"Fighting" with doctors

You are not alone in the fight with the Docs. I suppose that many of us here have had problems. It's been my experience that once a Doc has made up his/her mind, it's very difficult to impossible to convince them otherwise. I wasted a lot of time with one Rheumy who refused to continue the Enbrel I had been on for 2 years prior to my insurance change which necessitated a change in Docs too.

Since you are seronegative, it might be possible that you have one of the Spondyloarthropathies (SpA). A good source of info about this type of arthritis is Spondylitis.org. Spondylitis can cause damage very similar to RA and is treated the same way. Although many docs will sy that the hands are not affected by spondylitis, I have friends who have had severe hand problems.

Unfortunately, getting started on treatment for either RA or SpA won't reverse damage that has already occurred. The best we can hope for is to avoid or at least slow any additional damage.

I hope you can find a Doc to treat you appropriately. I know how frustrating it is to know your problem and have the docs disagree.

Hi i think we all have been thru the Doctor roundabout keah is so right once a Dr has made up their mind they will stick to it i was the  same had doctors that if i met them in the street and they spoke to me in same manner they did i would have hit them but oh no they knew better then years latter i have other specilists apologising for the run around ive been given, all i can suggest is Do not take any rubbish and change doctors,for every Bad or Mediocer one there are 2 Good Careing ones you just have to find them.its hard i know but you have to get the atitude You Pay their fees they are working for You,would you take the same problems from a plumber? 

I'm really not sure... Autoimmune disorders are really some of the worst understood diseases in medicine, a "normal" blood report really doesn't mean all that much. My bloodwork has also been pretty much normal, but they're fairly sure it's Rheumatoid Arthritis (though they're not ruling out the possibility of it being another disease should more symptoms pop up). In my case, I happen to have a very strong family history for autoimmune diseases (my mom has Lupus, grand mother has rheumatoid arthrits, great grandmother had what we now suspect to have been lupus, two uncles have rheumatoid arthritis, a couple aunts have hypothyroidism, another has hyperthyroidism... you get the idea), so I guess they were more inclined to consider the possibility of autoimmune diseases.

As for joint distortions going away, it really depends. It should at least be reduced, but going away will depend on how long the disease has been active. In my case, they caught the disease very early, so there wasn't much opportunity for damage. But do understand that the medications are very personal. I've personally been through a ton of the "biological" medications like Enbrel and Humira... it wasn't until that we decided to try Remicade that I started making real progress. I am on Methotrexate too, though I honestly never felt it did much for me. I am on the steroids, and while they do help, they are more of a blessing than a curse. I would avoid taking beyond 10mg prednisone unless you feel you're at the point where you cannot function at all.

As others have mentioned, it could very well be a different disease too, but most of the autoimmunes have very similar treatments, so the actual diagnosis doesn't matter so much as convincing a doctor that there's *something* wrong