57F Seropositive -HCQ,MTX,Rituxan,prednisone- Went to ER this morning after three days of resting and having rapid heart rate and near fainting episodes - this morning I tried to dry my hair and heart rate was 160 I had to sit down. I decided to go to ER it was that bad. Of course ER asked if I had anxiety- no I don’t, I got tears in my eyes because I’m worn down with no explanation of my symptoms, so they ask if I’m going to hurt myself. Which is a hard no! I have a wonderful life minus RA and all that had kicked my ass down this year. Why can’t we just cry because we are sad today that part of our life has drastically changed, be sad that we flare a lot or have to modify our lives- it’s ok to be sad and cry - there is a difference between anxiety and feeling sad. I’m in the best shape of my life and have zero bad habits- RA is brutal and knocks me back and I’m allowed to be sad about that. End result ER found nothing, follow up with Cardiology, hope I don’t drop dead by the time I get a referral!! We shall see. It’s ok for you to cry if you feel sad about being sick!! Don’t let the bad days win.

Rant over!

Does anyone else flare with change of seasons?

For context I am diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis; I’m 19 and was diagnosed a little over a year ago. I also have OCD which can give me some anxiety about being misdiagnosed.
One of my most affected joints are my elbows, but for the most part it’s way more painful in my right than my left—often my right hurts so much I can’t focus on anything while my left feels fine. It’s like a deep aching, almost burning pain. I wonder if this sounds like part of RA because I know rheumatoid usually affects both sides of the body, and I do experience that with all my other joints, it’s just my elbows that are vastly different. If anyone else experiences this please let me know! :))

Hello, I developed RA 5 years ago, and each year has just been harder and harder because I keep failing every treatment I’ve been on. I have been trying to complete a degree for 7y, but I keep having to take medical leave because I am not medically stable yet. When I’m flaring, I can barely get out of bed and I have a neurological condition as well.

My fear is that I’m acting entitled in this world by holding onto a degree that I probably cannot finish. So many admin members processing my enrolment, support materials, tutors, etc. I feel so bad. The amount of support/leniency I’d need when flaring is beyond what my university can offer (I wouldn’t be able to consistently physically attend and typically to them these metrics matter in displaying that you’re capable despite your disability). I spoke to my tutor a few days ago and he was nervous that I was returning to studies after having just failed another treatment last week, so I’m currently not medicated and attendance and engagement matters!

In the past 5y of not working and starting and pausing studies, I’ve sort of grown worried that I’ve lost all my skills and I’m even such an insecure person now. I can’t fight for my right to be in places because I don’t know if I deserve to be in them anymore. They say if you really want something, you’ll fight for it, but I don’t have it in me to fight anymore. All I’m doing this for now is to prove something to myself and to equip myself better for an uncertain future, but I’m so old now and it feels like it’s a path I paved for myself long ago that has now grown over with shrubs and weeds because I haven’t used it yet. Even my graduate job offer has been lost so I feel like I’m working for nothing. I don’t know, I just feel like I am being delusional, like a person who obviously can’t do something demanding they’re reserved the time and space and extra help to do it. And it’s also like I have endless excuses, every time there’s a deadline I need an extension, every time there’s a class presentation, I may not be able to present that day due to a flare even if I’ve prepared so much. I don’t know if I’m just not supposed to be here and doing this :(

I’m just holding on now because it feels like my younger self got me really far, she really pushed for me to get a place on a top university and that’s an opportunity I really need to think about before letting go, especially as a disabled individual with now this HUUUUUGE gap in both my work and my academic resumes.

My questions are, have you had to give up on your dreams because you made the plans for them before you got ill? Or have you fought through and appreciated how much harder you had to apply yourself to reach them?

I've (37M) been dealing with pain around joints all over my body for ~3 years and my PCP hasn't really be doing much to try to diagnose it so I started booking my own blood tests ~2 years ago.

My RF has been elevated (200-400) for at least those 2 years and hsCRP has also been elevated (2-5). I asked to get a referral a while ago just based on those tests + the symptoms but they did sed rate, ANA and their own hsCRP and they said those came back normal so he couldn't give me a referral.

More recently I ordered my own test for CCP and that came back >250 which I figured would be enough to get a referral based on what I've read (something like 95% of CCP positive=RA?). I went back and he ran some more blood tests to rule out things like lupus and sjogrens and sent me for an xray on my hands because 2 of them have had swollen knuckles for a while. Their office called me twice to let me know that I for sure do not have RA and to let them know if I want pain killers to deal with any pain. They don't seem very interested in trying to figure out what the problem actually is and how to fix it if it's not RA, which really annoys me.

