My journey to get diagnosed continues after private rheumatologist asked for CT scan that has come back negative. I now have a numbness in my elbow to shoulder, my previously painful ankles are okay but all other joints are still moderately painful and click.
Is numbness in the above joint a normal symptom of RA?
Have you had blood tests done as well as CT?
I’m having to be in a break from my meds so my pain is returning and I get a pain in my arm from shoulder downwards but it’s not numbness.
Everyone gets their own individual set of pains and issues I am discovering. Did you go private due to a delay with nhs?
What has your private rheumy said about your pains?
We’ve had this conversation before, Ivor, but generally speaking, numbness and altered sensation are not a usual feature of RA unless swelling within a joint impinges on the nerves, in which case you can then get issues like carpal or cubital tunnel syndrome. CT scans can pick up signs of inflammatory arthritis, but they’re not good for spotting the accompanying soft tissue features like synovitis that tend to aid in diagnosing arthritis. I may have asked you this before, but have they done ultrasound scans of any of the joints involved? You still don’t sound typical of RA, but an ultrasound of a joint giving you issues at the time of scanning would usually be definitive.
Hi Charlie I have had x rays of hands and feet, ultrasound of hands and wrist all negative. It is very difficult to try and get NHS to scan when I am in pain and this was done when there no pain at the time. My pain levels has gone down but is still there, my joints click all the time and when I move my neck can hear creaking noises. What is strange is that this all started after I developed arthritis in both my hands in a matter of weeks and my other joints became painful.
