What if you do not take medication for rheumatoid arthritis?

Answer 1

Whether you like it o not. Rheumatoid arthritis is a serious disease that has more effect on you then just pain. Rheumatoid Arthritis is a disease that is caused by the immune system of the body mistakenly rejecting cartilage in the joints of the body. Cartilage is the lining that covers the bone at the joints. this lining is normally a strong and very smooth material that along with synovial fluid keeps joints moving freely. People that have RA (rheumatoid arthritis) unfortunately have the problem that this material is being attacked by their own immunize system. The immediate result is swelling pain and inflammation of joints more often then not several joints in pairs matching the opposing joints in the body. as the disease progresses the destruction if the cartilage causes chemicals to be produced that combine with the synovial fluid surrounding all healthy joints to make an even more corrosive material leading to further damage to surrounding muscles and ligaments. The joint may become malformed and will eventually become stiff and useless. In my own particular case I have found that in one particular joint ( the right elbow) Within a year of first noticing that there was serious inflammation in that joint and just grinning and bearing the pain led to the need for a total elbow replacement because the joint was destroyed. The same can happen to any joint of the body. Add to this that RA can effect other parts of the body such as Heart, eyes lungs, brain arterial and vascular systems and even the skin as well as the formation of hard and at times painful nodules under the skin over bony protrusions. To sum up Rheumatoid arthritis can make life totaly miserable and a hell for you if you dont do anything to keep the damage it does under controll. While the drugs you are forced to use also can have unfortunate side effects, they will in the main keep you in a position where you can enjoy your life in relative comfort and be reasonably functional. If you do not look after it you are likely to turn into a pain riddled deformed pretzel if you are unlucky. RA will not Kill you however it is able to make you want to kill yourself if you ignore it.