i have RA factor of almost 9. I also have mixed connective tissue disease.
My dr. is from the health dept. He is doing nothing since he found out about the RA last week. I have lupus, Sjrogrens, Raynauds, Peripheral neuropathies of the up and lwr extremeties, pernicious anemia, Severe PLMD and mild restless leg sx (as per sleep study) Diseminated Histplasmosis. Disability won't ever look at the whole package. They will pick out one thing....for example...Lupus, and say that they cannot determine that I cannot work with Lupus, therefore denied. My Atty told them it would be a miracle for someone to have all that i have and have all things go into remission at the same time, long enough for me to sustain a job. I also have severe anxiety disorder and dysthymia. No other psychiatric dx...except for memory loss. I just went through a 2 and 1/2 month battle with shingles. I still have very rough skin on my face and get bumps from under the skin the come up and go away, along my jawline and itch around my face. I sleep almost all the time now. I am 54yo white female. My fasting blood sugar was high, on my recent blood test, and I have a hx of auto immune thyroiditis,(low thyroid), Gestational Diabetes, very low blood sugar from my early twenties (5 hr GTT). There is much more...but that's enough for now. I was a Dental Hygienist, but haven't been able to work in yrs. I am out of money, I have no living family. Even my 21yo daughter died...etiology unknown...but we had all the exact same sx, and had had, for years. I haven't had any kind of a remission since last July. I have no friends for family to help. I moved where I am, after everyone died, 3 yrs ago. I haven't met anyone. I have been on food stamps for 5 months, now, and have $600.00 in overage, b/c I can't eat enough, yet i have gained 40lbs. Oh, also, I have had Cushings sx for more than 6 or 7 yrs that I know of, but b4 the shingles, the health dept dr said that my system needed a boost, and that i needed a loading dose of cortisone to get my body working again. i told him that the dr.s from Mass Gen told me to NEVER go near even cortisone spray. He gave me the shot anyway, and told me to take the pills everyday for a min of one week. Needless to say...I blew up like a balloon, was so week, i couldn't hardly climb a step....and have done nothing but sleep ever since. I can't seem to wake up during the day. Stay awake for some hours when it is dark, then go back to sleep again. My innate sense tells me I am waiting to die. I have not will, no energy no hope and no one to love or be loved by. TY.....linda