New on the arthritis board, RA questions

hello D-Rule and welcome.
I can tell you that in the beginning for me, I had a few aches in my fingers and knees, Over the span of about 2 years I am now on disability, but keep in mind it affects everyone different. That is just my experience, I am sure others will be along to share with you,

flopsie

for me it stared as pain in one joint the the other. right knee then left knee, right shoulder left shoulder then swelling in the fingers and feet, I had full blown symptoms of swelling and pain all over in 4 months and tested positive for ra in blood tests.  Mine was triggered by my pregnancy.  Perfectly healthy then BAM your pregnant and hey you have ra

Hi and Welcome.

Like the others said, there are various types of arthritis and each person is affected differently as well as responds differently to various meds. I had pain in my knee as a child - a few years later, they figured out I had JRA. According to bloodwork, I was in remission in my late teens even though my knee was no better and caused me problems more often than I'd like to remember.  In my 20's I started having problems with various joints. One would hurt really bad for about 6 months and then the pain would move to another spot and it kept going until it hit a weak spot that knocked me down for good (in my case, my feet.)  A few years later, about 10 hours after I had my 2nd child it hit me 10 fold and I haven't been the same since. Everything just suddenly started hurting and I felt like something was just not right and I've pretty much been like that for 4 1/2 years now.

I took sulfasalazine (Azulphidine) years ago and it was one of the few drugs that did help me. The Azulphidine can wreck havoc on your stomach, though. Once I started taking Prevacid with it, the problems went away.  I seem to remember that Azulphidine helped me with (what I'm told was) arthritis induced colitis symptoms I was dealing with at the time. 

It's hard to accept that RA may become a part of your life, we all go through it. I hope you can come here and get support you need as you learn if you do have RA or even if you just experience joint problems caused by some other issue.

Take care **

hey D Rule,
RA is typically symptomatic being equal on both sides of your body, like you said both legs, arms, hands...etc.
when i was younger i first noticed pain in both knees and it stayed that way for years. that was in 1995. it was pretty much ignored until 2001 when i tested positive for RA and had worsening pain in the joints (hands and jaw and spine)...then just started being treated for RA in 2003.
i've CD as well....when one is flaring...it makes the other worse for me.
are they using methadone for the CD?
i was never on any of the sulfa drugs. all NSAIDS, COX2's and Biologics. on Humira now and pred. i feel the enbrel and humira drugs have been most beneficial out of all of them for me...but the RA still is active and progressive, so still waiting for a remission.
take good care
erin
ps...i remember you from the CD forum, you answered one of my questions...THANKS again!