Hello everyone, I'm new to this website and even though at the moment my rheumatologist still doesn't know what type of arthritis I have, I've already started taking 7.5mg methotrexate for 5 weeks. According to him my symptoms are a little uncommon since I haven't gotten any swelling except for a couple of fingers which developed Heberden's nodes, as well as no morning stiffness, fatigue and very mild joint pain since my symptoms started, which was about 3 months ago.
Anyhow, what surprised most of the doctors who refused to diagnose me was that my symptoms started literally a week after my mom was diagnosed with RA. I'd been worrying a lot about this condition and was under a lot of stress just thinking about her well-being when all of the sudden I started experiencing these symptoms which have stayed since then. What's surprising is that even our markers where the same, except my anti-ccp which was 27 (hers was 26) with negative RF factor. Has anyone had this sort of experience before? I've heard that stress can trigger certain conditions but I wanted to see if anyone here has gone through something similar.
Thank you for your feedback!
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ircmannj
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I was a 44 year old Prison Officer (I'm 50 now) never ever been poorly and I had the hep c inoculation. I had it 3 times,it didn't take and then bang!!! I developed RA, I'm doing fine now but, in head, it was that.
🤷♀️🤷♀️wish I knew definitely not stress when I first got symptoms nothing fazed me... stress follows me around now for no reason at all.🥺
My symptoms started after I had Rubella virus, then Peri/menopause plus the stress of running a business. Had symptoms for around 16 years before a new GP decided to check my bloods 🙄
You’re an interesting case, Ircmannj! I used to get sympathetic nausea when my dad was undergoing chemo for his lymphoma, but this goes way beyond that sort of thing. I don’t know what to think. As for myself, I too suspect stress had something to do with my RA coming forth, although others in my extended family have had it.
My gran had RD so it could have been that. I also had a baby 5 years earlier, so it also could have been that. Who really knows? 🙄😳
I think most people enjoy talking about this though. It can help in coming to terms with this disease.
It can help answer niggling thoughts and questions that consume the mind. It's one of the first thoughts that crossed my mind at time of diagnosis, 'how did this happen?'
It's natural for people to look for answers when something goes wrong. People are only sharing what they think caused RD. There could be a common denominator. Discussions of this kind can lead to positive outcomes. Perhaps a trigger of some sort could be observed. Open expression is a good thing There is quite enough suppression going on in our bodies. To reflect first helps to move forward in my opinion.
I had 4 great aunts and 2 second cousins with RD on my mother’s side. My mother nor her parents or her two brothers had it. None of my maternal first cousins have it either, just me and I had sero pos and severe RD. It would be interesting to know what the state of my genetic relationship is. Mine started aged 30 in one of the metatarsals in my left foot and disappeared without drugs(my GPnever actually told me he suspected RD but I had access to his notes about 10 yrs ago). It then savaged me 6 months after my son was born 4 yrs later and it ended up with me admitted into hospital to try and straighten out all my limbs and neck. I loathe this disease and what it does but am fascinated by it as well.
Yes, we actually know that stress can trigger a genetic predisposition. And stress (plus ruining my gut at the same time with a zero carb diet) triggered mine. It was a very clear link. We’re fortunate it’s being acknowledged now, as it wasn’t then.
Think stress caused mine, lost my beautiful granddaughter. She was four years old beautiful inside as well as outside. Soon after I was diagnosed with positive RD.
Not so bad now, like me they have learned how to cope with it. They decided to adopt a little girl in order to give her the.love and everthing else they would have given their own daughter. Think that has helped them too. Thank you for caring.
Goodness what a coincidence. I hope both you and your mum have a good response to medication.
I had a bad fall in 2016 which left me with broken teeth and a long protracted dental saga involving several courses of antibiotics in quick succession. I began to feel unwell with RD shortly after.
However, fairly recently I've found out that I was tested for rheumatoid factor in 1989 by my GP and had inflammatory markers tested twice around 2012 and 2014, all when feeling unwell and my symptoms put down to demanding job, long commutes etc. Blood results were always negative.
Similar story found out recently as I asked for my historic records. Tested for Ra on several occasions over a span of 20 years ( now know S- negative ) so RF tests said NO !!!!! We know different now 🙄
I remain for want of a better word, gobsmacked at how little GPs know about RD, it affects around 1 % of their patients for goodness sake. That's a lot of chronically ill people using their service very routinely.
