New to RA

[Ptomlinson]

I am 58 years old and have had pain the past 20 years or so.  Was diagnosed with RA last year.  I thought RA attacked one part of your body since the word arthritis was in there.   The rhemu doc did not inform me very well.   This past winter I had pneumonia and flu at the same time.  I am still battling chronic cough.  Standing up and night time is the worse on my cough.  Stairs also is bad on the cough.  Feels like my right lung fills with fluid. Also developed two lumps under my right armpit.  Doctors ran all kinds of test for cancers.  All have come back negative thank goodness.  Still have one more batch of blood work waiting on.  How do you tell if the lumps under the armpits and chronic cough could be RA symptoms.   I have a hard time maintaining weight loss because of flattened pituitary gland from fluid on the brain back in early 2000.  So I get the doctors gripe that everything is my fault cause I won't make a attempt to lose weight.   I am on no medication for RA.   Only pain med I take is ibruprophen.  I take topamax for migraines and meclizine for chronic vertigo.    The rhemu doctor ran blood work and that is how found out I have RA.   Have Degenerated Disk Disease in my neck and lower back.   

[CherylDV]

First welcome, 

Second, sounds like you need a rheumatologist that will speak, educate, and work with you.

Third, I don't know if you have heard of RA nodules, but could that explain your lumps?

Fourth, have you heard of RA Lung? Rheumatoid Arthritis is an auto immune disorder so it can attack any part of your body. There are a lot of good books explaining this disease. 

I hope this helps point you in the right direction. If you are suffering from swelling in any of your joints, you need to stop the progression of this disease. The longer it goes untreated the more damage it cause down the road.

[Gramvick]

You need to find a rheumatologist who will help you fight the disease. Mine put me on the biologic Humira with Methatrexate right away. Methatrexate made me I'll so was switched to Arava. Arava made my hair fall out so was taken off both it and the Humira and put on Orencia. That with my pain meds morphine and oxycodone have my RA and chronic pain pretty much under control.  I did just have injections in my hips to help with the pain there as it was still pretty harsh. I am totally disabled and on disability now for the last five years. I was diagnosed in 2007. 

[Mairhi]

Unfortunately RA attacks every part of our body. It sees synovial fluid as the enemy and every thing that is under our skin is surrounded by it. Did they test the fluid that was on your brain for ra markers? I was told by one Dr that rheumatoid arthritis is a miss nomer. It gets the name rheumatoid from rheumatic fever because it causes joints get red and hot mimicking rheumatic fever and it gets the the name arthritis because it is mostly joints that are affected, but really it is neither. It is  really an autoimmune disease. AND any part of our body is subject too attack. I have had fluid removed from around MY heart and pneumonia many times all from ra