I have been diagnosed with the very early stages of RA. Everything I have read says that the symptoms are usually symetric. I interpreted that to mean that if my right elbow is aching, then my left elbow will be aching at the same time. Is that incorrect? My question comes because that's not the way it happens with me. Right now my left arm from my shoulder down to my elbow is aching. My right arm is fine. The other day my right arm was giving me fits, but my left wasn't. It's the same with other parts of my body. Although joints on both sides do hurt, it usually is not at the same time. :confused:

Hey natchez...

I too experience the lopsided pain. Sometimes my pain is symetrical, especially in my legs and knees, but most of the time just one side hurts. I have dx with Adult Onset Still's Disease which is a form of RA. I take a bunch of drugs including Enbrel. Are you taking Enbrel or one of the other biologics?

take care,
Joe

What they mean when they say that the symptoms are symetric is that usually both joints are affected. This does not neccessarily mean that they both hurt at the same time (in my case they usually don't) only that you have problems with both at one time or another. There are cases however where it is not symetrical also.

Thanks to both of you for answering my concerns. At this point, I am only on Celebrex 200mg twice daily; and most of the time it works fine. My doctor has discussed methotrexate with me, but we decided not to start it quite yet.