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Subject: Re: Desperate for information
Hi Maria, It sounds like you are having a really tough time. It could be that you don't have the rheumatoid factor showing up in your blood tests. I don't in mine, it doesn't mean you don't have rheumatoid arthritis but it is often less destructive having sero negative (without the rheumatoid factor) than the kind where the rheumatoid factor shows up. It is difficult to say exactly what people should do with arthritis as it is a very variable condition and no two people respond the same to treatments and levels of activity. Many people do tend to get a bit of a delayed reaction in relation to exercise - you may not feel like you are doing too much at the time but the next day you end up having a big flare-up - just like you describe. Firstly I would talk things over with your doctor and work out if you are taking the correct medication for the severity of you arthritis, next experiment with levels of activity so you don't flare up. It could be that you are doing too much on the days when you feel fine and you have got into a pattern of flare-ups. It may be that if you do less on the days you feel fine for a bit you can work out how much activity makes your knees flare. I find that the worst thing for my knees is standing still on hard floors (washing up, standing in queues at the post office etc) walking doesn't make them swell up so much. Maybe you could keep a diary of which activities make your knees flare so you can organise your life around not doing those things that make your knee swell. Other things which have helped me are elastic bandages (you can get them in sports shops). Ice (which you do) and if it is really getting bad you could have a steroid injection into the knee which should settle it down for a while. The symptoms you are experiencing are common with arthritis but can be managed with a bit of experimentation. Like I said before there are no hard and fast rules as everyone experiences things in different ways. I hope you find a solution that works for you. Best of luck, Trina
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