Sister (F30) has undiagnosed form of RA with one permanently damaged joint, I (F26) have random pain in joints lately 2 types : 1- sporadic severe pain on wrist, knee or thumb upon waking up. I can't move it so I try to sleep again and upon waking up again the pain is gone (I thought that it was a dream at first) . 2- knee or elbow pain that comes in waves (either short ~1 to ~5 sec intervals or a few minutes) Other info that might be relevant :

• I have a loose body in my knee
• I suffer from anxiety/depression
• I have random chest pain (X-ray shows nothing)
• In the last few years I had multiple 1 day fever episodes.

Help please.

Hi, who else of you experiences mild to moderate swelling, especially when stressed, despite being on medications (tnf-alpha inhibitors)? Is that normal? Do you still get a flare from time to time?

What do i have to do if i’m starting to get sick (sore throat, headache, fatigue etc) do i still take my med as normal or skip a week it’s the first time i’m getting sick while on mtx

So i'm just reaching out on here for some peace and knowledge. I went to see a Hand Specialist for hand-pain, which I thought was an injury, but after hearing my symptoms, he wanted to rule-out gout and RA.

For context, I am a 32 yo woman. My left pinky started to hurt as if I had "jammed" it in August of 2024. It continued to hurt, and then a couple of weeks later, my left thumb began to hurt. This left thumb was ACTUALLY injured in 2021, so I thought this was just a residual pain. This entire time my pinky still hurt, but the level of pain would ebb and flow. Then in the beginning of January, my left pinky began to hurt (way worse than the left ever did). Then my entire hands began to ache. I do wake up with stiff hands and it takes a few stretches to get them to make a fist.

Anyway.... my doctor told me after he ordered lab work that he would be going on leave to care of his own personal medical stuff. He was very kind, so I'm not mad, but I'm just worried he won't be able to give me his medical opinion on my labs before he leaves.

I'm all too aware that this is not a medical forum and most of you are probably not doctors, so I am not expecting or looking for a definitive diagnosis, but more personal opinions from people who have done this kind of lab work a lot for RA and have seen these kinds of numbers (or haven't) so I can stop worrying and wondering.

• C-Reactive Protein: 15.2 H (high)
• Uric Acid: 4.5 (normal)
• Rheumatoid Factor: <10 (normal)
• Cyclic Cintrullinated Peptide (CCP) AB (IGG): <16 (normal)

I seriously appreciate anyone who shares what they think!

I’ve been on Cimzia for 6ish months now and it’s been meh. I’m not waking up stiff and sore but I do still have bad days.

Maybe this is a silly question, but can the nurses do the injection wrong? I ask bc I had moderate improvement after the loading doses and the first couple of doses, but then I got a new nurse and since she’s started them, I get literally no relief. I also bleed and bruise badly after she does them which I didn’t before. I got my most recent shot on Monday and woke up Tuesday with a frozen shoulder. I almost feel like I’m unmedicated altogether.

Did I fail another biologic?

I guess I’m looking for insight and a little pity 🫠

i have extensive hand pain, going to OT/PT (thank you pain management doctor) but my rheumatologist won’t give me the diagnosis until my synovial US comes in- well today the US came back negative for everything.

do i still start my journey here? or is my pessimistic rheumotologist going to keep me on mobic and that’s it ? i had to go to pain management to get OT and voltarin bc rheumo would not write for it until after the US. i thought to myself…. i am still in excruciating pain which needs to be addressed here ma’am.

My medication already costs 7K my deductible is high and the copay card provided by Cimzia doesn’t count at all towards more deductible.

With tariffs being imposed on pharmaceuticals is anyone else terrified? I’m in the US.

Hi everyone!

