In the Beginning: Pain, Pain, More Pain & Confusion

I don't know about you, but when my RA symptoms first started, I was in constant unexplainable pain and extreme discomfort.  This caused me a lot of confusion.  I was confused because I was the type of person who researched my symptoms (you know, a la Sherlock Holmes), figured out what condition I had, and then made an appointment with whichever specialist was needed - gastroenterologist, podiatrist, dermatologist; I always knew who to call.  Fortunately (but really unfortunately, if a referral was required would I have gotten help sooner?) for me, my medical insurance did not require a referral from my primary care physician.


But, when I plugged all of my symptoms - swelling in both feet, hands, pain deep in the hip sockets, neck, and shoulders - into the various medical websites, none of them gave me a diagnosis (I was so naive). So what did I do? Nothing, absolutely nothing.  I just kept slugging through the days, going to work, running my son to his various appointments and activities. All the while I pushed the pain to the back of my mind and telling myself that I am too young to have so many aches and pains.  I began to convince myself that I was a hypochondriac and so didn't bother to mention any of the symptoms to my primary care. Brillant, right? So for the next 8+ years I struggled with the pain, swollen & tender joints, and the incredible exhaustion.

I have to interject here that I did go see a rheumy during the first year of my symptoms. I heard that stress can trigger underlying diseases and I had been under an incredible amount of stress; my best friend was dying of cancer,I was working everyday, going to the hospital during lunch, and after work taking my son to his activities.

One Saturday morning, a girlfriend and I had plans to take the kids for an outing to an amusement park on Long Island and do a little shopping at this great shoe outlet I had discovered (I am a recovered, actually forced into recovery by RA, shoe fanatic). I woke up early, normal for me, and could barely get out of the bed. My joints were swollen so I popped an Advil. In hindsight, I realize that I was constantly popping Advils or Alleves to the point that I developed acid reflux and had to sleep sitting up. That should have been a wake-up call that the pain was constant. Guess what? I went on the little excursion anyway and boy did I pay for that dumb move.

Sunday morning arrives and my joints are even more swollen than the day before and I also have hives in my scalp, palms of my hands, soles of my feet. My primary doc instructs me to go to the emergency room and get a shot of benadryl. Over the next 3-4 days, the majority of the swelling recedes and the hives completely disappear. Notice that I said the majority but not all and from that point forward I became a recovered show fanatic...