I went to my Dr. in November, 2010 with joint pain in my hands/wrists since late July 2010. He ran a CBC, rheumatoid facter, & ANA. My sed rate was 26, elevated. Rheumatoid factor negative, and positive ANA. He referred me to a rheumatologist.
In January I saw the rheumatologist, and she said it sounded like RA but wanted bilateral hand/wrist/feet x-rays, and a ton of other labs. I do not have insurance. It seems rather straight forward RA to me.
After reading a lot of info, it seems that aggressive early treatment with DMARDS & a Biologic have the most success in quieting down the RA. I got into an excellent phase 3 Clinical Trial and am having excellent results. Now that I'm 2 months into it, and have read more on RA & Lupus, I am wondering if I jumped the gun and diagnosed myself? I see that with joint pain, & positive ANA but neg Rheum Factor, doesn't sound like RA.
Do I tell my clnical trial Dr. that ? Not sure what I should do to proceed from here :(