Information and opinions on health from RA_Factor5 at HealthCentral.com. HealthCentral.com is one of the top health destinations on the Web, with more than 35 condition-specific, wellness and general health Web properties. http://www.healthcentral.com/profiles/c/996291/index http://www.healthcentral.com/profiles/c/996291/rss self application/xml en-us 15 120 19 http://www.healthcentral.com/images/hc_logo_sm.gif http://www.healthcentral.com/profiles/c/996291/index http://www.healthcentral.com/rheumatoid-arthritis/c/996291/119646/pe Sun, 12 Sep 2010 16:09:36 -0400 RA_Factor5 I was unaware of what pericarditis was and how it was related to rheumatoid arthritis until I thought I was having a heart attack. One night last year, a pain in my chest really scared me, I thought, this is "the big one". I got my neighbor out of bed and she called the EMT's. When they arrived, they said that it didn't appear to be a heart attack but took me to the ER anyway. I spent the night in the hospital under observation and they dealt... http://www.healthcentral.com/rheumatoid-arthritis/c/996291/119646/pe http://www.healthcentral.com/rheumatoid-arthritis/c/996291/119047/gym Thu, 02 Sep 2010 15:49:29 -0400 RA_Factor5 Tonight I rejoined our local aqua gym sponsored by our Arthritis league. It was good to get back in the swim again. Actually, we didn't do any swimming, per se, we exercised under the instruction of a physical therapist who specializes in these courses. The sessions are 30 minutes and are held at the centre-handicap here. They have a nice exercise pool with warm water. There are 6 of us in the class, 4 women and 2 men. Sylvie starts us out... http://www.healthcentral.com/rheumatoid-arthritis/c/996291/119047/gym http://www.healthcentral.com/rheumatoid-arthritis/c/996291/118399/da Mon, 23 Aug 2010 15:18:34 -0400 RA_Factor5 In 1999, and perhaps a bit earlier, I began having pain in my toe joints, my big toe on the right was particularly painful . By 2001 it was severe enough to complain about. My doctor thought I was getting gout.The pain increased and no other gout symptoms developed, after four years she finally did the test for RA and confirmed it. By this time, 2005 or 2006, my hips, fingers, shoulders were all inflamed, and the rituals associated with RA... http://www.healthcentral.com/rheumatoid-arthritis/c/996291/118399/da