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Rank: Advanced Member  Groups: Registered
Joined: 3/29/2013 Posts: 106 Location: Surrey
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Hi,
I've been trying to work out since being diagnosed in February what trigger my RA to be active. My consultant asked me at the time, did I smoke or had smoked - no. Did my parents smoke - no. Had I been unwell - no. This has left me a bit confused and as far as I understand you are born with the t-cell to which something triggers it to develop?
And then I started thinking and remembered that about 6 months before my first symptoms I had 3 cases of an extremely bad water infection which I couldn't shift. I've been looking up on the internet and there is information about a possible link with urinary tract infections and RA where the immune system gets confused.
Any information or advice would really be welcome :-)
Thanks, Louise
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Rank: Advanced Member  Groups: Registered
Joined: 9/15/2013 Posts: 125
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Hi Louise
I think it's very hard coming to terms with having RA and there are so many questions to ask some of which are hard to answer with any certainty!
I think you could be right with your thinking regarding the water infection being the trigger but your consultant would have more insight
In my own case I had some vague RA symptoms after my son was born(1981) but not enough to make too much fuss about but then in May 2000 I had a serious skin infection following an insect bite which took 6 months to clear up.Exactly One month later along came severe RA symptoms! So it would appear that the infection was the trigger or... was it the pregnancy? Which ever , I think the body does over- react to some other change in the body and hey ho there we are stuck with it !
Hope you are feeling ok at the moment
Julie x
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Rank: Advanced Member  Groups: Registered
Joined: 8/25/2010 Posts: 1,289 Location: Buckinghamshire
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hi Louise,
when i was newly diagnosed i went to an NRAS meeting at my hospital which was very informative, my whole Rheumy Team were there including the Consultant,
i asked this question and really didn't get a definate answer, i had lost a huge amount of weight carefully in 2007 and wondered if that could have triggered it, although i eat well and healthily and still do to maintain, and there is no history ( apart from one Cousin ) in my family with it,
i've always put it down to the " luck of the draw " i know other's will have different opinions, that's just me.
Suzanne
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Rank: Advanced Member  Groups: Registered
Joined: 12/3/2009 Posts: 1,689 Location: Durham
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I`m like Suzanne - absolutely nothing which could have "triggered" RA, and no-previous history in the family at all, going back as far as great-grandparents, so I believe it was the "luck of the draw" with me too. Having said that, my consultant said that while everyone looks for a trigger, in her experience, there was frequently not one to be found. Kathleen x
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Rank: Advanced Member  Groups: Registered
Joined: 4/24/2013 Posts: 703 Location: Hexham
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In my case it would appear that the cause of RA was its relationship to another auto-immune disease, Ulcerative Colitis. About 35% of people with UC develop RA. Symptoms of both appeared in my 20's but it's hard to pin it down to a single trigger. My sister has sjrogens (sp?), a related disease and so we can see there is some genetic link. Paul Barrett
Hexham - Northumberland - Loads of spectacular walks - all I need now are the joints to go with them! :)
Enthesitis (2012)
Ulcerative Colitis (1990)
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Rank: Advanced Member
Groups: Registered
Joined: 12/4/2009
Posts: 242
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Hi louise there does seem to be a link with a bacterial or viral infection causing R.A, take a look at the link below: causes of R.AMy R.A was triggered by a nasty viral infection but it also runs in my family. My aunt and I both have the very aggressive form. Rebecca
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Rank: Advanced Member Groups: Registered
Joined: 3/29/2013 Posts: 106 Location: Surrey
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Thanks everyone for your replies.... I think this is one I will be chatting to my rheumy nurse about in a few weeks  Louise.
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Rank: Advanced Member Groups: Registered
Joined: 4/24/2013 Posts: 703 Location: Hexham
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On an entirely unrelated topic, tell us more about the black labrador (?) in your profile pic. Paul Barrett
Hexham - Northumberland - Loads of spectacular walks - all I need now are the joints to go with them! :)
Enthesitis (2012)
Ulcerative Colitis (1990)
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Rank: Advanced Member Groups: Registered
Joined: 3/29/2013 Posts: 106 Location: Surrey
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Yes, we have a black lab & his name is Bob He's now 24 months old & we have had him since he was 8 weeks old. He is so lovely, chunky & adorable. Our daughter was absolutely terrified of dogs & he has helped her over come her fears. Our son classes him as his brother & it's double trouble when they are together! We have been really lucky with his personality & he hasn't been much of a chewer. We started training classes from 10 weeks so maybe that has helped  Louise
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Rank: Advanced Member Groups: Registered
Joined: 4/24/2013 Posts: 703 Location: Hexham
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My wife and I have a weakness for Black Labs. They are just like great big teddy bears. Our current one (the Pets as Therapy dog) is a retired guide dog that we puppy walked nearly 12 years ago and who came back to us when he retired. He is a great big softie, affable and unflappable, That makes him the ideal PAT dog Paul Barrett
Hexham - Northumberland - Loads of spectacular walks - all I need now are the joints to go with them! :)
Enthesitis (2012)
Ulcerative Colitis (1990)
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Rank: Advanced Member Groups: Registered
Joined: 3/29/2013 Posts: 106 Location: Surrey
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I agree, there is something about labs that makes them perfect
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