My joints are inflamed and no one know why. My GP is sending me now to a doctor of internal medicine to see why my joints are inflamed. I am also on a waiting list for a rheumatologist. Can you tell me what link is there with inflamed joint and internal medicine. What things are they trying to find out or elimated. I am concerned about cancer because my father had cancer last year. Is there a link with cancer.

I have been taking weekly Avonex injections for 3 1/2 years for MS and have been relapse free. For the last two months I have experienced joint pain and swelling in many joints especially those of the hands and feet. I was referred to a rheumatologist who suspects drug induced RA or lupus, most likely due to the interferon. I have had 26 blood tests to narrow down the problem. Besides a positive RA and ANA, the only other positive tests were CCP and anti-histone antibodies. (Sorry the list of other tests is very long. They are the usual tests used to rule in/out various autoimmune diseases. I work in a clincal lab and I am confident that the list of tests was as thorough as any general rheumatologist would order). How likely is it that the arthritis is due to a reaction to the inteferon? How likely is it that it is primary RA or lupus? The rheumatologist has suggested going off the interferon to see if the symptoms go away. I feel that Avonex is my lifeline and would like to see some published data to support her theory before I make this decision. Any references would be greatly appreciated. Biogen, the makers of Avonex are of no help. They will only quote me the information in the package insert which is not convincing enough for me. Have any of the ABC drugs been specifically implicated in RA or lupus- the only info I can find relates to autoimmune thyroid disease and autoimmune hepatitis.

Have you ever heard of periorbital pain, dizziness, and headache associated with polyarthritis. When I lift my head off the pillow, rise from a prone position, or reach down to dry my feet, my world spins and I sometimes fall over. Additionally I have headaches of differing varieties and periorbital pain.

My family doctor says I cannot work anymore because of the Hepatits C and Rheumatoid Arthritis. I can hardly move,my whole body aches all the time. My family doctor says I should be able to get Disability. However I have been denied of it. Could you please tell me if you think I am able to go back to work. The meds my doctor wants to give me affects my liver and I am at a stage 2 of my Hepatitis C. I havent worked for over a year now and I need money to pay my bills and for my meds.

Can I have RA plus MS?

I have had joint/tendon pain since an unresolved strep infection a year and a half ago.I continued to have recurring positive streps for 6 more months. It has almost gone away 3 times, then flares back up. Everytime it flares my strep titers go back up, (dNase at 1380 last time), and I get an erythema marginatum rash. I don’t believe that my throat is infected again as I had my tonsils out 10 months ago, (afterwhich I had immediate improvement). If this pain is from the strep, why doesn’t it go away? Everything I read about PSRA indicates that it is self limiting. If it is not the strep, why do the strep titers go up and the rash come back? I am currently taking 3 gm of sulfasalazine an 200 mg of doxycycline per day.I saw great, if slow, improvement when I began these meds. The pain flared when I went off the doxy for a couple of weeks, 2 months ago. I am still experiencing significant pain in shoulder/arm tendons.