Please help my 23-year-old friend. Her doctors think she 'might' have rhumatoid arthritis... or lumpus... or...the possibilities are endless. Her symptons are SIMPLE: She is swelling. Rapidly.
It started in her calves and ankles... a drastic, painful swelling. It has now taken over most of her body, including her face, wrists and fingers. This all happened in less than a month. Before the swelling she was very petite... only 5'3...115 lbs.
Last week a rhumatoid arthritis doctor drained fluid from her knees... claiming it was A LOT of fluid for such a young girl. In just one day ALL of the swelling was down. But, slowly it came back again in just a week.
She was in a car accident a few months ago.. so that is something to keep in mind.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. THANK YOU SO MUCH.

Did he even bother to do any bloodwork at all or is he just guessing that she has RA? If he is then she needs to be tested immediately. Are her joints swelling and nothing else or is the body itself swelling in various areas
There are other illnesses out there that do mock RA

He did blood work on her and said she DOESN'T have RA... and then threw a dozen other diseases out there she could have. As for the swelling, her joints are swelling excessively... but her body in general is VERY swollen as well. Her face is very swollen... her calves are very hard and swollen... her body frame in general is swollen. He has her on water pills, which only worked in the beginning... as expected.

Thanks for writing back so promptly. Much appreciated.

Well, first thing is first go to another doctor if one is not taking proper actions. They should be doing bloodwork like crazy. There are so many tests to take.....mulitiple tests to help diagnose illnesses/diseases. If I were her and was able I would be at the doctor stressing how this is impacting her life (pain, discomfort, unable to bend and so forth).

Did they test her thyroid? I didn't know the face swelled with arthritis? Did they put her on anything for the swelling or just drain some of the fluid? Because if it is fluid......

I don't know but it sounds very scary. I hope she takes care of herself. As for myself I had very swollen fingers and feet but it did not affect my weight. In fact I have lost weight due to RA. And I don't know if fluid is common for RA because I thought it was the joints/tissue swelling not fluid. But I don't know.

I would see a different doctor or get back into that one and demand xrays, bloodwork, and so on.

whoops sorry i wrote twice

I agree with Thescaredest. I'd seek out a new doctor, a really good internal medicine specialist because if she is swelling all over then something serious is going on. If it were limited to the joints then I'd think possibly a form of arthritis but if her face is swelling then no, chances are it is not and is something else. A thyroid problem could in fact be the problem. Is she having any problems with muscle aches and fatigue? Those are symptoms of hyper thyroidism.

I'm going to assume she has started no new medications prior to the swelling? Some meds can cause such a reaction. Also if they haven't checked her heart she should have that done as well.