Isn't this whole thing weird? My sister with the worst joint damage is RF-.... Harumph

My doc says that "seronegative RA is a strange beast"!!!!

You're doc is right Wendy,a strange beast it is.
Being RF- always makes me think I have something else besides RA. I get lots of lower back pain and hardly any in my little joints anymore. I haven't been tested for HLAB27 but I would like to be tested just in case, but it sounds like those with AS don't really have all the symptoms I do, I'm just rambling.

I had a lyme test done 2 weeks ago, probably a big waste of money. I just felt like my brain isn't working like normal. I find it hard to concentrate. ???? I don't have any tests results just yet, I'm still waiting.

She's had fully blown lupus since her late twenties, too. But she's also ANA-, and she's by far the wost off of any of us. That said she's also stubborn as a mule and refuses to be stopped by anything. She drives me nuts but she's also my hero.

Funny - I'm ANA positive but don't have lupus! However, for a short period early on lupus seemed a possible diagnosis. That was before all the arthritic joint pain took off.

Here's what my "beast" does at it's worst:

vertigo
eye pain
butterfly rash
heat & sun sensitivity
all extremities joint pain
sacrum pain
sit bone pain
thoracic and rib pain
hip and neck stiffness
throbbing nerve pain in my lower back and down my legs
nausea
anxiety/depression

I used to hate taking drugs, and now I say a big THANK YOU GOD for my daily dose of cymbalta, LDN, muscle relaxer, D3, B-complex, and Omega-3.

And of course swimming, combined with the SAA stretches, is the absolute BOMB for joint pain.

fatigue

I'm starting to think the rheumys should state that all tests are "for reference purposes only"...

EricaK,
Have you ever been checked out for fibromyalgia or parasites or infections?

I'm just curious if anyone ever has been checked out for infectious causes for their RA or AS. The way I feel besides joint pain is feverish , sweaty/chills and pain all over. I had mastitis after my son was born and it feels very similar- RA.

Erika - you have a butterfly rash but no diagnosis of lupus? Even though your sister has it?

ValsMum - when my inflammation was very high (CRP = 110, ESR >100) I felt like I had a fever all the time. I was told it was the systemic inflammation.