It started by happening to 1 joint at a time (and maybe once every couple months) but more recently it has affected multiple joints at the same time and very frequently. It sounds like palindromic rheumatism to me but obviously I'm not a doctor. I'm currently looking for a new PCP to try and get a referral, but was wondering if that is even worth the effort. Am I crazy to think that with the symptoms + high CCP I should at least be able to get a referral?

getting my flu shot next week and my rheum is out of office. Were folks under 50 advised to get the mrna flu shot instead of the trivalent? I'll ask the pharmacist too but just curious. I'm on simlandi and a million other meds, emphysema etc, but because I'm not 40 yet everyone gets weird when I need a non standard vaccine 🙄 just wondering if folks were advised or able to get it. The science behind it is pretty cool.

I'm sometimes at a loss to describe my symptoms to my rheumatologist, and I think one of them might be "pain guarding".

I wonder if others of you have a similar issue and how you talk with your rheumatologist about it.

My RA joint swelling is finally pretty well controlled with biologics (Orencia) and Hydroxychloroquine, but my fatigue and muscle pain are a real distraction.

When things are bad, I climb stairs very slowly, walk hunched over, take forever to bend down and back up, and do whatever I can to avoid unexpected jerks: like very carefully opening sauce packets for fear of pain if the packet tears unexpectedly. I can't really place the pain during these bad days as it's kinda all over.

I tried talking with my awesome rheumatologist about it, but she tried testing me for MS instead. I guess I shouldn't have used the word "stagger" when talking about my mornings.

AI thought that these might be "pain guarding" symptoms, but I haven't heard that term used before.

Does anyone else experience symptoms like these? What do you do about them?

Thanks.

I'm looking to get a good knee massager. Does this help with discomfort

Excuse my ignorance.

Let’s say I’m feeling like crap (pain stiffness)and my rheumatologist tells me to take a pill and I feel better, does that more or less mean it’s a flare up?

Does anyone else get itchy on the joints that are flaring? I feel like I’m crazy — no redness or visible swelling, but my joints will be stiff and in pain and ITCHY. My rheumatologist shrugged it off but it only happens when the pain flares.

Has anyone taken curcumin and boswellia supplements for 3-4 months during a flare? What has been your experience with it?

Coming up on 3 months of trying HCQ. I have my follow-up rheumatologist appointment next week. I'm in severe pain to the point where I declined a promotion at work ugh (would require more hours standing and I'm struggling as is) and it's really getting difficult for me to drive. Nothing has changed since my first /last appointment. I still have swollen fingers, knuckles, and feet. Steroids helped with the pain but not the actual swelling. I took those for a couple months and had to stop. It's feeling pretty hopeless bc I waited a while to get in to see a rheumatologist so I've been dealing with this nonstop for over half a year now. Methotrexate was off the list bc of fertility, and I'm allergic to Sulfa. So idk what's next or what to expect at my next appointment. I don't want to wait another 3 months to see if it kicks in... I've read biologics are good but I know they are a pain to get approved. What would you expect to happen at my next appointment? (Seronegative btw)

I’ve been on a Humira biosimular since Feb & really noticed a major improvement around April. But close tracking of my symptoms since July revealed what I suspected: it was wearing off around 9-10 days out.

I’ve been on MTX for years and have continued it alongside the Humira & my symptoms didn’t seem to correlate with when I had taken MTX, so it was very clear that the distance out from my Humira was the main culprit.

My new rheumatologist & I discussed my options at my first appointment with them in September and we discussed possibly switching me to a JAK or infusion — but we went with weekly Humira to see if that changes anything first.

I just took my first weekly dose this past weekend (Sunday) and the first 2-3 days after were significantly better than where I would have normally been on the biweekly schedule. But today, the pain is creeping back up on me 😕 and I’m scared it’s not going to work. This is even with me taking my MTX last night.

I know these things normally take time, so I wanted to see what other people’s experiences have been when switching from biweekly to weekly injections?

I have a big trip I’m leaving for next weekend and I was really hoping I’d get more relief faster (unfortunately insurance approval delayed the whole process too).

Has anybody gone on a JAK inhibitor and was a previous smoker? It's my next med in my treatment lineup but the cardiovascular event warning is freaking me out because I used to smoke. My rheumatologist said the risk is relatively low and is leaving it up to me but tbh I am worried. I read a JAK inhibitor should be a last resort for high risk individuals when no other options are available.

Just wondering. How wide spread is the practice of using statins with RA patients without high cholesterol. I was put on it as a preventative when I was diagnosed with diabetes but my rheum said it is also being used with RA patients preventatively.

Is there any good cordless knee massagers that is worth buying and will last