Reply to an Answer

hi meg, i'll tell ya my story....i'm 43 as well, didn't know anything about RA and didn't even know it was in my family tree.  Mine started right around Mother's Day.  I got a Wii as a gift from my husband and daughter. Of course, we played it all the time.  about 2 wks later, i got severe pain in my right wrist.  i attributed it to a Wii injury (playing way too much Wii Tennis).  Well, when it 'migrated' to my left wrist I thought, hmmm, i don't use my left wrist to play tennis.  Well, then it moved into my neck on the 4th of july weekend.  it was sudden and it disappeared the next day as it appeared.  Then a few days later, my left ring finger swelled up and it really started to hurt in the palm of my hand where that finger joint started. when i couldn't put my wedding ring on (i take my jewelry off every night), and plus having lost 60 lbs so far and my wedding being TOO BIG, that's when i knew i had something.  the fact that it was migratory had me concerned.  i went on webmd line and typed in 'migratory joint pain'.  i had narrowed it down to lupus, lyme disease and RA.  my cousin has lupus, so once i found out it was hereditary in some cases, that had be looking deeper. i didn't have any of the other symptoms, and lyme disease was unlikely because it's been 30 yrs since i'd been exposed to ticks (living in VA when i was a young teenager). i'd read about migratory arthritis being connected to gonorrhea and i knew i didn't have that either.  that left RA. i went to the doc about another issue i was having, and mentioned the joint pain in my knuckles that i'd started getting all the time.  doc tested me for lupus, and RA....and the day before my 43rd birthday...i get the WORST birthday present ever...THE DIAGNOSIS OF RA.  fortunately, i pressured my doc into testing for it, and that's how i got a quick diagnosis. it took forever to get into a rheumatologist, and 6 wks later, i was officially dx by the rheumy. That's also when i found out RA and lupus have run rampant on my father's side of the family. i have a cousin with RA, a cousin with lupus, and a 2nd aunt with RA and a 2nd cousin with lupus....so here i am, i've become part of the 'elite' (hardly a good word to use) 1% of American RA sufferers.  And that's my story.....it's not fun, and i would gladly trade it for something else  ~desiree