Am I doomed? Rheumatoid factor was negative and everything else was normal. I have had long term GI issues and also hair loss so my doctor did a ton of lab work on me. I had Covid a month ago and one of the reasons I tried to avoid it for so long is because autoimmune disease runs in the family (mom has RA and ITP, sister has Type 1 diabetes)... Did that set this off?

RA has ruined my mother's life. She's 75 now and losing her knees... Her life is miserable. Granted, she went undiagnosed and untreated due to having no health insurance for many years. I'm 41. Feeling pretty emotional and devastated right now. There's so much I haven't done yet that I thought I'd have time to do. Is this going to ruin my life? My PCP referred me to a rheumatologist and I'm expecting to hear from somone soon so I can set up an appointment...