Could it still be RA?

Some of the symptoms you are describing sound like osteoarthritis. It is osteoarthritis that gives you bone spurs. That being said it is quite possible to have both forms of arthritis. I do! And its crap!!

The pattern for osteo is damage to the cartilage due to wear and tear. This exposes bone which rubs against other parts of the joint causing heat, pain and swelling. The bone forms scars called spurs which further jam up the joint and the cycle of damage and inflammation repeats itself.

The pattern for RA is inflammation first as the immune system gets its wires crossed and attacks the body its supposed to be defending. The chronic inflammation eats through the cartilage and into the bones which scar badly and twist the joints.

Please note that RA does not always start with the hands. For me it was my knees, finger joints came later.

You say you used to regularly work out. Is any of this high impact? Not meaning to be a negative nancy but once you get into your 30s your body starts to lose its ability to bounce back like it once did. Plus damage from years ago begins to tell as joint spaces shrink with age. Both types of arthritis benefit from rest and any exercise should be low impact. This is not the sort of pain barrier you should be pushing through. RA particularly punishes heroes.

As for your test results, 20% of RA sufferers test negative for RF. What was your CRP (measures inflammation) and your white blood counts (measures immune system activity)? These are usually high if RA is active.

Don't be afraid to get a second opinion. General practitioners don't always know enough to make trickier diagnoses.

What did the rheumatologist say? It sounds as though you are short of information about your own case. Keep asking until you get it. You can't move forward until you know what you're dealing with.

 

"I just feel like she patronizes me" - then it is time to find another doctor. You will never have a happy relationship with someone you feel like that about. I don't know what healthcare system you are in but it is usually possible to have a second opinion somehow.

From where I'm looking this does not sound like RA. I have RA negative factor, which is common in 20%.

RA is usually bilateral and you seem to say your swellings are on one hand. Also, bone spurs are not a normal symptom, as far as I know, though nodules on the knuckles might be.

Your rheumy is right in that usually symptoms first appear on the hands and wrists, and the hands are normally the first to be x-rayed to have a base line with which to later check for deterioration.

How about fatigue? Early RA symptoms are often accompanied by severe fatigue, in my case in the mornings, about 3 hours after rising.

In some ways, despite huge pain everywhere, the fatigue was the worst of it.

Also, as far as I understand, RA rarely if ever manifests in the back...

Sorry you're in so much pain. And if you are in horrible pain after your workouts, it doesn't sound like a wise thing to do to continue them.

One sign of RA is that it starts bad and slowly gets better during the day, after movement. I don't know what your workouts consist of, but you should feel better not worse.

So these are all clues... Let's see if others corroborate this.

I wish you well...

I also feel for you.  I have RA in my wrists and knee.  It is bearable now with methotrexate and plaqunil.  But being 66 years old I have had shoulder pain for 18 months and it is not RA.  The RA medicines doesn't change the shoulder pain at all.  I did have a shot in the shoulder that helped and I am taking tart cherry capsules.  The tart cherry is pretty cheap and I have seen a little less pain.  Good luck.