In a nutshell, I got bit by a bug (type unknown) on May 23rd and immediately started having joint pain (along with tiredness). The joint pain is a daily thing in my fingers/toes with occasional "flares" in other joints of a more serious nature. I've "donated" quite a bit of blood to the cause and had no definitive answers. At this point, both the doctor and Rheumatologist agree that the bug bite & joint pain are unrelated, though it is strange that they occurred at the same time. Anyway, they are testing for Lyme disease (again) just to rule it out for good and also doing some other tests. Unless something major turns up from this round of testing, the Rheum. has diagnosed me with:
I'm relieved to have a name for it (aka - I'm not crazy!)... but I'm still believing that God can and will completely heal me. Most important to me right now is that PR does not develop into Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA).
Right now, I'm supposed to keep managing the pain with Advil (as I have been doing for the past 4 months) and keep a log. When I return to the Rheum., she will determine whether I should take further meds. The blood tests should show her whether I am one of the 40% who may develop RA. There is one medication that can help prevent people with PR from getting RA.
2 comments:
hi I found your blog through Google alerts and I am sorry to hear your arthritis problems.
Firstly research shows that the blood tests for Lyme Disease can miss 50% of cases.
Also the markers for RA there is a cross over with markers for Lyme Disease in blood tests.
If you believe that your health deteriorated following a bite then I would advise you get upto speed quickly with what is happening with Lyme Disease.
Lyme is an emerging disease there is considerable debate over diagnosis and treatment of this illness but so far our main Health Authorities have buried their heads in the sand and are denying the considerable body of research that supports ILADS Guidelines found on www.ilads.org
It is therefore especially important to get well informed with what is going on and seek guidance from a doctor who specialises following ILADS approach.
This is an International problem on a huge scale.
If you visit my blog there are many interesting articles but most importantly links to usful information and other sites.
You can read my story bottom right hand column, my main symptoms were arthritis and muscle weakness but it took 5 doctors and 3 Rheumatologists 4 years to diagnose me by then I was in so much pain i wanted my life to end. Now on just antibiotics I am nearly 100%
Good luck
I'm glad you have a diagnosis and I hope that things steadily improve. As above, I've also heard that Lyme Disease can be missed and that you have to be tested a few times to truly rule it out. The bug bite coincidence makes me a bit leary. I'll be praying for you.
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