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Not Sure about my diagnose

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Rheumatoid Arthritis
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Posted 8/9/2019 8:07 PM (GMT 0)
On February I was diagnosed with RA, I wasn’t convinced at all because haven’t had much of the common symptoms, it only hurt on my right hand’s middle finger, so went to see a traumatologist and then derived to a rheumatologist and she diagnose me with RA, based on blood tests and a Magnetic resonance imaging the las one showed slight increase in synovial fluid between my first and second metacarpal bone so I started with methotrexate , took 10 mg orally once a week and folic acid but after 2 months of treatment I started to feel stronger joint pain in different parts of my body such as elbows , knees, wrists, hips.

Was super painful, so went to see the doctor again and he decided to raise the dose of methotrexate to 20 mg once a week and took an echotomography of both wrists, hands, fingers, ankles, feet, toes and those images showed slight increase in synovial fluid in my toes but nothing in my right hand.

But after all that I’m still not convinced at all because I don’t feel morning stiffness and when I go to sleep the joint pain tends to decrease and it also decreases at the afternoon. There are days that I don’t feel any kind of pain.
I really want to know if these are symptoms of RA or could I be misdiagnosed, or it could be methotrexate that is causing this joints pain

Extra info: I also have panic attacks and depression since 3 years ago, but those are controlled.

Please Help!!
Posted 8/13/2019 1:24 AM (GMT 0)
Hello Deborash:

So many people have symptoms of RA like pain, unusual fatigue or stiffness, swelling, etc. but still cannot get a Dr. to diagnose them for whatever reason. They suffer for years. Some have Seronegative RA. Others like you, have minor pain only but get dxd. We are all different. You already had the pain before you used the Methotrexate right? Perhaps now your pain is getting worse from RA. Your RF and or anti-CCP must have stood out for your Dr. to diagnose you. It usually takes years to produce autoantibodies like RF and anti-CCP that attack healthy cells before a diagnosis is made.

You may not have many symptoms since you are new to RA. Many of us had few symptoms in the beginning year or so also. Then it gets worse. I only had groin (lower hips) pain one day. Then months later, I had some knuckle joints that were painful and swollen. Then months after that, my hip and shoulder pain and so on.

You didn’t mention what your blood tests revealed. You can look them up on MYCHART.COM if you are registered or ask your Dr. if you didn't get your test results printed out.

Please do not go off of your medications. It takes a while for them to relieve the pain. There are many medications out there for RA but you need to stay on them for the proper amount of time. Some of us are unlucky where many of the meds do not work for us. RA without medcations is not a good outcome.

"Most patients start to feel the positive effects of Methotrexate at 4-8 weeks, with maximum benefit at 3-6 months."
I'm sorry that you have RA! I hope that you do well. Take Care and let us know how you are getting along.
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