Anonymous wrote:Thanks a lot for the responses. The test was ordered by my primary care doctor. I will check what kind of RA it was. I am in my 40s and was diagnosed with osteoarthritis after my X-ray and MRI. It’s in my lower back and neck area. Is 40s too early to have osteoarthritis? My knee joint also makes crackling sound when I bend them for last 15 years. My hip joint too recently started to ache a bit. I never imagined I will have these problems so early. Having mostly veggies in my diet is helping a bit. However I reading that osteoarthritis never reverses back.
Anonymous wrote:Thanks a lot for the responses. The test was ordered by my primary care doctor. I will check what kind of RA it was. I am in my 40s and was diagnosed with osteoarthritis after my X-ray and MRI. It’s in my lower back and neck area. Is 40s too early to have osteoarthritis? My knee joint also makes crackling sound when I bend them for last 15 years. My hip joint too recently started to ache a bit. I never imagined I will have these problems so early. Having mostly veggies in my diet is helping a bit. However I reading that osteoarthritis never reverses back.
Anonymous wrote:I am thinking you had labs drawn to test for rheumatoid arthritis. Osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis are different things.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Arthritis can be caused by wear and tear on the joints. That's osteoarthritis, and it would be diagnosed through imaging, like an X-ray or MRI.
There is also inflammatory arthritis caused by conditions like Lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, Lyme disease, gout, etc. There are blood tests that are specific to individual diseases, and then there are blood tests that can pick up general inflammation. Something I didn't know before being diagnosed with a form of autoimmune arthritis is that the blood tests aren't exactly perfect. Sometimes I test positive for RA or Lupus, and other times I don't. I don't know how common that is.
It is possible to have both osteoarthritis and a form of inflammatory arthritis, which is why a doctor might do a blood workup for inflammatory arthritis even if you'd already been diagnosed with osteoarthritis.
Agree. Rheumatoid arthritis is not the only type of inflammatory arthritis, but the test you were given is only for RA. You should have both inflammatory markers, ESR and CRP tested for. Particular types of inflammatory arthritis may affect one marker more than the other and it can vary among individuals.
Anonymous wrote:Arthritis can be caused by wear and tear on the joints. That's osteoarthritis, and it would be diagnosed through imaging, like an X-ray or MRI.
There is also inflammatory arthritis caused by conditions like Lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, Lyme disease, gout, etc. There are blood tests that are specific to individual diseases, and then there are blood tests that can pick up general inflammation. Something I didn't know before being diagnosed with a form of autoimmune arthritis is that the blood tests aren't exactly perfect. Sometimes I test positive for RA or Lupus, and other times I don't. I don't know how common that is.
It is possible to have both osteoarthritis and a form of inflammatory arthritis, which is why a doctor might do a blood workup for inflammatory arthritis even if you'd already been diagnosed with osteoarthritis.
Anonymous wrote:It is also possible that you have seronegative rheumatoid arthritis ( https://creakyjoints.org/diagnosis/rheumatoid-factor-negative/ )
Seronegative RA is especially common among children with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. In my case, the course of the disease was best monitored using ultrasound imaging of the joint erosions.
Anonymous wrote:I am thinking you had labs drawn to test for rheumatoid arthritis. Osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis are different things.