What's next after an elevated RA Factor?

Hello Karmacola: Today I read your post, and although I've been reading posts on this site since my R.A. diagnosis in 2014, today is also my very first time to post anything on rheumatoidarthritis.net. Reading about your experience felt so familiar to me, and to what I initially felt in 2014 (fear, anxiety, not knowing what this disease was about), that I felt so compelled to write something. For six months I had had terrible pain and stiffness and swelling that was so different than anything I'd ever before experienced. After those six months of pain right after my 60th birthday, I finally visited an Orthopedic specialist's office. He took one look at my swollen fingers and hands and gave me orders for blood tests and he also asked me if I'd ever been tested for R.A. I just looked at him and said in complete honesty "No" and that "I didn't even know what R.A. was." Within a short period of time, though, my blood tests did reflect positive for R.A. in the same range as you reported in your posting today. Shortly thereafter, my labs showed my C-Reactive Protein was high as well as Sedimentation Rate and a positive result for ANA. Long story short, as recommended by that Orthopedic doctor, I literally found myself within days in a Rheumatologist's office, who evaluated my symptoms, signs and labs, and immediately began an aggressive treatment plan. I had a few days at home of intensive personal research online about the nature of this disease. Thank goodness for the internet. For example, it's a tremendous help to read this web site as well as info on the Arthritis Foundation's web site. I was incredulous that I was diagnosed with R.A., and that it was something I didn't even know anything about ... neither did any of my friends or family ... but, I'm telling you sincerely that we're very fortunate to have at our disposal today's resources for treating R.A. such as a ton of info on choices of medications, specialists in the fields of Rheumatology and Immunology, and particularly the resource of finding others who also are dealing with this disease and who post online opinions, ideas, experiences and sometimes up-to-date information. You will have a lot to digest and take to heart to figure out how best to tackle this new part of your life. When you meet with a Rheumatologist, my hope for you is that an effective treatment plan will be put into place to provide relief for you on many levels. I made notes during my dr. visits (had unfamiliar terminology to acquaint myself with) and all along the way between dr. visits also, to log how I was feeling which should be very helpful for your doctor. Since 2014, I've tried several medications .... some oral medications like Arava, and prior to that, Methotrexate (MTX for short, orally and then subsequently by injection) and some biologic drugs (Remicade, Enbrel and Orencia), administered either by infusion or by injection. But I'm happy to report that I found over time that Orencia self-injections (look online for Orencia ClickJet...painless weekly self-injections), are what for me are easiest and have helped me to feel better (not exhausted, stiff, or in such pain) than I did before my 2014 diagnosis. I should also insert here that in 2014 I decided to be Gluten Free since my diagnosis; I've personally found that if I'm not gluten free, I will have more pain and intestinal problems. If I keep wheat flour out of my daily food intake, I've learned that I seem to be better off...but that's just my own personal experience. In summary, see your dr. regularly and be honest and open with them; balance life as much as you can with rest & activity; keep your appointments for regular blood/lab work as your dr. will be prescribing; take the medications as prescribed; and keep learning and checking online such as on this site, to know that you are NOT alone in dealing with R.A. With the resources at our disposal in today's arsenal against this disease, I am very, very hopeful for living well with this "New Normal" for you, me, and for anyone who's newly diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Hi karmacola, thank you so much for reaching out! I'm so glad to see the incredible response from 21xp1st and that it was helpful to you. You are not alone here. I hope that our community can be a source of information and support for you. Diagnosing RA involves more than just labs, your Rheumatologist will assess many factors, including your symptoms, how long you've had them, joint involvement, your medical history and sometimes x-rays will be indicated. In addition to speaking with your doctor, I hope these articles are helpful to you:
RA Diagnosis: https://rheumatoidarthritis.net/diagnosis/
RF Factor: https://rheumatoidarthritis.net/living/what-ra-factor-diagnosis-mean/
and finally,
Meeting A New Rheumatologist: https://rheumatoidarthritis.net/living/meeting-new-rheumatologist/
Please let us know your questions and keep us posted on how your appointment goes. Best, Kelly, Rheumatoidarthritis.net Team Member

Hi Karmacola!
I'm in a similar situation as you! I'm a 38 year old female with a husband and 14 (soon to be 15) year old son. I work part time for a PCP. About 2 years ago or so, I started feeling just blah. Not bad, but not good. It's rare that I have a lot of energy and almost always feel tired to some degree. I know that I don't always get enough rest, but this just feels different. Like, all I want to do is lay in bed all day! I finally talked to my nurse practitioner in our office about the fatigue, and long story short, she believes that I have fibromyalgia due to having extremely tender points on my body. We preceded with lab work to rule out other causes. That's when my labs showed an elevated RA factor of 29. It should have been less than 14. I went to see a Rheumatologist and she also diagnosed with me Fibromyalgia, but she wanted to run other testing. All the labs came back fine except for the RA factor was as 30. Odd things are happening. Like, I just woke up one morning with trigger finger. All was fine when I went to be, but in the morning, it was there. Another morning I woke up and went to pick something up and my left thumb hurt. Now I have some kind of bony type knot on the side of that thumb that is painful. (The knot showed up months after the soreness began). I also started having random body aches, when it feels like I have the flu but it only lasts through the evening. I do not have the classic symptoms. No obvious joint swelling, redness, pain, etc. The body aches come randomly and I haven't experienced any in a while. It's just so frustrating not knowing what is actually wrong with me. The fatigue has been so bad that my son has been unable to wake me even by shaking my shoulders! That scared me when he told me that he couldn't get me to wake up and that he contemplated calling 911. I hope we both get some answers soon, so we will at least know what we need to do! I wish you the best of luck, and please keep us posted!