 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Arthritis / April 2006In a bit of a state
Hi, This is my first post to this newsgroup. I'm a 43 year old male living in Hampshire. I've just been to my GP this morning and he has sent me for some blood tests to look for RA. Last year I was diagnosed with cancer (Hodgkin's Lymphoma) and the treatment went well. I finished the chemotherapy in January this year. For the past few weeks I've had pain and stiffness in my hips and knees, and for the past week I've also had it in my fingers. Sometimes when I wake up in the morning I cannot move my fingers at all and then after five-to-ten minutes they free up and I'm OK. I also have some pain in my back and shoulders. After driving 20 miles or so I have difficulty getting out of the car. I thought it might be a delayed side-effect of the chemo but my doctor doesn't think so. I'm due to go on a long-awaited holiday in a week's time, so I intend to just go and then contact my doctor for the blood resluts when I get back. If it does turn out to be RA then my GP says he'll refer me to a rheumatologist. I also have psoriasis and the GP said that the joint problems might also be connected with this. I always thought that RA was a slow-moving degenerative desease, so my question is - can RA really develop that quickly - from feeling OK one week to having all sorts of problems the next? Thanks, Jeremy >I always thought that RA was a slow-moving degenerative desease, so my >question is - can RA really develop that quickly - from feeling OK one [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > >Jeremy RA can have many faces Jeremy. It can effect different people in different ways. If it is what you have it may have been coming on for some time, and you've only noticed and recorded the symptoms in this last week or so as they became worst. I have RA and looking back my diagnosis came pretty quick, that quick in fact my symptoms overtook the 3 month waiting list to see the Rheumatologist and I got to see him pretty quickly and then got a diagnosis. But first things first, work with your GP and get your blood results, if you still don't feel right try and get a Rheumatologist appointment any way. The reason I say this is that one of the blood tests, The RF factor can come back positive or negative. However, you can have a negative RF factor and have RA and have a positive one and not have it! Confused yet? What I'm trying to say in short, is there are over 170+ types of arthritis and the Rheumatologist is the one that decides which if any you have, you might even have PA. I know it's easy to say, but try and enjoy your holiday and try not to think about it, then come back and work with the medics to get to the bottom of what you have. Call back and keep us informed how it goes. Jeremy, my RA came on over a fortnight from nothing to the point when I could hardly get out of bed. It was first my left hand and neck together. I could not turn my head to look to hard left or right when driving. I was very lucky in that my GP happened to be a bit of an RA specialist. One glance at my red knuckles and he made his diagnosis. He put me on Sulphasalazine and Naproxen and the effect was rapid. That was five years ago and now I feel a bit of a fraud as it is only my right hand which is a bit stiff. I have to continue with the Suphasalazine though but have long ago dropped the Naproxen. I believe that I have been exceptionally lucky compared with most. Old Don >>I always thought that RA was a slow-moving degenerative desease, so my >>question is - can RA really develop that quickly - from feeling OK one [quoted text clipped - 29 lines] > > Call back and keep us informed how it goes. > Jeremy, my RA came on over a fortnight from nothing to the point when I > could hardly get out of bed. It was first my left hand and neck together. [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > > Old Don Hello Don. Remember me? Lately from Farnham, Surrey, and now moved. How the devil are you? Hope you don't mind me hijacking your post Jeremy, but I did direct you to post here in the first place:)) Splodge (Jan) Hi Splodgy Jan I've been lurking in the bushes for ages hoping for a glimpse of Xraylimpalot. Didn't realise you'd gone through a bit of a change. Still doing high kicks in the sauna? Old Don >> Jeremy, my RA came on over a fortnight from nothing to the point when I >> could hardly get out of bed. It was first my left hand and neck together. [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > > Splodge (Jan) > Hi Splodgy Jan > I've been lurking in the bushes for ages hoping for a glimpse of > Xraylimpalot. Didn't realise you'd gone through a bit of a change. > Still doing high kicks in the sauna? > > Old Don Still going to saunas Don, but have had my hip done twice since we last "spoke". Had a couple of nights in the horsepittal recently but am recovering now. I've moved 3.8 miles down the road to the home of the British Army! I'm teaching myself to gamble on the horses and doing well. Wm Hill are paying me more often than the other way round:)) I'm still on the old email addy - ilove dot chocolate at ntlworld dot com - if you want an occasional word or three. Splodge Oh Jan! No longer my Bird Lady of Farnham but a camp follower now? Good fun but a bit hard on the hips I should think. To all other readers : do not take this message seriously. Old Don >> Hi Splodgy Jan >> I've been lurking in the bushes for ages hoping for a glimpse of [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > > Splodge Thanks for all the replies. I'm going to go away and nejoy my holiday and i'll see what happens when I get back. I'll keep in touch. Cheers, Jeremy. jeremy. My RA came on fast over about three weeks, though when I think back there were signs that it was starting up well before that. Only my GP was not savvy enough to pick it up. I have had it now for 28 years. In the end I more or less diagnosed myself and booked an appointment privately with a rheumatologist. She diagnosed it on the first consultation. If you want to see a rheumatologist quickly it is always possible to go privately. It will cost you around £100 for one cosnultation and you would be well advised to get the path work done on the NHS before, because that will cost you a bomb if it is done privately. Just thought I would mention this, but if you have a good GP he could probably get you an NHS consultaion within a reasonable time. If you lived near me that would probably not happen. Our consultant rheumatlogist retired last summer and I don't think that they have got another in post yet. Peter > Hi, > [quoted text clipped - 25 lines] > > Jeremy > Hi, > [quoted text clipped - 25 lines] > > Jeremy The speed of onset can certainly vary; my mum's rheumatoid arthritis was literally overnight; she woke up one day screaming from the pain in her toes. My psoriatic arthritis came on insidiously; it was over a year before I first saw the doctor. The fact that you have psoriasis does give a fairly high risk (possibly as much as 20%) of arthritis, but be aware that unlike RA, psoriatic arthritis will *not* specifically show up on blood tests. If your rheumatoid factor is negative, don't let the GP fob you off, push for a definite diagnosis or a referral to a rheumatologist; it is very important to start disease-modifying therapy as soon as possible (ideally within 12 weeks of onset of symptoms) to reduce the risk of permanent damage to the joints. (I am not a doctor but...) I would think it sensible to assume that the problem IS psoriatic arthritis unless it can be shown to be something else. Certainly in my case, all the rheumatologist needed to make a very confident diagnosis was a description of my symptoms and a couple of very mild psoriatic lesions; the blood test results were irrelevant. Good luck and enjoy your holiday! Pete |
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2008 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.