RA affected 2 fingers 12 months ago and stopped
My Dr diagnosed RA 12 months ago affecting the small finger and the one next to it and advised to use a cream to relieve the pain. This occurred rapidly over a couple of days but then stopped. These fingers give me pain if I exercise them and they are enlarged and I cannot fully bend them anymore.
However the RA has not gotten any worse and the pain is only their if I exercise them. Is this normal for the disease to stop and not spread further.
I've not been back to my Dr because it affects my least used fingers and the pain is easily born without resorting to any drugs.
I am well aware of the results of RA as my mother was riddled with it throughout her whole body and it eventually killed her because the drugs she was given were so potent.
Hi
. The confusion over RA in just a couple of small joints and apprehension over how to deal with it and concerns of what could come are understandable. There is something called monoarticular RA, which is rare and usually occurs in early RA. Here is an article looking at several cases: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5741339/. I do want to caution that one thing that is consistently noted in articles discussing monoarticular RA is that it tends to progress and involve more joints over time. The fact that you are experiencing a couple of joints is, technically, already beyond this.
Your concerns about medication side effects are understandable, although there are now a lot more options. There are numerous articles on the benefits of early treatment and potential for significant damage with waiting (see here for example: https://rmdopen.bmj.com/content/1/Suppl_1/e000057). That said, given the minor impact you are currently experiencing, it is understandable that you are in no hurry to try some of the more extreme treatments. One of our contributors referred to it as the risk to risk ratio - the risk of damage vs. the risk of side effects. Only you can decide when further treatment is necessary, but I wanted to provide you with information.
Also, you noted that everything with your initial experience and diagnosis happened over a couple of days. I want to share with your this article on the diagnostic process: https://rheumatoidarthritis.net/diagnosis. I'm sharing this because often RA is difficult to diagnose, particularly with few symptoms. Was your diagnosis done by a rheumatologist? I'm not remotely saying that what you are experiencing RA (we are not medical professionals and, for your safety cannot provide medical or diagnostic advice), but there are numerous, more common forms, of monoarticular arthritis (see here for example: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK542164/) and issues in a couple of joints, again, want to make sure you have as much information as possible. Hope this information is helpful and that your doctor can provide a little more guidance on what they found with your particular joints and tests. Please feel free to keep us posted on how you are doing and to ask additional questions. Best, Richard (Team Member)
