Arthritis or not, clueless

[MrsBobDylan]

After the birth of two of my kids I got a weird form of temporary joint swelling and weakness in my limbs, it was particularly bad in my elbows. A couple of years ago I had very painful finger joints for a few months, they swelled and felt stiff and although the stiffness and pain eventually went, the joints have stayed bigger than they were before.

I finally went to the doctor with pain in my right hip which has been there for 2ish years and recently had an MRI. Physio said she thinks I may have a weird shaped hip joint but I will get the results back in a few weeks.

More recently, for the last couple of months, both my hips are sore and if I don't move for a while or hold a position for a minute, I have to go gently on them.

The heel on my left foot and the ankle on my right foot hurt when I walk but I haven't injured them. Today I have realised that both elbows are sore too.

Nothing feels hot, no sweats no other symptoms such as tiredness. I find going up and down stairs hard which makes me sound about 95.

I don't know what the pain of arthritis feels like so I would be keen to know if what I'm experiencing sounds anything like it please or like anything else?

I will book an Drs appointment tomorrow, I tend to avoid it because I worry they will tell me somethings wrong!!

What age are you?

47, physically I suspect my real age is around 95 😂

Sounds similar to my mother’s autoimmune arthritis, which started after she had me. The swelling of the knuckles especially.

I have RA & similar symptoms. It also sounds like peri menopause. Falling oestrogen can cause joints & bones to really hurt. You dont necessarily need sweats.

Come on over to the menopause boards

I didn't know peri-menopause could cause those symptoms. Yay to being a woman, yet again.

I will explore that with the doctor. There is lots of auto-immune stuff on my Dad's side and my eldest son is a type 1 diabetic and has hypothyroidism.

I think I need to get moving more. I walk the dogs and do upholstery for a job, but if I'm working on a tough fabric, my hands and elbows really feel it later on. It took me years to be able to do the job I do and I would be gutted if I couldn't manage it physically.

I have similar symptoms and was eventually diagnosed with fibromyalgia. Good luck with the doctor, hope you get it investigated

@MadamBatty do you take any hormone replacement?

Did your RA start during peri-menopause and if you don't mind me asking, what were your first symptoms?

I'm off to google fibromyalgia - my Dad had polymyalgia around the same age as I am now.

I had some musculoskeletal problems in my 30s - rsi, which creeps back if I over use my hands.
I had the joint pain after child birth, doctor said it was hormonal.
Ok then until menopause when long standing pain in hands and was diagnosed as rheumatoid arthritis.
Now my fingers are permanently bent / mis shapen. When in remission my only symptom is my hands but RR can "flare" in which case I get extreme fatigue and pain in my toes, feet, ankles, knees, wrists,and elbows. Rarely in my hips but I know some people do get hip pain.

I have a diagnosis of fibromyalgia as well but I don't agree with it. My symptoms fit entirely with RA and I feel fibromyalgia is a bit of a label when they can't be sure of the cause.

Yep I take hrt, oestrogen only as I had a hysterectomy a few years ago

TBH most GPS are clueless on menopause & think it’s about hot flushes only. They also seem to try to push anti depressants over HRT

There are some great resources on the menopause. You’ll also find people talking about joint pain. May be good to read up a bit & go armed to the doctor

I take medication for RA too but I definitely need my oestrogen

Could I just ask if any of you get pain one side more than the other? Both my elbows are sore at he moment but my right one more so, same with my feet.

You would typically get pain on both sides, but I have found that isn't always the case. My consultant isn't interested in the joints in my fingers - he says that's osteoarthritis, but knuckles and the other places you mention could be.

If you get a diagnosis of RA please don't panic. The medication is scary, but is very very effective and there are lots of options. When I was diagnosed many years ago it was just ibuprofen until things got bad and then drugs which had awful side effects and didn't even work very well.

Have you been stressed? (Silly question- we all have!). I have found that stress makes things worse, but warm water is good.

All it takes is a blood test to figure out if it's RA. Ask for a blood test OP.

Mine started off one sided. It was diagnosed as Palindromic Rheumatism which is not symmetrical. It also comes and goes and commonly develops into full blown RA.
A blood test on it's own will not diagnose RA a rheumatologist uses that as part of the evidence.

auto immune conditions are very hereditary so it would be quite likely that is the cause. About a quarter of cases with PMR have normal bloods. Have bloods been taken? Many auto immune conditions are very treatable with medication. I would ask for referral to a rheumatologist with your family history.

Thank you for answering my questions. I was going to hang on as we are applying to foster and due to have a medical soon and I thought it might go against me if it was something.

But after reading your replies I think I should just crack on and get the process rolling. I am lying on the sofa, my elbows are aching, my stupid hips hurt and my feet are sore.

I don't sleep as well as I used to (falling asleep was my super power!). I can't lie flat because my lower back feels as though it just stops connecting with the rest of my body and lying on my side causes the hip 'underneath' to ache. Then I get up for a wee and have to go down the stairs with everything hurting.

I wish I could ignore it away

So I have spoken to the Doctor who has referred me for blood tests. I will be back to update once I have the results :D

Good luck.

Yes, good luck. Fingers crossed you get a good outcome.

Sorry, another question -I am booked in for blood tests at the surgery on Monday but I could go to my local hospital today to get them done.

If my symptoms wane before Monday would that mean they wouldn't pick up if something is going on? Or if there is something there, would my bloods still show it?

Thanks!

Probably. You should probably be aware that RA can be difficult to diagnose and sometimes the bloods come back normal when you do have it and vice versa.

Have a look at www.nras.org.uk

This is reliable and informative.

I decided to have the blood tests yesterday to speed things along. Thanks for the link - I now realise that I should have just asked for a referral to a rheumatologist at the same time as bloods.

The results come back on wed but I think I will call the dr Monday to ask for a referral, given the guidelines.

I am having something of a panic and am now worrying about everything (my speciality unfortunately). Ihave just become self-employed doing a physical job which is shit timing since I sat at a desk for the last 20 years. I need to know what my future might look like...it took me years to get to do my job

Dont panic. Many people lead totally normal lives on medication.

RA can be hard to diagnose - people often have Rheumatoid Factor in their blood but a sizeable minority doesn't. My grandmother is one of them, it's called seronegative RA. Also, some people naturally test positive for RF but don't have RA.

There are also lots of autoimmune arthritic conditions, RA is the most common but there are others like psoriatic arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis. You can also get joint issues with inflammatory bowel disease as well, and conditions like Sjogrens. You can also have more than one - my uncle has AS and RA.

My grandmother and uncle both have a good quality of life despite inflammatory arthritis though. Grandmother was diagnosed aged 78 2 years ago and methotrexate has worked wonders for her. Uncle is 70 and still doing part time work. So try not to worry too much (easier said than done I know).

I would ask to be referred to Rheumy tomorrow. Waiting times are long atm. I have a suspected inflammatory arthritis, I was referred in early July and am being seen in 2 weeks (assuming Covid doesn't cause a cancellation). So I would get the ball rolling now if you can.