I have been doing alot of reading of this thread. I have my first rheumy appt on friday the 29th. I know that i have some orm of arthritus in my body it is a matter of wht kind. I have the sharkes real bad. burning pain in my feet arms legs hands feet and i have noticed that the pain in my fingers and toes getting worse. I also have tmj which is why i know that i have arthritus, from x-rays of my jaw. I have had tmj since 8th grade, i am now 33. first thing in the morning is getting harder and harder it is taking me longer and longer to get going and this is not good as i am the mom of 4 the last 2 being 4 yr old twin boys. my mom came up last night and we were talking ans she said that my grandmother had arthritus but she was not sure what form. the pain in my jaw cointinues to get worse as does the pain in the rest of my body. Do any of you who know that you r.a. have tmj or arthritus in your jaw? how long did it take to get your diagnosis? what was included in getting your diagnosis and what was done before you got your diagnosis? I have heard that getting a diagnosis of r.a. could be a long process and i want to know what some of you all did for pain while this process was ongoing. right now my pcp has me on baclofen nortriotylne klonipin and piroxicam(an antiflamatory drug) is this similar to what osme of you are doing or have done? thanks for any help.


sharon