Wayne, been there, done that. That is my "working diagnosis" as the blood work for RA has always come back negative but it acts like RA with periods of flares and remissions of pain, but ongoing joint damage. Glad you had better results than I had at Mayo. the rheumatologist I saw there did all the labs over again that I had just had done since they won't accept labs from my clinic for some reason, and called it "soft tissue" inflammation and sent me home. She was a real ditz!! Right now, the only anti-inflammatory prescription I can tolerate is Voltaren (generic diclofenac) and have added fish oil, garlic, cherry fruit extract capsules along with Darvocet for pain flares. All I can do at the moment due to lack of insurance, but am holding off a knee replacement right now. Not quite there yet. My thoughts on this diagnosis is, there is a small percentage of people with RA that have negative labs!!! We could be among those few, or it is just an aggressive osteoarthritis. Will have to wait and see how things progress I guess. If you come up with anything more on this, let me know too!

It is certainly frustrating not to have a precise name and symptoms. As near as I can tell, I have osteoarthritis but with a hard to describe inflammatory component. I would like to learn more about it.

My Mayo rheumatologist said that they internally called it "rheumatoid arthritis lite". That is largely because it really wasn't as severe as RA but had some similarities.

I am taking plaquenil on a trial basis. It seems to be helping somewhat but may be causing tinnitus (ringing in my ears). I stopped taking it for a week and the tinnitus remained...so other causes of tinnitus need to be considered too.

I have been taking flaxseed oil and evening primrose oil. They seem to help my psoriasis. I also take glucosamine and may switch to glucosamine/chrondroitin sulfate.

To complicate issues, I have neuropathy in my feet that is not caused by diabetes, RA, PsA, lupus, sjogrens or celiac disease. Ruling out all of those causes of neuropathy, made my arthritis diagnosis simpler in some ways.

I was also told that psoriatic arthritis can present itself years after "rheumatoid arthritis lite". So, who knows? I may know more in a few years...

Thanks for your comments. I know that you must be frustrated too. Best of luck!

FWIW, I can't tolerate diclofenac. I took it for a week last year and gained 17 pounds of fluid...I had big time edema in my legs. It sounds like a fairly safe NSAID but not for me :-(

Wayne, if you try the glucosamine/chondroitin, try one with MSM in it as well. Just make sure you are not allergic to shellfish as that is where most glucosamine comes from. If there is an allergy, there is also a vegetarian form that does not contain shellfish. The MSM is a natural sulfur compound that helps with the inflammation and pain. It seems to kick in before the other two do which can take up to 3 months before you really know if it is going to help or not. I was on the triple combination for over 8 years on the advice of my orthopedic surgeon with good relief but have recently switched to just the MSM as my cartillage is past the point of repair now. You are on the right track with the flax and evening primrose for the psoriasis. Fish oil has only Omega 3 fatty acids, can help a lot too for skin, heart health, joint health. Look for a higher EPA rather than a higher DHA level in fish oil.

As for the neuropathy, I also have that in my feet, caused by bone spurs under the nerve pathways on the tops of my feet. Was on Cymbalta which is an anti-depressant approved for neuropathy, but without insurance, was over 400 bucks a month!!!!. Had to taper off of it even though it really helped. Have had a little water weight gain with the diclofenac but that is much more tolerable to me than being doubled over with stomach pain from the others. Too many years on ibuprofen or prescription Motrin over the years.

Hi Wayne and Kathy. I am in the same situation you two are. mine sure looks like more than Osteoarthritis, but blood tests rule out Rheumatoid. One Rheumatologist told me it is Inflammatory erosive Osteoarthritis and has me on Plaquinil for about 5 years now. It sometimes goes into remission. My new Rheumy told me it is Osteoarthritis ...which could be a problem getting disability (the pain caused me to lose my job of 29 years.