Question
Hello.
I am a 32 yr. female. I am currently taking 75mcg of Levoxcyl for Thyroid disease. I was diagnosed iwth Graves disease in October of 2007 I took some medication to slow down my thyroid and now it has burnt out so I am taking the Levoxcyl to keep it up.

Since the begining of June I have had some difficulty using my right hand.My right hand just seemed to bother me...aching. I then noticed toward the end of the day I was unable to open jars of use and type of pump spray and have to try to use my other hand. If I did any type of yard work (just using a self propelling lawn mower) I would get a lot of swelling between my 1st and 2nd fingers, where they meet at the bottom. I would ice my hand if it was really hurting me. My hand continued to bother me and then I noticed I would get shooting pains in my toes, but dismissed it to wearing flip-flops. I went to my doctor and he ordered and x-ray of both my hands and some blood tests. My blood tests were all fine with the exception of my RA factor came back elevated 15.9. (My sister was diagnosed with RA at 25) The x-rays showed swelling at the pip joints on both hands but no eroisions. I went to a Rheumatologist and she ordered a bunch of blood tests all came back normal except the Rheumatory factor which I believe was the same, just slightly elevated, and the C reactive protein which was 37. She also ordered x-rays of my feet which. The pain has gotten worse in my toes but doesn't shine a light to my right hand. I get shooting pain in my hand which causes me to cringe terribly, my fingers ache and swell. My left hand gets has minor swelling and has occassional shooting pain. I don't have any morning stiffness just some swelling in my fingers which disapates as I start moving. The rheumatologist suggested just taking Motrin or Aleeve and just see what happens. I am all for not taking any crazy drug. I realize the RA is hard to diganose but also detrimental to find early. Do you feel there are other things this could be? Should I ask for a retest of the C-reactive protein? What else could elevate this so high?

Thanks for you help! Laura

Answer
Laura,

Rheumatoid arthritis is not detrimental to find early. The opposite is true. The earlier you find that you have it the better. Finding out that you have it before it does a lot of damage to your body is always the best. Finding out that you do not have it is even better.

There are several things that can cause your C-reactive protein (CRP) to be high.

   * Rheumatoid arthritis
   * Lupus
   * Gout
   * Reiter's Syndrome
   * Crohn's Disease
   * Acute Pacreatitis
   * Hodgkin's Lymphoma
   * Lymphoma
   * Tuberculosis
   * Burns
   * Temporal Arteritis
   * Inflammatory Bowel Disease
   * Polymyalgia Rheumatica
   * Sepsis
   * Pelvic Inflammatory Disease
   * Bacterial Meningitis
   * Urinary Tract Infection

CRP shows that you have inflammation in your body. It does not tell where or why it is there.

The fact that your x-rays are clear is a good thing because RA usually does not wait to start doing its damage.

If you can manage the pain with out the harsher drugs you are better off. Your Rheumatologist may also be using the trial on Aveeve or Motrin as a diagnostic tool. If your pain can not be controlled with over the counter anti-inflammatories then that signals that something worse is going on. If your doctor suggest that you take these multiple times a day, do so. This is to get the full anti-inflammatory effect. If you just take them when you need them for pain then you miss out on some of the long term benefit.

Continue to work with your doctors and do not give up until they find out what is really going on.

I wish you the best

Rusty
http://arthritis-symptom.com/