Hi Buggie!
Before I was diagnosed, I complained that my hands constantly hurt - especially at the 2nd knuckle and the knuckles just below that. They first tested me for Lupus (and I get tested for that all the darn time!). My old rheumy decided to do a bunch of xrays since I'm sero negative. You could definitely see it on the xrays then and now. According to my new rheumy - the inflammation at those joints lit up and he mentioned something about the synovial fluid... (I still don't quite get that).
Apparently, there is a difference in arthritis depending on where it hurts and where the inflammation is. For instance - most times if you hurt at the knuckle closest to the tip of your finger, that's generally osteoarthritis. If you hurt at the 2nd & 3rd knuckles, generally they look for RA. Of course, I am generalizing here.
Funny thing tho, when I started injecting the Enbrel, my hands were the first thing to feel better. It took quite a bit longer for my SI's to stop singing.
Hope that helps...I'm still in the dark about this stuff.
Sherree
