Hi Pea,
My pain levels had been worsening for over a year but I had put it down to an injury when I had a very bad fall in March 2012. I have RA but I believed I had it under control with methotrexate. I had a CT scan in February and MRI in May. The MRI showed a labral tear and a 2 inch cyst caused by joint fluid leaking through the tear. It also showed joint narrowing, bone spurs, and bone erosion. My GP and I assumed the labral tear was caused by the fall.
When I finally saw the orthopedic surgeon last week, he told me that the fall might have made the problem worse but the damage was caused by the RA and that the CT scan had shown him that both hips had been severely damaged by RA and needed to be replaced. He gave me a steroid injection into the worst hip using a fluoroscope. When the image came up, he pointed out that they were much worse than in the February CT scan - in fact all cartilage had gone and I was down to bone on bone and he didn't know how I was walking.
I have been using a cane again for over a year and the pain levels are very bad as the day progresses and I have to use my hips to walk and get up from a chair. However, I appear to have a high pain tolerance so had not realized that they were as damaged as they turned out to be. My GP has learned that he can't assess the level of damage to my joints from my mobility as I have a tendency to keep going.
When my RA was at its worst my joint pain would wake me through the night. It's not as bad as that right now. The pain is more from the mechanical damage than from the inflammation of RA.
Hope that helps.
