20%? I don't have and never

have had the massive swellings spoken of by most. In fact the only visible

swollen joints are my hands. Also, although I've had some days when the pain

has disabled me it has subsided within days to a tolerable level (taking that

tolerable must be different in different people) and all in all I'm managing to

do everything I need to do taking nothing but Mobic and anti-oxidant tabs.

Finally, I do tend to strain ligaments easily and get pain in ligaments which

I've not seen spoken of by others.

One more question, has anybody worked out a cycle to the flares. I keep a

daily diary and record a pain factor which i graph and there does appear to be a

pattern. I've only been graphing it since 30th June but at one tme the maximum

(disabling)flares were coming at 20 days.

Mike