Possible early stage RA?

I had exactly the same symptoms.  That was many years ago.  Fingers on both hands.  I now know it was OA.  It has developed over the years as I did nothing to prevent it (if one CAN prevent it, that is)!

You are rather young to have cartilage degeneration (but there are many much younger)!

OA is very debilitating as one gets older, but I don't think it is as bad as RA.  Diet and excercise seem to be the things that control it most.  I don't exercise enough and suffer because of it.  Born lazy I suppose!😏

You are young, and at 50 excercise shouldn't be too much of a problem - even if it is only affecting your hands at the moment, don't ignor it.

Regards fr Constance

Have you had ESR (sed rate) and CRP blood tests done? You obviously have one shoulder that is suffering - is the other also sore/stiff? Have you any other bilateral stiffness, particularly in the morning but also after sitting for a short amount of time?

In the meantime, if she is saying you have frozen shoulder (rotator cuff syndrome is the posh name) - how about trying some Bowen therapy? It works for a lot of muscle problems but apparently is particularly good in frozen shoulder. 

Swelling and stiffness in joints that lasts more than 30 mins are classic signs of RA. So in that you haven t got those I would assume the rheumy is making the correct diagnosis.

 

HI Dan - I had a similar experience. My hands got extremely painful. I tested negative for RA factor and was diagnosed as having tendonitis. Nothing showed up in the Xrays even though my knuckles looked like a row of small red mountains! It came and went over the years then finally blew up into RA bad enough to put me in hospital.

My point? RA is a tricky disease to diagnose especially in people who test negative for RA Factor. There is a new test called Anti CCP that picks up the 20% who test negative so that might be worth a look. It always helps to know what you're dealing with.

 

I am surprised the x-ray showed nothing because I understood that cartilege degneration would show up on an x-ray and that would reveal the difference between OA and RA.

Cartilege degeneration is a sympton of OA, as far as I know. RA would show inflammation and sinovitus (and perhaps the cartilege degeneration after some years).

However you can be sero-negative and still have RA.

You are young for it under normal circumstances, but OA can be heredity and therefore can come early.

I have RA in my wrists and right knee.  The blood results and swelling was used to diagnose it.  However my right shoulder kills me and that is plain old tendinitis.  I also was given a shot in the shoulder that helped a little and the rotator cuff/shoulder exercise.  I found a clavicle support that helps a little.  

Another friend said she has been taking tart cherry pills and thinks that helps her knee and shoulder.  Relatively cheap so next week I am going to try them.  $7.00 is all I will be out.  Good luck.  

Hi Dan,

You say that the CRP and RF are normal. RF is Rheumatoid Factor. And CRP indicates how much inflammation is in your system so it is unlikely that you have RA. RA is much more systemic and there are plenty of other symptoms that come along with it such as extreme tiredness, loss of weight and night pain. You are the right age though for OA, where the cartilage can degenerate locally, especially if you have spent a lifetime using your hands. Rotator cuff problems also occur at your age and are usually caused by poor posture, loss of muscular condition and over loading the upper limbs. I agree with constance.de who says that diet and good quality exercise will keep the symptoms at bay. Physiotherapy for your shoulder should involve eccentric loading of the rotator cuff and posture exercises. I hope this helps. By the way my RF level was 300 at diagnosis.  

Hi I see you posted this comment 5 years ago. I have very similar symptoms, and was wondering how things have gone for you since then. Was it definitively diagnosed as OA rather than RA? How have your symptoms been over the years?

I saw a rheumatologist about 6 weeks after my symptoms developed and he said he wasn't sure if it was RA. He didn't mention OA. He told me to monitor the symptoms and return to him if things change. That was a month ago, and things have been basically the same since then.

The only difference between my symptoms and those that you described are that I also have very slight pain in the outer tips of both elbows, and I haven't felt stiffness in any joints at all. The pain in the elbow and finger joints is unusual as it does not cover the entire joint, but is localised usually to just one specific point or one side of the joint.