Could this be related to autoimmune diabetes?

I’m wondering if anyone has problems with stiffness and swelling of the joints in their fingers. I’ve had pain, stiffness, redness and a slight bump on the joint of my right ring finger for some time. In the past few weeks I noticed that I have the same issues now on the right little finger and the left little finger. The symptoms are most pronounced when I first wakeup, but are present throughout the day now. It seems to have spread, so now I’m wondering if it’s some type of autoimmune arthritis. I know having one autoimmune disease increases the probability of acquiring another. Anyone else experience something like this?

You should find out from your doctor what kind of arthritis you have. RA is the autoimmune arthritis and needs to be treated so that joint and even organ damage can be avoided . Please seek a proper dx from your doctor.

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Thanks Karen for your reply and I am hoping it’s not RA; although any type of arthritis can be painful. I guess I was hoping it was random inflammation that someone else with Type 1 may have experienced. I actually called today for an appointment at an orthopedic center near where I work. I see my endocrinologist the first week of May, but he would likely have referred me anyway. I just noticed you said organ damage- I thought it only affected the joints ?

I have those symptoms too minus the swelling. I think it could be from bg issues but more likely it is also something else. I just had tons of testing at a rheumatologist and was diagnosed with arthritis in my spine - all the autoimmune tests are ok. I have read that some people have auto-immune ra and other diseases with normal blood work. Most of the drugs for RA and IBD etc. are pretty bad- they depress your immune system.

There are lots of types of arthritis and many are inflammatory and/or autoimmune. There is also osteoarthritis that can be age-related or inflammation related. My rheumatologist would definitely say that my various autoimmune/inflammatory issues are related but not necessarily the result of T1 diabetes.

Hi Meee,
I know they sometimes treat arthritis with steroids, which I don’t do well on. The last time I was on prednisone my fasting was 150 and post meal numbers in the 300’s on low carb (highest I ever had). How are they treating the arthritis in your spine ?

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[quote=“bjm2363, post:3, topic:52765, full:true”]
Thanks Karen for your reply and I am hoping it’s not RA; although any type of arthritis can be painful. I guess I was hoping it was random inflammation that someone else with Type 1 may have experienced. I actually called today for an appointment at an orthopedic center near where I work. I see my endocrinologist the first week of May, but he would likely have referred me anyway. I just noticed you said organ damage- I thought it only affected the joints ?
[/quote]Nope. Here’s some info on RA and do ask for the test to determine if you do in fact have it and can figure out how best to treat it. From the Arthritis Org:

Along with joint inflammation and pain, many people experience fatigue, loss of appetite and a low-grade fever. Because RA is a systemic disease, it may also affect organs and body systems.

The goals of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) treatment are to:

•Stop inflammation (put disease in remission)
•Relieve symptoms
•Prevent joint and organ damage
•Improve physical function and overall well-being
•Reduce long-term complications

To meet these goals, the doctor will follow these strategies:

Early, aggressive treatment. The first strategy is to reduce or stop inflammation as quickly as possible – the earlier, the better.

Targeting remission. Doctors refer to inflammation in RA as disease activity. The ultimate goal is to stop it and achieve remission, meaning minimal or no signs or symptoms of active inflammation. One strategy to achieve this goal is called “treat to target.”

Tight control. Getting disease activity to a low level and keeping it there is what is called having “tight control of RA.” Research shows that tight control can prevent or slow the pace of joint damage.

Medications for RA

There are different drugs used in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Some are used primarily to ease the symptoms of RA; others are used to slow or stop the course of the disease and to inhibit structural damage.

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Hi BJM, How are you :slight_smile: I won’t take steroids anymore unless it’s an extreme situation due to bg effects etc. He isn’t treating it at all, he just wrote that as one of the diagnosis for tests I’m having done. I was seeing him for another evaluation and I need to do more testing, but basically he referred me to someone else. Not sure about my spine, but I see an ortho doc so I can see them. I don’t think there is anything you can do about it really? It is from aging and accidents etc. I think, mostly from accidents. 300 is awful, I had even higher last week after a low, god felt horrible… ugh. I don’t really know what mine is I just get these days when I ache all over and my joints throb… I guess it is fybromyalgia.

My back pain has been really bad lately and I injured my elbow… what I do is heat and tens every night, wear very loose or no bra and very loose clothes. I changed my pillow. I did some pt but a bad massage put me on painkillers everyday for 5 days. I’m doing some of the exercises they showed me which seems to help. The warmer weather has helped too. I also have a brace for my wrist to immobilize the elbow but I don’t wear it too much because it seems to get worse eventually- only when I’m doing a lot. I got a new roomba and started using the old one and I’m getting the floor mopping one too. I had to cut down on activities a lot because they said I was doing too much- that helps a lot too. They think it’s an impinged nerve.

ps. my grandfather had ra- I think he used steroids. they didn’t really have any other treatments then.

You could try arnica… that has helped me- both the pills and the gel. I also use lidocaine gel for pain on my back recently which helps. When I used aspercreme it upset my stomach.

I have both Type 1 diabetes (since age 7) and RA (since age 17). Like you my arthritis started with pain in my hands and it was more pronounced when first I woke up. Since you say it is spreading I would make an appointment with a rheumatologist because (I hate to tell you) it will probably continue to get worse.

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I’m sorry about the arthritis diagnosis. All the body aches and joint pain sounds like you have a lot of inflammation going on. I had one major issue with my back in February and had to go to urgent care because I thought it was a kidney stone or infection. All the tests came up negative, so the doctor gave me a shot and prescription strength Naproxyn. It took a few days to subside, but it was extremely painful. I really never could explain it because I didn’t do anything to injure it and it started on both sides of my mid-back and then settled on the left side. I don’t think it’s related, but I’m thinking it may have been some kind of inflammatory response, which I guess I will need to watch out for now.

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Thanks Karen,
I took your advice, called the orthopedic center near where I work and got an appointment for next Wednesday. They set me up with one of the doctors that specializes in hand and wrists issues. I explained that I have autoimmune diabetes and am concerned about arthritis so hopefully I will find out what’s going on. I didn’t mention it earlier–I did something to my knee too around Easter, but can’t see anything visible. It hurts most when I descend stairs, but that may be a totally separate issue since I was carrying around toddlers that weekend. The doctor will be checking that out too.

Thanks… it is just one more among many lately unfortunately… I agree but nothing has shown up in the autoimmune tests for that. That sounds pretty bad… maybe you passed a stone and then nothing showed up? I’m glad the naproxen helped you. I hope you figure out what caused that. I was taking more vit D and calcium added in which I had stopped, my vit D was low and pth high, and calcium has been high or high normal- but I felt ill and back pain that felt like kidney pain and nauseau/headache so I stopped it. Since I may have primary hyperparathyroidism I’m not taking either anymore. I would stop those supplements if you take them also if I were you just in case. Just get your calcium from your food.