Well here goes...
After my bad episode last month with my RA I've been questioning my diagnosis. Last month, a few days after my Remicade treatment I had a really bad episode. I was feeling bad that night and the next morning I had a fever, aches and pains all over my body, a swollen and painful knee, pains in my neck, abdominal pain, and a rash on my face, neck and chest. I was able to get an appointment at my rheumatologist's office that morning. My WBC count was double the acceptable range, I had a fever, and was just plain miserable. The doctor thought I had some kind of infection. I ended up getting a steroid shot, a pain shot and prescriptions for antibiotics and darvocet. I also got an ultrasound to rule out any gallbladder problems.
My fever went down the next day. I still had bad joint pain several days later and another fever spike. I went back to my rheumatologist one week later. When I saw her I was still not well. My other knee was swollen and hurting, my wrist was swollen, red and painful too. I also had a red rash on my arms and chest. No fever though. I stayed and got an infusion of Solumedrol. My doctor seemed baffled about all of this. She said she looked over all of my test results to see what could have caused this. I asked if I could have Fibromyalgia or Lupus... She basically told me no and blew that off. Anyway I started feeling better a couple of days later.
That was about 2 1/2 weeks ago. Since then I have had one more Remicade treatment. Yesterday I started to have joint pain in my hands and in my neck again. Some shoulder pain also. I have been looking online for some kind of answer. Tonight I came across a site about diseases that mimic Rheumatoid Arthritis. There were several other possibilities including other autoimmune diseases, lyme disease, etc. Then I read about Adult Onset Still's Disease. It listed all of the symptoms I had gone through. The fever, chills, flu-like aches, high WBC count, abdominal pain, and the rash. I actually couldn't believe it. Then I found a site with testimonies of people that have been diagnosed with Still's disease. Many of them were like reading my own story. Still's disease is usually diagnosed in children, but there is adult onset Still's disease. The only thing is that it is rare... It is very much like Rheumatoid Arthritis but with some differences. It would explain why I felt better after getting the Solumedrol.
I'm probably sounding like a nutcase! Aggghhhhh! I guess I just want to know what the hell has been going on with me. I hate to seem like hypochondriac, but I know when my body doesn't feel right.
Enough for now. I need some shut-eye. I hope I can sleep...
