Mom with arthritis - question about what the doc said

I've posted here before about my mom's arthritis. Here's some details about her history:

She has had arthritis for over 10 years. It started off in her knees, and now affects her hands, her shoulders, her spine and also her feet (the metatarsal heads), and her jaw a little. Over the years, her doctor has treated each case as osteoarthritis. In 2005, her blood tests showed high ESR, C-Reactive protein and a high positive anti-CCP result. The doctor put her on diacerein and she was ok for a while. She does have very limited mobility and is in a lot of pain. She took the same blood tests again, they are all within normal limits. She saw another doctor and he says the anti-ccp negative result now means that her "condition has burnt out", and now all she has is osteoarthritis in all her joints.

From what I read then, in 2005 when she had the positive anti-ccp it means that she had some inflammatory arthritis, possibly the early stages of RA and caused joint damage, but is now burnt out and is no longer what is causing her problem.

So, here are my questions:
* Based on the results, does my mom have RA or not?
* Can RA "burn out" and never resurface?
* What course of treatment do you guys think should be followed for my mom?
* What other diagnostic tests exist to rule out RA?

Thanks for any advice.
PV

Yes, I read RA 101. I've been reading a lot about RA recently. At present, my mom has no redness or swelling in her joints, but there is a lot of pain. She's currently taking some pain meds and prednisone at 5mg, tapering this week to 2.5mg. She was really badly off, but starting to take prednisone at 5mg has really helped her. She says she's about 80% better. I know that prednisone is not a long term solution - it may help her right now, but it would probably be the wrong drug of choice long term. I'd prefer her doctor to try something like methotrexate at a low dose or Imuran or something like that.

In 2005, she had a high positive antiCCP test, but her doctor keeps saying she doesn't have RA. Over the years, she has had lots of affected joints, and it's really worrisome. The painkillers don't really even take the edge off of the pain she has. She's been asked all the questions to diagnose RA, and she has a mix of symptoms. It seems hers is a boderline case which is difficult to diagnose. Her blood tests do show inflammation, but of course only the RF and antiCCP are specific to RA, and those are usually negative. Her new doctor says that she did have some inflammatory arthritis, but that the condition has now burnt out.

I think she's at the point where she just has to try some DMARDs, and see if that helps her, instead of just trying to keep the pain at bay. Can you tell me anything more about whether "burnt out" means it isn't likely to recur again?

Thanks for any pointers you can give me. Arthritis sure is a complicated set of diseases that mimic each other, making it really hard to get the right treatment at the right time.

PV

My mom went back to see her doctor yesterday, and he's put her on hydroxychloroquine 200mg daily as a DMARD for RA, and has asked her to slowly wean herself off prednisone. My mother also has hypothyroidism, so it's not a good idea for her to be on prednisone for maintenance therapy. In any case, I'm glad to see her 2 doctors (they are now working together), are finally trying different things to help her, instead of just giving her painkillers.

The doc has also asked for a few more labs (ANA, anti-dSDNA, and ANCA), to rule out lupus I guess.

Does anyone take hydroxycholoroquine? Any advice / warnings, etc?

Thanks for any help you guys can give.

Don't skip the eye appointments.  I took Plaquinel (hydro...) I can't spell the gerneric name.  For six months seven years ago and it put me into a long term partial remission.  I had a bad flare two months ago and immediately asked to go back on plaquinel.  It should kick in soon and they will take me off prednisone.

If she has side effects such as nausia tell her to nibble on pretzels or crackers as soon as the nausia starts. It helped me.