rheumatoid vs osteo arthritis

Posted by tisme @tisme, 1 day ago

How do u tell the difference between the two pain wise and symptom ?? I know I have both ( diagnosed )

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mrmacabre | @mrmacabre | 20 hours ago

Have you actually been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, or are you just assuming so? Both of our parents suffered from osteoarthritis, and it was passed down to myself, as well as my 3 sisters. I've been dealing with it for almost 50 years in my left knee, along with having it in my other knee, both hips, my lower spine, my right elbow, and in my neck.
My older sister needed hip replacement surgery before her 50th b'day, and also suffered with rheumatoid arthritis in her hands and knees. She was eventually prescribed an injectable medication that she used for more than 10 years, even though it came at the cost of suppressing her immune system, because it's an autoimmune disease.
In August of 2020 she spent a month in 2 different hospitals with severe back pain that turned out to be a massive infection around her spine that was inoperable. Then she suffered a massive stroke during an MRI that left her brain dead. Her husband had to pull the plug a couple of days later so she wouldn't die on her daughter's b'dad. She was barely 64 years old.
Now my 2 sisters and I are left having to deal with osteoarthritis as we get older. My soon to be 60 year old sister had hip replacement surgery almost 3 years ago, and my youngest sister has to deal with it in her hips and knees. I'm 67 years old, and have had several surgeries on my knees, hands, elbow, and my neck. This is all on top of having idiopathic poly neuropathy in my feet for over 10 years.
Don't just assume that you may have rheumatoid arthritis, you need to get a diagnosis from a doctor because it was the underlying cause of our sister's death at way too early of an age.