Results came back. All are negative ( anti CCp, ana, esr...) i have all the RA symptoms on the book. Now swollen finger but no pain. (My toes on both feet hurt and bend slightly backwards...)
Saw a rheumatologist today, she said that my blood would show some inflammation somehow somewhere. She is confident it’s fibromyalgia.
Fibro doesn’t seem to affect the joints that much ? Didn’t want to question her too much.
What do you think ?
Hi love .ask for an ultrasound scan if you have inflamation .that will show it.
You do need to ask more questions.take a note pad .write down what you want to ask and anything they say .
It is so stressfull we forget otherwise.
Don.t be bullied .good luck .kathy xx
Do try not to stress trying to outwit rheumy by wishing RA on yourself.
She might not approach a diagnosis the way you think she should...but let her work it out....she really wants an answer as much as you do.
Relax & see what the bloods show. Every diagnosis comes about in a different way & if you can possibly let your doctor get to the the bottom of things in her way for now, you will save yourself a lot of stress.
If your pain gets too bad you could ask for a stronger analgesic.
I've not been around for a few weeks Mariechristine so checked back on your previous posts to catch up on your journey so far. From what you've described it doesn't sound like typical RD symptoms, the fleeting joint pain travelling round your body, no redness, no typical RD swelling or inflammation & the most recent, the negative blood test results. You didn't update us re the steroids though, if they worked or not, that could be helpful knowing, or if you mentioned it to the Rheumy & what her thoughts were on your response to them.
It's puzzling but do wonder if you not only have the Rheumy's considered alternative diagnosis of fibromyalgia you're also afflicted with some osteoarthritis. This could account for any joint pain you're experiencing & your toe issues. That said I would have thought the Rheumy would have mentioned it, the two joint problems & swelling are quite different when you know what to look for. That said fibromyalgia symptoms can be different from person to person & it seems it's difficult to diagnose because of this, neither is it helped by there being no specific test to diagnose it often only by ruling out other conditions, RD, Lymes etc.
I understand how frustrating it must be when you feel don't have a specific answer but please, please don't wish RD on yourself even though you want a label for what's happening, it's a horrible painful disease when poorly controlled.
It took a year for my blood results to confirm I had RA - 37 years ago so I imagine they’re more accurate now. So much for the Golden Window!
Second opinion?
Same here. Initially diagnosed with sero negative RA despite negative blood tests. My current doctor thinks it’s probably PsA instead as my symptoms are more consistent with it. Bloods are always good except liver tests and very high vectra. Pain travels day to day, and not symmetrical, X-rays show no damage, peeling, weak finger nails, scalp psoriasis, joint pain and stiffness, and fatigue that is off the charts are main symptoms.
Doctors told me that when people write they never give full details, leaving you with nothing but misinformation. RA is in inflammatory disease, inflammation will always should in the blood the minute they feel pain or swelling.
People claming that All their blood tests were negative are most likely referring to tests not related to Inflammation testing and that’s misleading people.
Or perhaps referring to practices prevalent 37 years ago! I’m sure that blood tests were a lot less accurate in those days and also that your Doctor is right about information being incomplete or downright inaccurate at times -online and in society generally - but it’s up to us, surely, to be discerning about what is shared? I would be surprised if anyone intended to ‘mislead’ on this forum.
As I understand it, inflammation is not the only marker for a diagnosis of RA. I would also like to add that I frequently obtain more insightful information from my fellow RA suffers than some Doctors!
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