I reckon at least 50% of people who present to their GP....with what most of us here would recognise as RA/RD symptoms are fobbed off with a few painkillers.
I presented at 57 & was told I should expect aches & pains at my age...& told to take an aspirin
Luckily I took myself off to a Rheumatologist & was diagnosed at my first consultation......my GP’s face was a picture when I saw her again...but not a word about her non diagnosis!
I smoked, I was overweight, took no exercise and I ate a rubbish diet. All causal factors. Plus a demanding job, the menopause and three frail elderly relatives to help care for - two with dementia. Looking back with what I know now it should really not have been a surprise.
Genetic links combined with the death of my Father, ( broke my heart) looking after my lovely but challenging Mum and a tooth implant and fractured elbow while holding down a demanding job with anti social hours and holding the fort money wise while my husband then boyfriend was out of work. Very interesting about your parallel symptoms with your Mum,
All the best.
M x
My husband was unwell last year and not being diagnosed this was causing me a lot of stress and working hard in ademanding role plus with OA already, I feel all the stress tipped me into RA. I also feel that having glandular fever twice could have been a trigger too. Not that there is a definite link of GF and RD.
Probably genetic predisposition - at age 6 it wasn't stress, smoking, alcohol or lack of exercise. I lived on a farm, plenty of fresh air and fresh veg. I have 1st cousins on both sides of my family who had a child dx with JIA and looking at death certificates/causes of death of some of my gt and gt gt grandparents, auto immune diseases run in the family.
For me I’m convinced it was shock. Never been overweight always had a good diet (only because fortunately I dislike sugar etc,,) always loved exercise, so was pretty healthy. No one in the family has RD or anything similar & then in the space of just 4yrs I had five major shocks the last one being the death of my best friend/sister. A few months later RD.
Looking back I think probably a nasty virus as I was weeks with what I call a ‘clanging head’ and went through ENT and neurology before I suddenly came to a full stop with unbearable shoulder, neck and arm and wrist pain. This was all following a couple of years of an extremely stressful time - although at the time I hadn’t given the stress a second thought and just got on with it - of my Mum being difficult, then her being ill and then her dying and as the only child only me to sort it all out. Then add in a very busy job as a cardiology nurse.
One thing that often niggles me though is that at the time three of us came down with a version of Rheumatoid in the same workplace. We were all working under radiation, although protected by vests and carried monitors to access how much we were picking up, but just thought it was odd and have always wondered if any others had related it to that.
Good luck with the journey. Once on the right medication life does get better
Definitely stress for me. My Dad was murdered and I never have come to terms with it. At the time, over a decade ago, I threw myself into work, ate junk food, drank too much. It was only a matter of time till something gave out.
Genetics combined with very high stress. I'd had minor RA-like symptoms for years, but my diagnosis came a year after my husband was diagnosed with stage IV cancer. A few years before that I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism following my mother's traumatic death. So very high stress events seem to be a trigger for AI issues for me. I don't think either case was coincidental.
All of the above ! Menopause, very ill father, stressful job, stressful life, hypothyroid , then I caught a bug and it all let rip. . Found out after he died that my dad had RA when he was the same age as I developed it but his disappeared after 2 years with just steroids . I don't think he or my mum realised what it was though. So genetics too. Plus i dyed my hair for over 15 years lol ! Who knows !?
Definitely neither genes nor stress for me. No family history and I'd just had possibly the happiest summer of my life - lots of hiking in beautiful places (South Tyrol, Donegal and Scottish Borders), sightseeing round Lake Constance (one of the loveliest places in the world), trip to Belgium with my choir, involving singing in Bruges cathedral and at the Last Post Ceremony at the Menin Gate, all of that followed by son's perfect wedding in glorious weather. What could possibly have been better? A month later, it started. First a swollen knee and then the rest followed very quickly and aggressively. And I've never smoked, barely drank, eat healthily, have a wonderful husband and plenty of fulfilling hobbies. My life had had the usual stresses around bringing up the children and the death of my parents, but those things were long in the past when RA struck.
