Guest guest Posted September 12, 2003 Report Share Posted September 12, 2003 Hi all, My name is and I live in Queens, New York and I am 39 years old. I have recently been diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis and Fibromyalgia. I have been seeing my Rheumy doc for about 3 months now (he has only been in practice for 1 1/2 years amd is also my primary doc) I am currently on Plaquenil and Sulfazine 2x a day and I am in agonizing pain. I feel that I should be treated more aggressively for this. My mom was an invalid and bedridden for the last 30 years of her life with severe RA and I know more than I need to know about this horrible affliction. My question is should I start looking for a Rheumatologist with more hands on experience or trust his judgment. I really do like him since he does LISTEN to me but he doesn't feel my RA is severe just mild (if this is mild I don't want to see what moderate or severe is). Few days ago he took full blood work and I should get results by Monday.He said joint wise my xrays look fine and no damage yet. I see him again next week and he said if I am still in pain will start me on prednisone but doesn't feel I need to be on MTX yet. I know I must be flaring. Any thoughts? I look forward to speaking and meeting you all. Also. Is there a chat room that everyone goes to as I spend many nights online since I am in too much pain to sleep? Blessings and have a pain free day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 12, 2003 Report Share Posted September 12, 2003 , If your insurance covers it or you can do it any other way, get more opinions. I didn't think either of your medications is for pain, but I am no medical professional. I went to an orthepedic hand specialist in May/June and he put in his report that I was not in obvious distress or pain. That really pissed me off. I went because of pain. He also said the swelling in my hands was probably due to my obesity. I went back to my Rheumy and he put me on MTX and mobic. I had already tried Viox and Celebrex and Aleve with mass doses of tylenol. I go back next week because I moved the appointment from Oct to sooner. I went to an ortho Dr I had gone to years ago, this week. He says, from xrays this week, that the joint damage is well on it's way. He is evaluating carpal tunnel, arthritis, tendonitis, et all. He calls it weird hands. I can tell he is not quite sure what to do first or faster, but to do nothing is not an option. My mother had relatives in wheel chairs with arthritis. I have had fibromyalgia for a while and back problems. After I retured a disc in my lower back , I thought it was just more disc problems. That is probably arthritis too. Has anyone had good results from an MRI to tell what is going on? I found this site http://www.orthogate.com/ and other sites about what blood test readings mean have been helpful. I just did a google search. http://www.healthboards.com/ has been helpful. So has this group. http://www.arthritisinsight.com/ was suggested here and is helpful. -----Original Message-----From: Taffy3222003@... [mailto:Taffy3222003@...]Sent: Friday, September 12, 2003 7:24 AMRheumatoid Arthritis Subject: Re: Newbie here Hi all, My name is and I live in Queens, New York and I am 39 years old. I have recently been diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis and Fibromyalgia. I have been seeing my Rheumy doc for about 3 months now (he has only been in practice for 1 1/2 years amd is also my primary doc) I am currently on Plaquenil and Sulfazine 2x a day and I am in agonizing pain. I feel that I should be treated more aggressively for this. My mom was an invalid and bedridden for the last 30 years of her life with severe RA and I know more than I need to know about this horrible affliction. My question is should I start looking for a Rheumatologist with more hands on experience or trust his judgment. I really do like him since he does LISTEN to me but he doesn't feel my RA is severe just mild (if this is mild I don't want to see what moderate or severe is). Few days ago he took full blood work and I should get results by Monday.He said joint wise my xrays look fine and no damage yet. I see him again next week and he said if I am still in pain will start me on prednisone but doesn't feel I need to be on MTX yet. I know I must be flaring. Any thoughts? I look forward to speaking and meeting you all. Also. Is there a chat room that everyone goes to as I spend many nights online since I am in too much pain to sleep? Blessings and have a pain free day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 16, 2003 Report Share Posted September 16, 2003 Hi , This is in VA. I grew up in Ozone Park, Queens. I have a great GP at Liberty Medical in Richmond Hill, Queens -- Dr. Passarelli. He has several offices in Queens. My rheumy in Queens was Dr. Sullivan in Bayside. She was pretty good, although I relied on Dr. more because he had been my GP for a while. Bone x-rays don't show damage until it's really bad -- you should get a bone density test done. Richmond Hill Radiology was where I went -- I also got chest X-rays every 6 weeks for the first 8 months I was on methotrexate. When I was diagnosed in November 1999 I was lucky to have a rheumy in PA (since I was in college) that believed in aggressive treatment. I was put on MTX 3 weeks after I was diagnosed and Remicade 6 months later (Remicade is my miracle drug -- I'm still on it). Take care (email me personally if you have more questions if you like), Steph~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ >My name is and I live in Queens, New York and I am 39 years old. I >have recently been diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis and Fibromyalgia. I have >been seeing my Rheumy doc for about 3 months now (he has only been in practice >for 1 1/2 years amd is also my primary doc) I am currently on Plaquenil and >Sulfazine 2x a day and I am in agonizing pain. I feel that I should be treated >more aggressively for this. My mom was an invalid and bedridden for the >last 30 years of her life with severe RA and I know more than I need to know >about this horrible affliction. > >My question is should I start looking for a Rheumatologist with more hands on >experience or trust his judgment. I really do like him since he does LISTEN >to me but he doesn't feel my RA is severe just mild (if this is mild I don't >want to see what moderate or severe is). Few days ago he took full blood work >and I should get results by Monday.He said joint wise my xrays look fine and >no damage yet. I see him again next week and he said if I am still in pain >will start me on prednisone but doesn't feel I need to be on MTX yet. I know I >must be flaring. Any thoughts? I look forward to speaking and meeting you all. > Also. Is there a chat room that everyone goes to as I spend many nights >online since I am in too much pain to sleep? > >Blessings and have a pain free day! Try MSN Messenger 6.0 with integrated webcam functionality! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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