Hello!
I was treated for PMR reluctantly by my Rheum. After two years of Pred and consistently elevated CRP and ESR, she diagnosed me with seronegative RA.
I don’t have pain in my hands or feet.
I have also Fibromyalgia, so all my muscles hurt all the time.
My question is, if it’s possible to actually have RA without any pain in hands or feet?
My inner knees hurt, but that’s Fibromyalgia.
Thank you
I am a sero negative also and my whole body was in pain those days. Not able to help in this.
Do you have any symptoms of RA apart from raised inflammation markers? Amy swollen or tender joints? Any all over flu’y feelimg? Morning stiffness more than 15 minutes or so?
Hi! I do have tender joints, don’t think they are swollen though. Also sometimes I can feel fluey. And definitely morning stiffness could last four hours sometimes. So based on that, now that you mention it, is that I think Dr diagnosed me. What kind of bothers me is the total absence of hand and feet involvement. When I think of RA, what comes to mind immediately is painful hands and feet... so let’s see what happens..
Unfortunately fibromyalgia can also give you tender joints, that all over flu feeling, and morning stiffness that lasts for ages! So it’s very hard to tell what’s what 🙃 Generally fibro does not cause actual swelling in the joints though and joint damage is not seen.
Interestingly, quite a few members on the HU fibro forum have had raised ESR and CRP levels - which was news to me. I’ve since looked at various journals etc and although raised inflammatory markers are not traditionally a fibro symptom, it is apparently being reported - in particular in conjunction with certain lifestyle factors.
My feet and knees were the first to be impacted by RA. But they were very swollen and hot. My elbows were next. My hands hurt all the time, but it is more fibro pain than RA pain. And the rest of my body hurts a lot of the time - calves, thighs, hips, arms, lower back, neck, TMJ.
Wow! Your case is very similar to mine, except feet and hands. Regarding elevated proteins in Fibromyalgia, I also heard a lot of cases are reporting elevations. My doctor would never say my CRP and ESR numbers are from Fibromyalgia. She’s all positive that what I have is seronegative RA and wants or put me on Embrel. I’m waiting on that... take good care💕
That’s very interesting! Have you had any DMARDs yet? Methotrexate, for example?
I am taking only two pills of Metotrexate, because when I took 7 my liver was acting out and the AST enzyme or ALT (don’t remember) fibro fog lol! was elevated very quickly. I also was diagnosed with fatty liver. So Biologics is the next choice. I’m holding up because my mom needs a surgery and she lives overseas, so I need a plane and I’m a little (A lot!) scared of Covid. Also, I want to get the vaccine prior to start Biologics because I want to develop a better antibodies response to it. In my researched opinion, the Biologics would damper the vaccine efforts. My dr. doesn’t seem to be worried about that, but I do, so I’m waiting until my own self assessed direction.😉
Meant to ask: are you being treated for your fibro? Any meds? Any physiotherapy? Untreated it can be an absolute nightmare.
I’m on 10 mg of Naltrexone ( low dose ) for Fibromyalgia
I'm also seronegative and when I was initially diagnosed with RA I only had one swollen knee. Nothing else. Since then, it has spread into my other knee, ankles and my toes. I wouldn't be too concerned that you're not in pain in your feet yet... unfortunately it might come later down the line.
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