As Aged Crone says, there's no point looking for a trigger. It might be comforting for people to think if they do this or avoid that they won't get RA, but I don't think there's much evidence. When we get it, we probably all wonder what we've done to cause it, but there isn't necessarily an answer and anyway we can't change it. Our only choices are about the present and the future in the way of following our doctor's advice and looking after ourselves.
When I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, the doctor asked me to look at what was happening a year before. At that time, I had a hysterectomy for fibroids, developed cellulitis at the navel site of the incision, and had to take cipro. The doctors seem to think that was the trigger. I also was in a very stressful job litigating in district court. As a child, I also had eczema and asthma. Soon after I was diagnosed, my older brother was diagnosed. He had been having symptoms for several years after breaking his arm in a skiing accident.
So for me it looks like a series of unfortunate events set off a genetic trigger. After my diagnosis, I transferred to appellate litigation, and also began volunteering with a performing arts center. These two changes have brought much more calmness, balance, and peace into my life.
Runs in my family on my mother’s side, aunts, mainly female cousins, but have also a male cousin with it too. Mine started aged 33 in my hands (33 yrs ago) at a bit of a stressful time to do with jobs.
Forty one years ago when my baby was 6 weeks old I had appendicitis then an infection, after that cleared up 'Wham'. I'd never heard of RA. Such is life, there is no point in worrying and wondering about other people as we are all different.
My understanding is RA is genetic and I was RF positive and had all the signs of RA. I was on methotrexate and plaquenil (HDQ) for 5 years and in those 5 years made many changes to decrease / eliminate stress Personally, I feel stress triggered the gene to become active and I was retirement eligible so retired and decreased family
demands so could FOCUS on ME.
I'm now off meds (3 years) and enjoying golf 3 to 4 times a week and exercise regular with a focus on nutrition and enjoying my family. As far as nutrition, I have minimal dairy and significantly reduced breads. In my opinion, no one knows your bodies needs better than you. I educated myself on RA (courses through local hospital) and from there determined what I needed to change along with working with my Rheumatoligist.
Be good to yourself and try not to feel guilty in the process. You deserve to be in a better place.
Interesting question! For me, i was doing a five day parasite cleanse because my doc thought that could be the root of my tummy troubles (we travel a lot to developing countries). Halfway into the cleanse, i started having severe joint pain, that at first, moved from joint to joint every 24 hours. I needed help getting dressed, in and out of bed, in the car . . . My doc sent me to immunologist who said i had palindromic rheumatism, but it quickly settled into my hands and feet, and changed diagnosis to RA. My RA factor and anti-CCP numbers were very high.
I opened a door with the wrong hand (left instead of right - had stuff in the right one) so the hand twisted. A couple of days later it swelled and got worse, much worse. Had it X-rayed didn't show anything untoward except for an Avulsion Fracture. Swelling continued over two weeks (three hospital visits) but in the end, the other hand started to swell too so went to GP (wish I had done that in the first place) and was referred to the Rheumatologist. He thought it was reactive arthritis due to grief as I had lost a sister and a brother within six months of each other, but on ultrasound, was shocked at what he saw and said it was definitely RA and that he had never seen anything like it. 😒
I started out with just fatigue, general inflammation, and pain in my fingers joints and feet/ankles. Had a positive RF, but negative inflammatory markers, so I am your opposite! Initial rigger - probably the intensely stressful time of life rushed by pressures at college, work, relationship, and parental issues. way too much for pressure for a perfectionist. My swelling now is concentrated in my fingers. My biggest triggers for flares are cold and/or wet weather and eating meat/dairy/fried foods.
Childbirth triggered mine. 1st baby, I was fine and then during pregnancy with my 2nd little one I had the odd joint pain and when the baby was born I had a massive flare. Over 3 weeks my joints all stopped working and I was taken back into hospital.
My grandmother had it and hers started during the menopause. It seems that my family genetics mean it's triggered in big hormone swings.
Mine first appeared a few weeks after a severe flu. For a few years it was episodic but responded to short courses of steroids with long periods of remission, but really kicked in full time after a few months of horrendous work stress and commuting 3+ hours every day, around the time of menopause. I think my paternal grandmother had it, so probably in the genes also!
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thanks for the reply. 
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