I started enbrel a month ago. I have yet to really feel any difference. I’ve read all over here how enbrel was working for a lot of people pretty quickly. My pain is so bad, especially my SI joints and hips. I hope it does work but I’m feeling a little discouraged. I’m seronegative and I’m already taking 300 mg gabapentin x 3 times daily, sulfasalizine, and muscle relaxers. My rheumatologist wanted me to try methotrexate before moving to biologics because the sulfasalizine was only helping a little bit. Methotrexate had me feeling so sick for a week straight right after I took it. I had never ending nausea, I vomitted, had really bad diarrhea. I could hardly eat because any food with a hint of grease made me feel so sick. The stomach cramps never stopped either. I ended up loosing 5 pounds in one week. If anyone can share their stories on how Enbrel affected them, I would greatly appreciate it😊

Hello friends! It's a long story but to try and make it shorter, I've had pain for over 10 years. In different areas of my body, notably my shoulders and hands / feet. Joints in the hands and feet. I chalked it up to my physical job forever not realizing there could be a deeper problem. Now in the last year, I've seen a rheumatologist and my bloodwork has come back with high/ positive rheumatoid factor and positive / high CCP (over 200). The rheumatologist seems unphased at this point since none of my joints have "swelled up to the size of a baseball" even though when my shoulder swells up, I can't move it. So I don't technically have an RA diagnosis despite all this. He said he is not ready to make that claim and currently the only pain control I have is "cebrex as needed." was anyone just stated on NSAIDS to begin with? I feel lost.... He said I present with RA in almost every way d except the joint swelling. Except to me I DO have joint swelling as the pain can be so bad. Joints warm/ can't move etc. I know the logical thing to do would be get a second opinion... But that's easier said than done. I am in Canada and there is an endless doctor shortage. Nevermind specialists. I don't know what I'm looking for. Just some insight from people who understand. Thanks for reading

Does anyone get the joints pain during fever?

Potentially a dumb question, but I’m due for my Humira injection on Tuesday night. I have a rheum appt early Wednesday morning. Should I still do my injection Tuesday night?

I’m guessing the answer is yes but I just am worried if we do blood work it will temporarily affect my levels or something. I know it is accurate in the sense that this is my schedule but if it were to make things look better since I just had the injection vs if it was one day earlier without the meds would it be different?

I’ve been feeling pretty awful so I just want to make sure everything is accurate at my appt so we can move forward accordingly, if that makes sense.

Please be kind, I’m pretty new to all of this :)

I've been on Enbrel for seven years and had been doing very well. But the last six months, I've had several minor flares -- not terrible, but it was the frequency of them that caused me to talk to my Rheumatologist about a change of medication. I first tried Simponi, but it only lasted two weeks and then I had a terrible flare. Since it's meant to last four weeks between injections, we moved on to Orencia.

I've done a month on Orencia and it hasn't been great, but hasn't been terrible until this past week. The very next day after my fifth injection, I woke up experiencing terrible pain. It was as bad as when I was first diagnosed. I had terrible wrist and hand pain, and foot pain, where I could barely function.

I contacted my rheumatologist and he said he had never heard of this and said it was disease progression. There is no way, it was disease progression, because it came on the heels directly after the injection. He gave me a prescription for prednisone, but I am really on the fence of whether to stay with this as I have a part-time job that requires me to be physically active.

Has anyone else experienced this and have any thoughts of whether I should keep on going? I know Orencia takes longer to take affect, I just don't know how long I can endure this. If it would subside within a couple of weeks, I'm willing to keep going.

Hello ! I was diagnosed with RA about 2 years ago. I'm currently on Rinvoq and hydroxycholoquine as far as RA goes. I just had an open release CTS on my right hand and am currently healing from it.

Would those affect my healing if I wanted to get a tattoo? Have you got any sort of tattoo after being diagnosed? I have several already from before but I'm kinda scared to get one ATM with the medication,although I really want to. Any info or opinions are appreciated!

My girlfriend is constantly in pain due to her rheumatoid arthritis and hashimotos disease especially her wrists and knees. She does take pain medicine but she is still in pain. What can I do to help her or what are things she can do to help herself?

Hi all, I’m still relatively new on my RA journey and have just started enbrel.

I’m wondering if anyone has experience with getting these medications while living abroad, or perhaps through medical tourism?

I’m in the US and have good insurance for now so it’s not too bad but with a disease I can expect to have my whole life it makes me wonder what options there are.

I suppose I should be happy that my Rheumatologist listened to me and that I’m getting close to answers, but I can’t exactly say it’s what I wanted to hear either.

I’ve been dealing with a lot of things for a few years, Hashimotos, pancreatic insufficiency, joint pain, weird fevers that come out of nowhere, bloody stools, etc, and every time we found something new it was like playing whack-a-mole.

