Re: Coping With Chronic Rheumatic DiseasesSThe 4 Fs

[Guest guest]

a,

Good site. Thanks. The link you put in your message didn't take me to a

website, but I eventually found my way there and to the recommended article,

after getting sidetracked a number of times.

I had an appointment with my rheumatologist yesterday. After a discussion

about other symptoms I've never talked to him about before, he is rethinking

his diagnosis from Rheumatoid to psoriatic arthritis. I spent some time

reading about psoriatic arthritis on the focus on rheumatoid arthritis site.

Not too thrilling, I must say. He told me my symptoms make a lot more sense

adding the psoriatic component to the mix.

Had I not been a member of this group, I probably would never have mentioned

the itchy, red, scaly patches on my scalp. My PCP pretty much dismissed it

when I showed it to her 2 years ago.

I'm holding my own with the mtx. I feel whiny complaining about how I feel

sometimes, of course he asks, so I try to answer, because at my worst now,

it doesn't hold a candle to how bad I felt before I started treatment with

him. I haven't needed anything stronger than Tylenol when I'm feeling sore.

My most recent labs came back really good except for the C-reactive protein

which has gone up, from 13 to 23 (before that was 31).

Since stopping the prednisone, my glucose is going back down (105) on my

most recent tests and my liver enzymes are all within normal range again.

The coping article had some good advice I'm going to try to follow. Not to

dwell on my disease, live each day and try to focus on other things. Sounds

good to me. When I felt really bad, I couldn't do anything but think about

how bad I felt. Since I've improved so much since then, I'm going to try to

stop looking for the next sign of disaster!

Suzanne

[ ] Coping With Chronic Rheumatic DiseasesSThe 4 Fs

Coping With Chronic Rheumatic DiseasesSThe 4 Fs

http://www.focusonarthritis.com/script/main/art.asp

[Guest guest]

Sorry about the bad link. Thanks for letting me know. For anyone that

wants to read the article, here is the correct link (I hope).

http://www.focusonrheumatoidarthritis.com/script/main/Art.asp?li=MNI & Article

Key=14267

I read an article last week that said PA is severely under diagnosed. In

my 25+ years experiences with rheumatologists, not one has ever asked me

about skin or scalp scaling.

When I showed them various patches of scale, I was prescribed cortisone

cream and it went away. I had no skin involvement for many years, and when

it came back I had a different rheumy. I still had the tube of cortisone,

so I brought it in to him to ask for a new prescription. Only then did

anyone ever consider PA and that was after telling him that my daughter has

a bad scalp problem.

I¹m glad your meds are helping you and you¹re feeling much better since

starting the meds.

a

On 6/11/02 9:15 PM, " Suzanne " <suzshay@...> wrote:

> a,

>

> Good site. Thanks. The link you put in your message didn't take me to a

> website, but I eventually found my way there and to the recommended article,

> after getting sidetracked a number of times.

>

> I had an appointment with my rheumatologist yesterday. After a discussion

> about other symptoms I've never talked to him about before, he is rethinking

> his diagnosis from Rheumatoid to psoriatic arthritis. I spent some time

> reading about psoriatic arthritis on the focus on rheumatoid arthritis site.

> Not too thrilling, I must say. He told me my symptoms make a lot more sense

> adding the psoriatic component to the mix.

>

> Had I not been a member of this group, I probably would never have mentioned

> the itchy, red, scaly patches on my scalp. My PCP pretty much dismissed it

> when I showed it to her 2 years ago.

>

> I'm holding my own with the mtx. I feel whiny complaining about how I feel

> sometimes, of course he asks, so I try to answer, because at my worst now,

> it doesn't hold a candle to how bad I felt before I started treatment with

> him. I haven't needed anything stronger than Tylenol when I'm feeling sore.

>

> My most recent labs came back really good except for the C-reactive protein

> which has gone up, from 13 to 23 (before that was 31).

>

> Since stopping the prednisone, my glucose is going back down (105) on my

> most recent tests and my liver enzymes are all within normal range again.

>

> The coping article had some good advice I'm going to try to follow. Not to

> dwell on my disease, live each day and try to focus on other things. Sounds

> good to me. When I felt really bad, I couldn't do anything but think about

> how bad I felt. Since I've improved so much since then, I'm going to try to

> stop looking for the next sign of disaster!

>

> Suzanne