I get joint flare ups of wrist, elbow and fingers and on both sides, only in summers. the blood test came positive for ra but it was dismissed as a non-standard test. why does it happen?

Non standard test?: Repeat testing and more extensive testing may be appropriate if lab results are confounded. There are many inflammatory arthopathies that have a negative rheumatoid factor. Talk to your pcp or rheumatologist. There are infalmmatory joint conditions that can be associted other illnesses or conditions as well. Even diet, endocrine and other factors as well.

Second opinion: Symetrical (both sides) swelling/inflammation of joints is often a sign of an underlying auto-immune disease. Ra is one of many. There are conditions that have no test for (as of yet) and they are called seronegative arthritis ( ie tests are negative ). They can be treated with the same medications as RA but it is a clinical judgement based on the doctor's analysis and the severity of complaints.

See below: You may be having be having episodic or palindromic rheumatism which can be a precursor to ra. Sometimes seeing a patient when it is occuring, we can detect an elevated sed rate and/crp, other types we have to consider MRI or us to prove it is present. However; you may just have osteoarthritis and happen to test positive for a rh factor at this time.