Hey guys, im 32yo male(193cm 85kg), new here and if i could id like to write about
myself and hopefully maybe get some answers and tips from more experienced people on how to proceed on with my life from here on.
So what actually happened is that i went to an earnosethroat doctor the 3rd time on the 22th of dec, to complain once again of something being wrong around my left side of the neck, starting from thyroid and all the way to under my left ear. Have had this feeling coming and going since around june this year. Just feels theres a lump and somethings not right, also hurts to touch. And as ive been thru antibiotics and ultrasounds and all the bloodtests and nothing found i guess the ENT doc was trying to come up with possible solutions and luckily somehow got me to see a rheumatologist. So as the rheumy went thru a bodycheck and my buttocks being sore and me complaining about
joint pains and back stiffness he proceeded to take a bloodtest and an xray it all started to become clearer.
I got diagnosed with seronegative Rheumatoid arthritis. Which i guess means that the specific RA is not yet known. Sacroiliitis was also seen on my xrays and according to my doctor is between A-B of this picture:
VIEW IMAGEBeen having a sore lower back for quite many years, sometimes worse, sometimes none at all. Especially stiff in the mornings for around 20minutes. Other symptoms include ongoing swelling of left ankle for 2,5-3weeks(swoll up after playing tennis and never gotten back to normal since). Right shoulder had some inflammation at the time of the diagnose, but that went away and now im left with the shoulder making a snapping noise around a dozen times a day. Looks like the neck problems were just that i had a bad inflammation in my sternoclestoidmuscle(the long muscle that starts just under the ear and ends up near shoulder). This went away pretty fast with the some antiinflammatory gel.
So the meds that the doc gave me for now is 2x 250mg naprosyn daily, and then added some para-co painkillers on top of that IF i feel like i need it. The plan is to see the doc in about
a weeks time(i think to mostly just check if the neck is ok) and then in about
6months time we will meet to get another xray and see if the sacroiliitis has progressed etc.
Oh and one thing i almost forgot to mention is that i was on Accutane(Roaccutane) for around 4-5months the beginning of 2013. So from what ive read that might very well be the catalyst of all this. Thankfully my daily dose was only 10mg. Is there any differences between accutane caused RA and other types? I think reactive arthritis is the one usually from accutane?
Anyway, now what im thinking is what should i ask/demand of the rheumy on the meetup in a weeks time. I have his email. Should i ask to see a physician and maybe do some excersice planning? Should i ask for MRI or some other extra tests to get a clearer picture on where im at now? Should i try to get the doc prescribe harder meds(DMARDs?) and take that approach at this stage? Or talk about
changing the diet and try with that at first(im thinking no glutein/starch/dairy/sugars)
Especially now after the holidays and eating a bit more/worse feels like the first days of the year been pretty bad with flares. Right now its 6am where i live and i couldnt get sleep for 4hours i tried in the bed :(.
Also one another question. Now that ive read quite a lot on the internet, looks like in some places they say "shouldnt stress the joints because it causes more inflammation" and the next page i read it says "daily exercise is important". Also does it progress the damage on the joints if i do something that i feel joint pain, or is it just about
if i can take the pain i can do it...?
Sorry for the long ramblings, i got a lot on my mind right now and probably forgot half of it too. Anyway , thanks in advance for anykind of comments and lets all try to have a happy new year 2014!