Dh has just been diagnosed with arthritis at 32, what can we expect?

[OracleInaCoracle]

his gp thinks it looks like RA, and he has been in a lot of pain. he has 3 different types of tablet to take and has had a load of blood taken too. what can we expect? will it get worse? how will it affect him professionally? (he is currently a student, so not as much of an issue)

I have worked in several Rheumatology dept doing research but am now very out of date as haven't worked for 9 years.

My last project was interviewing 200+ patients about a wide range of aspects of their disease and how it affects their life. A number of them, and a fair few of those were diagnosed more recently and therefore had access to better drugs (bear in mind that more have now become available)found it really wasn't making much impact on their lives at all.

My tip is check that any monthly blood test results are being looked at. I was horrified to find in one hospital that this wasn't the case and any problems caused by the drugs just weren't being picked up when they should have. I do think this is very rare though and hopefully confined to that particular hospital at that time and no longer happening.

I think the drugs currently showing good results are anti TNF drugs

Agree, noddyholder. Everyone is different, and treatment involves a lot of trial and error, with a mix of different treatments at different times depending on the phase of the disease and symptoms. Some people can identify triggers, some can't. It is such an individual thing.

Also - RA is just one of a whole group of autoimmune diseases, the symptoms of which can be very similar. A correct diagnosis is very important. I would suggest your DH keeps a diary of symptoms and anything associated with them that he thinks might be relevant. In the long run this record might be useful in managing the disease.

But could be wrong, as I said, I am now very out of date. There was something recently in the news about patients now being limited to being funded to try one of the anti TNF instead of 3 as were able to previously.

sorry to hear about all the pain he is in.

you are right to be asking for info. do all the research you can!

whether it gets worse depends (a) on whether it really is RA (b) if so, how bad his disease is (depends on many factors eg smoking, genetics) (c) getting him on the right treatment ASAP. (NOT food elimination or herbs IMO! sorry iati!)

there is a v good patient support group called NRAS. also info sheets available online from arthritis research campaign (arc) written especially for patients and their families.

has he seen a rheumatologist? it is essential IMO.

RA should only be diagnosed and treated by a rheumatologist. It should not be diagnosed and treated by a GP. Your DH needs to be referred to an expert.

i'm 25 and was diagnosed with RA yesterday, in my hips, spine and shoulders. Am waiting on a referral to the hospital to a rhematologist and having to go for more blood tests.

Funding of medication seems to be a huge issue. Dh has a fantastic rheumatologist he travels to London to see. He is a bit of a pioneer when it comes to research so dh has been fortunate to be able to try out new drugs etc. he s currently on Embrel after doing a stage 3 trial on it and then got local funding from out PCT. However after a period they re-evaluated and decided there wasbn't a significant amount of improvement of dh's symptoms so pulled funding , leaving dh with no medication other than over the counter pan killers. Fortunately he got back to his rheumatologist who is putting him on another trial (then this whole circus will start again ).

The best way to get the latest drugs is to go into a trial. Unfortunately, depending on the trial design, you might not get into the group that gets the new drug. However, sufferers participating in trials is the only way we get new treatments licensed.

I have a type of arthritis (ankylosing spondyltis), diagnosed at 28 (symptoms much earlier). It has many symptoms in common with RA.

You DH needs to get referred to a Rheumatologist ASAP for a correct diagnosis. Then there will be a, potentially long, time of trying out the best treatment plan for him.

I have tried various different options, e.g. steroids, NSAIDs, methotrexate and another DMARD (disease modifying drugs) as well as a whole host of pain killers. I'm currently on nothing as TTC but will be going on to anti-TNF's as soon as baby is born. So there is a huge array of treatments out there, all of which have served to keep me sane. However it's not easy. Even now 2.5 years after my diagnosis I think I am still coming to terms with it and what it means for my life. I get very fatigued and sometimes the pain is overwhelming. The support of my DH keeps me going, so carry on doing your good job! I've had to readjust my life - I used to be extremely active but now I have to rethink things like hobbies, holidays etc, it takes some adjusting. But then I also know that you get "flares" and so there are good times and bad, and I'm getting better at managing the bad times.

If you need to know anything else, feel free to ask.

thank you all very much. his gp is doing the relevant paperwork as we speak. he has been in pretty much constant pain for the last month and it has been affecting his quality of life. he s always been vv active and played football 2-3 times a week etc, but has been unable to recently.

Sorry to hear about your DH lissielou.

I was eventually diagnosed with RA properly when I was refered to a consultant rhematologist following a flare up after the birth of my daughter nearly 2 years ago when I was 28. Before that the GP spent a few years dolling out painkillers and losing test results.

RA is mainly in my wrists, but sometimes also have pain in feet, knees and fingers.

I now take methotrexate, which definitely improved my symptoms although they have stopped the stiffness in my wrists entirely, so she's recently started me on sulphazelazine too which seems to be helping. I'm on blood tests every two weeks at the moment due to the new medication, not much fun, but good to know that they're looking out for nasties.

Hate the idea of taking all these pills as some of them are quite nasty. I found that methotrexate made me particularly vunerable to catching infections - not good when you have a little one in nursery! - so I had coughs, colds and sore throats pretty much all winter.

That said, my RA is definitely much better and on the whole I'm virtually pain free. Sometimes a bit stiff in the mornings, but nothing that stops me leading a normal, busy life.

oh yeah, I found methotrexate hell with a young child who brought home loads of bugs. Spent nearly a year with a bug!