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We feel your pain. Keep reading about it and learning about the disease. The latest issue of Arthritis Today has some great articles in it.  Also see the CBS special on a possible new treatment for an off-label med that sounds very promising.  Sometimes if they can halt the progression of the disease when it's still in the early stages & they call it mild inflammatory poly arthritis then you will never fully develop rheumatoid. My primary care physician told me you can have false negatives when they test the RF, but not false positives.  I've been doctoring for poly arth 4 years and still don't have an RA diagnosis.  They often times figure it out by how your symptoms respond to the multitude of various meds available.  Sometimes I think they don't want to put a diagnosis of RA because of how it could affect your future health insurance eligibility (pre-existing conditions).  But look at this clip and stay informed.  Take articles to your doctor.  Sometimes we find out about treatments before they do.  "Those who suffer much, know much" .  Good Luck!  http://wcbstv.com/topstories/lo.dose.naltrexone.2.732830.html