Blood tests.

[Treza42]

Does anyone on here no what seronegative rheumatoid arthritis is. I Googled it but could not understand. Also finding blood test results a bit worrying too. I can't understand them. Am I alone in this issue or do any of you understand all the abbreviations. Thanks for any help. Xx

[Hidden]

My take on it, (though I don't have RA, I have PsA) is that seronegative rheumatoid arthritis is basically ..... rheumatoid arthritis. It just means that your symptoms (and possibly other antibodies etc. in your blood tests) indicate rheumatoid arthritis but you don't have 'rheumatoid factor' in your blood. And rheumatoid factor (RF) isn't the be all & end all in diagnosis as many perfectly healthy people have it.

For interpreting those bloodtests you could try this site:

labtestsonline.org.uk/

There's a drop down menu on the right hand side - you just click on the thing you want to know more about.

3 years on I'm still not sure what all the abbreviations actually mean .... I've ended up focusing on a few main ones.

[Treza42 in reply to Hidden]

Thanks. That helps. Xx

[nomoreheels]

This may help you understand the differences between seropositve & seronegative nras.org.uk/seropositive-se.... Blood tests can be difficult to understand I agree but if there are any specific ones you don't understand your nurse could help, or if you held a drug monitoring book for when you were taking MTX the values & what each is for is generally explained in the back pages of the book. If it's a printout you have then list which the ones you need clarifying & I'll see if I can help. Don't worry, it's a steep learning curve when newly diagnosed & it does take some time to understand the medical jargon but you'll soon pick it up!

[Treza42 in reply to nomoreheels]

Thanks xx

[Jhac27]

When the doctors suspect rheumatoid arthritis ( RA) they will get a blood test done to check for rheumatoid factor antibodies. If this test is negative then you will be described as seronegative and if positive you will be seropositive. You can still end up diagnosed with RA either way. Once the disease has progressed and there is evidence of joint damage by x ray then your disease could also be described as erosive. I have seropositive erosive RA. The NRAS website is very good for looking up jargon or give us a shout on here, someone will help

[Treza42 in reply to Jhac27]

Thanks very much. This explains it well. Xx

[brandifonteneau2005]

I am sero-negative to myself but my feet are always red and my little toes are crooked and now one of my fingers my index finger on my right side is crooked. But I keep testing negative last year when they drew blood it was 15 ml now it is 17 ml. But I have lower back pain. Both Hips hurt and both knees both elbows, both shoulder's my upper back bothers me along with my neck. My regular Doctor notices that I have nodules at the end of my fingers towards the nail. I feel pain in the middle of my finger's both my mom and my aunt on my mom's side had RA/OA. There is along history of auto immune disorder's that are on my mom's side including Crhon's Disease and Ulterative Colitis. My hands lock up alot of time's which it makes it hard for me to type let alone right. My doctor put in a referral for a RA specialists ASAP because of my hands and feet and my family history. Just had a lower back and neck x-ray yesterday and every time they touch me in those boom I get a flare up. Does anyone else have this issue can you really have RA with out the RF???