how is rhematiod athritus diagnosed

[Poeny]

[Hidden]

In my case, not very easily!

I think that blood tests reveal signs of inflammation (ESR) and some people have a raised RF (Rheumatoid factor).

Visibly, there will be joint inflammation, swelling, warmth, etc in the joints of your fingers and wrists, and in my case, severe pain in my feet. And joint problems will be symmetrical - both hands, both feet, etc.

I suspect that each of us is slightly different.

Others will talk of chronic fatigue and morning stiffness.

It will be interesting to see other people's answers.

[mattcass]

Phoebe hi there, My RA started 8 months ago every morning i got up i was sore & stiff mostly my hands and feet, All the tests showed negative and put it down to age (60) and over excersising then in Jan my wrists flared up so bad i went to A&E who in turn said it was Tendonitious then took bloods then sent me home, The second set off bloods came back negative then the following day my GP called to say one of the bloods had changed and put me on steriods and sent me back to A&E to get my hands x-rayed which confirmed RA.

I have had lung probs for 6 years and all was well, then the last 8 months RA went for my lungs and has got to the stage i cannot receive any medication for my RA as all the prescribed drugs can do me serious harm my chest consultant informed me, Mattcass

[helixhelix]

It's quite a difficult disease to diagnose. First off, there are a number of slightly different conditions that hard to tell apart, so RA, spondylitis, psoriatic arthritis and so on which makes it a bit hard for docs to be sure straight away. Then second problem is that there isn't one test that can be done that gives a 100% guaranteed result. So there are two tests that give a good indication -the rheumatoid factor and the anti-CCP tests - but don't work for everyone as you can be negative for these and still have RA. Then there are tests for inflammation, ESR and CRP, which again give a pretty good idea but aren't foolproof as really there are just saying that you have something that's causing inflammation in your body but not exactly what it is. So the third thing that docs look for are the physical signs, such as stiffness, swelling and joint pain. And it's all these tests and signs put together that will tell a doc whether you do or don't have RA.....but sometimes it's at an early stage so they also need to wait to see how it develops to be really sure which can take a year or more! Polly

[Judetheobscure]

Hello

If you would like more detail see links to revelvant articles on the NRAS website.

Regards Jude

nras.org.uk/about_rheumatoi...

nras.org.uk/about_rheumatoi...

nras.org.uk/about_rheumatoi...