Guest guest Posted March 5, 2002 Report Share Posted March 5, 2002 There are no tests that say " You have PA " . It's more like you don't have RA, but you have these other symptoms. There's no such thing as " regular arthritis " . There are over 100 types of arthritis, so it's important to work with a rheumatologist to figure out which one. SSince I'm reading this site right now, I'll just post this for you. It talks about genetics and diagnosing the disease. http://www.healthtalk.com/rain/101700/02.html Good luck with the tests and feel free to post here and ask other questions! There are lots of people here with good info and really good hearts. -Meghan > Hello to the group. > I'm a 43 yr old male with P on elbows, knees, lower legs and navel. > I also have bad back, shoulder and joint pain. I have been tested > for regular Arthritis and the test was negative. Is there a special > test for P A? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 6, 2002 Report Share Posted March 6, 2002 johngenis wrote: > > Hello to the group. > I'm a 43 yr old male with P on elbows, knees, lower legs and navel. > I also have bad back, shoulder and joint pain. I have been tested > for regular Arthritis and the test was negative. Is there a special > test for P A? Thanks > There's no exact way to tell, no. And no test to confirm. (That I know of; actually this subject came up a few weeks ago so you might want to read past messages in the archives.) However, one truism is that nail involvement with psoriasis is very often an indicator that people will eventually also get PA. It was true for me, for instance, and for many others here. (Sometimes you can have PA and the P doesn't show; that's rarer, though.) Your doctor will likely take x rays and do bloodwork; sometimes that might show an elevated SED rate and maybe positive for something called HLA-27, but lots of times nothing specific shows, diagnostically speaking, yet you've still got the PA. My bloodwork is normal and my x-rays don't show any damage, yet to look at my hands you'd find that hard to believe. So I still have a diagnosis of PA. Anyway, here are some links you might find helpful: http://homepages.tesco.net/~markshaw/psoriasis/home.htm http://www.psoriasis.org/b300.htm http://www.arthritis.co.za/psoriasis.html http://www.rheumatology.org/patients/factsheet/psoriati.html Hope this helps some. --Louise Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 6, 2002 Report Share Posted March 6, 2002 I just wanted to ask something here about all the blood work being normal thing. My daughter Celeste was diagnosed with JRA about a month ago, and the doctor list Pa also, but says since she is so young she has to list it as JRA. Anyway, all her blood work came back normal, and the doctor said she was shocked that the ANA came back normal as there was obvious signs of swelling. My daughter has had P since she was an infant and in the past month has got it on her scalp. She had signs of it when we went to the doctor and that helped her diagnose her. Now Friday we went to her regular ped and let me tell you this lady was so smug and rude to us about the arthritis. See Celeste has been sick on and off since August and last month her doctor actually told me she was throwing her hands in the air she didn't know what was wrong. Now that I went to another doctor without telling her she is pissed. She is sending us to get a second opinion, but now that Celeste has been on medicine for a month or so, how is he going to give me a fair second opinion. I know without a doubt that Celeste has JRA and PA, but this pediatric doctor is so set on proving me wrong. If this second doctor says she dont have it will insurance still cover the other doctor to treat her for it? No matter what the second opinion is, I live with my daughter and I have seen her in pain and I know this medicine is already helping. I am not going to stop treatment because her bloodwork was okay especially since her x-rays weren't OK. Anyone been in this position before. By the way I am already looking for a new pedriatician lol. Thanks. Crystal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 6, 2002 Report Share Posted March 6, 2002 > Hello to the group. > I'm a 43 yr old male with P on elbows, knees, lower legs and navel. > I also have bad back, shoulder and joint pain. I have been tested > for regular Arthritis and the test was negative. Is there a special > test for P A? Thanks Hi, : There are four major PA groups, and I have Ankylosing Spondylitis with Psoriasis. As mentioned, the major histocompatability factor, HLA-B27, is highly indicative although not totally definitive. You could have AS, RS or sub-clinical UC. All of these diseases are caused by Klebsiella-reactive arthritis, which is made worse (long-term) by the use of NSAIDs due to the LGS (leaky gut syndrome). A combination of diet and antibiotics has placed me into total remission for the past 3 years and I do not often have any sign of psoriasis (although it still happens to a much lesser extent, rarely). There is some information on the mechanism involved in the medical center section of http://www.kickas.org , under AS Dietary Primer and molecular mimicry. Best of luck to you, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 8, 2002 Report Share Posted March 8, 2002 >Anyway, all her blood work came back normal, and the doctor said she was >shocked that the ANA came back normal as there was obvious signs of swelling. >I am not going to stop treatment because her bloodwork was okay >especially since her x-rays >weren't OK. Anyone been in this position before. By the way I am already >looking for a new pedriatician lol. Thanks. Crystal My blood work came back normal when I was in a flare as well. It was my first flare, my right 2nd toe was a " sausage digit " , my back was killing me, and all my blood work came back normal, including my SED rate, which is supposed to measure inflammation in your body. Luckily, that right toe was red and swollen, otherwise, I'm sure I would have gotten the regular brush off as well. The first time I went to a doctor about my suspicion that I might have arthritis, I was in my mid-20's, and had tendinitis in 3 places. I had also had serious back problems previously. She was irritable, cut me off, and said " look, these aren't connected. o.k.? " No, it was not o.k. I left in tears, but dropped her that day, and have since found a doctor who is much more receptive. Keep looking, I'm sure your feelings about your daughter are accurate. Blood work is iffy when used to try and pinpoint this disease. In fact, most of the literature I've read confirms that there is no definitive blood test for PA, and that x-rays usually don't reveal anything until it's too late. So don't give up on treatment - find as much info. as you can, and show your doctors. I print out articles from http://www.medscape.com/rheumatologyhome all the time - the articles are from medical journals, are very up-to-date, and " clinical, " so good for docs. Good luck. -- Boice Health Education Program University of California, Phone: (530) 752-6336 E-mail: keboice@... http://healthcenter.ucdavis.edu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 8, 2002 Report Share Posted March 8, 2002 thank you so much for your note and the link to that site. Crystal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.