PDA

View Full Version : "Rheumatoid Factor" 618 ???!



ke3
1-7-11, 12:49pm
So I was just casually opening my mail yesterday, and I opened the lab results from my last round of blood work. Everything looked pretty good! Then, at the top of page three, there's this giant, in bold letters, RHEUMATOID FACTOR 618 (IU/mL), with the "normal" range listed as "less than 14". :0

To take a leaf out of kib's book, "Holy What the H*ll is wrong with me, Batman!" (Ok, not too Robin-esque, but that was my reaction).

Of course I immediately called the doctor; but we switched to a new health plan on Jan 1, and the first time I could get an appointment was Jan 20th. On the internet I find that there are a number of reasons why a person can test so high; but according to the notes on the lab results, it's "strongly suggestive of rheumatoid arthritis."

Is this why I wake up with my elbows frozen, like my Barbie from the 60's? Why it feels like I'm an ice sculpture who'll break if I bend anything (sometimes, but not all the time)? Why I'm exhausted all the time? It's not fibromyalgia, after all? Or I have both fibromyalgia and RA? Why did the million tests I've had done these last six years not show anything like this? And why am I asking you guys, not my doctor? (Because I'm freaking out, and can't get an appointment until the 20th, as I mentioned above). Does anyone here have RA, or has anyone had such a high lab result?

I spent all yesterday in shock. (Dh said I looked like a deer in the headlights.) And I have to spend all of today preparing to start teaching again on Monday! I have to act normal. Help! Or don't help! I just need to vent. But of course, if anyone has experience with this, I would very much appreciate your thoughts, or extra info you have.

Thanks for listening.

redfox
1-7-11, 2:36pm
I think it's unconscionable for a medical practitioner to send any medical information which gives out new information without access to someone to talk with and without context. I am so sorry you've been broadsided this way.

Simplemind
1-7-11, 3:44pm
redfox +1

kib
1-7-11, 3:56pm
Our health insurance has a "nurse" who you can call to discuss health issues. I'm wondering if perhaps yours does too, or if they could intervene on your behalf to get a professional / your own doctor to talk to you sooner than two weeks from now. That's just cruel. >:(

My Mom has RA and for 20 years her doctor treated her for osteoarthritis. I don't understand either why something as apparently easy to diagnose - or at least to suspect - goes undetected!

Certainly hope you can get someone to talk to you and make a better diagnosis. If it is RA, there are some very effective treatments for lessening symptoms.

CathyA
1-7-11, 4:22pm
Good points everyone. With all the physical problems you've had Ke3, I can't believe they didn't test you for inflammation, etc. Very strange. And call the office and say "dangit......someone has to discuss this with me before the 20th!"
I suppose the good news is that maybe now there's something you can do to feel better!

ke3
1-7-11, 5:41pm
AAARRRRGH!! I just wrote a long reply here, thanking all of you for your kind thoughts, and making some other observations; and when I was done, I automatically hit "Reply to Thread", just above the reply box, instead of going down to "Post Quick Reply". My reply vanished! And I'm not repeating it. But thank you all. (and now, down to "Post Quick Reply".)

Mangano's Gold
1-7-11, 5:49pm
ke3, that blood test is not a diagnosis. It may even be an error. RA, as far as I know, has no clean diagnosis and is sometimes misdiagnosed. For example, Lyme Disease was discovered because a disproportionate number of people were diagnosed as having RA in a small CT town. But it turns out they didn't have RA at all.

Here is the best test:

-- Does your joint discomfort occur in both joints?
-- Is it worse in the morning?

That test is probably more accurate than the blood test. Stil, if it were me, I'd skip the GP and go straight to a Rheumatologist.

Wildflower
1-8-11, 12:25am
Stil, if it were me, I'd skip the GP and go straight to a Rheumatologist.

I agree with this. I was originally diagnosed with fibromyalgia, then rheumatoid arthritis. After seeing a rheumatologist I was finally diagnosed correctly with lupus. I wasted alot of time on other docs, wrong diagnoses and even worse incorrect meds. If I were you I would head straight to a rheumatologist to get a correct diagnosis.

ke3
1-9-11, 12:19am
I agree with this. I was originally diagnosed with fibromyalgia, then rheumatoid arthritis. After seeing a rheumatologist I was finally diagnosed correctly with lupus. I wasted alot of time on other docs, wrong diagnoses and even worse incorrect meds. If I were you I would head straight to a rheumatologist to get a correct diagnosis.

No can do. I have to be referred to the specialist by the primary care provider, unless I want to pay for it out of pocket, which I don't. Oh, and it is the worst upon waking (stiffness/I am made of ice feeling); the fatigue gets worse as the day progresses, and all pain/stiffness is symmetrical.

19Sandy
10-28-16, 3:54pm
How did this turn out?

iris lilies
10-28-16, 5:26pm
How did this turn out?
The original message was posted more than five years ago. This Poster hasnt been here for a long time.