I think I am developing arthritis in my hands. I know it runs in my family on my Mothers side.
What are the symptoms and how fast does it progress.
I haven't gone to the Dr. YET as this just started about a month ago.
I keep hoping it will go away. It's the knuckles in my fist mostly.
Any Advice on symptoms etc. would be great.

The progession of the disease is different for each person. Some individuals have a rapid onset while others it may be years before they have severe damage or pain.

The basic symptoms are pain, redness and swelling in the hands, stiff or hot joints. Symptoms can of course vary by person. Individuals seem to have more problems in the morning or late evening.

It would be best to see a doctor for an appropriate diagnosis and treatment.

Good luck
Barb

My dad has arthritis in his hands as well. First thing is would recomment going to doctor. He prescribed some meds, which come to find out is nothing but glucosamine which can be bought over the counter just not as expensive. A family friend suggested taking glucosamine with hyaluronic acid. His been taking them for the past year now and he says his pain has gone down almost to none now. We all hope that it continues that way.

There are a lot of different vendors out there that sell the glucosamine with hylauronic acid. the he uses we I got from http://www.flexforceworks.com Hope this helps, but you definetly need to go to a doctor. Good luck.

I went to the Dr. Last week and she "thinks" it's arthritis. I am going to a Ortho next Tuesday. They took X-Rays and told me I had a broken bone in my thumb? Who knew not me.
My knuckle is twice it's normal size and it hurts like heck.
She wanted to give me pain meds but I am allergic to codien. She told me to take 800mg of Motrin Or Alive every four hours?

Well I went to the Dr. (Orthopetic) this time and he said I have RA:mad:
Now I have to go see a specialist for that to see what the plan will be.
So far it's in one joint in my right hand. The pain is so bad I really don;t know how you all do it. It's given me a whole new out look on Arthritis I had no idea how painful it was.
He thinks I also have it in my neck:dizzy:

There are more than 100 types of arthritis. Don't start panicking over an RA diagnosis until a rheumatologist says you have it. RA pain is bilateral meaning that the same joints on both sides of the body will hurt at the same time: both knees or both ankles, etc. If it's just the one bad knuckle and the other hand isn't similarly affected, I'd wait to see what the rheum and the bloodwork shows before I accepted the diagnosis. It is possible to have a positive RF test and NOT have the disease.

Criteria for RA:
Requires 4 out of the 7 criteria for diagnosis.

1.MORNING STIFFNESS greater than 1 HOUR
2. SOFT TISSUE SWELLING IN A HAND JOINT
3. SOFT TISSUE SWELLING in 3 out of 14 joint GROUPS - PIP'S, MCP'S, WRISTS, ELBOWS, KNEES, ANKLES, MTP's
4. SYMMETRICAL SWELLING IN ONE JOINT AREA
5. RHEUMATOID NODULE
6. RHEUMATOID FACTOR
7. visible joint changes on x-rays (EROSION)

Well I have a nodule on my joint. He said I had all the "classic" symptoms as did my other Dr. My Grandmother had RA real bad.
He told me it usually starts in one joint and the patient can't remember any sort of trama.
I have been having neck problems for a year where my neck just locks up on my and it's excrusiating.
He also said several types of RA won't show in blood work.
I don't go until the 28th of Sept. We shall see.