Just to be crystal clear about the difference between rheumatic arthritis and osteoarthritis:
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Just to be crystal clear about the difference between rheumatic arthritis and osteoarthritis:
Rheumatoid arthritis (my diagnosis): Is an autoimmune rheumatic condition where the immune system attacks your body, resulting in arthritis and joint deformity, and loss of function. The arthritis is a symptom of the immune system attacking the body. It can also attack any other organ in the body: for me it’s been my eyes, my gut and my sinuses. It causes severe fatigue and brain fog.
Osteoarthritis (what most people think of when they hear ‘arthritis’): this is the natural wear and tear people get in their joints over time. It is not autoimmune and does not require medications like biologics and prednisone.
They are not even remotely the same.
Knowing the difference can help you be a better advocate and friend to someone you know who may have an autoimmune disease, especially a form of autoimmune arthritis. -
Just to be crystal clear about the difference between rheumatic arthritis and osteoarthritis:
Rheumatoid arthritis (my diagnosis): Is an autoimmune rheumatic condition where the immune system attacks your body, resulting in arthritis and joint deformity, and loss of function. The arthritis is a symptom of the immune system attacking the body. It can also attack any other organ in the body: for me it’s been my eyes, my gut and my sinuses. It causes severe fatigue and brain fog.
Osteoarthritis (what most people think of when they hear ‘arthritis’): this is the natural wear and tear people get in their joints over time. It is not autoimmune and does not require medications like biologics and prednisone.
They are not even remotely the same.
Knowing the difference can help you be a better advocate and friend to someone you know who may have an autoimmune disease, especially a form of autoimmune arthritis.@britt ohhh I kinda knew. But not that well! Autoimmune diseases are so awful
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Just to be crystal clear about the difference between rheumatic arthritis and osteoarthritis:
Rheumatoid arthritis (my diagnosis): Is an autoimmune rheumatic condition where the immune system attacks your body, resulting in arthritis and joint deformity, and loss of function. The arthritis is a symptom of the immune system attacking the body. It can also attack any other organ in the body: for me it’s been my eyes, my gut and my sinuses. It causes severe fatigue and brain fog.
Osteoarthritis (what most people think of when they hear ‘arthritis’): this is the natural wear and tear people get in their joints over time. It is not autoimmune and does not require medications like biologics and prednisone.
They are not even remotely the same.
Knowing the difference can help you be a better advocate and friend to someone you know who may have an autoimmune disease, especially a form of autoimmune arthritis.@britt for the longest time I didn't know the difference between rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis and thought that the latter was a form of the former. Turns out there are way more forms of arthritis than I had heard of and the underlying causes vary wildly. Hope that your diagnosis helped you find the right treatment for your symptoms.
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@britt for the longest time I didn't know the difference between rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis and thought that the latter was a form of the former. Turns out there are way more forms of arthritis than I had heard of and the underlying causes vary wildly. Hope that your diagnosis helped you find the right treatment for your symptoms.
@Timo_Micro yeah, it’s wild! I was very familiar with RA, as many women in my family have had it, unfortunately. But psoriatic is a tricky one because of the word being used to also describe the skin condition by itself.
I try to educate folks who are interested when I can. I feel like the world would be so much kinder if we all took a moment to truly lean in and learn about others lived experiences and challenges. The things that make us connected humans. My post is just a tiny part of that. 🫶
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Just to be crystal clear about the difference between rheumatic arthritis and osteoarthritis:
Rheumatoid arthritis (my diagnosis): Is an autoimmune rheumatic condition where the immune system attacks your body, resulting in arthritis and joint deformity, and loss of function. The arthritis is a symptom of the immune system attacking the body. It can also attack any other organ in the body: for me it’s been my eyes, my gut and my sinuses. It causes severe fatigue and brain fog.
Osteoarthritis (what most people think of when they hear ‘arthritis’): this is the natural wear and tear people get in their joints over time. It is not autoimmune and does not require medications like biologics and prednisone.
They are not even remotely the same.
Knowing the difference can help you be a better advocate and friend to someone you know who may have an autoimmune disease, especially a form of autoimmune arthritis.They are so very not the same that people who do research on rheumatoid arthritis (some of whom are in my department, so I see their talks) use samples from osteoarthritis patients as their control samples, so that they can be sure the effects they are seeing are from the rheumatoid arthritis, and not from the joint inflammation, which is kind of incidental in RA.
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