In August of 2002 I recieved a second mmr vaccine to return to college (this is a requirement). In February 2003 I was diagnosed with RA. This was very sudden, I woke up one morning and could not move the right side of my body. This was also very scary as I was 2 months pregnant. The group of Dr.s I saw for the pregnancy assumed this was gestational arthritis and would go away upon delivery, not so. I am not responding to methotrexate and am starting on Remicade. The rheumatologist I see says that the ra he sees in me is not typical. I have very mild swelling and intense pain that is mainly right sided. I have heard that a side effect of the rubella vaccine is arthritis. If this is so could the tx for this be different from standard tx’s. I am 34, female and basically very healthy before this. Any suggestions or comments would be greatly helpful and appreciated.

what is the etiology of effusion in RA?

what is this compared to positive rehumatoid arthritis and can the above mentioned turn into positive arthritis. what is my future prognosis. I am a soon to be 47 yr old female.

I recently went to a (great) hand surgeon in regard to . . . (you guessed it) a hand injury. I fell over a year ago and my left hand has never been the same. Unfortunately, I think poor advice exasperated and irritated the situation. I had several MRIs and X Rays and a bone scan and all came up normal (aside from a small synovial cyst). When I went back to the hand surgeon and he said we should have some blood tests done to check for Rheumatoid Arthritis, Lupus, etc., I didn’t think anything of it. I figured they’d show negative results just like every other test I’ve had for the past year. I was shocked when the surgeon told me my blood tested positive for Rheumatoid Arthritis. At the age of 28 I feel pretty healthy. Is it likely that the trauma of the fall I had last year triggered the rhematoid arthritis? I have never had any of the RA symptoms before and I only have the consistent pain in the hand and wrist that I hurt when I fell.

I have RA. Can you tell me the likelyhood that my identical twin sister will develope RA in her life time? How much of a role is genes in RA?

im a 41yr old female with R.A.its been 7 yrs,i now have it full blown in all joints,feet, ankels,knees,hips,back,shoulders,elbows,neck,wrist,and hands,also in jaw,im on celebrex,shots from my dr,waiting to see a specialist i have alot of fears as to different medications and there side affects,is it to late to start these meds,or maybe i shouldnt even start them, and most of all i would like the truth,is R.A. FATAL.