Kickas.org Forums Rheumatoid Arthritis General Discussion #1 RA Web Support Group How many AS members have a diagnosis of RA?

Thanks Wendy.

My drs. called it "Autoimmune Overlap" many years ago. You know I also have Dystonia which has nothing at all to do with the rest of this stuff. Just amazing. Also, the Sjogrens, Reynauds, Hypothyrodism, enlarged liver and kidney. I don't even like to think of it all. God just has more plans for me.

You are such a dear friend.
Possi

PS My grandma was so crippled up and all she ever had was aspirin and also I remember her rubbing her hands with Watkins Linamint. I remmeber that fragrance about her along with the cherry almond fragrance of Pond's. She never complained except that I would hear her say "Mercy" a lot but only when she thought we were out of earshot.

She got to where she couldn't feed herself. I look at my hands getting deformed and can't use them for things at times and then I think of my sweet grandma.

My dad tried everything in the world. He even put red pepper in his shoes because his feet hurt so bad. I wish I could have given them some Hydrocodone. My dad did have some pain meds in his later days but the earlier days when he was about 30 or so, he spent an entire year in bed not being able to turn over. That was the AS. He was a school Supt. and the next year he went school with a walker. He had several really bad years and I think they must have really been if I remember that because I would have been very young.

Bless you too sweet Wendy.

Oh, I didn't check my spelling!!

I had a diagnosis of seronegative JRA at age 15 in '78. My first major symptom was my knee swelling up to cantaloupe sized and not being able to bend it. I don't think AS was even on the radar. I have a lot of peripheral involvement. First drug was aspirin. then naprosyn (alleve).
Things quieted down for quite a few years. My dad was diagnosed with iritis several years ago and HLA-B27+, so when I started having major eye issues last year, he told me to get to an ophthalmpologist. Turns out I have ocular herpes instead. Many of the treatments are the same. Anyway, then my knees started swelling again big time, so I went back to the same rheumatologist who dxed me with AS after seeing my SI xrays and knowing about my family history of gene+, which I am also, as is my sister and 2 of my kids (so far). Now there's a lot of si pain, but I still have lots of pain and stiffness in my feet and hands, elbows...well, it would be a much shorter list to list the joints that are involved, if there are any.

i always say, "my elbows are good!"

Hey Wendy;

As you know, likely, from my posts elsewhere on the site, I'm kind of in AS limbo. But, I'm staying here regardless too.

At my last Rheumy appointment, the doc would neither confirm nor rule out AS, but did confirm seronegative RA, so you and I are sort of 'sharing a boat' so to speak.

My pain is not completely symmetrical; yet. Started in left SI right heel and both shoulders. As it progresses I have pain popping up in my neck, mid spine, tailbone and periodically in my hip joints. I have flares of hand pain and when my shoulders are particularly bad, I feel it all the way down my arms into my elbow and wrists. I often say, on bad days, that my tummy and the tip of my nose don't hurt.

Currently, I am only on Celebrex and it just takes the edge off on a good day. It doesn't relieve pain, by any means. Doc said to double up for 2 weeks then stop for a few days to see how well it really works (since we all become so pain tolerant), then well discuss pain relief options further at next visit.

I go back to Rheumy in March to also review SI MRI results and to discuss the cyst he found on T6 recently. (while looking for signs of fusion for AS...jeez!)

I'm am so impressed by all the research you do and learn so much from your posts. Thanks so much for branching off with the RA path. It will be very helpful to many, I'm certain.

Cheers...I look forward to sharing with everyone.

PT

Hi Wendy,
I don't know the answer to what you just asked, well I mean because I came here after I knew that I had AS damage.

In the very beginning, I was diagnosed with JRA(JIA) but I had the hla_b27 gene so I blossomed into AS pretty early on. The gene wasn't known to me until a few years ago though.

I can say that I honestly feel I have at least a small amount of active RA though, because AS didn't target my spine or SI's, and I feel I have a mild cause of palindromic rheumatism because I have no damage in my feet or knees, where my arthritis struck first and hard. I also still rate high in rheumatoid factor.

No I didn't know that big 'palindromic' word already... I had to look that up But while I was at Wikipedia, I saw an interesting note about RA and arthritis in general...



So it's saying I can't assume RA even with a past history of symptoms... but that last sentence sure is a hard one to swallow. Gulp!

Anyways, I'm glad this new RA forum is here now. I know that a few people here know they have RA, and that a bunch more people have had that thought cross their mind once or twice. I'm just wondering what KA has in store for the RA forum now.
Kickraas! A new name change lol.

I think the new RA members will feel welcome here.

Interesting stuff, James. I hadn't heard of palindromic rheumatism before but if you have a high rheumatoid factor doesn't that make it more likely that you have RA as well as AS? You said "because AS didn't target my spine or SI's" but I'm assuming you mean it didn't do that early on. You've shown us your photos of the kyphosis you are dealing with so this must be the AS attacking your spine when you were older, I guess. It seems as though there are a number of KA members who have both AS and RA.

Hi Wendy,
Yes, I do have AS with fusion and kyphosis etc (the whole nine yards), but I always found it odd that my arthritis didn't start there in the classic AS effected areas first. I also find it odd that some doctors I see say I have RA, I think only based on my reumatoid factor.

I can remember some of my childhood doctors saying, "you will probably grow up to have Rheumatoid Arthritis, or you might grow out of having JRA." I wonder why they said rheumatoid, and not simply 'any type of arthritis'.



I haven't heard term until now either. I might have, but I'm sure it's a new term.

Two doctors I have briefly seen within the past few years, although I wasn't under their direct care, said that I do have Rheumatoid Arthritis. One of those doctors, said that I don't have AS at all, but have RA. My rheumatologist doesn't address this. He just wants to focus on the AS and Osteoporosis mainly.

Here is some more interesting reading regarding JRA/JIA. It mentions uveitis, ankylosing spondylitis, psoriasis, rheumatoid factor, etc. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juvenile_idiopathic_arthritis

It all baffles my mind... but it is interesting... I do have AS, no question about that, but I still question what's in store for being RF positive.

Take care,
James

Hi James - my guess is you have both AS and RA, although obviously I hope you don't have RA as well because it can be so destructive to joints. I'm surprised your rheumies don't address that. Although I guess the drugs used to treat AS will probably also be effective for RA so maybe it doesn't matter.

because AS didn't target my spine or SI's originally

That was a typo

My arthritis struck may ankles first, then my knees, and at the time, everything else was unaffected. Seven years later my hips started giving problems, and then later my spine started to give problems too.