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EDIT:
OOPSE, I did not read your post correctly….I didn't realize you were asking if this has happened to people. Sorry!!Yes, unfortunately it can.
“Rheumatoid arthritis not only affects the joints. Rheumatoid arthritis is a systemic disease which may also affect other organs of the body including the skin, lungs, heart, and kidneys. “
http://arthritis.about.com/od/rheumatoidarthritis/ss/pictures_photos_5.htm
Blessings,
MichelleDiamond.
How are you doing on your treatment? Have your lungs and/or heart been affected? I know SD affects the organs. Being that RA is the same class of disease as SD, I'm sure it does affect the organs.
My mother had very aggressive and severe RA that eventually affected her lungs that I beilieve eventually killed her back in 1992. Please don't be alarmed but they did not have the same medications back then as there is now. I also think that it did not help that Mum was a heavy smoker even though she gave up in the first year of RA diagnosis. The damage to her lungs from smoking left her in a vulnerable position. She was diagnosed in 1988 and died 1992, with several stays in the hospital – two in intensive care. Thank God I gave up smoking two years before I was diagnosed, but no doubt my poor lungs have suffered somewhat too. It's never too late to start caring for yourself, even if an illness has to spur you on!
[user=756]DiamondTNT[/user] wrote:
Have any of you had Ra affect your heart and/or lungs?
The heart and lungs of JRA sufferers are also known to be affected and, unfortunately, my heart has recently begun to be affected. I'm making the rounds now of medical testing, but thank goodness I found abx treatment and I hope that it helps stop the damage in time.
Keep smiling and be well,
NikiTimeline:
Fall, 2007: Mammogram broke over 20 year old breast cysts.
This was followed by inflamed lymph nodes and multiple other tests, then an X-ray that showed a 'shadow' on my left lung. I was sent to an oncologist and had a full PET scan, that showed nothing.
June, 2008: Diagnosed with “sudden onset severe RA”.
My whole prior life I had low blood pressure and normal heart rate. Since the RA onset, my blood pressure had been going up and my FL doctor put me on low dose Lisinopril a little over a year ago.
The BP is still not under control and fluctuates, but worse is that lately my heart rate is going out of sight, no matter what the BP is. I've been checking it myself regularly and the past few days the lowest HR was 97 and the highest was 127.
I had a strange 'episode' a few days ago that scared me, so I decided to ask here if anyone else has had heart or lung issues that appeared to be RA related.
Other than that, I seem to be doing OK with AP. My new Dr is going to get the IV supplies for me so I can give it a kick again. I'm off the celebrex and on a compounded rub on cream for inflammation and pain control. Not really sure how well it's working, but I might not be using enough. I'll go to some vampires again soon and find out about current blood tests results. Some days are not bad at all… some are just nasty. It always hurts, it's just a matter of degrees and what parts of my body are flaring at what times. Getting enough sleep is very difficult for me, which is not at all what I was like before. I refuse to take much in the way of drugs and have found that hot milk with honey is the most effective for me to get at least a few hours of sleep. Strange how sometimes I'll be trying to get to sleep for a couple of hours, then finally get up and make the milk and honey and can hardly finish the small cup in time before I'm nodding off. I should probably just start out with it first.
PS: I haven't used aspirin in many, many years due to it's effect on my stomach. Today we were travelling a long way and I started hurting a lot, so instead of using my new cream or any other pill, I tried 2 of my husband's low dose coated aspirin. I don't know if it really was the aspirin (the pain does come and go on it's own) but, within about half an hour the pain had greatly receded. I'm going to try this again. Simple aspirin…
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