My Story......Hi everyone, I am new to this forum.

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Hello everyone, I am new to this forum and would like to write me story incase

it helps anyone or can be of reference to anyway. I had my first bout of ReA 5

years ago, and believed I was totally healed, 6 weeks ago, I got my second bout.

My story is this:

5 years ago I wasd 26 and studying in Japan ( I am male and form the UK). I had

just arrived in September, in early october I woke up one morning after being

drunk, I was sleeping on a futon so had to push myself up of the floor, I felt a

strange pain in the bones of my right hand. I thought maybe I was pretty drunk

and damaged it the night before. However, for 3 successive days it got worse and

worse. On the fourth day I woke up a bit feverish and with enough pain in my

hand not to want to use it to get up from the floor where my futon was. I went

to see a doctor that day in Japan, and was told that it was repetitive strain

sydrome! I wasn't satified wih that diagnosis. When I got home in the afternoon,

the pain grew and grew....by 11pm that night I knew something was seriously

wrong and would go to a larger hospital the next day. However, that night the

pain got worse and worse. I have broken bones before and torn ligaments as I was

an enthusiastic skateboarder. But this pain in my hand was like every bone in my

hand was freshly broken with a sledgehammer and someone was then squeezing it. I

didnt think I would mentally make it through that night, I thought I was going

to lose my arm, that a vein had burst or I was bitten by a poisonous spider.

Thank God at around 6am the pain reached a plateau and by 7 am it started to

subside. Anyway, at the hospital the next day, they wanted to take an x ray, I

told them I haven't broken it....They took blood tests and said it probably

wasn't gout, and they just scratched their heads. (Less than 1 percent of the

Japanese population has the Hlb27 gene). My hand was now completely crippled,

swollen massively, and getting slowly better day by day. Then I got symptoms in

my lower back, my ribcage, my left heel, and achilles tendon, and my shin below

my right knee. Nothing compared to my hand, but enough to affect my walking, and

to dread sneezing or even coughing. Anyway, after 6 weeks of remaining in Japan,

with no medication or diagnosis, and slowly getting better I returned to

England. I was almost completely better by this time, however, my right hand was

so severe that I got some irreversablle damage. When I saw a specialist in

England and explained my syptoms, he ws so quick to say, it's probably reactive

arthritis and prescribed me 150mg of Diclophenic a day, and said I should get a

full set of STD checks done.I had no infection whatsover,so must have been food

related. Within a week of taking the diclophenic I got a lot better, however it

took me 3 months before I could jog again, and 6 months before I could use my

right hand to punch a punchbag!

The doctor said that this might be the only time I get ReA, it depends on my

genes but that I should be careful of food poisoning and STD's. I guess I was

too lucky in getting better so quickly, so when the ReA had not returned for

several years I started getting lax again, going to places like China and not

worrying about food poisoning. I didn't worry about STD's as I was married and

trusted my wife. However, 3 months ago I got divorced and came to Taiwan to

teach English. I was married for a long time, and my first and only bout of ReA

was exactly 5 years ago, so of course I felt like a free agent. About 2 months

ago I met up with an old girlfriend, we got drunk, and well you know what

happened next!

A week later I got some itching and a tiny bit clear water like discharge. I

suddenly had flashbacks to that night 5 years ago in Japan were I almost broke

down from the pain, and images of my doctors face saying don't get an STD! Well,

I was worried. However, after 3 days the itching went away (I have alergies to

soap etc in that area, and actually an allergy to my ex wife in that area, if I

didnt wash well afterwards!) So I though, maybe it's just an allergy. Well

another week later I got a sore upper arm where my shoulder mucle inserts into

the bone.I though arthritis was more in the joints so I wasn't too worried. 5

days later, I'm in Taiwan so on a futon on the floor again, I got up and this

time my left hand was a bit painful. Yep, I knew it, I had ReA again!

I was scarred out of my mind, I believed it would go the same way as last time,

a climatic build up of pain that would completely cripple my left hand this time

for several months. That did not happen, it got pretty bad so I could not use

it, but not the same intensity of pain. Well, I went straight to the hospital

and declared that I know what it is it is ReA. My partner in crime got STD

checks and came out with an NSU, non-specific-urinary infection, and I came out

with a blank, they found nothing in my tests. But it is too coincidental to get

3 days of itching and discharge, and then a week later get my second bout of ReA

for me not to have some kind of infection there.

Anyway, the docotr seemed quite good here and gave me the HLB27 testtwice which

came out positive.

A week after my hand, it got my anle, heel, big toe and achilles tendon of my

left foot really badly and a lot of pain, also the bridge of my right foot, and

both my shoulders and the shin bone of my right leg. Anothyer week passes and It

got my right knee, which didnt hurt that much but swelled up massively in the

muscles above the knee and crippled me for a week, it eased off there and got my

left knee quite badly....Now. 6 weeks later every joint and tendon it affected

this time is left in pain and feels damaged, about 15 different joints tendons.

My docotor has prescribed me prednisolene, and, sulfazine, and an antbiotic to

clear up whatever the infection may have been. But these last few weeks I seem

to be at a plateau and sincerely hope I recover from this bout as easily as I

recovered form the bout 5 years ago!

Thanks for reading my story, I hope it makes good reference for anyone who

suffers from autoimmune diseases.

I will try to attatch some photos of my knee, just before it reached it's worse

stage.

Greg.