Finally decided enough was enough and got an ANA done. Came back positive with high SSA and SSB.

My doctor didn’t give me a diagnosis, but said sjogren’s was highly likely but that it is usually secondary to something else and due to my other symptoms he thinks it’s highly likely I have something else. He seems to think RA or SLE.

No answers yet, but I feel like I’m getting somewhere, even though they might not be the answers I wanted.

Here’s the story. My son’s mother has had RA for pretty much 30 years. We had it under control for at least 10+ years with Enbrel and methotrexate. Last RA appointment her doctor convinced her to take the shingles vaccine. Long story short. She ended up with (maybe) shingles and when that calmed down psoriasis attacked. NOW they’re telling not to take ANY of her medications. It’s been almost 4 months now. And she’s in complete RA flare up. Her knee will never recover now among so much more. She is basically stuck in bed.

My question. Should we start her Enbrel?? Her RA is out of control

I’ve been taking meloxicam for about 2 years now and recently missed a few doses because I ran out. Pain is starting to creep back in places that I’ve not had problems with in months (shoulders, hips, etc.)

I know it’s not intended to be used long term but just wondering what others have done. I’m also on plaquenil, methotrexate, and Humira.

Sometimes it just hits me I have this disease.

Grandfather died two days ago.

And it’s making me think about life.

This disease or drugs I feel are gonna kill me come 60

Anyone one been on these long term?

The older I get the worse my anxiety has gotten.

I’ve had RA for over twenty years, and I’d say about 95% of my flare ups involve one or both knees getting extremely swollen. I’ve regularly had doctors say they pulled more fluid off my knees than ever before. Most I’ve had pulled was 210 cc’s and it’s often over 100.

When I have flare ups, it gets debilitating. Knee stops bending, gets very sore, hard to sleep, etc. It feels like my body just continuously develops fluid in my knees during these flare ups. The big question of “why?” has always eluded me. Doctors cannot explain. They just pull the fluid, remark at its absurdity, and then inject with cortisone and we discuss medication adjustments.

My question is twofold: have others experienced this amount of fluid build up regularly in their knees or just a single joint? And also, any understanding or ideas of what causes it to get so out of hand?

I can deal with the joint pain, I've had it for a long time, even before my diagnosis. But lately the tendons in my hands and my underarms are really starting to bother me. When I wake in the mornings I can barely move my hands and wrists because of the tightness and pain in the aria, like to the point where I find it hard to wash my hands because my damn fingers won't work! I've gotten a gel that you rub on the affected aria that is supposed to help with the inflammation and I eat the same type oraly every day too but it's not helping.

Do you have any tips?

I’ve been on Methotrexate for three years. It’s given me my life back. In this time though, lots of little things started happening. My hair texture changed, but I didn’t lose hair. I started having problems catching a full breath. Over the last 6 months, I’ve developed cold chills that are sometimes so severe, I need a nap to recover. My canker sores have also gotten worse, but I’ve always had them. I trialed taking methyl folate a few weeks ago and all these symptoms are gone or improving within that time. I’m now taking Leuvocorin instead of folic acid. 🙂 just sharing my experience.

Hello all, I am in a bit of a pickle. I had JRA as a kid which is now considered RA as an adult. My first adult rheumatologist was terrible and had really really poor bedside manner. She pretty much told me all of my complaints were my fault and was very dismissive about my concerns. Going to that provider for a while caused really bad anxiety about rheumatologist. I found a different one through the terrible provider and she is great. She really listens to my concerns, is very comforting, and is honest. I’ve been going to her for a couple of years. I recently got a letter saying that because of current circumstances in laws, they are now charging a $350.00 annual fee so they may remain a private practice. For myself and my situation, this is a steep price. My insurance is great, but I do not have a $0 copay. I am currently in remission on medication and only see her every 6 months effectively going twice a year. I have since moved from when I first started going and it’s now quite the drive (I’m blocking out half of a day to drive there, attend the appt, and drive back). I considered switched when I moved but decided against it because of the immense amount of anxiety I experience from my first rheumatologist. Though now, I’m thinking about looking because the situation changed.

Does anyone have any advice? Any tips to help with provider-patient anxiety? Any ideas of what to look for in a place and what to avoid? Any ideas what I should ask when I call to reach out to places?

