Question
ok so to start from the beginning i was diagnosed with hashimotos hypo thyroidism when i was eleven after being put on synthroid i never gave it another thought until i was pregnant but even that went smoothly then after i had the baby thats when all the problems started at first i just had a lot of back pain nothing new i always have but i finally decided to do something about and had a breast reduction after surgery i was feeling good for about the first two weeks the i got a staff infection and at the same time i was told i had tendentious in my right arm i was given antibiotics and the infection went away and the pain in my arm dulled but then i started getting soreness in my feet i just figured it was from being on my feet more in school and ignored in then the tendentious came back but worse i woke up and could not move my arms i went into the doctor they gave me pain meds and suggested physical therapy but by the time the referral went through my arms were fine again but in a few days i was having pain in my legs mainly my feet and ankles i went back to my doctor and was told this was also tendentious in my knees and feet and was giving more meds after bugging my doctor for a while i finally convinced her to run a few tests because that just didn't seem normal to me when they came back my ths levels were high and i tested positive for the ra factor so she sent me to a rheumatologist. the first visit with the guy he does a head to toe exam i tell him about my pain about the past 2-3 months some mornings i cant get out of bed he looked for swelling but i only had one finger swollen apparently that was enough he started me on methotrexate 2.5mg four a week and prednisone 2 1/2 once a day by the end of the first week on the meds all my symptoms were gone all the pain morning stiffness everything so when i went back the next time i asked about my test results he told me my ana was negative but i did have ra and when i told him my symptoms were gone he increased my methotrexate to 5 a week and told me to keep up the prednisone i thought that was crazy i read the warnings i know they are both very bad for your liver i am also aware the the prednisone was to help with the pain so out of curiosity i stopped taking it altogether and i haven't had any pain return and i did not up my dosage with the methotrexate i have been trying to find a new doctor but my insurance is not taking by most of the ra doctors in my area so i am left wondering why did my medicine get increased if i was feeling better? and how can i have a confirmed diagnosis if my test came back negative? could my problem be from something else altogether? i was also wondering i asked the doctor if i was going to have to stay on these medicines and he said yes but i read in quite a few books that if you go into remission you don't have to be on the meds is that true?

Answer
Melissam

RA can be a hard disease to diagnose. It is done with a combination of diagnostic tests and symptoms. It is hard to diagnose the severity as well. This is done mostly by how many areas are effected, the medical history and the results of diagnostic tests.

It is not unusual for a Rheumatologist to try a patient out on a low dose of a medication to see if it will have an effect. If it does then to increase the dosage even if the symptoms are gone. This is especially true if the doctor has indications that the patient has a more severe case of RA. The fact that you are having symptoms in many areas of your body would lead him to suspect this.

One of the main purposes of drug treatment of RA is not just to treat  current symptoms but to prevent the symptoms from coming back. RA is a very serious disease and it can do much damage to your body even when there are no symptoms.

As far as a confirmed diagnosis the combination of your symptoms, an elevated RA Factor and response to treatment is the standard confirmation of the disease. High RA Factor means you have some form of autoimmune disease. The combination of symptoms with it implies RA. It does not matter if it is RA or some other form of autoimmune disease the good news is it responded to treatment.

Also, have symptoms disappear because of treatment is not the same as remission.

If you have concerns about the level of medication it is best to talk to your Rheumatologist. Usually they are willing to work with you on dosage. If he or she agrees to a lower dose then you need to see the doctor quickly if symptoms returns. You may not notice it now but when you are older and not crippled from the disease you will be happy that you took the prevention rout. If you choose to ignore the advice of your doctor and drop the drugs then you are putting yourself at a high risk of serious disability in the future.

Rusty
http://arthritis-symptom.com/Rheumatoid-arthritis-symptoms/index.htm