The only other person within my family history to have an autoimmune disease was my paternal aunt (my dad’s sister) who had lupus. As for diagnosis, I begin having extreme stiffness and swelling in the joints of my hands a short time after our second child was born. She was born with significant disabilities, and have always considered that stress may have triggered any pre-predisposition I had toward autoimmune disease. My primary doctor at the time did an RA test and it was negative, but all of my research convinced me that in fact that was what was happening to my body, and that false negatives in the early stages are not uncommon. Finally when I tested positive for RA, he referred me to a rheumatologist. That doctor was trained at the Cleveland clinic and did not take my case lightly. Even though I was only recently diagnosed, he hit it full on with oral gold (Ridaura), which at that time 30 years ago was the state of the art treatment. Also lots or cortisone injections. I have always credited his aggression in the early stages of my disease for the fact that over time it was able to be successfully controlled. Over the years I have taken too many different medications to remember, now on Celebrex, methotrexate, and sulfasalazine.