(I’ve asked my rheumatologist if they know anyone in my area/can recommend anyone and they don’t so I’m basically starting from scratch and I’ve never done this before)

Any suggestions would really help. Thank you 🫶🏻

Is there really a difference? I’ve seen a lot of Articles saying it’s decreased but is there really A large difference?

I got a soft diagnosis of RA four weeks ago (still doing more bloodwork to hopefully nail things down), and started 15mg of MTX. I have some light swelling in my hands and feet, but overall the pain isn't bad. The symptom that's been scaring me though is a pins and needles tingling I get for a few days per month. It happens mostly in my hands and forearms, and the timing seems to line up with my cycle. My doctor said this could be RA related, and we'll have to wait and see if the meds help. Has anyone else experienced nerve pain/sensation like that related to RA? If so, is there anything you've found that helps it?

Hey all, I had my appt with the new rheum who officially diagnosed me with seropositive RA. She said that my markers are indicative of aggressive disease and that I will need to be on aggressive treatment for it.

Even though I’ve been facing this reality for almost a month, it still hit me like a ton of bricks. I am starting MTX and folic acid, and have a month long taper of prednisone to hold me over until the mtx kicks in.

I’m not looking for anything specific from anyone, just sharing that even though I knew, having it confirmed is a lot to carry. I appreciate this community a lot and am thankful to have it. I know I can have good management and I can feel better and I am committed to that happening….. and I’m still in a bit of shock. I’m also trying to process how to talk about it with my kids because I’m worried about side effects really impacting me.

What a day. Thank you for coming to my ted talk. 🫤

I was wondering if anyone who attends school has applied for accommodations and has gotten approved? I was looking into getting accommodations because my right wrist is the one joint that doesn’t get in control with my medicine and it’s what I use for everything so writing and typing can be hard for me sometimes. I tried asking my rheumatologist for a letter but she immediately declined and said it would be controlled so I don’t need it. I’m not sure if she declined because she gave me a cortisol injection in my wrist or because she really thinks I don’t need it. I tried explaining to her that I need the accommodations for whenever it’s not in control because once the cortisol injection wears off the pain always comes back. Accommodations can take months to get approved so I just wanted to apply now because there’s times where i’m in pain and don’t have an upcoming appointment with my rheumatologist and have to deal with wrist pain for a couple months. Is there anything else I could do?

I’ve been on Arava ( started it Dec. 26th) and I believe it’s affecting my kidneys. The doc said it’s not indicated to affect the kidneys… is it possible it’s just me? 😩 or does it effect others as well? When I took it as originally prescribed it made me have to pee constantly to the point my lower back ached. I let my Doc know and he said to take a weeks break then start back up but only take it 2-3 times a week. Arava does help my RA a lot but I just wonder if I’m trading RA relief for kidney damage. 😐 On the days I take the Arava now, the symptoms return for 24 hrs. Maybe this really is the best they can offer because I’m allergic to sulfa. I was told I have to jump through all the hoops and different medications before I get to take biologics… even with Platinum insurance.

This might be beyond this subreddits skillset, if you have a more suitable place for me to post this please share. Also for context, I also am on the spectrum, have ADHD, OCD, and some pretty bad C-PTSD.

I've been housebound and mostly in bed since mid 2019, I only got my rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis a couple of years ago and I am slowly improving with the Humira, but it's taken a significant toll on my mind. My home is small, my room much, much smaller, there is no privacy outside and the smell and sounds of all the cars going past makes it pretty much impossible to enjoy being outside. I've had some pretty serious mental breaks, I do my best to keep myself occupied with art, video games, movies, etc. but it's at a point where I'm struggling to do anything, these same four walls for so many years has really effed up my perception of time and reality, I sometimes wonder if I'm experiencing psychosis, I know cabin fever can truly drive some people mad.

Even though my pain is starting to improve, my seditary lifestyle has left my body incredibly weak(and fat lol) and it's going to take a while before I can gain all my muscle back, which means more of these four walls.

So, what do you do to keep sane? Any good hobbies for good brain health that don't require a lot of energy? I have the worst attention span now too and I'd really love to try and build it back up, like it was already bad with my ADHD but this made it sooo much worse.

Any ideas are appreciated 💖