Osteo vs. RA in Sjogrens disease

[gold55]

Ok I'm starting my first topic and welcome responses.  Here's what I wrote under someone elses topic.  I speak about changes in the medical field but what I'm really asking is your experiences with the arthritis part of SS.  Is it mostly Osteo??.....I know SS is a rheumatic condition but do we eventually get RA if we have joint issues?  Thanks for your feedback.

Ohhh that's horrible!  Worse than my primary care telling me to only come back and see him for "primary care issues only".........ohhhhhh what is the medical field becoming??  I have had so many disappointments in this field since my diagnosis!  My new rheumie "thinks" I may have Sjogrens/RA however, my foot and hand xrays came back Osteo!  I'm not showing an RA factor in my bloodwork nor in any other tests they ran for RA.  Doesn't mean I can't get it along the way but for now, can anyone comment from their experiences, please??  thank you , jill

[Scottietottie]

Hi 

I believe that SjS is quite often secondary to RA but that many people with RA never develop SjS and its true the other way round too.

OA cannot be controlled in the same way as RA because suppressing the immune system doesn't help it. It's not usually quite as wide spread throughout the body though. It's not systemic. RA is.

Whether RA or OA I'm pretty sure an affected joint will hurt the same whichever. I had a partial knee joint replacement in 2006 for OA. My other knee is pretty well OK though. I also have OA in both shoulders.

I don't think that OA tends to cause the hand and finger deformities that can occur with RA. I'm no medic though - so this is all just my personal opinion.

Take care - Scottie 

[gold55]

thanks for your feedback Scottie!  Perhaps my rheumatologist felt being that I have joint issues with a SS diagnosis, it probably is RA....she stated this prior to the xray report.  She may see something different in the xray report than the radiologist did?  I have not seen my recent blood tests so I'm hoping they have stayed the same (positive for SS but NOT for RA)....guess blood tests don't dictate the total diagnosis.  My Mom got RA in her 70's so perhaps my doctor is going on genetics.  It appears that a lot of SS people on this forum have Osteo and not RA so I'm hoping to keep the illnesses I have and not accrue anymore!  A doctor I work with said he'd rather have RA because you can get rid of the inflammation or curb the inflammatory process (before the joints are destroyed) through drugs but with osteo it's just wear and tear and a lot of ibuprofen!  I would prefer neither...the SS diagnosis was enough of an awakening for me!  Hope you are doing well and not suffering too much with your osteo   Jill

[Bobbie]

Well, I'm here to tell you OA is disfiguring.  I had it first in my little finger on my right hand.  I have it in every
finger on my right hand.  It is also starting on my left hand pointer finger.    I have it in my left knee and left foot.  Those two places aren't as bad as my hands.  My hands are different sizes.  Yuck.

Welcome to the site Gold55.  You will find alot of supportive and knowledgeable people here.

Bobbie

[gold55]

Hi Bobbie....you are right!  My two big toe joints are a bit disfigured and my right hand has begun to swell at the finger joints....my left hand has two fingers starting!  Tell me though....did your Osteo come first or did the Sjogrens diagnosis come first?  Thank you for the welcome!  jill

[Bobbie]

Hi Gold55,

I think it was Osteo first.  I was going to a rheumy because of very low vitamin D.
You could see my finger at the joint was starting to turn out.  It also felt like there were
rubberbands tied around it.  No other fingers were affected (effected?) not sure which
one to use.  He was such a jerk.  I should have realized it when he told me "everyone's
fingers curl in when you make a fist"?!?  I tried to tell him but he would not listen.

I was waiting for blood work regarding the vitamin D and had a horribe time getting the
results.  Finally, his office calls and says the vitamin D level is still low and of course the sjogren's
could be giving you some symptoms.  I had not even been diagnosed.  She thought I knew.
Nope, I didn't.

I finally dropped him when I went in the following week and he said there was nothing he could do
for me.  He would treat me when and if I had a kidney, lung etc problem.  Jerk!

Now I have a wonderful rhemy.

Sorry about all of the extra info about the rheumy.  Just the thought of him gets me worked up!

So . . . . . . I guess my osteo came before the sjogren's, to my knowledge.

Take care, Bobbie

[Sooki]

I'm confused.  There's also psoriatic arthritis and Sjogren's arthritis which are part of the autoimmune disorder.  My understanding is that they're from autoimmune inflammation and are helped by anti-inflammation treatment (e.g., plaquenil, etc.) but differ from RA in that the joints aren't actively being eroded.  How does OA fit into this?  I thought OA wasn't autoimmune.

[Bobbie]

Hi Sooki,

From what I have read, osteo is not autoimmune. 

Bobbie

[Carebear]

Here is the link to a helpful video that explains of the difference between osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUlFNDvbF4E&feature=player_embedded

Sooki, you are correct.  OA is not an autoimmune disease.   When I was diagnoses with RA, my rheumotologist said it may be a result of Sjogren's or a separate disease.  No matter the cause, the treatment is the same. 

[Joe S.]

I have severe RA Dx'd from X-rays. I have a limited range of motion in my fingers and toes. I have had this limited range since grade school. I was not Dx'd with RA until about 2 or 3 years ago. RA is auto immune and common as I understand with Sjogren's

[Scottietottie]

OA isn't autoimmune but Sjogren's does not stop one getting other complaints as well.

[gold55]

thanks for all the feedback....it seems when I read posts a lot of the people in this forum have Osteo and Sjogrens but not RA!  Sjogrens is a rheumatic disease so if it effects ones joints it will be more of an RA type of arthritis (meaning inflammatory but maybe not as erosive).  So I guess what has happened is that I would have gotten the Osteo in my feet and hands whether I had Sjogrens or not.....the Sjogrens was found in a blood test when I went in to my Internist about the Osteo in my feet!  My hands do feel different.....they feel "full" and they feel inflamed off and on....mainly when I'm in heat which makes me wonder if I could have the Sjogrens arthritis in my hands (inflammatory) and the Osteo in my feet.  When my Internist gave me Indocin for the swelling in my big toe joints it really didn't do much for the "full feeling" in my right hand.  I believe a person can have Osteo and RA at the same time.....does anyone know if this is a fact or are my hands just acting different from my feet....my hands almost feel like the tendons/ligaments are inflamed in the fingers more than joint pain!!! 

[Patty]

To add to the confusion, here is what happened to me. I had OA, then was diagnosed with sero-negative RA. Then this dx was changed to "inflammatory polyarthralgia". Basically, I have joint pain which presented in the pattern and order of RA but with no RA factor. Since I have no damage in those joints (just pain) I think I agree that it is not RA. I do have damage from the OA.

[gold55]

wow Patty...I have heard that there are over 100 types of arthritis and being that people can be seronegative.....it must be a tough call for the rheumatologist who has to figure out how to treat all this stuff and when to begin treatment.  I'm happy that you don't have all the problems of RA yet some feel RA is easier to control than Osteo.  I hope you have less pain in the future....I have learned so much reading everyones stories on this forum.  Mostly that everyone has their own individual experience, diagnoses and treatments that worked and didn't work.  I have learned more on this forum than from any of my current doctors.....I sure hope this will change once we all know what I'm dealing with. 

[gold55]

Joe, I don't know how you handle your medical issues naturally and without lots of medication.  You must be very determined and have a high tolerance to pain.  You amaze me!