RA and a long time to diagnose it
Hi, I'm 42 this month and I have been in a whole lot of pain for about 4 years now. I quit working 2 years ago when I was in such bad shape I really did think I was dying. I had all kinds of blood tests and finally after 6 months of not being believed they did a test called C-reactive protein which shows inflamation in the blood. Then they did a Mri on my knees x-rays only showed a little OA and the Mri showed chrondomalacia of both knees and a torn tendon. Then a bone scan showed inflmation in my left knee and in both feet. Strange that the tests to prove RA start out with the hands and my hands looked ok to them. I started on anti-inflamatories, tried arava, enbrel,plaqunil,ect. I take 9 prescriptions now and one is methotrexate. I am out of shape a little overweight don't get much excercise if I can I go in the pool and its easier. I think enbrel works but its too much money. I have tried medical studies. Hopefully we can all have better medicines. I still don't test positive for RA factor in my blood but 20% of people don't at least at first. Our bodies are meant to fight off disease and it can take a long time to find out what is really wrong. If you are suffering don't let them tell you your fine, the longer it takes the worse off you could be in the long run.
