Question
3 years ago I had surgery on my nose for a hole in the cartlige between the nostrils, so doctors wanted to know the reason for the hole. Blood results were an RA of 232 which doctors said was very high. Rheumatologist said no symptons, probably a false positive. One year later I had pain in both wrists shooting up to elbow, shooting up to both shoulders and shooting to clavical. 3 Months went by in pain, but Rh Doctor could not see me for 4 months, by the time I went I felt better, but new blood work revealed a 255 RA Factor. Doctor gave me Naproxin to take if I am in pain again. This has helped alot. I have flair ups quite often, but I just take the naproxen, but Doctor said with such a high RA factor if i had rh arthritis I would have severe symptoms. Could I have Rh arthrtis?
Answer
You could have RA, but the pattern of your symptoms is somewhat unusual. Most RA has persistent joint swelling and pain and thus the intermittent pattern of your symptoms is atypical.
