May
12
2010
22 yr old female diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis in her knees, what can she expect from future?
Posted by: Alan in rheumatoid arthritis treatment, tags: Arthritis, Diagnosed, expect, female, From, future, knees, Rheumatoid
Any chance to cure it? Remission? How quickly can it get really bad? Of course she is going to a rheumatologist but during the months she will be waiting for an appointment I would like a little insight as to what the typical prognosis can be.
Her GP did the rest for RA factor and it was positive. She also did the blood tests for Lupus and others that can give a false positive for RA. Those were all negative.
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May 12th, 2010 at 1:03 pm
I have rheumatoid. It runs in my family. It has my aunt in crippled condition. She just sat down & gave up when she got it. I have kept active. It helps it doesn’t cure. Nothing can cure it but there
are medications. Unfortunately I can’t take the most recommended medications. Humira is supposed to be excellent. There are side effects. There are side effects in most of the medications for arthritis. At your age you need to keep as active as possible. I have it through out my body, spine, hips etc. I am still active however. I don’t want to give in to it. They keep coming up with new
medications so don’t give up for a cure. I wish you well.
May 12th, 2010 at 1:27 pm
So the family doctor/GP suspects it is Rheumatoid Arthritis and the girl is going to the Rheumatologist to have it confirmed ?
There will be more blood tests involved.
And Rheumatoid Arthritis is a systemic condition – it also affects the heart.
However the young lady does not have to be the worst case scenario of the condition if she follows these guidelines :
1 Eat 2 fruit and 3 vegetables each day
2 Eat oily fish 3 – 5 times a week – mackerel, salmon, tuna, sardines etc
3 Add olive oil to diet
4 Eat very little meat, poultry, cheese, butter and other animal products
5 Take magnesium supplements or eat almonds, brazil nuts etc as magnesium relaxes muscles thereby putting less strain on joints. Also calcium.
6 Identify and avoid food she is intolerant of. Do not eat white foods – white bread, white rice, white flour. Use wholegrain instead.
7 Avoid wheat – used way to much in Western society in breads, cakes, biscuits, thickeners etc. Use other grain breads, brown rice etc
If the young lady follows these guidelines she can avoid heavy use of non steroidal anti-inflammatories and cortisone.
May 12th, 2010 at 2:14 pm
You will need a huge range of blood tests to rule out a dozen other potential causes before a definite RA diagnosis is made. That process and diagnosis should be made by a Rheumatologist rather than a GP.
There are a range of medications and supplements to help manage RA. Some supplements I agree with (Fish Oil) others I am less convinced of. The bad news, is that if it is RA it is unlikely to stay in your knees. Hands, Feet, Shoulders, Hips, Neck, Jaw, Elbows, Spine etc, fairly well any joints r potential RA targets.
I agree with the advice that u should stay active. That is so important, although, depending on your RA it may get more difficult with time.
Stay clear of regular steroids for as long as u can (i mean decades). Single steroid injections into troublesome joints r fine and often necessary, but avoid daily steroid medication. There r a range of meds available, some are symptom management while others are disease modifiers. Google NSAIDS for symptom management. I take methotrexate as a disease modifier, there r others but I don’t tolerate a lot of other RA drugs (severe vomiting). I get moderate help with methotrexate, but RA pain/inflammation never leaves my hands, wrists, shoulder etc.
However, some ppl get excellent control and remission from methotrexate or some more recent drugs. They live normal lives and as long as they take their meds may never notice they have RA.
One annoying thing with RA is the constant blood tests (every few weeks), x-rays and ultra-sounds. I admit i wag a lot blood tests, till the clinic rings me and issues the command to have them, that way i occasionally get 8+ weeks without a single blood test, but that’s rare.
One important thing is to research public and recognized government health websites so u truly understand your disease and actively participate in its management.
I can only hope for u that its either not RA or its RA that can be well managed with disease modifiers. I have added some links FYI.
be safe, be sage