Go to google.Com type in (each one separately) reactive arthritis, fibromylagia, lupus, ra & anything else you think of or that you come across in these searches also type in causes of...... (each)..... & alternative treatments for ......(each)........

Good luck & in the menatime try taking 100-1500mg twice daily of each of glucosamine & chondroitin & any other antiarthritis type natural supplements.

Hi,

yes, you can have ra, and serum blood levels can be absolutely, and frustratingly, normal... It's called nero-serum ra.

I have the same thing... It is rare to have, only a small percentage of ra patients have this. It took 3 years to get this diagnosis. I"m currently taking 25mg weekly of methotrexate along with 2400mg daily of ibuprofen. Currently, i'm in a flare, which is why such a high does of nsaid, but once I was diagnosed and properly medicated, I could actually have a life.

Hang in there, and check on the above under google and alta vista... You should be able to find some helpful links.

Michelle

I was 22 and pregnant when I first started experiencing joint pain. It started with my knees and after the birth, the pain spread to my wrists, hands and elbows. The pain was accompanied by swelling and redness. I went to the doctor who said that the pain was from twisting bottle caps off and having another child that was just 18 months younger. So the double duty of bottles and all the baby and toddler care was wearing me down. I didn't accept his answer. I kept going back and talking to different doctors. They would do all the right tests and nothing ever showed up. So I would always get shuffled out the door and told it was nothing. After about 6 years of this, I decided to go to a well known ra doctor at a well known hospital. I drove back and forth, two hours each way, for 2 years. At the beginning of the visits, nothing showed up on the the tests. The doctor was not sure if it was lupus or ra. So he diagnosed me with "polyinflamatory arthritis"???? I didn't accept that either. I couldn't understand why all this pain and no answer, at over a thousand dollars a visit, somebody should be able to give me answers. I started getting angry and depressed. I was tired all the time and my immune system was shot, so I was getting sick alot. The only diagnosis they could give me was the poly arthritis, since the sed rate was normal. I finally quit going to that particular doctor and tried a different doctor in my town, he's the only rheumatologist in town. I went to him after arguing with my female doctor and she finally gave in and gave me a referral. During the first visit after viewing tests and xrays, he diagnosed me with ra. He said that small numbers of ra sufferers do not have an abnormal reading of sed rate. But because of the symptoms and the visuals, this is what I had. He promptly put me on methotrexate, 4-1.5 mg pills twice weekly and 800 mg naproxen twice daily. I do still have a problem with inflammation, but the tendernous and pain are considerably less. I still to this day, 14 years later, have a normal sed rate. Don't stop searching for a doctor that will finally listen to you and help you. Ra isn't anything to play around with. I have some mild deformation of my joints because it wasn't caught and treatment wasn't started early. Push and pull and get mad, but find your answer. These doctors get paid, make them help you!

Well said pookie!
i'm pretty new to this forum, but have taken the time to read some posts. I haven't seen any talk about diet. Doesn't diet play a significant role in our reactions? I have rheumatoid arthritis, which I guess is different from those who posted replies to "inflammatory arthritis with no sed rate." i've begun to do research about diet and its effects.
I was only diagnosed a couple of weeks ago, but have been dealing with my pain from an injury over a year ago. The swelling developed into carpal tunnel syndrome and I was put on bextra for that. I couldn't find out what was wrong with me. When I did find out I had ra, and after the whole vioxx being pulled thing, I decided I didn't want to be on any meds--i'm not saying no one should take arthritis meds. . . I know that I have fairly mild symptoms and it could be a choice for me--so, i've been playing around with my diet, cutting out inflammatory foods. I've also started to practice meditation and do my best not to stress since that's a big contributor to pain. I'm happy that while I do have some mild pain, I have not had a reaccurance of carpal tunnel syndrome (of course I had to quit my job and won't do secretarial work again), so I know the swelling is less than it was when I first started bextra (which I was on for about 5 weeks).
Perhaps i'm sharing info that's old news or not applicable to your situation--but I thought i'd bring up the diet consideration just in case it isn't something you haven considered. If you'd like to discuss it, let me know.
Either way, take care and I wish well,
marla

I find this all very helpful! I have been emotional for the last week. A year ago, my doctor diagnosed me with Arthritis. She was certain it was RA. Finally, after having to quit my job to get a less straining one, and having to take naps 1-2 times daily to try and cope with life dealing with fatigue, I went back to my doctor and she did my blood work and my sed rate came back NORMAL. Which I received results last week. I too experience the swelling and redness of joints all over my body. I have been left feeling very confused. Although my sed rate came back normal my doctor set up a referral to see a rheumatologist. After reading your comment pookie, it made me feel better about all this! Just because I am tired of dealing with the pain and not knowing WHY. I somewhat felt as though that if my sed rate came back normal, why would a rheumatologist see me? Depression started to sink in deep, I've never dealt with or had anyone close to me experience anything like this so I feel at times that I just do not know what to do or who to see. Now I feel a little more confident in visiting this doctor. I hope she can help. My suggestion is DO NOT wait and let this sickness consume you like I have done. Get it taken care of now, get blood work done! The sooner the better. Also find out what blood type you are. That will help with finding out what foods you can and cannot eat with your Arthritis.