Nadalgaenger

How did it go today?

Agreed. I mean if your blood pressure were ALWAYS this high, you’d have to get on meds. However, it is totally normal for BP to go way up like this when you take it when anxious. This happens to me ALL THE TIME.

I’m confused. 159/170 is an impossible BP reading. Do you mean 159/70? The upper number (systolic) is ALWAYS higher than the bottom number (diastolic). Even if it were 159/70, that doesn’t mean anything really. If you in an excited/panicked state, it is normal for BP to skyrocket. If you are truly concerned about BP, just buy one of the home monitors and take it 20 times a day. You’ll probably get some high readings now and then if you have a nervous disposition, but I’d bet that it will normalize if you just sit down and take it a bunch of times in a row. I know this from experience.

Congratulations! Please pour yourself a glass of red wine (protective against RA by the way:) and enjoy your evening! You got some great news! You do NOT have RA! You’re not in pain, you don’t have swelling, you don’t have redness. Just eat a plant-based diet, avoid inflammatory foods, exercise regularly, and take all the supplements I mentioned. All of these things protect you from inflammation, as your CRP levels are indeed too high. Remember, RA is a very rare disease. I’ve feared it a lot myself but google “age incidence rheumatoid arthritis” and you’ll see that it is VERY rare indeed. People get a false notion of its frequency because the drug companies spend so much money advertising on TV for the .5% of Americans that actually have it.

Also, the clicking in your foot does not sound like an obvious RA symptom to me. I think many people have clicking joints from time to time. I asked my rheumatologist about the occasional clicking in my joints and he said that is totally normal for healthy people as long as there is no associated pain. Does your foot ALWAYS click? To be entirely honest, I think the odds of you having RA are still small, despite your rheumatologist’s concern. Swelling, redness, pain, and stiffness are the “classic” symptoms of this disease. You don’t have any of these at the moment it appears. For the record, doctors sometimes err on the side of alarmism. I was terrified by a dermatologist last year who thought the mole on my back was a malignant melanoma. I spent the darkest 48 hours of my life thinking I had that aggressive cancer, and it came back negative, so she put me through living hell for no reason!

The anti-CCP test is considered the definitive blood test for RA. I don’t think you can assume you have RA until you have a positive for this test. Of course, there are sero-negative RA patients but they are in the minority. I think the anti-CCP test will teach you a lot about your situation. Please watch the Paddison videos. He’s a really inspiring guy. He’s very optimistic and comforting, and he’s been through quite a lot. There’s also a Youtube Vlog by a Swedish girl that I found really Inspiring. It’s called Healing Josephine if I’m not mistaken. I would advise you to adopt a Vegan diet, take a propbiotic, garlic, turmeric, fish oil, Vitamin D, B-12, Boswelia, and Ginger DAILY. Another good resource on RA is McDougall. Google McDougall and RA for results. Consider also a water fast of 3 days. Goldhamer has achieved remission in some patients with this. Again, you don’t necessarily have RA. I would wait on definitive word from your rheumatologist and the results of the anti-CCP body test. In the meantime, you should watch the inspirational videos, take the NATURAL anti-inflammatory substances above, and consider a regular exercise program (exercise lowers inflammation in the body). The lower you can get your C-Reactive Protein, the better, as it is a measure of general inflammation in the body. Paddison, who had an aggressive, sero-positive form of RA, has managed to put his RA into remission through a strict Vegan diet, regular exercise, and a positive attitude. I feel what you are going through. I suffered a lot from these same fears.

I was terrified of RA for most of last year. I saw a rheumatologist in November and he told me that he would be “shocked” if I had it. He based that statement on the absence of redness, swelling, and significant pain. What symptoms specifically make the rheumatologist think that you have it? Your bloodwork was negative, right? Have you ever watched the Paddison Program videos on Youtube? Those might be a helpful starting point for you, even if, in the worst case scenario, you have RA.

Yep. Another key indicator for me is my resting pulse. It is normally in the low 60s for me, and often at the doc’s office it is in the 100s. That is for me clear evidence that I am in a near frantic state at the doc and that of course has a powerful impact on BP,.

I feel your pain. I put myself through six months of agony obsessing over RA. I read patient stories online and they freaked me out. What makes RA fears so terrible for people with HA is that it has such a vague cluster of symptoms that may come or go. It is very hard to diagnose apparently (average diagnosis 3 years from onset of symptoms). I saw a rheumatologist in December and he told me that “he would be shocked if I had RA.” Blood tests for RF and Anti-CCP (the latter actually much more accurate than RF) were both negative. Still, like you, I’m aware that some 25% of RA patients are seronegative, which is still scary. I’ve noticed that my “symptoms” have abated greatly since I stopped worrying as much. I really hope the same happens to you.

Extremely normal for BP to be elevated at the doctor’s office. Google white coat hypertension. Spend $25 on a good home BP monitor and check it several times. Usually I am nervous even when I check it at home so I tell myself I am going to do 8-10 readings and take the average. It always starts off elevated but goes down substantially once I relax.

What would be so horrible about Basal Cell Carcinoma? It doesn't even kill people! It is fairly common and extremely treatable. At least 3 of my relatives have had it and there were no problems/complications.

I totally hear you! I freaked out a couple of years ago when my fasting glucose was 102. 100 is the limit for "pre-diabetic" but that goes all the way up to 125 to be "diabetic." It's a lot like blood pressure. Anything over 120/80 is considered "pre-hypertension". In the case of both blood pressure and blood sugar, lower is generally better, and I'm borderline high in both despite being very fit for my age and on a superb diet. I've decided to stop worrying about these "borderline" numbers and simply do what I can to be as healthy as I can. That regimen includes a Vegan diet, lots of exercise, good sleep, and hopefully NO HA! The last part is the hardest!

INDEED! I'm glad you guys made it out ok as well! It was definitely an adventure!

Wow, seven months is a long time. Did you have real "symptoms" of ALS or simply some twitching in the legs or something like so many. It's such a rare disease so I haven't feared it...YET!

Haha, that's so true! We just had a hurricane here in Houston and we we teachers were off work for two weeks. Guess what I did? Sat at home and read about my latest "chronic disease" du jour, watching videos of patients with rheumatoid arthritis and fearing the worst for myself. I have been feeling much better since school has resumed and I am not left looking for strange sensations/symptoms in my body. And sure enough, I am not feeling the same "symptoms" I had before. The anxiety is FAR less troublesome at the moment, thank goodness!